Get used to sharing road
Not bicycles vs. motorists, it's just common courtesy
“Get a bicycle. You will not regret it if you live.”
That’s how Mark Twain summed up learning to ride a bicycle in an unpublished essay in the early 1880s.
More than a century later, not much has changed ... if you go bicycling on area roads.
Still, despite the threat to bicyclists on the road today, it’s clear their numbers are coasting upward.
That’s despite sweating the hills and the danger around almost every bend in the road.
In the past week, we have heard from both sides on the issue of cars sharing the road with bicyclists.
For now, there appears to be a double yellow line separating both sides on this issue.
Some motorists are clamoring for bicyclists to keep up with traffic, while bicyclists insist they have a right to the road, too.
Obviously, many, make that most, roads in our area are not even wide enough for two vehicles to pass safely. Our topography also prevents drivers from knowing what’s over the hill or around the curve.
Not to mention, our state and local governments cannot even afford to maintain existing roads, let alone add bike lanes.
Furthermore, bicyclists seem to some to add just one more challenge — hazard — to driving.
Yet, everyone needs to take a deep breath and simply start learning to share the road with bicyclists, for many good reasons.
The most obvious one is common courtesy. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you, you might say.
There’s also a host of statutes in the State Code that spell it out for anyone who questions bicyclists’ right to the road.
A new one was even added this year that requires motorists to give bicyclists as wide a berth as possible — at least 3 feet — when passing.
And given the overall costs of health care, many of us would be well advised to do some pedaling.
Bicyclists, of course, also need to observe the rules of the road — use signals, stop for signs and lights, don’t weave in and out of traffic, and stay off sidewalks.
When possible, make every effort to accommodate passing motorists, too.
We realize that more education is needed on how motorists and bicyclists need to interact.
New state road projects also need to at least consider bicyclists in the equation, when cost effective.
In Twain’s account, he notes the bike he was learning to ride was one of those cumbersome high-wheeled ones of yesteryear.
Undoubtedly, it took a while to learn how to ride, to get used to.
Learning to share the road with bicyclists might too, but no one will regret it.Yet, everyone needs to take a deep breath and simply start learning to share the road with bicyclists, for many good reasons.
The most obvious one is common courtesy. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you, you might say.
There’s also a host of statutes in the State Code that spell it out for anyone who questions bicyclists’ right to the road.
A new one was even added this year that requires motorists to give bicyclists as wide a berth as possible — at least 3 feet — when passing.
And given the overall costs of health care, many of us would be well advised to do some pedaling.
Bicyclists, of course, also need to observe the rules of the road — use signals, stop for signs and lights, don’t weave in and out of traffic, and stay off sidewalks.
When possible, make every effort to accommodate passing motorists, too.
We realize that more education is needed on how motorists and bicyclists need to interact.
New state road projects also need to at least consider bicyclists in the equation, when cost effective.
In Twain’s account, he notes the bike he was learning to ride was one of those cumbersome high-wheeled ones of yesteryear.
Undoubtedly, it took a while to learn how to ride, to get used to.
Learning to share the road with bicyclists might too, but no one will regret it.
The Dominion Post, Sunday July 20, 2014, p. 1-D