Applauds Columbia for Protecting Cyclists
Over the years I've been yelled at, honked at, had things thrown at me, been buzzed by drivers going as fast and close to me as possible when passing me, and a variety of other things. And I know there are cyclists who don't, but I try to always ride conservatively, avoid busy roads, and follow all traffic laws. Actions like Columbia's are necessary, along with efforts to educate drivers that cyclists have a right to use the roads.
Town takes aim at anti-bicyclist rage
Justin Bowes is an avid cyclist — 30 miles a day, six days a week.
But at least once a week, the Kansas City resident is harassed by angry drivers. Generally, it’s a vehicle following too close. Sometimes it’s a shout and a rude gesture; someone lays on the horn. Two weeks ago, Bowes was hit by a van.
“The lady driving the van had seen the group and didn’t see me,” said Bowes, who was riding with about a dozen other cyclists. “I got some pretty good scrapes.”
In Columbia, those shouts and horn honks soon could cost the offender a $1,000 fine or a year in jail.
The Columbia City Council on Monday night passed an ordinance making harassment of a bicyclist a Class A misdemeanor.
Possible infractions: throwing an object at a rider, threatening the rider, sounding a horn or shouting to frighten a person on a bike, making a bicyclist fear for physical injury, or knowingly engaging in conduct that creates a risk of death for a bicyclist. . . .
Motorists may get impatient with bicyclists because they are usually not going as fast as a car and it slows them down. Many drivers wonder why they don’t ride on the sidewalk, though bikes are supposed to be in the street. . . .
The rules of the road are simple: Bicyclists are supposed to obey all traffic laws just like motorists, including stopping at intersections and signaling when turning. In turn, bicyclists have the same right of way as motorists. . . .
Something that seems to particularly irritate some motorists is bicyclists riding two abreast. But that is legal under Kansas City ordinances.
The League of American Bicyclists endorses riding two abreast because there is safety in numbers, Cahill said. . . .
posted by Degolar @ 11:07 AM
2 Comments:
Of course, bicyclists aren’t always innocent victims. They can be at fault when they weave in and out of traffic, make unexpected moves or sail through intersections.
The most important paragraph in the article. If Columbia drivers violated traffic laws with the frequency and hubris that Columbia cyclists do, the city would cease to function due to the widespread death and destruction. Whatever problem, if any, this town has with "harassment" of cyclists is overshadowed by the persistent danger created by the cyclists' own flagrant disregard for the basic rules of the road. The city's time would be better spent enforcing the rules of the road on the cyclists themselves, since, at present, they are a public menace. (I have often said, and I stand by the assertion, that Columbia has the stupidest pedestrians and cyclists anywhere in the known universe).
Offenses using both types of transportation need to be enforced. It can be an escalating circle of anger and stereotyping--a driver sees and idiot cyclist, so is impatient with the next cyclist he sees, then that cyclist feels harassed and flips off the next car that doesn't see him, and it grows, with everyone becoming more entrenched in their hatred.
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