The Tampa Tribune's Laura Kinsler did a story about the tensions and conflicts between motorists and group cyclists in the country roads of Pasco County in the San Ann area.
Check out all the kill-the-bicyclist comments following the story.
There's a lot hostile sabre-rattling about driving over bicyclists -- reminiscent of the foolish quips uttered over the radio by sports talking head Tony Kornheiser earlier this month.
Should bicyclists obey traffic laws like motorists? Absolutely.
But let's study the weight of the concerns:
Motor vehicle operator: Miffed about waiting to pass a bicyclist, will be a few minutes late.
Bicyclist: Miffed about the threat of being killed by a driver.
Let's all cooperate and be courteous out there.
7 comments:
KInd of ironic that the very first picture of the story shows cyclists breaking the law by riding more than two abreast.
Of course, I guess this blogger is more concerned about "comments" being made, rather than the actual law being broken.
Even more ironic that SWFBUD member Randy Myhre, feels motorists should be okay with the inconvenience of slowing down for cyclists, that he admits take up too much of the road, YET, he doesnt want to be inconvenienced with a silly stop sign.
THis is a great article for showing the arrogance of cyclists who want "equal rights" to the road, but special rights also.
I wonder who contacted Laura for the story? Sure didnt pan out the way they would have wanted, I'm sure.
'Anonymous' still has a chip on her shoulder, but that aside, I tend to agree that there's a problem with the way these group rides are done.
I don't like the idea of treating a group of cyclists as a 'single vehicle' even though it makes some sense. That same mentality is why motorists run lights as they turn red, and it seems to clog up the roads when applied to very large groups of bicycles.
I think a good way of handling group rides would be to get support from the police department and local government. Instead of going out and breaking the law in a way that makes the roads less safe for all cyclists (angering motorists who hold grudges and get around by driving lethal weapons), get a certain route partitioned off for bicycle use, or get a police escort. Since it seems to be an issue that's causing heated discussion from both sides, they might be willing to work something out.
Or if that fails, just obey the law. Maybe stop and go at stop signs in groups about as wide/long as a car rather than just blowing through them. And maybe ride on roads where taking up the whole right lane wouldn't clog up traffic too much.
I'm just worried that the attitude and actions of bicycle groups are part of the reason motorists are so angry and hostile to the rest of us in the first place. I think that motorists are far worse than bicyclists when it comes to road rage and dangerous activity on the roads, but I'd prefer we take the higher ground in our quest to make the roads safer.
There's a lot of blame to go around up there. The "Roadies" have done their share or pissing off the locals by using both sides of the road.
According to the article, Alan 'met" with the sheriff's office. We'd sure like to hear about that meeting.
@Anonymous:
Who's "we"?
Donny, we is Bret. And Bret, I told the reporter that I talked with a member of the sheriff's office about the issue, did not meet.
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