They drive among us — this is so wrong in so many ways

Courtesy of the Tucson Bike Lawyer comes this letter to the editor, from a writer in Vail — no, not that one, the other one:

Re: the June 10 article “Man faces additional charges in cyclist death.”

Having a stroke or some other medical impairment, a tire blowout, equipment failure, are all potential causes for a driver accidentally killing a cyclist riding on the shoulder of a road.

Every person who chooses to exercise or train for competition via roadside biking (and that would constitute the lion’s share of all roadside cyclists) needs to recognize that there is ever-present danger, even when all parties are abiding by the rules of the road. I personally find it illogical to take on such a risk when the same goals may be accomplished in safer environments.

What of the lives affected and possibly ruined by the accidental taking of a human life? Given current road conditions and laws governing these matters, roadside cycling seems selfish.

John M. Towle
Self-employed, Vail

Let’s ignore the fact that cycling is one of the best ways to avoid having a stroke in the first place.

What I love here is the blame the victim mentality, merged with a severe case of carhead. In his mind, it’s not the driver’s fault that he killed a cyclist. It’s the cyclist’s fault for being there.

After all, shit happens when you’re behind the wheel of a two-ton instrument of mass destruction.

And it’s not like anyone’s responsible for that, or anything.

No, we’re being selfish for riding our bikes on the roads. It’s entirely our fault if someone should happen to ruin his or her life by killing us.

Got it.

………

Travelin’ Local walks the same Venice canals I rode through the other day, but her pictures are a lot mo’ betta than mine would be. Stephen Box reports on the TranspoComm meeting that sort of was, considering hardly any of the members showed up. Bike licensing in L.A. just won’t go away, no matter how many times we drive a stake through it. LAist interviews two L.A. riders on a 2,000 mile journey from Vancouver to Tijuana to fight plastics in the ocean. The local Boulder, CO newspaper says disobedience that could get cyclists killed isn’t very civil, after all. A Michigan cyclist suggests that Port Huron could use a law like the one that just passed in Columbia, MO. We could use one here, too. A bike blogger in Springfield, MO asks when is it okay to run a red light? Finally, it has nothing to do with cycling, but my good friend at Altadena Blog notes that the unfriendly, non-housebroken cat someone out there found looks a lot like a possum.

2 comments

  1. Erik G. says:

    Say, if a bicycle license from any city in the state will do…why not find some small city that issues licenses by mail and show them how it could be a bit of a money-maker. I’ll bet a place in the San Joaquin valley would be thrilled to get $5 from all the cyclists in Los Angeles in exchange for a business card-sized piece of paper.

  2. LisaNewton says:

    Unbelievable. I will never understand how people can think like this. Unfortunately, I think this type of thinking is more common than not.

    BTW, thanks for the link to Venice. It’s a great place isn’t it.

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