Re: Cyclist Dies
As one fortunate enough to survive a car running a stop sign and hitting
me on my bike, the unfortunate truth for me is that cars and bikes do
not mix in most situations. Our society recognized this long ago with
pedestrians and we build them sidewalks. And, at least here in Madison,
we are building off road paths for bikes (hurray!)
My advice is always to take the route where you least come in contact
with cars cause they can sometimes go astray and even the most defensive
of cyclists can become a victim. I can tell you that until it happens
to you, you really don't understand how vulnerable we are to a random,
unfortunate and tragic incident. Still now, years later, I cannot
approach an intersection without some level of fear that the car
approaching will actually speed up instead of slow down to stop. I know
many of you truly feel you can be safe in all situations and I hope you
are right.
On the other hand, if we can achieve a critical mass of bikes and peds
in the street, cars will not assume ownership of that space. This
dynamic sometimes plays out around campus. Some parts of campus are
generally known by motorists as an area to "watch out" for crazy bikers
and peds. This "bad behavior" from those risk takers and law
breakers while giving us all a bad reputation turns out to be good for
motorists because it forces them to pay attention. The campus area
(full of these risk takers) is probably one of the safest places to bike
and walk IMO.
Just sayin'
David Waugh
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