[SDCBC] FW: bike safety and good neighbor relations

[Neil Brooks]

Meh.  I'm closer to being in agreement with the original poster.

But then I look at myself as having all of the rights AND ALL OF THE RESPONSIBILITIES of a
motorist.

It also speaks to why my favorite person with whom to ride is ... me :-)

A comment or two below, too.

--- trevorspoke at cox.net wrote:

> Kathy, thanks for the friendly note from our roadway neighbors with too many wheels (wink). We
> all have to remember to avoid being judgemental about others' driving choices that cross the
> line from unlawful into merely "different from our style". Those in the weekend group rides know
> that the writer is completely backward about what works well on a "well-traveled road". It is
> better, in fact, for all the bikes to stay out of the bike lanes altogether so that we don't get
> so many conflicts at right turns, where motorists end up on the wrong side of the bunch because
> they didn't know the rules of the road require them to merge into the bike lane to make their
> turn.
> 
> Companions riding and chatting side by side are neither more dangerous, nor more bothersome to
> other road users, than loner motorists chatting to their buds on the cell phone. We all want the
> same thing, to make our travel more enjoyable.

a) studies CONSISTENTLY show that cell phone users are as dangerous as drunk drivers, regardless
of whether or not they use a hands-free device, so ... I think your analogy is damning, at best. 
I aim to be better, safer, and more courteous than drivers, not less;

b) my goal has not been to make "my travel more enjoyable" in a few decades.  My goal is to get
from point A to point B safely, and without undue impact to others, hopefully, enjoying the
process at the same time ;-)

> I don't regularly travel Del Dios, but even if I did I would avoid calling into question someone
> else's choice of riding style. I would merely remind them to ride safely, lawfully, and
> cooperatively. Mayhap that's already what they're doing.

Four abreast -- if that's really what was going on -- can't be legal.  Just do the math and you'll
know they were well outside of the bike lanes.  Taken at face value, it was a small group of
cyclists saying, in essence, that their needs were more important than the needs of any vehicle
traffic.  Not nice.  Not thoughtful.  Not fair.  Likely not legal.

Sometimes, a bike ride is better than a chat with your friends.  The chat, however, can STILL
happen ... at Roberto's ... or Starbuck's ... or post-ride, somewhere.

IMHO, of course.  YMMV., etc., etc. ;-)