[SDCBC] FW: bike safety and good neighbor relations

[JonIsaacs at aol.com]

In a message dated 10/12/07 6:04:23 AM Pacific Daylight Time, 
j.eldon at sbcglobal.net writes:

> Again, the central problem is that we have a society in which the 
> individual is too often not held accountable for his or her actions that cause harm to 
> others, as judges and juries take an "aw shucks, accidents do happen," and 
> "wow -- that could have easily been I in the driver's seat" attitude.
>   
> John E.
> 
-----

As cyclists we need to address the problems we can address effectively.  
There are plenty of organizations who have far greater resources addressing the 
issues like driving while intoxicated and as an individual I support the efforts 
of these groups and as an an organization I am sure that in principle SDCBC 
supports the efforts of M.A.D.D. and other such groups.

But the resources of SDCBC are limited and need to focus on addressing the 
important issues facing the cycling community, not the issues facing our entire 
society.

A few thoughts

-  Most cycling accidents are do not involve motor vehicles.

-  Of those that do, somewhere around half are the fault of the cyclist.

-  When I am out driving or riding, the irresponsible behavior I see that 
puts the safety of cyclist in doubt is most often something a cyclist is doing, 
not a motorist.

- I have been riding motorcycles since 1963,  bicycles since about 1953, the 
last 20 years on bicycles only and commuting daily for about 17 of those 20 
years.  I have been following this list for several years.  I thought I knew how 
to effectively ride in traffic and in general I think I did.  Yet when I took 
the Road 1 course just recently I learned a great deal.  Us old timers, there 
is always something to learn.

So, while I am disappointed in the attitudes of some of the motorists I see, 
I am quite confident that most effective use of SDCBC's efforts are to 
directly address the issues related to cycling, whether it is educating riders of all 
skill levels, working on outreach to educate motorists and/or attract new 
cyclists, working with city government to better conditions for cycling, both in 
the short term and long term.

When pointing fingers at problems in society, I think it is best to start at 
home and when I look around at cyclists as a group, we have enough to do 
educating and changing attitudes within the cycling community to keep us busy a 
long, long time.

jon



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