Comment 78477

By Undustrial (registered) - website | Posted June 13, 2012 at 18:16:44

The last collision I had with a driver happened last week when a guy got out of his truck and kicked my back wheel. Our roads are not safe for cyclists. That's why so many people ride on the sidewalks - just ask them. I gave up trying to tell 'em "the road's over here" after being screamed at many times over. As someone who rides nearly every day, I can attest that even if you're riding perfectly legally (and "properly"), it's still incredibly dangerous. This goes totally ignored by the police who prefer to focus on bell and sidewalk citations downtown.

Many drivers (not all, but enough) totally ignore bikes. By that I mean they don't feel compelled to stay stopped at a two-way if there's only a bike coming. They'll pull out of parking spaces or drive out of parking lots, they'll turn corners, and cut you off with mere inches to spare, often then slamming on their breaks to turn corners. When they do notice, they'll honk and swear, and because "you're on a bike", they're simply more important. Their life is not in danger, and yours is. The example I give above of a driver getting out and physically threatening/assaulting cyclists is not rare, we even had two guys threaten to pound an older gentleman for riding in the 'wrong lane' at the last Critical Mass ride I was at. Again, this gets totally ignored by police. I've been rammed, I've had my life threatened. Once, as a kid, I had a couple of guys threaten to throw me off the Longwood Street bridge.

Maybe, if we really want cyclists to stop riding on the sidewalks, we should do something about all the people honking, swearing and screaming "get on the sidewalk"?

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