Originally Posted by
Ghost Ryder
My hills are quite steep, & they're rollers. If your not paying attention odds are you'll sideswipe a car before a cyclist.
If they can't see my myriad of blinkers than I guess I have I coming to me.
I gonna float a WAG that we lose about a cyclist every other year that way in my city. Last one was a couple on a tandem who were actually over on the shoulder, guy in pickup wasn't paying attention, radio or phone or something. IIRC he was acquitted of negligent homicide.
Better me on a bike, than me smoking a child or a pet on a narrow sidewalk.
Sounds unlikely, and you getting your pelvis shattered along with broke legs and permanent brain injury would be an entirely separate event from anything that happened on the sidewalk, it ain't an either/or concept we are discussing here.
I don't use my body to regulate traffic, I just follow the rules of the road in my area.
You have clearly stated that traffic has to slow down to avoid hitting your body on your bike in the roadway. Sooner or later for whatever reason someone wont, and any "local hero" status you may have will be quickly forgotten. Most people out there would probably put the blame on you.
Commuting forums isn't it?
I commute every day while consciously avoiding such situations, I would imagine most bicycle commuters do, pretty much a given if they've survived any length of time.
JMHO,
Mike