[richardmasoner]

The Sun-Sentinel calls SAFE (http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/opinion/editorial/sfl-editnbbikepackfeb03,0,6948445.story) a bicycling advocacy group, but "they" seem to be more a motoring interest group.

Does anybody know anything about this 'SAFE' group and Jim Smith in Florida? Is this a one man crusade?

RFM

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[CommuterRun]

Never heard of the man or the organization.

The story got one thing wrong, the minimum safe passing distance required by law for a motor vehicle to pass a bicycle is 3' not 5.

Better enforcement of current laws regulating cyclists would render grounds for this one being advocated for, moot.

Like I have stated before on this forum, each bicycle is a vehicle unto itself. Multiple cyclists riding together or in a pace line does not make them all a single vehicle. That's how BS like this gets started.

[eubi]

The story got one thing wrong, the minimum safe passing distance required by law for a motor vehicle to pass a bicycle is 3' not 5.

They are talking about the width of the bike lane, not safe passing distance. Am I missing something?

[Speedo]

They are talking about the width of the bike lane, not safe passing distance. Am I missing something?

From the article:

"But the push to make Florida more bicycle-friendly won a big victory last year, when the Legislature passed a law requiring motorists to give bicyclists a full five feet of space when passing them on any public road."

Elsewhere in the article it does refer to the bike lane width.

Speedo

[SamHouston]

Jim Smith sounds like a shill for those opposed to bicycling. Mr. Smith would have all cyclists removed from the road for the sake of a few impatient, vocal drivers who were inconvenienced no more than they would be at a busy intersection. He's found a slippery slope and holds his toboggon at the ready.

His words clearly ratchet up the danger to current cyclists by proclaiming that leaving a bicycle lane is tantamount to declaring war. We all know what war means, and allows, don't we? Jim Smith doesn't, he spoke without thinking, giving justification to bad behaviour behind the wheel towards those in the saddle. When a "cycling advocate" believes themselves that leaving a bike lane is a provocation of unlawful, unwarranted retribution, & then addresses what can be done to justify this anger, perhaps by making it unlawful to leave a bike lane, then the advocate has lost their way and should step down, and be quiet.

Jim Smith of has given in & given over. Except, he may never have intended to advocate cycling. His activities are limited to editorial opinion pages, letters & presentations to toothless committees over the dearth of MUP facilities in his region. Jim Smith may have been dressed a cycling advocate for being one of only a few in the area addressing any cycling issue at all, if so it's an ill-fitting garment & should be discarded.

OT
The article is so poorly written, I can't remember when I've been so turned off of words.

"The rotten apple always ruins it for the rest" ? A turn of phrase or the laconic butchery of what once was?

Give me a ****ing break, Florida is a rough place to be sure with all those storms lately, but has it been so bad for so long that their writers have devolved to a performance level expected of third-grade book reports?

All subject matter aside, the Sun-Sentinel should FIRE that writer for their performance in that article alone.