sam83
I was pretty POed after an incident in a local county and decided to write the local paper. It took several revisions on my part to get it toned down. Here's the result which was published this week:
Please Share the Road
To the Person Who Almost Ran Over Me Recently:
I’m sure you were wondering why I remained solidly inside the lane while you barreled down on me with your horn blasting. Let me explain.
We were about to be in a situation where you, me and an oncoming vehicle were going to pass each other at the same point in the road. The oncoming vehicle was large. You, with your brain-bashing wide mirrors, were pulling an empty livestock trailer and the road was not wide. There was barely a shoulder so there was no way for you to pass me safely and legally while remaining in your lane. You would have to swerve over the yellow line or pass me too closely. By staying in the lane I was clearly communicating that there was not room for the three of us and that you needed to slow down and wait for a more appropriate time to pass.
Although there was plenty of time to slow down, you chose not to. Fortunately, I could recognize your wanton disregard for the safety of all legal road users, so I swerved to the edge of the shoulder in time to save you from having to defend yourself in a vehicular manslaughter case. It was too close and illegal.
I was upset and gestured in no uncertain terms that you were No. 1 in my book. Now, here’s the funny part. Upon seeing my reaction in your mirrors, you hauled your rig to a complete stop in the middle of the road. Think about this for a moment. You can’t slow down to safely share the road with another legal road user, but after illegally passing me, you can come to a complete STOP in the middle of the road to WHAT? Whoop my butt?
Unfortunately, you drove off before I was able to catch up to you. This combination of poor judgment, aggression and posturing, followed by flight makes me think that you were probably out of school for Spring Break.
Cyclists have all the same rights on the road as you do. We’re not required to ride on the shoulder, and doing so usually results in dangerously close and illegal passes at best and homicide at worst. I’m sorry if you don’t like that, but it’s the law.
And no, I don’t have to have a “special license” for my bike, but again, that’s the law. But I do have insurance, six registered vehicles in my household and, boy, I pay a lot of taxes. I spent more than $45 in Giles County on Friday that will be added to your tax revenues.
Next time, please keep in mind that the cyclist you pass is somebody’s father, mother, son, daughter, brother or sister. Slow down a little and give us some space.
To the overwhelming majority of you that make Giles County a wonderful place to ride (and purchase gas, drinks and food), I’d like to thank you for sharing the roads and passing me safely.
Sincerely,
blah, blah, blah
I hope I have not invited wrath.
Please Share the Road
To the Person Who Almost Ran Over Me Recently:
I’m sure you were wondering why I remained solidly inside the lane while you barreled down on me with your horn blasting. Let me explain.
We were about to be in a situation where you, me and an oncoming vehicle were going to pass each other at the same point in the road. The oncoming vehicle was large. You, with your brain-bashing wide mirrors, were pulling an empty livestock trailer and the road was not wide. There was barely a shoulder so there was no way for you to pass me safely and legally while remaining in your lane. You would have to swerve over the yellow line or pass me too closely. By staying in the lane I was clearly communicating that there was not room for the three of us and that you needed to slow down and wait for a more appropriate time to pass.
Although there was plenty of time to slow down, you chose not to. Fortunately, I could recognize your wanton disregard for the safety of all legal road users, so I swerved to the edge of the shoulder in time to save you from having to defend yourself in a vehicular manslaughter case. It was too close and illegal.
I was upset and gestured in no uncertain terms that you were No. 1 in my book. Now, here’s the funny part. Upon seeing my reaction in your mirrors, you hauled your rig to a complete stop in the middle of the road. Think about this for a moment. You can’t slow down to safely share the road with another legal road user, but after illegally passing me, you can come to a complete STOP in the middle of the road to WHAT? Whoop my butt?
Unfortunately, you drove off before I was able to catch up to you. This combination of poor judgment, aggression and posturing, followed by flight makes me think that you were probably out of school for Spring Break.
Cyclists have all the same rights on the road as you do. We’re not required to ride on the shoulder, and doing so usually results in dangerously close and illegal passes at best and homicide at worst. I’m sorry if you don’t like that, but it’s the law.
And no, I don’t have to have a “special license” for my bike, but again, that’s the law. But I do have insurance, six registered vehicles in my household and, boy, I pay a lot of taxes. I spent more than $45 in Giles County on Friday that will be added to your tax revenues.
Next time, please keep in mind that the cyclist you pass is somebody’s father, mother, son, daughter, brother or sister. Slow down a little and give us some space.
To the overwhelming majority of you that make Giles County a wonderful place to ride (and purchase gas, drinks and food), I’d like to thank you for sharing the roads and passing me safely.
Sincerely,
blah, blah, blah
I hope I have not invited wrath.