Sherbona

Some pretty controversial stuff in the Thursday column of Roadshow (Mercury News). In it Mr. Roadshow seems to support a reader who wants to “restrict bicycles to roads specifically designed with bike lanes”. See link below:

https://www.mercurynews.com/mr-roadshow/ci_16576888,

Make your opinion known about this. You can contact Gary Richards (Mr. Roadshow) at mrroadshow@mercurynews.com . Also consider leaving a comment at the bottom of the article in the above link

uspspro

So much selfishness on the part of these drivers who are commenting.

They don't give a **** about the rider's safety, they care about being inconvenienced.

531phile 

If there's a road system for bicycles as extensive as the car system here in the US, (will never happen in my lifetime) then yeah, I'm all for it. Until that happens, I'll ride on the road with them cagers.

UmneyDurak

Damn those cyclists that are forcing poor defenseless drivers to pass on blind corners.

The whole article, and I am using this term loosely, is a an epic fail in critical thinking.

Sherbona

Yeah I was suprised by that column, Mr. Roadshow usually seems more on top of things. I hope everyone emails him (see first post) and lets him know how you feel. I just sent mine:

------------------------------
Mr. Roadshow,

I am somewhat disappointed with Rob Mazzei’s comments in today’s Roadshow column and your response.

> Passing: Bikers do not "force cars" to make unsafe passes - the driver must not pass until it is safe, period. This may mean slowing down and perhaps arriving at your destination a few minutes later, the horror!

> Mixed Use: Bicycles and cars DO mix, it happens every day. I have commuted by bike and have been car-free for several years now. I afford every courtesy possible to cars, and for the most part - with the exception of a few drivers who tend pass too close and then turn right ("right-hook"), or open their parked car door without first looking - we all get along just fine. Rare is the day I don't share a smile or friendly wave with a driver.

> Restricting Bicycles: Bicycling is a mode of transportation, it is not just for recreation. For some of us it is our primary or even only transportation, one that I may add does not consume foreign gas or cause air pollution. Restricting bicyclists from roads that do not have bicycle lanes is just as crazy as restricting “cagers” (car drivers trapped in 4-wheeled cages) from these same roads.

> Helmets: Many more people die in car accidents that don't involve bicyclists. By your logic Gary all drivers and passengers should by law have to wear helmets as well. Or perhaps we don't need a law for everything.

I note that this kind of thing seems to come up after bicycle accidents yet not after car, bus, or train accidents. Why is that? I think perhaps because some perceive bicycles as being for recreation only and not transportation. California’s recent “Complete Streets” REQUIRES all government agencies to plan roads for bicycles, pedestrians, transit users, as well as automobiles.

Please everyone, share the road and ride/drive safely.
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x136 

Let us not forget that the road system was made for bicycles. It's freeways that were made for cars.

So when someone yells to "get off the road," the appropriate response, in addition to "**** you," is "get on the freeway!"

JourneyLightly

Nicely put.

milliron

Not even going to click the link. They are just trying to drum up advertising revenue. No need to feed the trolls.

uspspro

That's my thought too.

There are already roads deigned for cars only... Freeways... and we stay off of them.

Wonder if these fools would advocate banning pedestrians from crossing the street too.

Dchiefransom

Mr Roadshow's sources are frequently wrong. He was told that cars can change lanes over solid white lines, but on KRON4's People Behaving Badly, the San Francisco police were ticketing people for it.
The biggest slice of the pie chart for fatal head injuries is motor vehicle accidents, so drivers need a law to put on those NASCAR helmets.
The guy that was driving on Hwy 1 north of the Golden Gate was not likely doing it strictly for work.

ericm979

Mr Roadshow has a consistent bias against two wheeled vehicles.

johnny99

If you don't like what he says, write to him. His e-mail address is at the top of his articles and he does seem to read his e-mail, though he doesn't always reply.

johnny99

Roadshow: The bicycling debate revisited
https://www.mercurynews.com/mr-roadshow/ci_16597556

DiabloScott

Quote:

Wishing I didn't have to pass cyclists on the road is like wishing I didn't have to turn on my lights at night to drive. Any driver that can't deal with it really does not belong behind the wheel. I'll bet the typical time required to safely pass a cyclist is at most 10 seconds more than making an unsafe pass. It's a matter of deciding that 10 seconds out of their busy day is worth somebody's life.

Oh, that's good.

uspspro

Read my comment:

Posted below: "bikes on narrow twisty roads with blind corners endanger even those following the laws. for the safety of both drivers and bikers, they should not be allowed on certain roads. no bike lane, no bikes."
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Hmmm.. but you are choosing one means of transport over another, and one group of people over another.. I'm sorry but this is wrong and takes away my right to liberty (which includes freedom to travel about).

Cyclists chose to go ride mountain roads to escape traffic congested areas, enjoy the scenery and the challenge of the terrain. On mountain roads, cyclists are affecting only a few cars (these roads are mostly low volume). Why are the car drivers on the mountain roads? If the driver doesn't live there it is probably for the same reason. Why should the driver get to enjoy the area, but not a cyclist? (Including those who may not have a car)

If I had to give up that right, my life would be DRASTICALLY altered. My wife and I share this pastime, and besides each other it is THE most important thing in our lives (until we have kids, then it would move to #2, but still). I would rather be able to ride than have my career, my home, and just about everything else.

The bottom line is that there are ways to drive and cycle safe on the same mountain roads. My wife and I have logged THOUSANDS of miles last in the past couple of years mostly on mountain roads. We rarely have incidents with car drivers, so most of them and us ourselves are doing it right. Everyone is capable of it, it just requires some patience and total focus on piloting your vehicle. Driving a car has become such second nature to most of us that the full "reality" of the task has been muddied. Driving involves enough kinetic energy to destroy buildings, other cars, people, animals, etc.. Cycling involves putting one's selves at risk and affecting other's on the road with their actions. Both groups of people should take care out there... but taking rights away is not the answer.

Cycling should be encouraged in this era. Driving to Pescadero or some other destination on the weekend, and to the office during the week, contributes to CO2 and other emissions, the materials/energy cycle and dependence on non-renewable fossil fuels. Cycling does not even come close in those regards. Global climate change may lead to HUGE problems in the very near future: like the death of all coral reefs by 2050 (IPCC), and sea level rise that can potentially inundate more than 200 sq miles of the Bay Area (BCDC). These are bigger issues then these car/bike compatibility issues.

Cycling also contributes to healthiness and fighting obesity, lowering healthcare costs. It REDUCES traffic most of the time, like when I commute to work for example. I could go on and on... Cycling is over all a big positive impact on society, the environment and even traffic.

UmneyDurak

I spent my weekends on the twisties. Mornings on my bicycles and afternoon on my motorcycle. I NEVER had a problem with cyclists on bind corners. Drivers making U turns, parked on the road, driving on wrong side of the road thought is another story. If anything they should be banned from the twisties. They are danger to others and themselves. I cringe at all those drivers driving up there for Christmas trees, it will be like a demolition derby.

KD5NRH

Shouldn't you stick to points in favor of cycling? This just makes me want to take my catalytic converter off.

uspspro

Cool... I heard you can get almost a hundred bucks for that thing from the junk yard!

christ0ph

Shades of deja-vu.

Do people know that the United States allowed the auto industry to destroy our country's mass transit system, which was the envy of the world, - in order to give people no choice but to buy cars?

https://www.thedetroiter.com/jan05/carnation1.html

Forcing people to buy cars they did not then need, required an organized destruction of our national public transit network ...

Beween the end of WWII and the mid 60s, all across the country, the same thing happened. That bad decision to let the car, oil and tire companies interests trump the national interest - that BAD policy caused the US's addiction to oil and did a lot to create the stratified economic situation we have today.

christ0ph

The reasons you give are precisely why some people feel threatened by bicycling.

God forbid that their various memes no longer work to discourage most people from bicycling.

With automobiles, a driver who rear ends is auomatically at fault, because they weren't travelling at an appropriate speed considering what was visible. As long as bikes have lights and if there are cars behind them, use the abundant turnoffs on those winding roads to let cars pass, just as any car would, there is no conceivable reason to treat bicycles any differently than cars.

bjorke

Thank you for visiting San Jose Mercury News. We are sorry the article that you requested is no longer available.

Wimps. Or maybe the legal dept let Mr Roadshow know that he was veerng too close to incitement to commit a crime?

'nother

No; the problem is that christ0ph revived a nearly year-old thread (date of the OP is 11-11-10), and the original article from the same day is now archived. It's available, but you have to pay for a SJ Merc Archive Account to see it. May I be so bold to suggest that it's not worth it? It's the usual drivel between non-cyclists and cyclists. The "question" to Mr. Roadshow was apparently sparked by the fatal accident involving a big-rig and cyclist on Alpine Road at I-280.

Here's the summary:

Dchiefransom

Most of the winding two lane roads in the mountains don't have turnouts that cyclists or other cars can use. The cyclists would have to get off the road and stop. On King's Mountain, there's only one straight section that's safe to pass anyone on the way up between the beginning of the climb and Huddart Park. I drive up there to the archery range. I wait for the cyclists on the way up, and they have to wait for me on the way down, since they descend faster.