We have a gas station in my town that is on a very busy road. A side walk exists but isn't used much as the road doesn't really go anywhere. Some genius planted shrubs at the corners of the parking lot entrance/exit meaning a driver has to pull ahead of them into the sidewalk to see the road. I could see the rest of the sidewalk, but the cyclist must have been perfectly lined up with the bush b/c I never saw him. They were able to slam on their brakes and avoid the side of my car. As a cyclist myself I felt like the biggest doofus.

It was good for me though because I am an even safer driver now, and a better biker. I learned that even the best drivers aren't perfect so don't ever think they see you. When in doubt slow down. This cyclist was doing 20mph on the sidewalk. They weren't prepared for cross traffic, they were going too fast, and they didn't anticipate me. Even if it's the driver's fault techinically, it's no good to be right and dead.

When I was a teenager, my dad, in his infinite uncoolness, made me wear a helmet and use a light at night. He even made me put an orange flag on my bike when I rode on country roads. The light was OK because no one knew who I was at night, and I could take it off during the day to save myself from the ridicule of my peers. But the other stuff...it was removed as soon as I turned the corner of my house. Of course, now I do all those things, and then some. I even have two lights and two triangles. Hmmm... Could he have possibly influenced me? Could my dad of been right in any way? Say it ain't so! He cruises around at exactly the speed limit and slows down carefully, and I drive slow and am careful. Oh, this is horrible. And to think the junior high kids laugh at me when I go by.

All a parent can do is plant the seed. I feel sorry for the kids who get nothing planted in their brains. They get nothing out of them, even if they do live to see adulthood.

Clay