Originally Posted by
Pig_Chaser
Yeah it was cute. I get that both sides were written by the same author, but the motorist rant is more of a cyclist safety nanny rant. I don't think there's a single motorist thinking bicycles should "get the f off the sidewalks".
I am a motorist who thinks that.
Elaborating: I've been a bicycle rider for years, mostly just riding for fun, mostly on MUP's & in "safe" residential areas.
Recently my job relocated me about the same time I found a new place to live, so I bought a place near my new job. It warmed up to 40 degrees in the morning(I want to try year round riding, but I also wanted to start of easy and work my way up) and so on a Saturday I figured out a decent route. Then I got comfortable with riding again, and started experimenting with different routes, but those darn busy rodes, those sidewalks need ramps for wheelchairs and bicycles I kept muttering! Then I decided to search for some tips online, and for a few days I was a dedicated reader of
www.bikeforums.com, wasn't long after that before I was a member. Where I read about VC. Whats that? Reading, Reading, Reading, hymm some of these people seem kinda insane, but overall it seems a sound theory. Next morning; I was almost hit while riding along on the Sidewalk(because thats the safe place to be I was told all my life...) by a car in a hurry to get to work I suppose, she cut across a parking lot and I found that my brakes are still in pretty good condition. Trip to LBS that night and discovered "Bicycling & The Law". Turns out I belong in the road, and its safer(most of the time). I'm still trying things out and testing limits and such, but I've improved 1000 fold since I started a bit over a month ago.
Now when I see a cyclist riding on the sidewalk with traffic I am so/so about it, when I see a cyclist riding the wrong way in the road in a bicycle lane I am concerned for them and tempted to have a talk with them to see if they know what they are doing, when I see them riding the wrong way on the sidewalk, I am always strongly tempted to explain to them that they are putting themselves in a very dangerous position. But, I am still learning, so I am not yet confident enough to feel that I can teach others, plus I don't think my point would be well taken from the window of a truck. However, if on my bicycle, and able to safely meet them, I would attempt to teach them what I have only recently learned. Too bad I was not taught in drivers ed...