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Re: Driving Pet Peeves
In article <3s40jo$t12@rcogate.rco.qc.ca>, asouthie@volvox.qc.ca (Alain Southiere) writes...
>...
>
> Don't get me wrong, I try to co-exist as much as possible with cyclists,
>but many seem to do everything to get hit or simply do everything to
>annoy car drivers. For instance, in some streets here, we have a cyclist
>path just between the road and the sidewalk. But many cyclist still
>ride on the road itself instead of the cycle path. The road is narrower
>than it was because they built a cycle path, so it's more dangerous for
>cyclists, but they still use the road instead of the safer cycle path.
There are a few problems with the cycle paths on the right hand sides of
the road here in Pasadena:
1. Cars park in them, even if it is illegal to park there.
Actually, this is a big problem on 4-lane
city streets without bike paths as well. If given a choice between
weaving left and right to avoid cars parked in the bike lane, or
staying to the left of all the parked cars and driving in a safe,
predictable manner, I'll choose the straighter, safer route.
2. The bike lane often becomes the right-turn lane for cars at
every intersection. More than once I've been moving at a good clip
down the bike lane when a car slides into the bike lane, and nearly into
me, while preparing for a right turn.
Don't get me wrong; bike lanes are a Good Thing. We just need the
motorists to realize that bikes use them! (And to get them to realize
that they can no longer park on the street on Hill between Del Mar and
Colorado here in Pasadena! I wouldn't notice so much if it wasn't
part of my daily commute...)
Tim. (shoppa@altair.krl.caltech.edu)
References: