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Issue One: Bikes and cars
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Stick to the trails
Isn't it about time we outlaw bicycles on our city streets? How many lives need to be lost? How many injuries need to be recorded at hospitals?
Our city streets are dangerous for bicycles. They are narrow, they are steep (slowing down the bicyclist) and they have many turns and bends, leaving blind spots for the driver.
I've seen bikes on Becks Run Road force me over the double yellow line. I've seen bikes on Glass Run Road, which is the scariest with its many blind bends. I've seen bikes on River Run Road, which is just wide enough for two cars. I've seen bikes on West Liberty Avenue making me jam on my brakes because I did not have enough time to get over because of traffic, causing a car to almost hit me.
The city has spent many thousands of dollars on bike trails. Use those trails; it is safer for you and safer for me.
ARLENE SHANKS
Beechview
Motorists pay
Regarding the Aug. 2 story "Bicycling in the Danger Zone" about the two bicyclists recently killed on Penn Avenue: If bicycles "have as much right to the road as you do in your car or in your truck or on your motorcycle," why are the cars, trucks and motorcycles paying registration, inspection and insurance and the bicycles are not?
TERRY MEYERS
Shaler
Cyclists are people
With two deaths on Penn Avenue involving "cyclists" everybody needs to become more aware of their surroundings, including "drivers."
To some, "cyclist" means a scofflaw running through red lights with reckless abandon. To others, "cyclist" is a guy in spandex with aspirations to pass through the Arc de Triomphe wearing a yellow jersey. But the reality is that "cyclists" are just everyday people.
"Cyclists" are mothers, doctors, school teachers, waiters, brothers, firefighters and any occupation or background you can think of. The two men killed recently on Penn Avenue were not "cyclists;" they were taxpayers using a low-cost form of transportation on public roads while enhancing their health.
To eliminate these senseless acts of violence along with the general hostility toward "cyclists," let's think about what we are talking about. "Cyclists" are people. When you beep, yell or scream obscenities at them, you are yelling at someone's father or sister. So, the next time you see a "cyclist," think about how you would want someone else to treat the people you love as you pass them on the street.
JASON KAMBITSIS
Oakwood
First Published August 12, 2012 12:00 am
