Discussion on DCist

An opinion piece on DCist caused quite a long conversation. Some comments are pretty interesting, and some unfortunately have that "I'm better than you because I bike" or "all cyclist should be run over" taint that does no one any good. Some of the better comments:

For commuting and/or fast riding, taking the lane on the public road that's legally due to a bicyclist *should* be the safest choice. It probably would be, if cyclists were accorded proper status by people in motor vehicles. But if only a relative very few drivers don't respect cyclists' right to take *a whole lane*, then there's a problem, and cyclists will often a) ride on the sidewalk or b) behave in a way that appears erratic and unpredictable, but often is a form of self defense.

and

When I'm on the road I can expect my fellow drivers to obey traffic laws (again, most of the time), and I use that expectation to safely operate my vehicle in their midst. But with bikers, I have no idea what they are going to do. Some signal, but most don't. Some follow signage, but most don't. It is always the responsibility of drivers to safely navigate around bikers on the road, but that task is made massively more difficult when bikers refuse to follow the rules that apply to all who share the road.

Anyway check it out.

Comments

[gwadzilla]

hello WASHCYCLE
I was wondering if you could post something for the folks at WABA
they are looking for bike valet volunteers for the Cherry Blossom Festival

there is infomation on the WABA.org site
and
there is information on my blog as well

oh, btw
I wrote an article for next month's SPOKES
it is on the BICYCLE BLOG
made mention of your WASHCYCLE in my effort to share the world of the bicycle blog with the Mid-Atlantic region
or at least the readers of SPOKES