Friday, May 30, 2008

Share the road?

I went to the store earlier tonight to grab some dinner.

I pulled out into the road and these two cyclists were coming down off of Sugar and for a second I thought they weren't going to stop and just roll out in front of me. Which would have been a bad decision considering I would not have had time to move and could have hit them. They didn't, they reluctantly stopped.

They did however decide it was a good idea to pull on out in front of the van that was coming up, rather speedily, behind me. This caused the van to have to swerve into the other lane. Luckily there was no oncoming traffic.

Does it occur to cyclists that "share the road" can go both ways? And should go both ways? Just because their mode of transportation doesn't have an engine doesn't make them exempt from traffic laws. Basic traffic laws at that. Stop at a stop sign and wait for oncoming traffic to pass. It isn't hard. And for the record, they didn't come up with hand signals because they thought it was fun. They are there to help keep everyone safe.

I have the utmost respect for the people that get out there and pedal up these hills and around these curves. I certainly don't do it and I have no plans to. Good for them. I don't have respect for the ones that think they are entitled to their own set of rules that they have made up in their head.

I'll share the road with you all day long, but not if you think it's ok to do things that endanger yourself and others. Get it together cyclists!

1 comment:

  1. Ugh! I totally hear you! My husband is an avid road cyclist and he's seen people (both cyclists and drivers) do some crazy things out on the road (he used to live in WNC and has ridden on those roads a lot). You are right - "share the road" goes both ways, as does obeying traffic laws.

    ReplyDelete