Reply #150: A police car

[jbnow]

almost hit my son doing that right turn without looking thing. My son had the right of way, the policeman threatened to ticket him and impound the bike. My son was a teen then, too naive to believe the police might be unfair, he figured he was just not informed. He started explaining the law and right away to the policeman. That made the policeman angry but he backed off those threats and said he'd better not see him causing trouble, then left.

My son was Mr. Environment and rarely used a car and I did worry a lot. I was so aware of cyclists but noticed many people are not. I know people on bikes can be careless too but I see the careful ones often almost hit when riding on urban streets.

The main negligence is that every time roads are redone that a bike lane with a divider is not built in. It seems the gas crisis in the 70's would have gotten us to do that, cycling is a healthy and *cheap* way to get to work but it is simply dangerous. Lanes are narrow, cars are hurrying, too many are getting their coffee or phone calls or changing stations or whatever.

(To qualify *cheap* true cyclists often have bikes that are anything but cheap. My son had a road bike and mountain bike and he raced. I think his bikes were worth more than my car)