B
Brent Hugh
Guest
Recently there has been an interesting exchange of letters to the editor in the St. Louis Post.
MoDOT has recently installed "Share the Road" signs on quite a number of roads in the St. Louis
area. In response to this, someone sent a letter to the Post, leading to a flurry of responses from
local cyclists. You can read a number of the letters (some printed, some not) online at
http://www.mobikefed.org/2003_03_01_newsarchive.html#90522135
Here is the first letter:
---
Wayward Bicyclists
Newly-erected yellow signs in the area admonish drivers to "share the road", referring to sharing it
to bicyclists.
Although state law dictates that motorists must have valid licenses, be of a prescribed age, and
carry liability insurance, there are no such obligations for bicyclists. They will take great risks
on these thoroughfares, and will surely be the cause of, or victims of, serious accidents.
One would think that bicyclists would be reluctant to venture on weathered, pock-marked streets to
be threatened by speeders, and be subject to road rage.
Bicyclists, who are themselves drivers, should certainly know how quite impractical this request to
"share the road" really is.
---
An excerpt from one response that was printed in the Post:
---
The law says that bicyclists have the right to ride on the road. The legal burden is on the
overtaking vehicle to pass safely. Is it too much to ask that motorists have the human decency to
not assault cyclists?
---
--Brent
++++++++++++++ Brent Hugh / bhugh -a-t- mwsc.edu ++++++++++++++
+ Missouri Western St College Dept of Music, St. Joseph, MO +
+ Piano Home Page : http://staff.mwsc.edu/~bhugh +
+ Music IQ Songs : http://mp3.com/MusicIQ + ++ Music of the Human Genome :
http://mp3.com/brent_d_hugh ++++
MoDOT has recently installed "Share the Road" signs on quite a number of roads in the St. Louis
area. In response to this, someone sent a letter to the Post, leading to a flurry of responses from
local cyclists. You can read a number of the letters (some printed, some not) online at
http://www.mobikefed.org/2003_03_01_newsarchive.html#90522135
Here is the first letter:
---
Wayward Bicyclists
Newly-erected yellow signs in the area admonish drivers to "share the road", referring to sharing it
to bicyclists.
Although state law dictates that motorists must have valid licenses, be of a prescribed age, and
carry liability insurance, there are no such obligations for bicyclists. They will take great risks
on these thoroughfares, and will surely be the cause of, or victims of, serious accidents.
One would think that bicyclists would be reluctant to venture on weathered, pock-marked streets to
be threatened by speeders, and be subject to road rage.
Bicyclists, who are themselves drivers, should certainly know how quite impractical this request to
"share the road" really is.
---
An excerpt from one response that was printed in the Post:
---
The law says that bicyclists have the right to ride on the road. The legal burden is on the
overtaking vehicle to pass safely. Is it too much to ask that motorists have the human decency to
not assault cyclists?
---
--Brent
++++++++++++++ Brent Hugh / bhugh -a-t- mwsc.edu ++++++++++++++
+ Missouri Western St College Dept of Music, St. Joseph, MO +
+ Piano Home Page : http://staff.mwsc.edu/~bhugh +
+ Music IQ Songs : http://mp3.com/MusicIQ + ++ Music of the Human Genome :
http://mp3.com/brent_d_hugh ++++