Share the Road -- it's the law

Misty over at Saintless shares the following story:

I had just dropped my oldest son off at his day care, and was taking my younger son over to his, when I was stopped at a traffic light. I watched in horror as a small sedan made a left turn at the light and ran over a bicyclist. The bike was in pieces, and the cyclist was laying in a very unnatural position. I can’t remember feeling such horror in my life as I did right then.

I see people all the time doing careless and dangerous things when behind the wheel. Someone in a hurry speeds up to make their turn in front of oncoming traffic, doesn’t stop for the pedestrian who was already crossing the road, sends text messages while driving, the list goes onl.

[...]

I hear people bitching about cyclists, grumpy that they have to share the road with them, especially with all the new bike lanes in Salt Lake. It really makes me mad when I hear this, because those people on bikes have every right to be there.

It also makes me mad when I see cyclists doing stupid things, and give other people any reason to bitch about sharing the road. When a cyclist doesn’t wait for a light, runs a stop sign, uses a pedestrian walkway to avoid obeying the rules of the road, or anything else like that, they make me mad, too. The rules are there for safety, and a cyclist has to obey them, too. (The cyclist this morning was obeying those rules, btw).

While it has been years since I personally have been on a bike, mt family is big into cycling. We have many many friends who are cyclists, so I take bicycle safety seriously.

Also, as a pedestrian, I have almost been hit multiple times. I even almost got hit by a Sheriff's deputy while in a crosswalk once. I'm sure he didn't see me, what with my bright yellow jacket I had on. And I'm such a small person.

Keep your eyes peeled. Please don't hit me. I'd like to live.

-Bob