October 15, 2009
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Rights and Responsibilities of Riders
Much has been made over the past year about angry confrontations between motorists and bicyclists, as some folks try to cast it as a war for street rights. That's making a mountain out of a molehill... but most mountain-caliber political issues began as festering molehills, so it's worth taking a look at the issue.
This article by Bob Mionske, at Bicycling.com, is the best overview I have seen in years and a terrific primer on the issue.
If you drive, or ride, you ought to read this article and become familiar with the various issues at stake. Please weigh in on the side of sanity and courtesy, when you drive, when you ride, and when you write. Most of us do the first; I hope more of us will do the second; and many of us must also do the third if we want to keep this issue a mere molehill.
...or, if this grows mountainous, that the mountain eventually defends the right of cyclists to the road, even as it educates everyone as to what those rights... and responsibilities... are.
