Lethbridge drivers need to be considerate of cyclists
By Lethbridge Herald on July 28, 2022.
Editor:
Dear Lethbridge drivers, with the warmer weather you may notice an increase in the number of pedestrians and bike riders around the city and this is great! So many folks moving around in so many ways. Each person walking or biking is one fewer car on the road for you to be mildly irritated with. Less traffic for everyone is a wonderful thing!
So when you see a person riding their bike in a neighbourhood or on a road, please remember to give them ample space and not harass them with rude comments about “getting off the road.” Your supposedly helpful suggestions for where a rider like myself can go (and how I can get there) only serve to show your ignorance of traffic rules.
You see, I cannot ride on the sidewalk. It’s a sidewalk, its use is for walking and adorable chalk drawings by children. To ride there would be against the rules, and so without proper bike infrastructure, I’m forced to ride in the only other available space: the road. Since bikes are also vehicles, despite moving slower than your average car speed in the city now, bikes must be ridden in the proper place, amongst traffic.
Sounds horrific doesn’t it? Surely a bike moving between 15 km and 45 kms/hr has no place among vehicles moving 50 kms/hr or above! But I assure you, this is the case. So when you see a cyclist on the road, just be grateful we aren’t taking up the space of a full car with just one person in it.
Cheers!
Kelti Baird
Lethbridge
9-8
Fair enough! but you people should be aware of the traffic around you at all times! I drive for a living here and I can’t count the number of times I have had you cyclists pull-out in front of me in the middle of the road because you can’t see me coming or you are to lazy to look behind you. Mirrors on all bikes should be mandatory! Its Common-sense (Which is not common) if you cut out in front of me or force me to move into the other lane to avoid contacting you could backfire on you causing a collision with me. And I can assure you that YOU will come out of it in very poor shape!
Spot on. And cyclists assume that a crosswalk gives them the right of way to ride out in front of a motorist.
There’s already too many restricted roads in Lethbridge that are screwed up by bicycle lanes.
True enough, and half the time they’re riding on the sidewalk and don’t even slow down at the crosswalk. I’ve had a few close calls, or should I say they have.
Actually, in my experience, and I do realize that it would be nuts to generalize on the basis of my experience, it’s more like, approximately, 68% of those darn cyclists who ride on the sidewalk and don’t slow down at crosswalks.
johnny57, “pull-out” is not a compound adjective and so the hyphen is not necessary, nor is the hyphen between “Common” and “sense” required. And, finally, “Its” should read “It’s” in that it’s is the contraction of “it is.”
If it is your goal to be taken seriously, which I assume it is, you really must work on your grammar and clarity of expression.
You have to realize you’re dealing with a low I.Q. blowhard when it comes to j57, so save your time and let him continue to be an anonymous dolt.
blowhard? Very good Waterhead you have finally put together a word with more than three letters. If you keep this progress up you will be able to contribute to the topic at hand you IDIOT!
Important to leave the low hanging fruit for the grammar/spelling Nazi’s so they continue to receive a well balanced diet!
As far as people taking me serious, its not a major concern of mine!
I respect what you have written and I do watch for riders. What I don’t like is riders who are above the law. They do not stop at stop signs, ride on sidewalks and dash cross traffic in crosswalks and give you the finger when you slam on your brakes to avoid collision.
Perhaps, as time goes by, cycling infrastructure will come to the fore, particularly if the price of fuel stays high. The gold standard for this is….The Netherlands!
Certainly the Dutch have it figured out. Just wish our winters were more conducive to cycling.
With climate change though, our winters are getting more mild. Bikes can be equipped with ‘winter’ tires. My husband had to ride a bike to school, and everywhere, in The Netherlands, in all kinds of weather, i.e. heavy rain, snow, ice, hot weather, cold wind…..
I show the same respect to cyclists, e-scooters and E-bikes one of your kind put a nice dent in my right front fender in a crosswalk I will return in kind. The problem now is the e-scooters and bikes wear no helmets and two riders and ride crosswalks they are motorized vehicles Calgary and other big cities banned them, LPS pay attention how many tickets have the issued?
I saw one fellow riding an e-scooter, no helmet, one hand on the handle bars the other holding his cell phone
Oooo what an exciting life you lead!
Your contribution needle still is not registering! Can you not smoke a joint or kick-back a drink or two before typing? Give it a try Waterhead! you might be surprised at the results.
I don’t need to copy your pathetic lifestyle. Can you not learn proper grammar and punctuation or are you just stuck in grade 3 forever? Give it a try.
Is this why you never post more than a few sentences at a time Waterhead? Leta lone stay on topic.
Obviously, you’re still using your knuckles to type.
yes, lethbridge, damn cyclists….i saw someone ride a bike past my house the other day. it was so quiet and even no exhaust smell…not a hint of any warning there was a person on a bike. he had an unnatural, healthy air about him, too. very suspicious. and, he didn’t even tinkle a bell to let anyone know he was out and about. dangerous stuff, indeed. in fact, i would not even have noticed him except i had stepped onto the front porch in order to feed one of lethbridge’s many homeless cats…the product of our city’s all too many irresponsible twits that do not have enough decency to spay/neuter, and seem to have no issues around discarding pets as though they were horribly archaic 2 year old cell phones. then again, the homeless cats are likely just lazy critters with food addictions and deserve their fate.