Well, obviously Mr. Z doesn't know that the overtaking vehicle does not have the right of way. He has also made a threat in writing and that can be used against him should he be involved in any future accidents.

Sadly, his opinion of cyclists seems to be in the majority.

man, at first i was thinking "that cyclist missed a chance to change that driver's mind about bikes"

... but then i thought about what I did last time a driver thought it'd be cute to come inches from me with his mirror.


... and i realized I have no room to talk, and should probably work on my mannerisms in confrontations.

Is there a shoulder on this road? i start getting nervous on anything faster than 50mph with no shoulder.

Edit: i also agree the cyclist had nothing to do with the idiot driver trying to pass when he shouldn't have.

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-Jason
______________________________________________
Is that all you've got? Are you sure?

The whole highway has some sort of shoulder. Part of it has a very wide shoulder (8ft or so) and part of it has a pretty narrow shoulder (3ft) The problem with the narrow part of the shoulder is road debris.

If I'm driving 65 mph and a cyclist is in my lane, there is absolutely no way I'm going to swerve into oncoming traffic to avoid hitting him. He'll just have to wind up riding his bike in "cycle heaven."

I've had a personal family matter recently where I've been so disgusted with law enforcement and the job they and the legal system do. It's as if their purpose has become to make sure they don't tread on the rights of perpetrators to the point that the rights of victims are entirely trampled. In a fair and just world where law enforcement didn't just play CYA, anyone who would write something like this would have spent their last moment behind the wheel of a vehicle.

I actually agree with this part:

A highway that has a 65 mph limit is no place for cyclists.

I ride that same stretch of road at least weekly during the summer and there is plenty of room for cars and cyclists. It does amaze me when I ride that cars will go clear into the other lane giving me ten or more feet of room when passing, which I believe is much more dangerous than passing right next to me.

I have to admit if a car almost hits me and then confronts me after I am not going to be friendly and they will probably hate cyclists even more when we are done which is something I will have to work on.

You left something important out --- a highway with 65MPH traffic and NO SHOULDER is no place for a cyclist. I cycle many highways but they have ample shoulder for me to ride on, otherwise, listening to you, I might just as well ride residential streets and stay of all highways. The biggest problem here in N. America is drivers have no patience or respect for cyclist, period. They think the road belongs to the automobile!!!

I'm so tired of this argument.

a) Even if a cyclist had to get a license, pay some sort of bike tax, it wouldn't change the situation. Cyclists would still be on the road. Maybe fewer recreational cyclists, but then we'd just have more fat people, who should then be required a fat person license since they are using my healthcare system.


b) A very high percentage of cyclists do own cars/motorcycles/drivers licenses. So they are paying as much if not more as any other vehicle driver in taxes, licensing fees, etc.

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MyGearGarage - Track all your gear!

This is a good discussion to have, even if it has to be held on an almost hourly basis. More letters like this will continue to polarize a few people, but we can hope that some people will realize that if you can't slow down for some pedestrian, cyclist, animal, or slow driver, then YOU have become a prisoner of your own making. Guys like Tony Kornheiser will always be around however.

-Robert

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"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world." ~Anne Frank

How about 60 mph?
55 mph?
50 mph?
What about 50mph limit but everyone drives 65 can I ride there ?
How about county roads or state highways without a shoulder?
Well can I ride on a bike path ?
I actually don't agree with you.

OK now for rebutal to me!
You dont post much so aren't as important as me
You are not as fast as me so I know more
Do you know who I am !!!!!!
Do you know who she is ????????
Google her!!!!!

I feel that he has a point although kind of being an ass about it. Its kind of like a deer at night where if you don't see it or it Pops out, you look to avoid more damage but in the case of a cyclist, you probably have tons of time to see him or her and avoid. I ride on a state road where the speed limit is 55 so I don't think there is a problem riding on a state road in Utah. But a speed limit of 65 with probably nO shoulder would keep me off that road.

It really can go either way but I would they they shouldn't be riding on that road unless there is a shoulder and basically that guy is an ass about it.

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Disco
South Bend, IN

Habitual Line Stepper..

I noticed that the cyclist was being an ass so I really don't know what should have been done. I guess be nice, wear a helmet and watch the cyclists?

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Disco
South Bend, IN

Habitual Line Stepper..

I suppose it depends on which state you are in. Pretty sure Maryland does not allow bicycles on roads with speed limits over 50mph.

That being said, we don't know what the speed limit is on State Rt. 18.

In Ontario "Bicycles are prohibited on expressway / freeway highways such as the 400 series, the QEW, Ottawa Queensway and on roads where "No Bicycle" signs are posted."

Now, the 401 has a HUGE shoulder and the speed limit is 60mph. But you would only catch me dead on that stretch of highway. Literally. Nobody would last more than 30 minutes biking on that shoulder. Obviously it depends on the highway. But I know from experience that there is a huge difference between a car going 100K/h and one going 70 k/h. But knock yourself out. I was just saying I personally agree with that one portion.

There are a lot of major events a long this road. St. George IRONMAN, several century rides, a marathon and I'm sure some others I don't know off the top of my head. As long as there are events people will come to train on the course and preview it. I think we as cyclists should just always be aware of whats going on around us, no matter the speed limit, and obey laws and be courteous to vehicles. I also think drivers should be aware of whats going on around them, obey laws, and be courteous to cyclists. Share the road. Everyone be safe out there.

I was thinking the same thing but without picts of the road it's difficult to make an informed decision.

Personally I've never ridden on a road where the speed limit is 65.

jaretj

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Haha,you don't ever want to come and ride on highways here in Oz,especially anywhere in Queensland north of Noosa where 100kph with no shoulder is normal.I've ridden the road from Brisbane to Cairns a few times and while it is getting better some of it is just madness.We used to share the road that is the Ironman Cairns bike course with trucks and trailers loaded with sugar cane and absolutely no shoulders.

Funny thing about roads in parts of Ontario and Quebec is that the freeways and highways with shoulders are the safest places to ride regardless of speed.I got taken into custody twice in Thunder Bay for riding on the highway out of town westbound.Stupid cops couldn't fathom that it was safer for me to ride on a highway with a shoulder than a secondary road without one.

I also got busted by the cops for riding on the freeway into Gatineau from Montreal.He pulls me over on the freeway with lights and siren on and then asks.."Where are you from?".I look back at the Australian flag flying over my trailer and say "Australia". He then tries to lecture me on how dangerous it is to ride on the highway and I say " You mean with this nice big lane all to myself?".He then points at all the traffic and says " Look at all the traffic,it is too dangerous" to which I relpied," Clearly you have never tried to ride into Buenos Aires on a Monday morning,this isn't traffic".He then started to get mad at me and told me to turn around and ride off at the exit that I had just passed to which I replied,"So is it safe to turn around in this lane and ride back down the highway on the wrong side of the road?"..At that point he started to see the flaws in his logic but I did what I was told and rode back down the highway,the wrong way,to the previous exit and found my way eventually to Gatineau Park..

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You're missing the point. In places like Ontario or Michigan, bikes are prohibited BY LAW from riding on freeways. End of discussion.

/Ticketed for riding on a bike path after dark.
//Was there to stay out of traffic..In the dark
///All the reasonable arguments in the world don't mean s--- when the law isn't on your side.

Quote:

Long Beach, IN

I thought for sure you mis-typed the state so I had to Google map it.

Living the NW suburbs of Chicago I have been down to the dunes. Long Beach looks like a great place to run and an awesome place to swim. Biking probably isn't too bad either as you can go east and avoid most crowds.

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Swim - Bike - Run the rest is just clothing changes.

Don't agree with the author of the letter, but isn't some of this a backlash against the larger numbers of people who go out to race sites and ride the courses over and over again? I know this has been an issue with the IM Wisconsin course the last couple of years. The locals would be more likely ok with the event itself, but not so much the multiple weekends of people test-riding the course. This seems to be the trend over the last several years.

When confronted with a slower moving obstacle in my lane and on coming traffic in the opposing lane, I simply slow down and wait for the opposing lane to clear in order to pass, thus avoiding a potential collision. But that's just me........

Listen to this podcast about a guy who bicycle commutes from Ajax to Mississauga along the 401 on his bike.

http://www.cbc.ca/.../season-2-episode-4/ -- Forward to the 18:20 minute mark.

Pretty funny.

That guy is f#cked! Seriously. Cutting across 3 lanes of 401 traffic?!!!!!!

I agree with the driver in the sense that I think that cyclist should not ride on roads with a speed limit of 55+, or any road designated as an interstate highway. It just isn't safe, mostly because drivers are idiots.

In real-world driving situations on 2-lane roads, if one's lane is obstructed (partially or fully) and there is some oncoming traffic, the driver is obligated to reduce speed as necessary and wait until the oncoming traffic has passed before going around the obstruction. It's common sense, and the law. There is no world in which it makes sense for a driver to be permitted to simply swerve into the oncoming lane or plow through the obstruction (be it a moving one or a stationary one). Some people don't really grasp this concept--just yesterday I saw cars almost blindly pulling into oncoming traffic to pass a stopped city bus on a very busy road. Foolishness.

As far as the speed limit is concerned, to whomever made the comment along the lines of "why not 50? why not 45? why not 40?" the answer is that the line has to be drawn somewhere. Some of the best roads for riding are rural roads that have little vehicular traffic because they're so remote, but because of this they also high speed limits because there are very few things which might pull into a car's path, things are farther apart, and thus it is safe for cars to travel faster on these roads. I will certainly grant that a cyclist getting going 20mph or even 25mph could probably be killed by a car traveling at 50, 40, or probably even 30mph depending on the nature of the crash. At the same time though, the simple fact that cars are traveling that fast on a given road does not mean that road is unsafe for cyclists. Safety is dependent on the speed of cars, the number of cars, and the amount of room that the cyclists and drivers have.

Cyclist tend to self-select the roads that are safest for riding...sometimes cyclist don't have the best judgement though...

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__________________________

I tweet!

Very funny. This CBC radio does sometimes fool people, but it's a comedy show where they make up the news. From the website :

"This Is That is a current affairs program that doesn't just talk about the issues, it fabricates them. Nothing's off limits--politics, business, culture, justice, science, religion--if it's relevant to Canadians, we'll find out the "This" and the "That" of the story."

cheers - mark

M.E.T. wrote:

You're missing the point. In places like Ontario or Michigan, bikes are prohibited BY LAW from riding on freeways. End of discussion.

I am not sure what point is being missed - this isn't a freeway (which implies limited access ramps), it is a standard rural highway with at-grade intersections.


Looking at 18 just north of St. George on Google Maps (and I don't know if this is where the incident occurred), I would have no problem riding here.

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~Kevin

I did justyesterday going through some back roads that lead to bridges going over the New Jersey turnpike. Well they are wideing the turnpike and redoing the bridges. I got detoured onto rte. 130 which is highly traveled and had to be on it for 2miles before finding a road to get off. Could not help it. Out west think a lot of roads where you have to use for miles are 55 and above. The writer of the letter is a moron and basically by the defination of the law just made a terroristic threat.

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__________________________________________________
Official Polar Ambassador
http://www.google.com/...P7RiWyEVwpunlsc2JtQQ

So far, I haven't seen anyone argue the guy isn't a moron. Just some of us tend to agree with one portion of what he said. It doesn't mean we agree with everything.

Interesting that slowing down behind the cyclist until its safe to pass never occurred to him or simply isn't an acceptable option.
Be safe,
Jim

130!?! OMFG! There is no speed limit on that road, at least none that isn't broken regularly. The crazies all shop there....

I've ridden Route 50 in Orlando, back in the days when it was actually fairly rural out towards Clermont. (Think, 1980.) If you ride there today the sand trucks will flatten you inside 30 minutes. The traffic is crazy and Florida has, I've heard, more uninsured motorists than any other state; plus the druggies, plus the rednecks, plus the old people who sit in the right lane doing 20 with their left turn signals on. ;)

-Robert

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"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world." ~Anne Frank

I couldn't bear to listen after about 2 min of the 'lithsp'!

I was talking about the 401 and other freeways in the Great Lakes region. sorry to sidetrack that discussion. In Utah, I don't see what grounds the driver has to complain about anything.

Actually, I wasn't aware until a couple years ago that bikes are allowed on freeways out west. Freaky.

It is pretty nice. You have to be selective about where you ride in which I stay in the country or head into Michigan . I also take rides down south to another lake and the roads are pretty good. The lake is over a small hill from us so about late June I start with Friday OWS. Running is about the same. Good roads but scenery isn't the greatest. I guess my comparison is not the bet since I have lived in Colorado for a couple years

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Disco
South Bend, IN

Habitual Line Stepper..

Some random thoughts:
1) the guy is a douche.


Well, that was actually just one thought. And in retrospect, not so random.

Seriously, I have to wonder how he feels about slow moving tractors? I wonder if, when he encounters the next slow moving tractor in his way, he will elect to plow into the tractor rather than slow down and wait for it to be clear to pass safely. You know, to prove his point that once you reach cruising speed, under no circumstances should you EVER apply your brakes for a slower moving vehicle. I doubt it. But I'm pretty sure he'll either swerve into oncoming traffic, or run right up on the tractor's ass and lay on the horn.

Back to random thoughts:
2) My wife wonders why I ride on a 55 mph highway. I tell her becuase there is a big shoulder with those little bumps cut into it to alert drivers of they are entering the shoulder. She says, "yes, but if a car hits you at 55 mph, it's going to kill you". And I reply, "you're right. But a car coming up from behind at 35 mph and hitting me is also likely to kill me. At least on the 55 mph road, I have a shoulder to hide on. Most 35 mph streets have no shoulder and much more cross traffic that doesn't seem to like to stop at intersections."

3) The guy is a douche.

4) The best we can hope for is that he mistakenly shoots himself in a drunken hunting accident, far away from anyone else. And that he hasn't procreated.

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I never saw a wild thing sorry for itself. - D. H. Lawrence

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Maybe you could discuss the possiblity of the law needing to be altered.Sometimes discussions can be a good thing.

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