http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2012/01/pennsylvania_may_soon_join_oth.html
.
"Sandy Shoop of Boiling Springs isn’t a cyclist but drives almost daily on State Route 641, a two-lane road.
“That will be very dangerous,†she said of the proposed four-foot law. “You might as well stop behind and let the other car pass by†in the other lane before passing the bicycle."
Sounds like in addition to not being a cyclist, she isn’t a rocket surgeon either.
Nice to have but it won’t make cycling any safer. It will, however, allow an officer to fine the driver that hits you. You know, when the 80 year old plows you down when you are on the shoulder, she will at least get a fine between $50 and $250 or so.
"Sandy Shoop of Boiling Springs isn’t a cyclist but drives almost daily on State Route 641, a two-lane road.
“That will be very dangerous,†she said of the proposed four-foot law. “You might as well stop behind and let the other car pass by†in the other lane before passing the bicycle."
Sounds like in addition to not being a cyclist, she isn’t a rocket surgeon either.
Oddly enough, I know her, she’s normal. And that is the norm for my little part of PA - it’s all about the inconvenience of being delayed a few seconds. Quite a few people will swing wide to pass even seeing an approaching vehicle, so now you’ve got two drivers cursing cyclists. There are also way too many incidences of people swinging wide to pass on a blind hill or corner - that really scares the crap out of me.
Brian
"Sandy Shoop of Boiling Springs isn’t a cyclist but drives almost daily on State Route 641, a two-lane road.
“That will be very dangerous,†she said of the proposed four-foot law. “You might as well stop behind and let the other car pass by†in the other lane before passing the bicycle."
Sounds like in addition to not being a cyclist, she isn’t a rocket surgeon either.
Oddly enough, I know her, she’s normal. And that is the norm for my little part of PA - it’s all about the inconvenience of being delayed a few seconds. Quite a few people will swing wide to pass even seeing an approaching vehicle, so now you’ve got two drivers cursing cyclists. There are also way too many incidences of people swinging wide to pass on a blind hill or corner - that really scares the crap out of me.
Brian
this is the attitude everywhere…but come to WV and feel the wrath of motorists that not only believe exactly the above, but will 100% go out of their way to prove it to you.
I live in NW Pennsylvania.
Oddly enough, in the last 5 years or so, I have had almost 0 encounters with motorits/cars while on my bike, whether its solo or in group rides. I only recall a couple situations, both involved younger kids in pickup trucks, both times they rode too close behind and both times they felt the need to pull up beside and yell profanities. The other situation was on a sparsely traveled 2 lane road I was heading one direction and a car was coming the opposite direction at a high speed. It slowly kept creeping over the yellow line onto my side of the road until it was almost completely in the wrong lane coming at me forcing me off the berm. As it passed it was a young kid, looked barely 16, clearly laughing his ass off. About 1 minute later the exact same thing happened, another young kid, I could see him laughing and he was on his phone so I’m thinking he was friends with/on his way home from somewhere with the first kid and the first one had called him and told him to do that.
But those times were idiots and clearly intentional. I consider myself lucky to have had almost no encounters of people passing too close.
Now, for some reason, when I’m running and there is no sidewalk and I’m on the berm/white line running facing oncoming traffic I seem to get run off the road at least 1-2 times a run by drivers who refuse to give an inch and are coming at me.
Reading some of the comments to the article are frightening. I know there are a-holes out there but they must be quite rare. The few close encounters I have had could easily be attributed to a driver not paying attention, not seeing me or misjudging speed & space. As a driver, this has happened to me (i.e. I didn’t see the cyclist until I was closer than I would otherwise like to be). I guess the internet brings the jerks to light but I realize it just takes one time for one of them to misjudge the space and get even closer than he planned.