Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Pet Peeve of the Moment

Why can't bicyclists follow the rules of the road? You know the rules, move with traffic, not against, use turn signals (ok, so I am the only person in this county who uses them), stop at traffic signals.

Friday after work, I went for drink. I was only there an hour, so I had one mixed alcoholic beverage, one diet beverage and a glass of water. (Yes, I peed three times). The point is, I was not intoxicated, not even close. As I left the restaurant, turning right onto a divided highway, I looked to my left, had plenty of room and turned onto the road. I missed a teen age girl on a bike by less than a foot. She was going east in the west bound lane. But what if I had hit her? Who would have been at fault? I didn't even look to see if anyone was there, because who the hell would have been there?

I do not have a problem with cyclists who follow the rules of the road. I give them a wide berth just to be on the safe side, but I do feel that they have every right to be there and I admire their dedication to fitness, or whatever it is that puts them out there. But I think it is ridiculous how many of them travel in the wrong direction and whizz in and out of traffic without looking or pass by stopped cars because they can. Frankly, I wish the cops would do something about it, but we all know that isn't going to happen. And if something happens to a cyclist, who is going to pay? I am not talking about a fine or jail time, I am talking about nightmares the rest of a person's life.

Parents take some responsibility and teach your children the correct and legal way to ride their bikes.

3 comments:

sparringK9 said...

see, they own the roads because of their moral superiority by way of less carbon footprint. YOU are a polluter filling the air with noxious deadly fumes. grrherhaha

our cyclists deck out like theyre racing in the tour de france right down to the alien-like helmets. too bad about the rolls on their bellies. *howl*

girl, look what i found for you in costa rica:
http://www.propertiesincostarica.com/properties/mountain_house.htm
under 300K!

LeftLeaningLady said...

she, I appreciate their moral superiority, although, trust me I fill the air as little as possible! My car gets almost 30mpg and I use only 2 tanks a month (small tank). I really would use public transportation IF it were available.

That is a great site in Costa Rica, but I don't think I could live by my creativity! More of a worker bee, I need a job! :-)

sparringK9 said...

i was kidding of course. one of my delights is watching runners on peachtree...our main drag...at 5:30 on blistering pavement sucking up car fumes.

"look at me! the healthy pure one"

why not run on the neighborhood streets where its less dangerous and cooler?

we know why.

roads are for cars, but we'll share it if ya'll cyclists and runners be sweet about it. *howl*

i'm looking at the costa rican teak plantation. i wont need the creativity either. i'll be the dirty bastard that harvests trees to make coffee tables.
grrherhaha


a worker bee, huh? aren't we all!
have a great weekend.