From Charles Brentner

Monroe

To the editor:

I have to wonder if it really is safe to ride a bike today. I mean, do people care to share the road safely?

One night my bike had a flat so I was walking it home. My lights were lit and I was on a well-lit street. Halfway across the street a car decided it couldn’t wait and turned left right in front of me. I had the right of way so why did the car turn left right in front of me? He/she was probably in too much of a hurry to wait, though the rules of the road say to do so.

Then there are those who put paint cans and the like in the gutter area. One night I was on the way home and by good fortune I saw such a can standing in the gutter at the road side (where bikes are ridden) before I would have hit it. It was low to the ground, there wasn’t enough light to see it until I was almost upon it and it was just sitting there where I would have been riding.

Finally, there is the (apparently) city sanctioned idea of pushing leaves into the street. After dark it’s hard to see the piles till you hit them (because there isn’t adequate light to see them even with the street lights at the corners) and sometimes people mix tree branches in as well. I know if I hit such a pile, go down and suffer injury as a result, there will be legal council sought. I have just as much right to travel down the road safely as anyone else. Along with the leaves people often seem to park their vehicles on the street and with the dim lighting (no lit outdoor porch lights) it is often hard to see such vehicles as well before you are right up on them. I try to be safe for others when I go riding, so why does it seem that no one seems to care about returning the favor?