Why do we need bike lanes in Chapel Hill and Durham (as well as other places)? I am not ass close as it looks as I am zoomed in but still you can see oncoming traffic. Speeds on this stretch of road are about 45 - 55 mph. To run up behind a bicyclist going 8 mph (?) with traffic in the opposing lane is a bad situation. Note no shoulder for him or vehicles to pull off to.
Side note question - When did it suddenly become the rule to travel in the same direction as traffic? When I was young (and dinosaurs roamed the earth!) we always walked or bicycled facing traffic so we could be seen as well as see. Still seems much safer as this person has zero idea I am coming up behind him.
Dear Hubby,
ReplyDeleteYes when we grew up in GA, you drove facing the traffic. That has not been the case for many years - remember when we lived in CA and bikes had the rights of a car? Well, that is the way it is most everywhere now, except the interstates with minimum speeds. Now my personal rant: I don't mind sharing the road with the bikes since they have the same right to be on the road that I do. What I really resent is the bikers who claim the rights of a car, but then don't think that stop signs and other traffic control devices apply to them. If you, biker, want to have the rights of a car on the road, I wish a cop would ticket you the next time you ride right past the stop sign without even slowing down!