Bullying the cyclists on roadways

By James Wagner, Bethesda
I was very disappointed to read the recent editorial regarding cyclists’ use of the roads [“Sharing the road,” June 29]. The Gazette mischaracterized the situation is several ways, staring with the the false definition of impeding traffic. Impeding traffic is defined based on the normal traffic flow, taking into account all road users, which includes cyclists (see the published Ohio Court of Appeals case Trotwood v. Selz). It is not based on the speed limit, which is only one of numerous constraints, the foremost being proper use of due care and adjusting speed for conditions. The officer quoted from the forum plainly had it wrong.
The other major mischaracterization was that there’s plenty of space on the roads and that the problem is nothing more than packing vehicles into that space. Motor vehicles barely fit in the lanes by themselves, and as speeds go up, more space is required. For cyclists who are constantly threatened by unsafe and aggressive drivers, the safety margin required is even more. A motor vehicle does not have enough space in many of the surrounding roads to pass even single cyclists safely, so complaining that several cyclists are present is irrelevant.
Drivers are reaping more than a fair share of the road by using it at the same time as other users, one behind the other. For drivers to expect to move about without having to wait for fellow users is not sharing; it’s monopolizing the road and bullying people. If The Gazette wants to promote courtesy (let alone safety), then demand that drivers slow down, wait for others, and stop using smallest community roads as thoroughfares.

.
https://www.gazette.net/article/20110803/OPINION/708039536/1014/bullying-the-cyclists-on-roadways&template=gazetteoldId.20110804023712463