Dear Editor,
Picture this: I’m biking on Patterson in the bike lane at about 20 mph, when a white truck abruptly pulls in front of
me to park. I have to swerve wildly to avoid crashing into him. Or this: I’m biking on Franklin Street, headed toward the
bottom (and picking up speed, going downhill), when a woman who has just parked throws her car door open right into my path. I throw out my left arm, hope the driver to my left sees me and swerve in front of him to avoid toppling head
over heels over the woman’s door. Or this: I’m in the bike lane at Boulevard and Grove heading straight on Grove when
a person turning left onto Boulevard cuts me off. Or a person turning right cuts me off. Or this: I’m innocently biking
down Hanover on the right side of the street, in the parking lane, when an old woman in a huge pick-up truck rides my
tail and lays on her horn. For two blocks. For absolutely no discernible reason. When she could just pass me on the left,
as there is no other traffic at all.
All of these incidents have happened to me while biking in Richmond this summer. I wonder if a better name for your
recent article, “Theft, unlawful biking worry local cyclists” would be “Unlawful driving worries local cyclists.”
According to your article, about 784 bicycle-related deaths were reported nationwide by the U.S. Department of
Transportation’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System. The implication in your article was that unlawful biking was the
culprit in most of these accidents, but I wonder how many of these 784 deaths were caused by unlawful driving. In fact,
according to RightofWay.org, a pedestrian rights organization, drivers are at fault in almost 90 percent of pedestrian
and bicyclist deaths in New York City. And according to the League of American Bicyclists, motorists nationwide are
exclusively at fault in 60 percent of car-bike collisions, versus 17 percent for cyclists.
Richmond doesn’t really have bike lanes. You have to ride in the parking lane, and you are in constant danger of being
doored. Some people (and they are a small but loud and visible minority) don’t know that it’s actually illegal to ride a
bike on the sidewalk and think that the road was made for cars. I have heard comments from drivers like, “I can’t afford
to spare the time for bikers. They need to get out of my way.”
Yes, it’s true that “many cyclists fail to acknowledge traffic laws,” as your article points out. Yes, cyclists should wear
helmets. And yes, it is absolutely true that because a bicycle is a vehicle just like any other, cyclists should be “subject
to the same laws as drivers of motor vehicles.” But in exchange for following the same laws, I would like to be given the same privileges. I don’t want to be cut off. If I’m going straight, please yield to me. Please don’t open your door in the parking lane without looking. And for God’s sake, please don’t beep at me for no reason.
Sincerely,
Cat Ennis
VCU alum ‘07