Venice is the ideal place to commute by bicycle. In fact, I ride far more often than I drive. Yet too often drivers treat cyclists as if they don’t belong on the road. Some drivers simply don’t give cyclists a wide enough berth. (Pacific Avenue is particularly worrisome.)
But some cyclists don’t do themselves any favors, running red lights, going the wrong way on one way streets like Venice Boulevard and otherwise ignoring the traffic laws. Under the state motor vehicle code cyclists ride vehicles and are subject to the same regulations as drivers.
Cyclists' behavior is the only explanation for some Venetians' objections to the “special status” being given to cyclists under City Councilman Bill Rosendahl's proposed Bicycle Anti-Harassment Ordinance.
I support Rosendahl’s proposed ordinance to protect cyclists from harassment, but I also urge all of us who use our bikes to come to our senses and obey the traffic laws.
The more cyclists in Los Angeles, the cleaner our city will be. On a personal level, cycling is good for you. For bicyclists and drivers alike, this means everyone has to do his or her part to share the road.
Of course, the concept of sharing the road equally is the goal. But to say that only bikes do things like run red lights, stop signs, etc. distorts reality. Not only do cars make bicycling dangerous, they make up 99% of the lights being run, stop signs being run, and are a major problem in and of themself. I bicycle along traffic every day and I witness first hand the effects the "texters" have on the road: They are looking into a tiny toy, they are not driving (we all know the research about they are worse than drunk drivers in terms of safety...). This means they don't see someone or something that just ran out in front of them. They don't notice that the car in front of them is now a half block away- or worse stopped short. Isn't this a bigger concern than the same car owners being upset bikes can "cheat" in ways cars shouldn't? Maybe cars just envy us? The fact is, cars have been given carte blanche to do as they will. So the first step in addiction is realizing there is a problem. The problem is cars rule and bicyclists hope for scraps. Once this passes I am adding three video cameras to my bike and finding a good attorney to represent me.
This is a terrible article.
Comparative effects of driving versus bicycling on health and health care costs Commuting distances and health and health care costs Retooling the auto manufacturing and repair industries to help drive up (get it?) health and drive down (got it) health care costs Taxing vehicles, as with cigarettes, according to their environmental and, yes, health and health care cost impacts Repealing laws enacted to define trucks as passenger "Utility Vehicles," thereby recovering currently lost tax revenue and motivating long-term relief of traffic and parking congestion caused by the proliferation of such vehicles Aggressive enforcement of laws that currently prohibit residential parking of vehicles whose GVW exceeds 6,000 pounds Requiring carbon footprint impact labels on all automobiles and bicycles for sale