[Mpls] Bicycle Protocol

[Aaron Klemz]

Howdy:

I know that the issue at hand was the Hennepin Avenue
bike lanes. Clearly there are a large number of people
who drive gas powered vehicles oblivious to the rules
of the road, and who endanger others as a result. I,
like all decent human beings, condemn that. I hope
they catch the guy in the Jeep. So this post isn't
about that.

As a resident who lives near the parkways, I have to
say that I am vexed by the dangerous, inconsistent and
just plain selfish behavior of some bicyclists. To
wit,

Last weekend I was run off the (walking path) paved
portion of the Godwin trail by a bicyclist towing a
child carrier. As a pedestrian, I consistently see
bicyclists ride on the walking paths in the parkways.

As a driver, I cannot understand why bicyclists choose
to ride in the roadway immediately adjacent to a path
expressly designed and maintained for their use
exclusively (well, at least in theory.) I can hear the
keyboards clicking in response already, so here's a
couple of preempts.

a) Yes, some bicyclists ride faster than the "speed
limit" or the speed of prevailing bike traffic, and
it's safer for them sometimes to ride on the roadway.
But that's not the only folks who are doing it. Nor
are folks only doing this during high traffic times on
the pathways.

b) Yes, you have the right to ride on the roadway. If
you so choose, you should behave as a vehicle,
following the signs, signaling, and otherwise obeying
the rules of the road. I rarely see bicyclists doing
so, especially in relation to stop signs and
signaling. 

c) Yes, pedestrians sometimes choose to walk on the
bike paths. That don't make no sense 90% of the time,
and they should stop. 

So I guess my question is this: Why, despite the
public investment in bike paths, do bicyclists choose
to ride on the parkways and the pedestrian paths? And
the corollary question: why do pedestrian eschew the
walking paths and trod on the bike paths? 

And don't jump all over me for being "car centered" or
whatever, because I made a bicycle my primary form of
transportation for many years (alright, I couldn't
afford a car until I was 25). I think bicycling as a
form of transportation and recreation is great, and I
support bike paths. I just wish people would use them.

aaron klemz
cooper

=====
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Aaron Klemz, Instructor of Speech-Communication
Century College
White Bear Lake, MN
Politix blog: www.bloggerk.blogspot.com
Email: aaronklemz at yahoo.com
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++


		
__________________________________ 
Do you Yahoo!? 
Check out the new Yahoo! Front Page. 
www.yahoo.com