Common sense rules in sharing road

This was published in the CA letters to the editor section today:

Common sense rules in sharing road

The bicycle is often my means of getting to work, school, the theater and church. I can stop by putting my foot to the ground if my brakes fail at 10 miles per hour. I can see, hear and sometimes smell cars approaching. I don't have a radio, cell phone, beverage or children to distract me.

I regularly travel on Linden Avenue, one of the few thoroughfares actually wide enough to accommodate bicycles. Yet drivers seem insistent on making it a four-lane road. (Sometimes there are even three cars side by side headed west at the intersection with Pauline Street.) The bicycle has been a means of transportation since the late 18th century, yet some drivers seem to think that cyclists ought to be put on reservations.

Comparing bicycle laws to motor vehicle laws is complicated. Common sense tells us that bicycles are permitted in many places cars are not and vice versa. However, in answer to the writer of your July 10 letter "Cyclists have responsibilities, too," my only problem with stopping at a four-way stop is that if I arrive at the intersection first and come to a complete stop, guess who thinks they have the right of way? Yep, the driver, who usually didn't come to a complete stop. Rolling on through an intersection, if it's clear, seems to be less annoying to all parties.

Ron Gephart

Memphis