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Mailbag: Road rage, getting along and Floyd Landis
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Sometimes there is no shoulder
Editor:
In a reply to another reader (see the October 30 Mailbag), Jeff Senich writes, "We should all think twice about riding roads that don’t have an adequate shoulder. Find another route that does have a safe shoulder."
He's obviously never been in West Virginia, where few roads have any shoulder — the white line is where the pavement ends. And given the narrow, twisty, hilly nature of the roads here, I will continue to "take my lane" as a matter of self-preservation. There just isn't room for me and a car/truck in the same lane.
Ken Parkington,
Clarksburg, West Virginia
Better planning could prevent tragedies
Editor:
Reading the letters it’s unfortunate that city planning puts automobiles and bicycles into situations where conflict does arise. It’s nothing new that people love to cycle, and cities should get off of their butts and plan accordingly.
Here in Kamloops, British Columbia, we have almost no cycling lanes, and the downtown has been cut off effectively by new construction with no thought to the future. Even in front of our university, which is continually growing, there are no bike lanes. City hall wants to continue planning like it’s 1950.
From my own personal experience it does not matter if you are in the right — if you get hit by a car and end up in a wheelchair like me it sucks big time. All the money in the world will mean nothing when you can't stand and walk or pedal a bike.
Ninety-nine-point-nine percent of the time things work out and no one gets hurt, but on the off chance that something does happen you will wish you stayed home in bed that morning.
David Stewart
Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada
Give respect, get respect
Editor:
I have been road riding for 26 years. I now live in a large, busy city in Texas and have found urban routes that eventually lead to country roads.
I am also a police officer, firefighter and paramedic. As a paramedic I have provided advanced care for a cyclist that rear-ended a car at low speed. In my role as a police officer I frequently stop those cyclists that fail to obey the rules of the road.
My experience as both an avid cyclist and public safety officer has shown this: If we as cyclists obey traffic law, the more courtesy and respect we receive from motorists.
Lance Koppa
Dallas, Texas
Jail time is a little bit much
Editor:
I have been following Dr. Thompson's trial on your website. As a cyclist, I am angered and appalled by what he did. He did lose his cool and slam his brakes, which resulted in two cyclists being injured.
As angry as I am, I read that he might get five years in prison for his actions. I don't think that destroying his career and life is going to make the situation better. I wish he had shown remorse and publically apologized, but he didn't, and I think that will ultimately cost him dearly. And his defense lawyer's plan of turning it around on the cyclists was just unexcused. But jail time is still a bit harsh for the crime.
I think a sentence with a large financial restitution, mandatory anger-management classes and a long probation would be the best course of action. Make him feel the consequences of his actions, but not by destroying his life and reputation. Hopefully he and other motorists will learn from this.
We all have road rage from time to time — heck, I've been punched in the face in criteriums for not backing down from pros who think they're God — but that doesn't make them criminals, it just demonstrates a lack of self-control.
But life has consequences, so hit him where it will really do some good: his pride and his pocketbook.
Shaun Bagley
Visalia, California
Make ’em ride bikes
Editor:
Motorists convicted in road rage incidents against cyclists should be punished/rehabilitated by having their driver's licenses revoked. They should be put on five years’ probation during which time they are to ride a bicycle everywhere they go.
If they are caught riding in or driving an automobile, revoke their parole and send them to prison. Empathy. …
Tara Kelly
Morgan Hill, California
The problem is not solely American
Editor:
I am a lawyer in South Africa, where motorists have the same rude and impatient approach to cyclists as it is apparent exists in your country. I was disappointed by the seeming poor cross examination of Thompson and his expert witness.
However, be that as it may I hope the man is convicted. I hear the point the other readers are trying to make about there being two sides to a story. However, it appears to me that this war between cyclists and motorists is only one that rages on in Anglo-Saxon countries. Why is it that we are so impatient that we cannot wait a minute or five before it is appropriate to pass cyclists? If we were more patient then it would not matter if cyclists were riding three abreast. Most of us ride because cycling is a very social sport and that includes riding next to each other. Why is it that I hear story after story, from friends who have gone on cycling tours on the European mainland, about how patient the motorists in France, Spain and Germany, etc., are, but here in South Africa if you hold a motorist up for 10 seconds he will try and drive you off the road?
I have even had conversations with motorists who unashamedly state that they hate cyclists and that cyclists should get off the road or be prepared to make contact with their ton of steel. As if my tax money is somehow inferior to theirs.
Perhaps when there are real consequences for motorists in our countries they will be more patient with us. On the mainland in Europe the consequences for a collision with a cyclist are dire. In our countries it seems that the consequences are trifling. There is no deterrent.
This is why Thompson needs to be convicted. I laud the officer who charged him with assault with a deadly weapon. Maybe now we will be heard.
Ralph Kujawa
Benmore, South Africa
Take this discussion mainstream
Editor:
Kudos to you for coverage of Christopher Thompson's road-rage trial, and good job on giving everyone a venue for comments regarding the topic of driver-cyclist interaction.
My challenge to you, other readers and myself is to move this conversation to mainstream media so non-cycling drivers become more involved, and hopefully more aware. Following are two examples from USA Today written from the perspective of a driver, and it's a little scary. Thanks for all the work you do.
Randall Mullen
Bozeman, Montana
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/driveon/post/2009/10/620000725/1
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/driveon/post/2009/10/620000345/1
Landis has some nerve to snivel about politics
Editor:
I was rather disgusted to see Floyd Landis' audacious moaning in the media that he may never race the Tour de France again: "I can't foresee what the politics in cycling will possibly lead to, but the organizations in control are not working well together. There are people caught in the crossfire and I happen to be one of them, so I don't know if the opportunity will come up again. I would like to. But it's very sensitive."
Landis has had his days in court and in appeals, several times over. Ok, he has now served his suspension, and he likes to race. And obviously, he is racing again.
However, as your article noted, Landis was also the first rider in over 100 years to be stripped of his medal in the TdF. To my way of thinking, that is a pretty dubious distinction, and an extremely inappropriate platform from which to blame his woes on the feuding UCI and TdF organizations.
Why on earth should the TdF organizers accept a podium-placed, court-proven cheater back into the most prestigious bike race and the third-largest sporting event in the world? How would that contribute to rebuilding a positive image of the race?
Furthermore, how has Landis demonstrated that he has earned that privilege? Has he come clean about his past errors and learned from the experience as David Millar did?
Ian Hamilton
Wakefield, Quebec, Canada
