[BIKE: Relevant to recent discussions]

[Wayne]

> It's a matter of fact, however, that the lawbreaking of cyclists is of
a
> different caliber than that of motorists. Despite what you've heard
> here, motorists simply DON'T run red lights in the middle of the
cycle.
> They DON'T ride down the wrong side of the street. Etc.
> 
> - MD

Fact! NO - you're wrong! Motorists DO run red lights in the middle of
the cycle! Any day you want to witness this phenomenon, just let me
know! Those "WRONG WAY" traffic signs you see - here's a clue, they
weren't erected because significant numbers of cyclists were a problem.

One of my most interesting encounters involved a motorist on William
Cannon (near Motorola). He was stopped at the intersection of Vega (side
street) & Wm Cannon. I was headed SE on Wm Cannon coming down the hill
from SW Parkway - traveling > 30mph. Sight distance is excellent at this
intersection. I wanted to turn left onto Vega, he wanted to turn left
onto Wm Cannon. I had the ROW (no stop sign or light for me), & I could
have easily made the turn in front of him given my distance from the
intersection, by maintaining my speed. It was easy to predict he was
going to pull out on me & he did. I had reduced my speed, because I knew
he was gonna do it, & I was prepared to brake accordingly. I didn't flip
him off or yell any obscenities at him - I simply yelled "Pay attention
before you kill someone!" He had both his windows down & we we're
close(within 10 -15' of each other). I guess that's when he woke up,
because he paused in the middle of the intersection (Wm Cannon is a
divided boulevard there) & drove ~40 - 50'  SE on Wm Cannon. I simply
continued to turn onto Vega.
This guy makes an illegal U-turn in the SE lanes of Wm Cannon. I heard
him making the U-turn. He drives back up through the intersection. I
decided to get off the road & onto the sidewalk & dismounted. So this
guy drives his truck up onto the sidewalk, well, both front & rear
passenger-side wheels are on the sidewalk & he's driving toward me. I
move off into the weeds. When he gets about 20'from me he stops and
exists his truck & has some choice words for me. He wanted to "settle"
the situation. I told him to get back in his truck & forget about it. As
he walked toward me I told him to stop, that I had mace, I showed it to
him, I told him if he came closer I would spray him. He stopped, yelled
at me some more & got back in his truck & left.

So please don't try to tell me motorists don't drive("ride" in your
vernacular) on the wrong side of the street.

WS