Wheels of change

Re “Bicycle-challenged L.A.,” Opinion, May 19

Finally some attention is being paid to the cleanest and best mode of transportation around: the bicycle. Powered by oatmeal or chicken cacciatore (or whatever else you had for lunch), bicycles get infinite miles per gallon. Los Angeles is certainly not a walking town, but a biking town? Could be. Should be.

Will Campbell’s point is well taken: Bicycles should be treated as equals to automobiles. We don’t want to be “doored” (this is when a parked car’s door opens in front of you and sends you flying). We don’t want to be yelled at to “get on the sidewalk” (this is actually illegal in many cities). We want drivers to share the roads. I received a ticket recently for failing to obey a stop sign. And although I felt a bit odd sitting there on my bike as one cop monitored me and the other wrote a citation, I felt like an equal. So I happily paid that ticket. Now, let’s just hope we can get some more equality on the good side of things.

DREW FALKMAN

Venice

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As a bicyclist who rides about 5,000 miles a year in Los Angeles, I couldn’t disagree more with Campbell’s proposal that the city stop creating bike lanes. Hope is not a plan, and hoping that drivers will learn to share lanes with cyclists is very naive. I used to commute from Silver Lake to Westchester, and I can’t tell you the number of close calls I had on those trips, finally giving up in fear (and under spousal pressure). Good fences make good neighbors, and the only decent places to bicycle in L.A. share something in common: separation from car traffic, whether from a painted line or a self-contained bikeway. Try persuading a family to take a ride down Western Avenue by trusting in the goodwill of people behind the wheel -- ain’t gonna happen.

DAVID GARZA

Glendale

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Campbell’s statement that bike lanes “marginalize cyclists and reinforce their status as second-class commuters who shouldn’t be on the road” is an ideological rather than empirical statement. Certainly the white line provides behavioral guidance for motorists and bicyclist alike. If one wishes to argue that the white line makes no difference, then why have any stripes on roads? The safety of any route depends on design and upkeep. Campbell’s recommendation for bike boulevards and “sharrows” (shared-use arrows) is interesting, but sharrows should not be used if the right lane is too narrow; if it’s wide enough, then a bike lane could be striped. Not all bicycle riders agree on what is needed to create safe routes and encourage bicycle commuting. But most will agree that the present situation is not safe and that something needs to be done.

VINCE BUCK

Fullerton