Bifurcated Views on Bicycle Riders

* Re “Weekend Tally: 3 Bike Wrecks,” July 19”:

Bike riders seem to feel they are exempt from the rules of the road. Wearing a helmet affords little protection to someone who disregards stop signs or rides on the wrong side of the street.

On Harbor Boulevard as I awaited a green light, I saw an adult turning the corner in the bike lane on the opposite side of the street. There he almost collided with another adult in the same lane but traveling in the wrong direction.

Looking over my shoulder for an opening in the flow of traffic to make a turn, I was startled just as I stepped on the gas by a bike rider who passed in front of me on the wrong side of the street.

On busy 19th Street, I stopped at a stop sign at an intersection and then proceeded across the intersection. Suddenly a boy wearing a helmet rode his bike across in front of me without stopping at the stop sign.

These are a few of the traffic code violations I witness again and again by bike riders.

Is it ignorance of the rules of the road or a mistaken idea that a rider is safer facing oncoming traffic? Whatever the reasons may be, the public definitely needs to be made aware that traffic rules must be obeyed.

The traffic on our busy streets is no place for riders to take unnecessary risks, and a helmet will provide little protection against several thousand pounds of metal.

JOAN MORRISON

Costa Mesa

* The article headlined “Weekend Tally: 3 Bike Wrecks” has an inappropriate, unfair title. What The Times should have said was: “3 Bicyclists Killed by Cars.”

Beyond the issue of terminology is a bigger issue, that of fairness to bicyclists not only by The Times but by the legal and law enforcement system.

When a bicyclist is killed or badly injured, it’s usually by a motorist, driving a car or truck. The fault can be on either side, motorist or bicyclist; but the investigation, the decision on whether to prosecute and the trial are all done by motorists.

I won’t say a fair trial is impossible under those circumstances, but I do say it’s unlikely. Even though there are many fewer bicyclists than motorists, this is unacceptable.

At the very least, fairness requires an acknowledgment of this issue by all participants, and an explicit attempt (for example, by jury instructions) to compensate for its pervasive presence and influence.

The Times should note this issue too, and should try to be part of the solution, rather than part of the problem.

DON HARVEY

Executive director, Orange County

Bicycle Coalition