Safe Bicycle Commuting Is 2-Way Street

“Commuters Putting Mettle to the Pedal,” your May 28 article on bicycle commuting, points out two things: the lack of drivers’ awareness of cyclists and the lack of adult cyclists’ awareness of basic bicycle safety. Commuting on city streets is dicey enough--potholes, parked car doors flying open into your face and fumes are constant obstacles. Add cyclists riding on the wrong side of the street without running lights or safety gear and you are simply asking for accidents. Adults riding on the sidewalk create hazards for pedestrians, automobiles (when the cyclists ride off the sidewalks into the crosswalks) and cyclists themselves.

It’s clear that more and more people will be cycling to work as the energy crisis worsens, and this is a good thing. It’s also clear that unless adults as well as children are educated about safe cycling habits, and drivers are made aware of cyclists’ presence, casualties will rise in proportion to the number of cycling commuters.

Paul Chitlik

Burbank

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I’ve been commuting from my apartment in Los Feliz to my office in Beverly Hills since last summer’s transit strike. You mention, only in passing, efforts in recent years by the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition to improve the quality and safety of cycling in and around Los Angeles. Bicycle lanes on Silver Lake and Venice boulevards, access to the Metro Rail and buses and rehabilitation of the L.A. River bikeway are just a few of its accomplishments.

Every night on my commute home through Hollywood I see a dozen or so cyclists dressed in dark clothing on secondhand bikes with no safety equipment or visibility enhancements, riding in the wrong direction on the sidewalk and otherwise breaking every traffic law. Portraying this total lack of safety clothing, equipment and practices as an economic issue is irresponsible when it is so obviously a question of public education.

I have a relatively expensive ($65) headlight on my $85 second-hand bike, but decent headlights that run on C-cell batteries are available for as little as $15. Helmets cost $30 and up; clip-on flashing red lights that attach to either your bike frame or clothing are as cheap as $5 to $10. Add up the price of safety gear and, no matter who you are, it’s just not all that much money, especially when you compare it to the cost of operating a car or even riding the bus. And it’s only a microscopic fraction of the cost of an extended hospital visit, assuming you survive being hit by that driver who never saw you making that illegal turn.

Paul Nerbonne

Los Angeles