Comments on: Biking in Louisville (part 3): A Conversation Overheard

By: Mark

Mark — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 19:40:19 +0000

I have been commuting by bike from Iroquois Park to UofL for about 7 years. Before that it was Highlands to UofL and before that it was Lexington Road to UofL. I NEVER use main roads when a parallel side street is available, so I have a route that crosses main streets at a light, but is 90% sidestreets.
In almost 99% of that time I have NO big mishaps with drivers until the last year or so. I blame that increase of driver hostility on drivers angry about gas prices and naive, uniformed neo-bike riders who push their buttons with defiant, indifferent, or inconsiderate riding tactics.
Everyone that is in motion in trying to get somewhere. Your job, whether driver, biker, or pedestrian is go where you go providing courtesy and allowing traffic to flow.
In my route I see drivers pass too close to bikers. I see bikers run red lights. I see bikers nearly run over pedestrians while on campus. I see pedestrians and drivers so transported with their headphones and cell phones they can’t be paying attention to what they’re doing.
In my opinion, the driver vs biker issue is just a part of a much bigger problem of incivility and discourtesy in our culture. When we stop trying to stop other people and start trying to help each other, we will start seeing less confrontations and accidents.

By: Michelle

Michelle — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 21:16:28 +0000

Hello “Driver”,
If you’ve been reading my Biking in Louisville series you’ll know that I very much want to find compassionate and pragmatic solutions for cyclists and motorists in Louisville. I’m afraid your solution is neither compassionate nor pragmatic. Since both the state of Kentucky and the city of Louisville consider biking to be a viable form of transportation your desire to relabel biking a hobby isn’t realistic and truthfully I really don’t understand it. Because a cyclist may delay your arrival by a few minutes you don’t think they should be on the road? I honestly don’t understand so please enlighten me to your line of thinking on this.
Your car gets you from place A to B. My bike gets me from A to B, gives me exercise, gives me a great view of the city and doesn’t burn any fossil fuels. In my mind that puts biking when possible instead of driving firmly in the win column and makes it an outstanding form of transportation. I’ll be waiting anxiously for you to explain to me why you think I’m wrong in this assessment.
Best,
Michelle
PS please consider using your real name. Let’s have an honest conversation between real people instead of snideness and snark hiding behind fake identities.

By: Driver

Driver — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 20:29:58 +0000

How about you take your hobby to the park where the danger is minimized for everyone?

By: john

john — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 16:58:11 +0000

Unfortunately, it seems that people from all demographics across Louisville don’t know or understand bike safety and bike laws. This is why I’m glad we have Bicycling for Louisville working to educate people on issues like these.
http://www.bicyclingforlouisville.org

By: MaryLiz

MaryLiz — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 17:26:09 +0000

This is really tragic. It amazes me that people don’t understand the dangers of bikers riding on sidewalks (think right-turning cars and pedestrians turning corners, etc). There’s a reason why its illegal.
I think its high-time for drivers to become better educated on cycling laws. Its a shame that this isn’t covered very well during Driver’s Ed or even permit and driver’s license tests.