Reckless And Dangerous
According to the Wall Street
Journal (6/16/12, p. A3, US Edition), city prosecutors are going to file a
felony vehicular manslaughter charge against a bicyclist who allegedly hit and killed
a pedestrian after he ran a red light. Why in previous, similar cases
prosecutors tended to file only misdemeanor charges is beyond comprehension.
Wake Up Call
It’s about time that
prosecutors take it more seriously when bicyclists run red lights and or hit
pedestrians. Sure most accidents probably result in minor injuries to the
pedestrian. However, as with the broken window policy, if you let too many
bicyclists (who are hard to catch anyway) get way with a slap on the wrist …
No Surprise Here
Coming originally from
Germany, I have observed for decades how many bicyclists in inner city areas frequently
violate traffic rules, drive aggressively, and harass pedestrians. Such
bicyclists are also a menace to car drivers, because they act so unpredictably.
Too many of these bicyclists were acting in arrogance and self-righteousness.
I have been an avid bike rider
myself for many years in Germany.
Downtown Munich – Pedestrians In Danger
From Bicyclists
Last time I visited Munich a
few years ago, I was several times nearly hit by bicyclists while walking about
beautiful downtown Munich, because these bicyclists drive everywhere, they do
not evade you and they do not bother to signal or otherwise warn you. It is
also quite an experience as a pedestrian when all of a sudden a high speed
bicyclist out of nowhere passes by you just inches away. You wonder what would
have happened had you made a wrong move.
Separation Of Bicyclists, Pedestrians, And
Car Drivers
It is my current belief that
pedestrians, bicyclists, and car drivers should be carefully separated. Such a
separation would avoid most of the many conflicts we face today in inner
cities. E.g. bike lanes along streets is not a good solution. Analogous, the
German solution of having bike lanes on e.g. sidewalks is not very good either.
It might be conceivable to
reserve certain streets only for bicyclists, while other roads are for cars
only. In big cities this would be feasible to some extent, if there are enough
bicyclists.
Here in Phoenix, Arizona, you
still find many horse riders. Are they allowed to ride on streets or sidewalks?
I believe not. But the city of Phoenix allows horse riders in many city parks
and there is even an Arizona Horse Lover’s Park in northern Phoenix. I am not
trying to say, this is a solution for bicyclists but it is worth thinking
about.
I have to admit that I am not
very familiar with the situation of bicyclists, e.g., in the Netherlands or
Oregon.
No comments:
Post a Comment