Neighborhood Notes

ms. mcorganic:

Change the law to give vehicles the right-of-way and put the impetus on bike riders to ensure that the coast is clear. It will make a rider think twice before putting himself/herself in the danger zone and take the impetus off the car driver, who will never lose in the event he/she isn't paying attention and a collision occurs.

I sympathize with your argument, but I think this paragraph exemplifies up why giving the right-of-way to car drivers is the wrong approach. We need to increase the pressure car drivers feel to watch out for bicyclists, not alleviate it. Likewise, we need to increase the pressure on bicyclists to be careful.

However, it seems much more likely that a driver without impetus to be extremely careful for bicyclists would drive unsafely than it would be likely for a bicyclist to dart in front of a moving car. One takes simple oversight, while the other takes a death wish.

I don’t believe there is anything that is “feel good” about the law. It is an attempt to control 2 vehicles (yes a bicycle is a vehicle) when they share the road. There is nothing in the law that puts the impetus solely on the driver. The law puts responsibility on both drivers and bicycle riders to be aware of each other.

If people would take a reasonable approach to the situation one would realize that when sharing the road both parties are responsible for watching out for each other. Your reasoning removes any responsibility from the driver. In other words if the driver hits a bicyclist, it’s the bicyclists fault, no matter what the circumstances.

With the logic used, then pedestrians should not have the right of way at crosswalks. I should be able to just barrel through an intersection without any concern for pedestrians, and if I hit one it’s their fault. When a pedestrian is in a crosswalk they are sharing the road and it’s the same issue.

I think any reasonable bicyclist will tell you that they are responsible for being aware of the traffic around them. It’s the same for drivers, they must be aware of ALL the traffic around them while driving.

The idea behind the box is to eliminate an obvious risk at intersections by providing a space where bicyclists can safely wait for the light to change. This concept is used extensively in Europe with great success. How is using something that is proven to work a “feel good, politically correct” law?

A bike sharing the road with cars is a controversial and emotional issue. Taking extremist positions does nothing to solve the problem of saving lives; it simply polarizes the two sides of the issue. And haven’t we had enough polarization in this country for the last seven years?

I just can't help but think the whole approach to this proceeds from an error in the law.

As far as right-of-way, vehicles should ALWAYS have right-of-way over bicycles. Look at it this way: if it's the driver that's supposed to be responsible for avoiding bicyclists and the driver fails to do this even once while at the very same moment the bicyclist assumes the driver is paying attention when he/she isn't, a death can result.

By making the car drivers ultimately responsible for recognizing the presence of bicyclists, the law has put bicyclists in greater danger simply because the rider KNOWS he/she always has the right-of-way the moment the light turns green. If both driver and rider aren't paying attention, the rider can be killed.

If the vehicle has the right of way, this would put the impetus on the rider to make sure the coast was clear before crossing a street. It is simply much easier for a rider to be aware of cars than the driver to be aware of bikes.

I know this goes against the very fabric of what it means to live and breathe in Portland, but with this issue it's time to dispense with political and environmental correctness and start saving lives.

Change the law to give vehicles the right-of-way and put the impetus on bike riders to ensure that the coast is clear. It will make a rider think twice before putting himself/herself in the danger zone and take the impetus off the car driver, who will never lose in the event he/she isn't paying attention and a collision occurs.

Giving bicyclists the right-of-way is merely feel-good legislation and doesn't do the honorable cyclist a bit of good in the long run. It's in the rider's best interest to make the rider solely responsible for their safety when riding in the streets.