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Texas Bicycling Blog and News Roundup for January 20th — 5 Comments

1. I think that, on the one hand, this decision in San Antonio is a step in the right direction, but on the other hand I sometimes doubt if 3 feet are enough, considering how fast some cars and trucks zoom by. What matters most, and that is clear from some of the very irresponsible [to say the least] comments to the article in the SA Express-News, is education – on both sides, bicyclists included. But luckily it is only a small minority of drivers [an bicyclists, at that] who act irresponsibly. In all my years of riding my bike on the highways and byways of Karnes County I have always found the vast majority of drivers very considerate, giving me a wide berth whenever possible and sometimes even staying calmly behind me for some time when they could not safely overtake. Thanks to all these people!
   Oh, and btw: this problem is just about the same in my native country, Germany.

   Safe bicycling to y’all!

2. There have some instances when I have had an encounter that 12 feet wasn’t enough. But I have to say over the 30 years I have been riding the bad drivers have been very few. Now passengers in the vehicles might be a different matter. Education is a key factor. One instance I had with a driver turned completely around when I talked to him at traffic light we both were stopped at after he yelled that I should be on the sidewalk. I have wondered if this is a US problem but your comment shows that it could be where ever there are drivers and riders. Patience and manners are important for both parties.

3. In addition to my previous comment I’d like to add here two remarks I have recently found in the Road Bike Riders Newsletter about an anti-bicyclists site on Facebook:

   “Nasty stuff: I would like to bring to your attention a Facebook group that promotes violent, hateful and illegal activities against road bikers,’ writes a subscriber named Igor R. ‘At the bottom of the homepage there is a button marked Report Page. Perhaps if enough people complain to Facebook it may be deleted. Thanks, and here is the link: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Theres-a-perfectly-good-path-right-next-to-the-road-you-stupid-cyclist/190080667052.’ According to Facebook, the page has more than 32,000 ‘fans.'”

   But there’s a positive site, too, which actually campaigns against the above:

   “The Facebook group that wishes harm to cyclists, mentioned here last week, is still functioning. In fact, it has grown to around 35,000 ‘fans’ (up by 3,000). Now a counter group has formed, asking cycling defenders to put pressure on Facebook to remove the ‘hate group.’ It points to Facebook’s terms of use, which says: ‘You will not post content that is hateful, threatening, pornographic, or that contains nudity or graphic or gratuitous violence.’ The anticyclists are at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Theres-a-perfectly-good-path-right-next-to-the-road-you-stupid-cyclist/190080667052. The group that wants Facebook to eliminate them is at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=235515394023&ref=mf. You need to be a Facebook member (it’s free) to get past the home page of either group.”

   I hope that many more people will complain to Facebook and that they will eventually have to remove that site, which, to my mind, advocates illegal actions. I have already written to Facebook in Germnan(y).

   P.S.: Road Bike Riders are at http://roadbikerider.com/.

4. Today’s [Sunday, January 23, 2010] San Antonio Express-News has a feature on safe passing, bicycling and related matters which is well worth reading and might make you think twcie about the absolutely car-dominated mind set even of the SAPD. Well, to be fair, they’re only applying Texas Law. I for my part find it hard to believe, that, according to Texas State Law, a driver who runs a bicylist over and (severely) injures or even kills him/her will not even be given a ticket – let alone be prosecuted – unless an officer witnessed the incident. Prosecutors will only bring more serious charges if there is strong evidence of criminal behaviour, e.g. recklessness, drunkenness or leaving the scene.

   cf. San Antonio Express-News, Sunday, January 23, 2010, p. 1A ff.

5. I do have first experience on how DPS handles bicycle/car incidents. In my case the driver was cited for no insurance by DPS. I do not remember any other charges and it took several weeks for the DPS trooper to file his report. Fortunately the driver paid my medical expenses and replaced my bike.

   I would hope they are handled the same as a car on car incident but from what you state this is not the case at least in San Antonio.

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