Letter of the Day: Cars vs. bikes

Cars vs. bikes

EDITOR: City streets and county roads were designed by civil engineers and built for automobiles. Before they were paved, many carried horse-drawn wagons. Bicycles were never considered for most roads at the time of construction. That hasn't stopped local governments from trying to be politically correct and get creative with white paint on the pavements in attempts to get people driving two-ton automobiles to "share the road" with unprotected human bodies who weigh, at most, a couple hundred pounds. The motorist even has a seat belt. The bicyclist? Blind faith that the driver of the automobile isn't going to accidentally or, on purpose, collide with him/her.

Bicycles are not allowed on freeways. There is a reason for that. It's common sense that speeding automobiles can't share that piece of pavement with bicycles because of the high probability of collisions. Dedicated bike paths should be for bicycles. Bike lanes, which are now only identified by a strip of white paint, should have their own physically protected space. If the increase in bicycle use is going to continue, then the same commitment that built the city streets and county rural roads designed by civil engineers needs to be devoted to constructing safe, convenient and efficient bicycle paths. Expensive? Yes. Needed and necessary? Also, yes.

PHILIP SNODGRASS

Santa Rosa