Didn’t realize the amount of snark that San Francisco Chronicle editorials can have. (Like this recent reference to the “shopping cart set,” for instance. Wow.)
Anyway, point-counterpoint, below.
Boy, this is a genius photo – the traffic lights are red and green at the same time, all Christmas-like. Signals at this intersection still need work.
Here we go:
“Pull up at any busy intersection where bikes and cars meet, and it’s often a free-for-all.”
No it’s not. I realize this fits the format of an editorial but it all seems a bit clunky. Is lying allowed here?
“Drivers honk, shout and swerve into bike lanes.”
Well sure, sometimes, but not “at any busy intersection.”
“Riders are allowed the full use of driving lanes, the same as any vehicle.”
False, exactly false, actually. Here’s the rule: “Any person operating a bicycle upon a roadway at a speed less than the normal speed of traffic moving in the same direction at that time shall ride as close as practicable to the right-hand curb or edge of the roadway…” There are some exceptions of course but bikes are not treated “the same as any vehicle” under CA law. Do editorialists have editors?
“The city’s network of lanes and suggested riding streets is little known…”
Uh, false? Little known, what?
“….one side-effect of an obstructionist lawsuit that delayed bike lane work for four years until this year.”
The City gambled and lost on CEQA. It took a judge about five minutes to agree that Our City was improperly horsing around with Environmental Impact Report laws. Could it be that CEQA itself is “obstructionist?”
“San Francisco clearly wants to accommodate bike riding in a major way. But it must be accompanied by a recognition that bicyclists must follow the rules – and San Francisco police should be willing to enforce them.”
Now this bit here is tacked on at the end, all abrupt-like. So, drivers are allowed California stops in California, especially in San Francisco, as are cyclists, especially in San Francisco. There are reasons why SFPD cops generally don’t hand out tickets to cyclists. So attempting to change that, well, that’s going to take more than a half-assed, error-ridden editorial, right?
I’m think the “Golden Age” of cycling has more than a little to do with the rise of fixed-gear bikes. Talk to a bike store owner about the mountain bike craze – I’m saying I wouldn’t go extrapolating out too far into the future.
But Only Time Will Tell.
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