This week’s Willamette Week features an interesting letter from a cyclist named Frank DiMarco. His letter was written in response the Aug. 3rd column that named “Self-Absorbed Motorists” as the “Rogue of the Week.”
In his letter, “Share the Lane, Share the Blame” DiMarco says that cyclists would be safer if we only rode on certain, low-traffic streets. He then goes on to place blame on “Bicyclists With Agendas” for “forcing the issue of sharing a busy street.”
While I agree that it behooves cyclists to know the safest routes, I respectfully disagree that a cyclist can be “blamed” for being killed simply because of their choice of streets. Bottom line is that we (cyclists and motorists) need to work together to share the roads. Like it or not, people that choose a bicycle as their primary mode of transportation have just as much right to the roads as motor vehicles. The sooner we figure out how to co-exist, the better.