Thursday Common Sense

Last week, both a friend and a teammate of mine were doored (self-explanatory for you non-cyclists - please see below) and received relatively serious and very serious injuries, respectively. One is a blue belt in karate and a daily commuter, and is now on crutches with torn ligaments in her knee. The other is still in the hospital with God-only-knows-what internal injuries. At least she's out of the ICU, finally.

And far more disastrous, a third, Clinton Miceli, was actually killed two weeks ago, on the first day of Bike to Work Week, no less.

It's literally an ounce of prevention...a fraction of an ounce, actually. Bike lane or no bike lane, driver side, or passenger side, just look over your shoulder before opening your car door on the street. It takes one second. If the three drivers responsible for the incidents above had taken that one second to think about somebody other than themselves, Clinton would still be alive, Sophie would be going to karate tonight, and Robin would be racing this weekend.

There are a lot more bicyclists out there than in the past, and we are here to stay. The old "roads are for cars" line carries zero weight now. That school of thought now only is for selfish, thoughtless people whose mommies never taught them to share, and who believe that 200 horsepower between their legs gives them the right to threaten anybody "weaker" in their way.

And not only is sharing the road the right thing to do, it's the only thing to do.

So let's all be patient, let's all be cool, and let's all get home safe.