‘Idiots’ not in charge

Dear Editor:

Do bicycles belong with cars or with pedestrians? A bicycle is nothing like a car. It does not have the size or the massive weight of a car or the speed. A bicyclist has about as much protection in a collision with an automobile as a pedestrian – in other words, none at all. 

A pedestrian and bicycle collision is unfortunate, but when a car hits a bicyclist, the results are always catastrophic. We do not have people walking on the streets with cars, and we should not have people riding bicycles with cars either. And motorists definitely do not want to share the roads with bicycles.  

Before there were cars, there were bicycles. The bicyclists themselves probably made the decision to ride on the roads rather than on the sidewalks. It was reasonable to share the road with horses. But then cars came along and choosing streets over sidewalks turned out to be a very bad decision. 

In many places in Europe, bikes and pedestrians share the sidewalks and it works out well. When a bicyclist approaches pedestrians he slows down and rings a bell. There will always be idiots who go too fast but idiots should not be allowed to dictate the rules.

Bikes using sidewalks could have highly visible license plates which would make reporting speeders easily done. I am sure bicyclists would not object to this if it allowed them to finally get off the roads.

Pete Kocal,
Guelph