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Letter: Some cyclists ride with reckless abandon

I’ve been stuck behind such clusters of cyclists for kilometres at a time. Most infuriating.

It’s true, Kelowna drivers need a good spanking. We drive distracted, we drive under the influence, we speed and often ignore traffic signs and signals. We cause accidents.

I am also a cyclist, and while on a bike I'm aware of just how dangerous it is out there. So I wear a helmet. I try to remember that I'm subject to all the laws regulating every vehicle on the road. A good number of cyclists, however, ignore the rules of the road.

Have you ever stopped your car at a stop sign, looked left, looked right, then left again before pulling out? Then, suddenly, from your right, a cyclist zips past your front bumper. He was on the wrong side of the street, on the sidewalk. Likely helmetless, likely dressed in shades of grey. If cyclists are so vulnerable, why do they take such chances?

Then we come to those signs that remind us to “Share the Road.”

So cars can pass safely, we have bike lanes wide enough for cyclists to ride in single file, not two, three or five abreast enabling them to chat back and forth. I’ve been stuck behind such clusters for kilometres at a time. Most infuriating. Tooting the horn works sometimes; sometimes it doesn’t.

So yes, it would be nice if there were stiffer penalties for bad drivers, but there should also be a crackdown on miscreant bikers—for their sake.

S. Tod,

Kelowna