KLRU
Please Demonstrate Courtesy
RECEIVED Fri., Oct. 1, 2004
Dear Editor,
A bicyclist ran over my 9-year-old daughter as we were walking to school on the Shoal Creek hike-and-bike trail this morning. He came up behind us too fast, didn't alert us that he was coming, and assumed he knew which way we would dodge when we finally heard him. He guessed wrong and ran right into my daughter.
We're very lucky that she suffered only scrapes, bruises, and a lot of tears. I'm trying not to imagine the worse injuries that a child could receive being squashed on the pavement by 200 pounds of bicycle and rider.
Please remind people that walkers have the right-of-way on the hike-and-bike trails, followed by runners, followed by cyclists. It's always the cyclist's responsibility to pass pedestrians slowly enough to avoid an accident. Yes, out of courtesy and self-defense it's nice for pedestrians to move right when a bike is coming, but we can't even do that if cyclists don't give us any warning.
After running my daughter down, the guy had the gall to shout at me, "Teach your kids how to walk on the trail!" Once again it's fools like that who give all of us cyclists a bad name.
A bicyclist ran over my 9-year-old daughter as we were walking to school on the Shoal Creek hike-and-bike trail this morning. He came up behind us too fast, didn't alert us that he was coming, and assumed he knew which way we would dodge when we finally heard him. He guessed wrong and ran right into my daughter.
We're very lucky that she suffered only scrapes, bruises, and a lot of tears. I'm trying not to imagine the worse injuries that a child could receive being squashed on the pavement by 200 pounds of bicycle and rider.
Please remind people that walkers have the right-of-way on the hike-and-bike trails, followed by runners, followed by cyclists. It's always the cyclist's responsibility to pass pedestrians slowly enough to avoid an accident. Yes, out of courtesy and self-defense it's nice for pedestrians to move right when a bike is coming, but we can't even do that if cyclists don't give us any warning.
After running my daughter down, the guy had the gall to shout at me, "Teach your kids how to walk on the trail!" Once again it's fools like that who give all of us cyclists a bad name.
Prentiss Riddle
