Road warriors
There seems to be a popular misconception that bicyclists enjoy an unconditional right-of-way and that traffic laws do not apply to them (“Right to the Road,” 8/25/2016). Near my home there are a couple of at-grade bike trail crossings, one on McKee Road and the other on Seminole Highway. Both of these have stop signs on the trails (not on the streets), but I routinely see bicyclists running the stop signs. They are apparently unaware that they have the stop sign, not me.
The Fitchburg police informed me that yes, a bicyclist failing to stop at a stop sign or a red light is committing a traffic violation. He could be cited for doing so if observed by a police officer, and could possibly be held at fault in the event a collision resulted.
Scott Sallstrom (via email)
While Dave Cieslewicz is correct that bicycles have a right to the road, it doesn’t mean those roads are safe and designed for bicycles.
I commuted by bike a lot when I lived in Chicago. When I moved to rural Dane 25 years ago I rapidly quit using the bike. I am looking forward to next year when I can again resume riding now that I live in Madison.
The tourist and biking industry love to boost riding on various routes through the countryside. I lived on the Ironman route, which drew a lot of bikers — people were bicycling on county roads that were not only in bad repair but lacked shoulders in many areas. There are also blind hills and curves where drivers are not going to see a slower bicycle until they are on top of it.
Mix those factors with 55 mile per hour speed limits (which means many people driving 60-80) and you have a deadly combination for coexisting with bicycles, especially when you figure in drivers distracted by cell phones, teens with new licenses and the ever-present Wisconsin drunk.
For recreational biking, stick to the bike trails or the cities until the rural roads are redesigned for your use.
George Hagenauer (via email)
While I agree with Dave Cieslewicz, he must realize that bicyclists are subject to traffic laws and regulations as well. On any given day as I drive around town I witness blatant violations by bicyclists, mostly blowing through stop signs and/or red lights.
Eric H. Pangman (via email)
Corrections
The opinion column last week (“A Right to the Road”) incorrectly identified statistics on cycling fatalities as national data; they are Wisconsin statistics. In the article “Real-Life Theater,” the publication date for the book Achilles in Vietnam was incorrect; it was published in 1994, not 2010.
