Concern rides high

I'm not sure that you portrayed both sides fairly in your May 12 article "Cyclists pedal scared on busy Triangle roads." You mentioned the valid perspective of the cyclists, but drivers were represented by a guy who was "annoyed" at the cyclists.

I'm not annoyed. I'm very concerned. I'm concerned I might have to choose between running into a cyclist or crashing head-on into an oncoming vehicle. The road by my Wake County neighborhood is popular with bicyclers, but it has no shoulder, many tight turns and hills. Even while going the speed limit, I can quickly come upon a cyclist and have to react in a split second. Is there enough space for me, the cyclist and the big truck coming at me in the two narrow lanes? Not usually.

I'm forced to slam on the brakes, often with my daughter in the car. Am I angry? No, I know several people who bike these roads. I really don't have a solution, but to keep saying that the "cyclists have the same right to the road" over and over is not going to make the situation any less nerve-wracking for drivers like me or safer for the cyclists.

Elizabeth Zirkle

Wake Forest

Biking benefits

Your May 12 article on cycling in the Triangle grossly exaggerated the dangers of cycling. I've been commuting by bicycle for 16 years in Chapel Hill, Durham and RTP. My experience has been that the vast majority of motorists are polite and courteous. Likewise, I try to be courteous when cycling by being visible, riding predictably and following the rules of the road.

My heart goes out to families of cyclists killed or injured by inattentive or impaired drivers. Such drivers pose a danger not just to cyclists, but also to pedestrians and other motorists. I'm not ignoring this danger, but I also don't allow my vigilance to turn to paranoia. I've had a few close-calls as a cyclist but many more as a motorist, including a head-on crash I was lucky to survive. There is risk in every activity.

The benefits of cycling far outweigh the risks. Cycling is an inexpensive, nonpolluting, healthy, fun and, yes, safe way to get to work. North Carolina's climate is suited for cycling year-round, and I stay fit without a gym membership. When I get to the office in the morning, I'm refreshed, happy and ready to start the day. I urge you to try it!

Lawrence Trost

Durham

Cycling not useless

Regarding your May 12 article "Cyclists pedal scared on busy Triangle roads":

I see that you (rightly) featured a few tragic accidents, but I've yet to see you ever mention, let alone analyze, the 1,500+ car deaths per year in North Carolina. Should we be "scared" to drive?

I regularly commute to Cary from Raleigh and often home again -- from two to five times a week. Do I see people drive dangerously or abusively toward cyclists? Occasionally, yes. However, to write an article that makes cycling sound bad or indeed useless is to blatantly disregard the multitudes of ways that good can come from cycling -- especially now with overcrowding, environmental issues, obesity.

You wrote about a 21-year-old driver who has been charged in a cyclist's death and yet quoted another 21-year-old as if he speaks with the voice of the public about cyclists being "annoying." Your entire article was so painfully biased as to be hard to be believed.

James Dodge

Raleigh

Change the laws

Your front-page photo May 12 illustrated the problem perfectly: Bicycles were not designed to safely travel streets and highways designed for today's motorized traffic. Had bicycles been invented yesterday rather than 100 years or so before the automobile, there would be no serious thought of allowing them on our public roads. It would make about as much sense as allowing us to get out there on roller skates or go-carts.

The fact that outdated laws permit bicyclists to compete for road space with cars and trucks doesn't mean it's a good idea. These laws will not protect bicyclists from the inevitable accidents, nor will they help heal their injuries or restore their lives.

Rod Phillips, Raleigh

Case in point

Thank you for calling attention to the dangers and attitudes cyclists must endure in your May 12 article "Cyclists pedal scared on busy Triangle roads."

A group of six mothers cycled from Cary to Carrboro on a Saturday morning for a pre-Mother's Day ride. We rode single file on the shoulder and had no fewer than four angry drivers yelling obscenities out their windows, angry to have to wait to pass us on a two-lane curvy back road. One man even threw his cigarette butt at my friend, a mom of three, on an otherwise beautiful Saturday morning.

Juliann Zoetmulder, Cary

Beef up shoulders

In regard to "Cyclists pedal scared on busy Triangle roads" (news story, May 12), we as bikers do need to take responsibility for following the motor vehicle rules of the road. But with the poor road conditions around the Triangle area, it's difficult to stay far to the right when there isn't any room over there.

What would be a big help to both cyclists and motorist is for DOT to provide some paved shoulders at least 2 feet wide and some marked-off bicycle lanes on the major street arteries.

Of course, even with that, that won't prevent collisions between bicycles and cars or trucks -- especially when driven by people who are inebriated, arrogant, apathetic or otherwise oblivious to their surroundings.

F. Benton Ham, Raleigh

What motorists pay

This letter is in regards to the article and picture of a cyclist on a bike in front of a truck. The cutline read that bikers ride a favorite route on Carpenter Pond Road, where an accident happened. I am not surprised to read that an accident happened on this road. Bikers are everywhere on this road as well as on Leesville Road, Olive Branch Road and Nichols Road. As many as 40 bikers are riding together at one time. The bikers ride four wide on the lane. They will not get over, and they do not use hand signals to help you get by them.

I read the biker's rights. Unless the bikers are required to register their bikes, pay high insurance premiums for liability and collision and pay for uninsured motorists, pay for inspections, pay property tax on their bikes, purchase license plates yearly, then I am missing something. Until the bikers are required to meet the requirements that I have to meet for operating a vehicle in North Carolina, I think they should be required to ride in a bike lane.

Norma McKee

Raleigh

Cycling and safety

The May 12 article about bicycling correctly pointed out that cyclists have a legal right to ride on streets. However, the article implied that cycling on Triangle streets is unsafe because of some unfortunate recent accidents. Motorists are injured and killed nearly every day in the Triangle, yet we don't see articles questioning whether cars and trucks belong on the streets.

Cyclists can get hurt on the roads, as with any outdoor sport, but they can do many things to minimize the dangers. Some examples include wearing bright clothes, using head and tail lights, obeying traffic laws and choosing routes that avoid busy roads (when possible). I have ridden thousands of miles on Triangle roads over the years without getting hurt.

Motorists also have responsibilities, first by recognizing that bicycles do belong on the streets. Cyclists actually are doing motorists a favor by reducing demand for gasoline while prices are skyrocketing, in addition to conserving oil and reducing air pollution. If a cyclist slows down commuters by a few seconds, that is a small inconvenience compared with the injury that motorists can cause by passing too closely or driving recklessly.

Fortunately, most Triangle drivers seem to realize this and are polite toward cyclists.

Tom Mather

Raleigh

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