Sunday, August 19, 2012

Assault on Bikers

In the past few months, there have been a rash of collisions between a bicycle and a motorized vehicle.  At the late great Jim Dykes behest, I've curbed my discussion on biking and bikes.  But there seems to be an assault on bikes in this area that cannot go unspoken.  

A still uncaught driver ran a biker into a roadside rock near Townsend not too long ago.  Weeks of hospitalization and medical care followed a bike/car collision near Walland.
A fellow who moved to Maryville just last March was turning into his subdivision recently when a driver attempted to pass him on a double yellow line.  And then, most egregiously, a driver so violently objected to a rider in Knoxville touching his car that he turned around and ran down the biker and then got out of his vehicle and beat the biker into surgery.

It's gone from animosity to downright hatred!
I've heard it all.  "Get off the road!"  In Townsend, it's "ride on the sidewalk!"  Sorry folks, but bicycles are vehicles that by state law have a right to be on the roads.

When I've addressed this topic in this column, among the many thanks that I get, somebody will say that we (bikers) still don't belong on the road.   That unless we pay taxes on our vehicles, that we don't have a right to ride roads.
That the roads are made for motorized vehicles and not for bikes.

I'm betting bikers pay plenty of taxes.  We all own motorized vehicles.  My buddy Rat's bike costs more than most cars on the streets (well, more than mine, anyway) and I know for sure that he paid taxes on it.
That we don't pay the $3.50 per year for a Tennessee Drivers License or the 35 bucks or so for a license plate is irrelevant.   And yes, I'm aware that a lot of what we pay for gas goes to maintain roads but does that mean that the guy driving the monster pick-up has more right to the roads than the electric/hybrid car?

So why do people hate those on bicycles?   I wish I knew because maybe then I could fix it.
But when you take your car or truck and purposely try and hit a biker, well that is just plain assault.  Assault with the intent to kill or maim.   When you try and hit me, your motorized vehicle becomes a deadly weapon.  

Do you not realize that we are human beings just like you?   That we have jobs and families and people depending on us?  Can you not understand even for a moment that bikers are riding for their own health and enjoyment and not to inconvenience you?  
And if all you meant to do by driving too close to us is to scare us, well what if you kill us instead?   Would you come to our funeral?                                                                                                                                             

POSTSCRIPT:  My wife said she had the answer to my question.  She said that people hate those on bikes because we slow them down and no one wants to be slowed down.   I said, OK, let's solve that by putting everyone on bicycles.   That slows everyone down.   That probably isn't a practical solution. 

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