The attitude that area motorists harbor towards cyclists is absurd and dangerous.

Recently, two incidents occurred that have caused me to fear for my safety on the road. The first of these was an incident that happened when a motorist made a right turn directly in front of me at a green light, completely ignoring the fact that I had the right of way because I was in front of him.

The second incident occurred today on Raccoon Mountain. A motorist rudely blared his horn at me even though he had plenty of room to pass me safely. I did not hear him behind me at first and, when he blew his horn, it startled me so much that I nearly fell off my bike.

It is quite unnecessary and extremely dangerous (for both the rider and motorist) for a motorist to blow their horn at a cyclist unless it is a dire emergency.

Many area drivers are ignorant of the fact that cyclists are required to follow the exact same rules of the road as cars — and it is only a matter of time before their ignorance gets someone injured or killed. The motoring public needs desperately to educate themselves about the proper operation of their automobiles around bicycles before any more lives are wasted.

We all know what happened to David Meek when he was tragically drug to death by an ignorant driver who passed him too closely. If anyone is unclear of these laws, good place to start would be the state’s motor vehicle and bicycle statutes, Michie’s Tennessee Code Annotated Title 55, Chapter 8, section 171.

Anna Scholze
Chattanooga

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Bikers have their comments on how drivers are to them. I find that bikers are not obeying the law of the road either. I respect people who want to excerise by rideing bikes.

I wll tell you of an incident that happened to me going home one day a week or so ago. I met a lot of bikers coming down Mowbray Mountain. About half way up the mountain, I met a biker on my side of the road. He was traveling so fast coming around a curve he was on my side of the road. This really scared me to death, because if I had hit this man, it would have seemed like it was my fault. I thank God this man got on his side of the road before it was too late.

I really do not think the mountain roads are a place where bikers should be. There are so many dangerous curves. It is bad enough to come face to face with a car on your side, let alone a biker.

I also had another incident on the back side of the mountain on one of the roads going up the mountain. A biker was in front of me traveling very slow. It is bad enough to try to go up a mountain road without having to gear down, there is no way a biker can travel 35 mph, and there is no way to pass one for fear of getting hit by another vehicle coming down the mountain.

I do respect bikers. There are certain places, I do not think they need to travel. I just think they need to be only in bike routes.

Let's not put all the blame on drivers. If you want respect, you must first show respect.

Sheila Burrows

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Last week I was driving my car on Cherokee Boulevard toward the Market Street Bridge. As I approached Market Street, the traffic light was red and there were two cars in front of me with their right turn signals on. Just as the light turned green a bicyclist passed me on the right. She also passed the car in front of me and just as the lead car was turning onto the Market Street Bridge, they had to slam on the brakes to keep from hitting the bicyclist.

I would have been ready to defend the driver of the car if they had crashed and I am surprised that they didn't.

I am not going to call the woman riding the bike ignorant because she may be brilliant. The point is that a driver turning right may not see someone on a bike coming from behind and passing on the right.

Today I was driving south on Hixson Pike when a car passed me and immediately pulled back in front of me and put on their right turn signal. I had to abruptly slow down to allow them to make the turn.

Should drivers be more courteous? Of course, they should. Should bicyclists be courteous and obey traffic laws? Certainly.

Joan Erickson

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Anna,
If you think Chattanooga is not bicycle friendly, and you fear for your safety on the road while riding a bicycle, then get off the road.

Contrary to what that statement may cause some people to think, I have no problem with cyclists on the road, as long as they know what they're doing and they exercise the same courtesy they so often demand of drivers.

The problem is, the amount of cyclists who do, indeed, know what they're doing and demonstrate courtesy is in inverse proportion to the amount of drivers who 'should.' It is also quite unnecessary, Anna, for cyclists to hold up countless other people from getting where they need to be, all because they can't sacrifice a few seconds of their time and pull over in order to avoid holding up 5, 10, 20 or more cars.

If you're riding a bike for leisure, then you are, by definition, not in any kind of a hurry; otherwise, you'd be in a motor vehicle. So maybe you're right, maybe Chattanooga 'isn't' bicycle friendly, but it isn't because literally thousands of motorists woke up one day and said to themselves, "Yessir, I think I'll hate me some cyclists today, 'by gawd'."

On the contrary, it's because too many cyclists demonstrate the exact opposite type of behavior that is (1) required by law, and (2) necessary if they want motorists' respect.

Sam Horn
Chattanooga
SamuelLanghorn@hotmail.com

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It is unfortunate that our entire city has become labeled "not bike friendly" just because of a few on each side of the argument who cannot seem to act in a respectful manner to those around them.

I want to add my recent story about bicyclists that did not obey the rules of the road. I was traveling with a friend (avid cyclist from the past who can completely relate to all woes of the cyclists) on Harrison Lane towards Daisy Dallas. Just before reaching Daisy Dallas there is a side road that joins Harrison Lane from the right. A large group of cyclists came barreling through the stop sign from the side road out onto Harrison Lane, never paused to check traffic, never stopped at the stop sign and just went right through making a right onto Harrison Lane and a subsequent left onto Daisy Dallas.

These cyclists were obviously 'not' obeying the rules of the road and they were obviously an organized group of the city's cycling community who stomp their feet to get the same consideration on the road as motorized vehicles. But, obviously do not want to follow the same rules the rest of us have to follow.

By the way, kudos to the one lone rider, at the end of the pack, who did stop at the stop sign and waited for the appropriate time to enter Harrison Lane instead of following the rest of his friends onto a dangerous road with oncoming traffic. Though none of his friends were hit by a car, if not for the careful driving of those of us who avoided a dangerous situation that the cyclists created, they may well have been. And he may very well have saved his own life by following the rules of the road his friends felt did not apply to them.

Susan Brazelle
Hixson