Nothing excuses motorists’ callous disregard of bicyclists

I commute to work on my bicycle, almost every day. My route takes me along Douglas Street, one block up Shady Avenue, then left on Hobart Street. Twice in the last month, including Monday, a car has passed me at high speed on my left, fully in the oncoming lane, as I prepared to turn left onto Hobart. In each case, had I actually turned left before they passed me, I could easily have been killed.

I obey traffic laws. There is no amount of bad behavior by cyclists that can remotely compare with the callous disregard for life displayed by these motorists. None. Cars are deadly weapons, and drivers who disregard this should face severe consequences.

I am completely fed up with the narrative of reckless cyclists impeding traffic. Pittsburgh drivers rarely stop at stop signs unless there is other traffic at the intersection; they routinely speed, often driving more than 10 mph faster than the limit on residential streets; and they almost never yield to pedestrians in crosswalks.

Some years ago, I was cycling with my daughter to work for about a week and at the same intersection of Douglas and Shady, where I had her walk her bike across the intersection in the crosswalk, not once in the week did drivers coming downhill on Shady stop for her, though twice I was actually standing in the middle of the street with my hands out.

This (along with Pittsburgh drivers) has got to stop. NEIL M. DONAHUE Squirrel Hill