Make room for cycling; make cycling more visible

While I support bike lanes and anything else that promotes riding, people need to take more responsibility for their own safety. Look at the front-page photo. Everyone is dressed in dark or neutral clothes, and only one person has a light. They are all well camouflaged and blend well into the pavement, surrounding buildings and traffic. This is especially problematic at dusk, dawn and overcast days. Why is there no ordinance requiring an orange or lime green vest whenever a biker is on city streets? They are cheap, easy to put on and take off, and can be crumpled and stuffed into a pocket in seconds. Is fashion worth a life?

The death of cyclist Alexis Bounds is tragic. It appears she was a wonderful person, a marvelous mother. And, it appears that her death was the result of carelessness by a truck driver. Unfortunately, the spate of cyclists’ deaths was inevitable, what with a burgeoning cyclist population, crowded streets and aggressive drivers.

City officials have tried to retrofit Denver to accommodate cyclists, sometimes with comedic consequences — witness the bike/car lane schematics in Washington Park, which look like a flow chart generated by a demented programmer.

However, I believe a key factor in reducing cyclist accidents is law enforcement — curbing aggressive and obnoxious motorists and cracking down on miscreant cyclists who coast through stop signs and traffic lights, go the wrong way on oneway streets, and ride three to four abreast on narrow roads.

I often see errant motorists pulled over by police (a good thing). I’ve never seen a cyclist stopped by police. There are laws on the books; let’s enforce them.

In 2004, the history division of the library produced a marvelous documentary on Colorado’s history of bicycle riding in the late 1800s, before the coming of the automobile. Then, and now, no state has embraced the bicycle like Colorado.

But I have been hit by autos twice, and in both cases the car won. I simply will not ride on the streets, my right to do so not withstanding.

If bicycles have any hope of playing a significant role in reducing our dependence on fossil fuels and improving public health, something must change.

I would argue that the first part is cultural, the way states such as Oregon and countries such as Denmark view bicycling.

The second aspect is physical infrastructure. Bicyclists should not be asked to compete with dump trucks.

Only when the miles of dedicated bike lanes approach auto miles will we know progress is being made.

Maybe we need a bicycle czar.