Light, reflective clothing can prevent night tragedies
Q Please remind all pedestrians and bicyclists to wear white at night!
We can't see you!
My cousin's 16-year-old grand niece was hit by a car in Oregon wearing only black at night. She barely survived, and is now in a vegetative state. So sad! It's no fault of the driver, who was found not to be liable. It's costing the family millions for hospitalizations and home care.
— Marcia Citta,
Saratoga
A
I'm so sorry. Thank you for sharing a powerful story that could save others from tragedy. Q In your tips for trick-or-treaters column, you missed the most important one: please wear reflective vests or bands. They're dirt cheap and make pedestrians visible at night.
There is no better way to keep pedestrians, big and small, safe.
— Malcolm Hoar
A
Important advice for pedestrians and bicyclists, too, at night.
Q
Your column title Sunday about “Legal Moves on the Road” and your “yes” response to the reader who described a car using a bike lane to pass a bicyclist on the right, then move back into the traffic lane seemed to indicate that such a move by the driver was legal, but it is not.
One may drive a car in a bike lane only to park, enter or leave a roadway, or prepare for a turn within 200 feet of an intersection (CVC Section 21209). The move described in the column was none of those.
— Tim Zadel,
San Jose A I didn't mean to give the impression that the driver's move was legal, so that does need correcting. Others also noted this.
Q
I read your column when I can — great job! In Sunday's column, however, I read the first entry with dismay.
The cyclist was violating CVC 21208, which compels a cyclist to ride in a bicycle lane where one exists when traveling at a speed slower than the prevailing flow of traffic. So a cyclist “unnecessarily riding in the traffic lane and going slow” is in violation of CVC 21208.
A motorist passing a cyclist on the right by driving in the bicycle lane is unsafe, and in violation of CVC 21209(a). It says that no one can drive a motor vehicle in a bicycle lane except to park where parking is permitted, enter or leave the roadway, or prepare for a turn within 200 feet from an intersection.
By the way, passing a car waiting to make a left turn by encroaching on the bike lane is likewise illegal. As a cyclist, I encounter this too often to count.
In the end, both the cyclist and the driver were violating the law and causing a very unsafe situation.