Bikers

Of course riding a bicycle is an excellent source of exercise and recreation, yet many bike riders choose to pedal in car lanes, endangering not only their own lives but the lives of drivers as well. According to bicyclinginfo.org, on average, two bicycle riders were killed every day in 2001. Frequently, bicycle fatalities occur from motorists merging into a bicyclist's path or vice versa. Can a bicycle rider even go fast enough to be able to keep up with the traffic of cars? Clearly, the answer is no! This is why I am authoring to propose a bill to establish additional bike lanes on all streets.

My first point is that bicyclists tend to merge into a driver's path. Record Eagle, a northern Michigan newspaper, recently reported a young girl being killed as a result of being hit by a truck while riding her bike. Even though the girl was riding her bike on the side of the road, she still managed to drift into traffic and was unfortunate enough to have been in the path of the truck. A boundary of even just four to five feet would adequately provide enough space for a bike rider to drive safely without interfering with traffic. If this eight year old girl had had her own bicycle lane, she might not have been inclined to veer into a regular car lane.

For my next point, many people who drive cars tend to veer to an adjacent lane to avoid hitting swerving bike riders, just like people on bikes tend to swerve into car lanes. Alana Sorem, a woman interviewed for an article in seattlepi.com, claims to "veer into the other lane to avoid hitting [bike riders] sometimes." Not only can the passengers in a swerving car be "jostled" and even injured, but a nearby car could possibly have to slam on its breaks to avoid a catastrophe, injuring and jostling its passengers as well. A more unfortunate case could even involve a swerving car hitting an adjacent car to avoid an accident with a bike rider, which could leave passengers from both cars injured and possibly even dead. These examples only add to the necessity of bike lanes on streets.

My third point is that it can be extremely difficult for drivers to distinguish bike riders at night. If the bike riders' are provided with their own bike lane, cars wouldn't have to worry about a cyclist being in its path or even worry about hitting one. Another person interviewed for an article in seattlepi.com, Mike Bishop admits that he has "almost