… but state law is little cushion for a cyclist against a homicidal SUV….

While I lived in Wake Forest, north of Raleigh, a local radio show on G105, hosted by Bob Dumas and Madison Lane, went on air with callers advocating harassing and even driving into cyclists, denying bike’s rights to share our roads.
This raises some rather draconian opinions of mine. But this is a family newspaper.
To make a long story short, state law gives bikes the same rights as cars, the cycling community raised a fuss, the radio station didn’t care, the cycling community raised a bigger fuss, advertisers started pulling their money from the station, the station got bad PR, the show got cut for a while and I got an apology email from one of the company HQ bigwigs.
When you’re out on the road it seems like way too many cars are passing way too close – even snuggling up to you as they go by. Some of this is perhaps an illusion enhanced by unconscious caution – the desire not to wind up like a splattered bug on the grill of a car.
Happily, I’ve been quite pleased with the caution shown by Cleveland County’s motorists. But the spat with the radio station does highlight some concerns cyclists have about their rights to ride and survive.
To learn a little bit more, I called someone who knows a thing or two about bike rights, cyclist Dennis Johnson.
One of the more dangerous actions he sees is improper passing – not leaving enough room, passing on hills… “They obviously can’t see and know what’s coming ahead,” said Johnson.
But our rights come with responsibilities. To learn even more about the statutes, I spoke to highway patrol Sgt. Dennis Johnson (yeah, same guy), who has North and South Carolina’s regulations online at www.dennisjohnson.net.
“Sometimes the cyclists feel that they’re… fair game,” he said, encouraging motorists to “just basically treat them with the same courtesy that every other vehicle on the road should be treated with.”
One difference between the two states’ laws are that in North Carolina all cyclists younger than 16 must wear helmets. In South Carolina it’s optional, he says.
Most motorists don’t wear helmets, but a lot of the other laws are equivalent to those of motorized vehicle. Just as a car driving around at night without its lights would be ticketed, in NC bikes are required to have a front light at night and a back light or reflector.
I’ll admit, though, that obeying the rules of the road can sometimes be tricky. Pulling up to a stoplight, a cyclist doesn’t always trigger the light’s sensors embedded in the pavement. You might wait a long time before a car comes along to switch the light. You could try a right on red, but what when that would put you on a divided four-lane highway you’d rather not ride….
I’ll check into that and put what I find on my blog at jderrickstar.blogspot.com.
In the meantime, for more information check out the NC Department of Transportation cycling and pedestrian site: www.ncdot.org/transit/bicycle.