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Mark G. Phipps of Broomfield writes:

So you want to keep bikes off the roads. Yes we have spent a great deal of money on bike paths, we have also spent a great deal of money on bike lanes on the roads. Why, because many health and environment conscious individuals use bikes to commute to and from work and other events whenever possible. Bike paths are good for recreational travel only and are inpractical for Road bikes with small fragile tires. There is no reason why bikes and autos cannot coexist on our roadways with very little inconvenience to either. I doubt you have been caught in traffic jams caused by bicyclists, more likely caused by drivers that did not want to pass till they felt safer. There are a few cyclists that don’t follow rules as well as Auto drivers that don’t follow rules well, neither should be the root cause of banning either activity. Lets slow down and enjoy Colorado from the comfort of whatever vehicle we choose. Don’t you think more bikes and fewer cars would be good for Colorado.
In a battle your car will always win over my bike, I trust that you will continue to be careful as you approach and pass the bicyclists you share the road with. We are trying to get along just like you are.
13493 falls drive broomfield colo 80020 303-261-6829

This letter has not been edited.

READER COMMENTS

If a bicyclist is on the street they need to follow the same rules as drivers. RED MEANS STOP! My kids learned that in kindergarten. Why is it that people on bikes want to be treated as equals yet don't think they have to follow the same laws at motorists? Equal yet special.
I think motorists are doing a great job sharing the road. It's those on bicycles who seem to think they are exempt.
Then they get squashed by a car.
Wow equal yet special. Karma

I agree completely with 10:02. As a cyclist myself, it makes me sick whenever I see another rider run a red light. The laws of the road apply to EVERYONE regardless of what vehicle they are using! Bikes are at a disadvantage on the road, simply due to their comparative size, and they need to practice an elevated level of caution in order to avoid getting squished by a car, even under the best of circumstances. When a cyclist runs a red light it is their own lives that are in jeopardy; the person in the car isn't going to suffer at all. And even if the bike survives the illegal crossing, they have only succeeded in giving the rest of us a bad rap!

The roads, highways and byways will never be safe. The best that can be hoped for is people will decide to operate whatever their choice of transportation is in a safe manner. That will never be a hundred percent solution but it's a start. And I have one question, why is it every issue needs to become an either,or situation. Have people forgotten that constant iteration of a problem only serves to increase the problem and searching for a solution is the only way in which a problem can be solved.

I just want to know why you cycalist insist that you have to ride down the middle of the fricken road. Then you always signal for the vehicals you are impeding to pass you on a blind turn.

Yes Colorado and Denver itself has thousands of miles of bike paths for you to ride. Yet you just ase not satisfied unless you come up here into the foothills and pose a traffic safety hazzard.

I have lived in the foothills for over forty years and am tired of your arrogance and right of way attitudes. And yes I have been in trafic jams up here caused by cyclists.

Highways 74, 73, turkey creek, bear mountain, double header shgould all be off limits to you. These roads are bad enough with the way some people drive them but throw in cyclists cutting corners on the wrong side of the road and tooooo many people get hurt.

I was a non-car owner bike rider in Denver for 21 years and just recently got a car.

Now, driving, I see things I never saw as a bike rider. I am astonished to see people on their bikes, riding down busy arterials, streets I would never have taken my bike on in a million years.

Apparently, despite all of their "raised consiousness," they are still really car-people, taking car routes - when one block away, is a street that is virtually empty - and safe.

These people really make bikers look like fools.

On the other hand, car drivers who are frantic to pass a biker and then sit at a red light, deserve to see the bike rider sail through an empty intersection and ignore the light, like any pedestrian.

It's just transportation - if you can stop investing your ego in the whole thing, it'll go a lot more easily.

I don't mind sharing the road with the cyclists who follow the rules (cycling with traffic, keeping to the right so cars can pass, stopping for lights, etc) but I have had cyclists pass on my right when I am clearly signalling for a right turn so that they can blow thru a red light on high traffic, relatively high-speed surface streets (40-50MPH), have had them coming at me when I am going the right direction in my lane (some of them are of the opinion that they don't have to go the same direction as traffic) and riding 3-4 abreast or weaving to take up the entire lane - then flipping me off when I have the ability to safely pass them. If the cops spent one day a month ticketing bad bike riders (and fining them like cars are fined), maybe they would learn the rules of the road and make the roads safer for all of us.

I'll share the road-as soon as bicyclists get a license, insurance, and have their vehicle equipped with brake and turn signals

Bikers ride Harleys.

Cyclists ride bicycles.

9:05, so in other words, you won't follow Colorado law since none of those provisions are required under state law for cyclists.

Thanks for the warning.

In the town I grew up in police would impound bikes from people who rode them improperly

Cyclists should follow the rules of the road. As a long time cyclist, I yell at people who run red lights and fail to signal. I'd like to see cyclist ticketed for dangerous behavior.

However, I see motorists doing things that put cyclist behavior to shame. Passing on double yellow lines. Driving 10, 15, 40 mph over the speed limit. Improper turns on red. Failing to use a prudent speed. Passing traffic jams on the shoulder. The list is endless. Cyclists are responsible for their safety,as are all highway users. However, a cyclist breaks a traffic law and he's probably the one who will pay for it through injury or death. A motorist breaks a traffic law and he might take others with him. Who does the greater harm?

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