Blessings
Yesterday was the Blessing of the Bikes at our church. We hauled Darling 1's new early birthday gift from Grandma and Grandpa; a two-wheeled red Lightning McQueen beauty with training wheels and Darling 2's new from Craigslist bike; a smaller two-wheeled Space "Rock-it" number with training wheels to church for the donuts and lemonade, bike procession, prayers, blessings and ride, and we came home with two bottles of blessed bike oil, I'm Blessed stickers and added peace of mind.
Silly? Maybe. Groundless? Well, I suppose that depends on your religious beliefs. But the point is safety, and you know I'm all about that. What's the harm in praying for those who ride bikes, are learning to ride bikes and all those on all roadways, whether a bicyclist or a motorist? Any extra help from above can only be a good thing, especially in a city with so many regular bike riders; or anywhere, for that matter.
Commuter Rules
In 2010, Minneapolis was named America's Best Bike City. While I am not a cyclist, nor have I been since 8th grade, I can appreciate all of the bike trails, the city's bike-rental program and the large numbers of people who take advantage of the ease of commuting, exercising and tooling around town on bikes in the Twin Cities. I know it's a wonderful way to save money on gas, contribute to preserving our environment and stay fit.
What I have noticed in the last several months is that many bikers do not follow the rules of the road; both kids and adults alike. As a motorist, I find this very disturbing. At four-way stops, I don't know whether the cyclist will stop, yield or go right through the intersection without even slowing down {which is most often the case}; I see youngsters riding down the middle of the street who either don't move or swerve over to the edge at the last second; and I've noticed a number of adults on bikes who swerve in and out of traffic regardless of lanes and traffic flow, making it very difficult to predict their actions.
BikeLaws
So, this got me wondering about what the bike laws say about abiding by road rules. Based on my random sampling of states, the laws, both state and local, define bikes as vehicles and require bicyclists to follow the same laws as motorists. This means cyclists must stop at four-way stops, yield at marked intersections and signal when turning or changing lanes, etc.
There are some differences. Each state I examined listed prohibited highways, explained what it means to be slow-moving traffic and how to negotiate certain situations encountered on the roadway. Clearly, a bike is not the same as a motor vehicle, even if they are statutorily defined as a vehicle. Even still, bikers who fail to follow the laws will be ticketed.
Of course, children ride on sidewalks and shoulders of the road and don't ride along with the flow of traffic, etc. And in that case, they must follow the rules of pedestrians, in most instances. Almost every state surveyed had basically the same language regarding minors on bikes: "The parent or guardian of any child shall not authorize or knowingly permit any such child to violate any of this article." As has been seen in New York with the Menagh v. Breitman case, kids on bikes colliding with pedestrians can lead to lawsuits.
One website, http://bikelaws.org, complained that bike laws are not uniform from state to state or city to city, making it impossible for cyclists to know the law as they ride from place to place, increasing the risk of injury for bikers. However, in my survey of bike laws, I found the language to be quite uniform. There were, of course, differences regarding particular highways, trails or other city or state specific issues. It's true there are no federal laws regarding bikes or bicyclists, which could provide even more uniformity, but there would still have to be some variation as not all cities are built for bikes as Minneapolis is, for instance.
Know the Law
If you are a cyclist, then you should be knowledgeable about the laws in your state and/or city regarding bikes on the road. This is not only for other's safety, but for your own, as well. If all bicyclists followed the laws and operated in a predictable manner, I would hope that fewer cyclists would be involved in accidents that often end in tragedy. Of course, the onus is not only on the shoulders of the bikers. We must all be clear on what the laws require of us, as motorists, pedestrians and cyclists. You can find your state and/or city laws by running a quick Internet search.
The Scoop
I will leave you with this, The Sending Forth from our Blessing of the Bikes Program:
Go forth journeying souls
On your travel in this world
In the name of God Who is guiding you home.
May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face; and until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.
Over and out...
Anna
You might also like:
Spring Fling: Getting the Proper Fitting Bike Helmet {with Video}
Protecting the Ol' Noggin: Why Your Child Should Wear a Bike Helmet and How to Choose One
I had a very in-depth conversation about this very subject just recently with a friend. She lives near a bike path that sometimes the bikers have stop signs and sometimes the cars have stop signs so the bikers can just keep going. My friend told me that 9 times out of 10 the bikers won't even stop at the stop signs. Many have even been hit because they just ASSUMED the car would stop even though THE car had no stop sign. One biker even went through the stop sign and hit a car. He blamed the car for not stopping. It was taken to court and the judge said, if the biker had stopped, there would not have been an accident. So it was the biker who lost the case and had to pay all the fees.
She went on to talk about how they don't move, are very rude and act like they are the only people out on the path.
I'm positive that not all bikers act like this, but I've seen for myself how nasty some of them can be because they are in "the zone." It's scary and I really hope that no one gets killed.
Posted by: Hey Jen | Monday, June 06, 2011 at 12:49 PM
How cool - a blessing of the bikes! I love it =)
Posted by: anna | Wednesday, June 08, 2011 at 08:20 PM