*Sigh* Complaining for Complaining's sake

from the Lincoln Journals Star today:


Bikes should obey rules too

In regard to the letter Aug. 11, “Share the road”:

It is always nice to share the road with pedal-pumping people, but they need to abide by the rules, too:

1. If I run a red light, I get a ticket.

2. If I run a stop sign, I get a ticket.

3. If I go faster than the speed limit, I get a ticket.

If we as drivers have to turn on our lights at dusk, so should people on bicycles.

If the two-wheel riders want to share the road, let’s get with the program. I see too many people riding bikes on the streets and running red lights and stop signs. Or they stop for a red light, then go if there’s no traffic.

A lot of this happens in the bike lanes all around the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, so if you break the law, you should get a ticket and go to court and pay the fine. What is good for the goose is good for the gander.

Martin E. Rasch Jr., Lincoln




City ordinance provides for all three of those offenses for those of us on bikes. If the enforcement is lax, you are complaining to the wrong people. Honestly, when was the last time YOU got a ticket for running a stop or a red? RE speed limit-good luck-Rarely can someone on a bike exceed the speed limit in the manner you are suggesting. Lincolnites already get a 5-10 mph bye on things as it is. The reason that some stop for a red light and then go if there is no traffic is because the lights don't recognize that there is someone there. If we dismount in traffic we are suddenly a pedestrian in the middle of the street-breaking the law. If we sit there and the light never changes we are an obstruction, if we enter the crosswalk and go to the pole to change the light we become pedestrians instead of vehicles. We have to turn our lights on at dusk as well. All already covered. Good grief.