According the Florida Bicycle Law Enforcement Guide, bikes are vehicles, and bikers are drivers. “A cyclist has all the rights to the roadway applicable to any driver, except as to the special regulations regarding bicycles.”
Car and truck drivers MUST be looking for bikes when turning and pulling out of parking lots and driveways.
Let’s get rid of on-street parking on University Avenue and provide bike lanes in both directions from Waldo Road to Oaks Mall. Currently, bikes, pedestrians, parking meters, street lamps, trees, railings, chairs and newspaper boxes fight for six to eight feet of sidewalk width. This is a serious accident waiting to happen.
I hate nearly being “road pizza” every day and every night because many drivers just don’t look for bikes — just cars. They pull into bike and pedestrian crossing areas without expecting something to already be there. Everyone is always in a hurry. If you, as a vehicle driver, hit a biker or pedestrian and seriously injure or kill them, will you ever be in such a hurry again? Do you really want to go on in life with the knowledge that you did this because you did not look for us?
Residents and other property owners must clear their sidewalks of debris and overhanging tree branches, which is dangerous for us and a lawsuit just waiting to happen.
With 80,000 UF, Santa Fe and public school students and other bikers, Gainesville is loaded with bikes. We must be cognizant of the others’ presence and right to the same territory. It’s time we truly learn to slow down and co-exist for everyone’s safety.
[A version of this letter to the editor ran on page 7 on 3/25/2014 under the headline "Bikes vs. cars"]
