Kurt

Good vibes!

Some things to add/change to this: I'm fine if you stop for me when you don't have to. I appreciate the courtesy, but I do have to wait for the other lane to clear/stop. Cars, please don't drive in the bike lane, ever, and please look in your side mirror before opening your door. Please look to your right when making a right turn for people in the crosswalk. When you see me on my bike, take an extra 1/3 of a second to assess my speed, because I'm often going 18-20, not 5-6 mph. Please give more than a periphery glance when entering a roundabout. Overall, I give drivers in Bend high marks for courtesy and respect, but there are a few bad ones out there. Cyclists: you're better off in the road than on the sidewalk on nearly every street in town. It's illegal to ride on the sidewalks downtown and it also makes no sense. One correction: a cyclist doesn't have to dismount their bike at a crosswalk. The only expectation is that they have to be in the crosswalk and moving a walking speed (and yield to any peds in the crosswalk).

Jim Johnson, your pathetic, insensitive (to put it mildly)and ignorant post needs someone to respond. He was riding off the road, not on the shoulder, on what would have been the sidewalk had it been paved. He wasn't breaking the law. Thank you to the Source for writing this, and pointing out the dangers of talking on the phone while driving. It doesn't matter if you're hands free or not, you're utilizing too much of your brains attention maintaining a conversation with someone not in the car. People like Jim Johnson perpetuate the car bias in our society and make excuses for inattentive/bad drivers. It's also perpetuated in the media. Read the articles on the man killed crossing the parkway. A majority of it focuses on the layout and engineering of the road, when it was a result of poor driving and having the attitude that since I'm driving, I only stop for cars in front of me and traffic signals. What percent of drivers actually know the crosswalk laws? I would guess 20-25%. The road is shared.