Share the road
[B' Spokes: Too good not to share.]
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By William Browne, Waldorf, So MD News
To answer the letter writer John Limerick [“Bicycling laws,” Maryland Independent, July 18]: It is legal for a cyclist to ride on any road in Maryland regardless of speed limit as long as it’s not strictly prohibited. Maryland law 21-1205.1 (a) (1) states: Cyclists may operate on the shoulder of a roadway where the posted speed limit exceeds 50 mph unless otherwise prohibited.
For instance, when entering I-95 signs are posted “no cyclists, pedestrians etc.” All of the roads listed in your letter are perfectly legal places to ride a bicycle. Cyclists are not excused from the rules of the road unless it’s a closed event. As far as “riding on the shoulder” goes, just because the shoulder looks safe and open while you fly by at great speed doesn’t mean it’s not littered with broken glass, debris and potholes. If that’s the case, cyclists are forced to ride near the white line.
The cycling event you are refering too was probably Bike MS, an event that raises money for multiple sclerosis research. Like any large event, permits are granted and roads closed and cyclists/motorists protected by police during these events.
Not everyone in Southern Maryland is blessed with an automobile. Some people are forced to walk or ride a bike and some choose to do this because they want to be healthy or like to help the environment out.
I would suggest getting on a bike and riding to the local grocery store and back home. See how difficult it is and how abused you feel at the end of your trip. You are just one of hundreds of motorists who whiz by, yell obsenities, throwing things and performing dangerous maneauvers with their vehicle all because you have been incovenienced for 15 seconds by the scourge of the earth “cyclists with attitudes.” How dare they infringe on you.
This is a small example of what’s wrong with our country today. No one can be inconvenienced by another party without taking it personally or berating that group altogether.
<a href="http://www.somdnews.com/article/20120727/OPINION/707259837/-1/share-the-road&template=southernMaryland">http://www.somdnews.com/article/20120727/OPINION/707259837/-1/share-the-road&template=southernMaryland</a>;