Orange County unfriendly to cyclists?

If you’re commuting by bike, you might want to think of yourself as unarmed light infantry in a world of fast-moving tanks. Source: The Orange County Register

As I was sitting on the lunch room at work, my co-worker was reading the sports section of the Orange County Register. There was a headline that caught my eye ‘Bikers Beware’. I borrowed the newspaper after he was done and read the article. I’m not so sure I can agree with the article 100%. I’m not an Orange County Commuter, but they seem to have better roads than L.A. county, where I commute by bike. I agree that motorists are not educated about bicycles being entitled to the road and not being considerate to cyclists.

Here’s where I disagree:

But I’m not entirely sure Orange County is grown up enough, considerate enough, careful enough to encourage our residents to bicycle to work

Discouraging people to ride their bikes to work because of fear of riding in traffic is not something that I want to read as a bike commuter from a ‘bike commuter’. Yeah, I’ve gotten cut off by cars when I’m riding my bike, but I have been cut off many times when I drive as well. I feel relatively safe when I ride the streets of LA, it doesn’t mean that I let my guard down, I’m always on the look out for potential hazards.

I believe that educating motorists AND cyclists about sharing the road is something that should be addressed, not instilling and adding fear to potential bike commuters.

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