Tragedies remind motorists, cyclists: Share the road

It’s summer in the Cape Region, and that always means more people are riding bicycles to get around. This is a good thing. Cycling is great exercise for people out for a pleasure ride and for those on their way to work.

Plus, every car that stays off the road contributes just a little less to summer air pollution, which ramps up every year as traffic counts and temperatures rise.

Still, it’s hard to get very far in the Cape Region without traveling on Route 1, and there’s just no doubt Route 1 traffic and bicycles don’t mix.

Summer traffic on the highway is crowded with drivers unfamiliar with their destinations. Frequent backups fuel frustration and impatience, and the buses and turning cars that share the bike lane often shield a bicycle traveling alongside them so drivers don’t see them.

In the last month, one cyclist was critically injured by a car turning off southbound Route 1; over the weekend, a man who had just found a home in the Cape Region was killed entering Route 1 from Rehoboth Avenue Extended.

Cyclists on Rehoboth Avenue face nearly as much danger as those on Route 1, because drivers in parked cars can’t see cyclists until they pull partway out of their spaces.

Bicycle riders have a right to use the highways, and more and more people are exercising that right.

If we are to avoid more tragedies, drivers must become attentive to the cyclists among us.

Cyclists must also take every possible precaution to protect themselves by riding in groups or in pairs, ensuring they are visible to traffic, using lights, wearing helmets and reflective clothing and obeying all traffic laws.

There is no perfect solution to mixing cars and bicycles on the same roadways. It’s legal, but it’s dangerous.

Motorists must anticipate growing numbers of cyclists will use the roads, and cyclists must do their part by obeying traffic laws. Increased enforcement – for drivers and for cyclists – could be a step toward safer roadways for all.