Frank Hotchkiss’s opinion piece last week (“Bikes and Cars”) was off base. He opposes providing safer bicycling routes in the city — maybe shortsighted, but a valid opinion.
He then ends with an exhortation that bicyclists must be more vigilant in following traffic laws to minimize accidents. Any discussion of traffic accidents that focuses on bicycles is missing the forest for the twigs. We regularly hear of motor vehicle drivers maiming or killing, while bicycle collisions leading to serious injuries for pedestrians are almost unheard of. Traffic risk (especially with Mr. Hotchkiss’s preference for not providing bicycle lanes) is largely borne — not created — by cyclists.