Red Lights for Bikes

No one feels more strongly than I in favor of more people riding bicycles in our town and leaving their cars at home. However, I am dismayed at the number of bicycle riders who do not honor stop signs and even red lights.

Although many (I can’t even say most) bike riders do obey the traffic signs and signals, many more think it’s okay to take a quick look at oncoming traffic, and if they can make it before the next car drives through, they hurry across the streets against red lights and stop signs.

Since bicycle riders are supposed to follow regular traffic laws, why are so many taking wrong and often unsafe rides through intersections? We all can and do see this on a regular basis. How can we get our children to follow the bicycle traffic laws when they see so many adults ignoring them?

What will it take? Since the majority of people who ignore the traffic laws are not children but adults, why aren’t there more tickets given for breaking the law? I would be interested in hearing a response from our police department. With more and more residents riding bicycles, isn’t it time these laws were enforced for everyone’s safety?