On the morning of May 31, I had another unnecessary incident involving a misunderstanding with a bicyclist on my way home from my University Avenue business.
Crossing Marshall Avenue, driving south on Otis, there was a bike ahead of me moving around parked cars. As always, I slowed down and moving to my left, I passed him. That’s when I got an earful about my driving and not sharing the road with bicyclists. I had given him more than enough space for both of us to share the road.
I was not in the mood; I had spent the morning cleaning up after looters. I let him catch up and attempted to engage him in conversation, which turned into a shouting match. Totally unnecessary on both of our parts. I left it at that and continued on my way home feeling pretty miffed. When I arrived home, I walked to my front yard and waited for him to ride by. As he did, I asked, “Would you like to talk about this”? All I got was the finger! No interaction at all. I was even going to offer him water.
I have witnessed bad behavior from cars, motorcycles, bicyclists and even joggers. There is absolutely no excuse for this kind of behavior on anyone’s part. Share the road, what a joke! Most people do without incident. But for those individuals that believe that they have a total right to own the road, well, who’s going to win an interaction with a car? I implore everyone involved to tone it down and get home safely. Is that asking too much?
Dana Rose
Highland Park
