In this letter you mentioned "speeding cars". This issue alone is overlooked. City laws prohibit cyclists from using WRD during rush hours. Signs a posted at the entry points on WRD (going both directions) that state the exact hours. I commute down WRD almost every day. I used to "share" the road when I was commuting within the legal times that allow bikes on the road. That was until I actually drove to work one day. Holly S__T!! The speed limit on WRD is 35mph. Not to be self-incriminating, but I was driving my car at 40mph and traffic flew bye me. Cars were riding up on me and flashing high beams and honking because I was to slow. Give me a break - I was speeding!!! My estimate is that cars travel on WRD at speeds from low 40s to 75mph. WHERE ARE PHILLYS FINEST. THIS IS ANARCHY.
Now for the best part. One day on my commute. While riding the road during legally allowed times a police car pulls me over. He tells me it is illegal for bikes to be in the road. I tell him he is wrong and refer him to the signs posted in the street that specify when bikes are NOT allowed on WRD and at this time bikes ARE allowed. Also, I tell him that, as we speak, the true violators are speeding by us in their cars and remind him that the speed limit is 35mph. The officer I guess felt I was being a little "cocky" So... Are you ready? As I'm standing over my bike with one foot still clipped in my pedal and having done nothing wrong, HE PUNCHES ME. WHAM, RIGHT IN MY CHEST WITH ALL HIS FORCE. I stand there shocked (it took all my might to keep from falling over). I'm thinking Oh no!! What's next? Is he going to shoot me too!! Well I guess I'm lucky. He then just swore and went bezerk and said if I don't get on the path that I have more coming to me. So, scared to death I get on the path. Today, and since this incident, I ride the path all the time. For two reasons: 1) Philly's Police are CRAZY and can never trust them and 2) The motorists are CRAZY and never obey speed limits that are -----Original Message----- From: Craig S. Snyder [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Friday, April 05, 2002 9:32 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cc: Bike Subject: Re: letter to the Daily News I doubt they'll actually publish this, but it sure felt good to write it! From: C To: City Paper, Philadelphia Daily News, Philadelphia Inquirer Date: Friday, 04/05/02 Subject: West River Drive: Closed or Open? To the Editor: Well, the time of year has come to turn over some of car-clogged Philadelphia to non-motorized users. In case you haven't guessed, it's April, and that means West River Drive, in Fairmount Park, is again closed to cars from 7 AM to 5 PM, Saturdays and Sundays. For a few blessed months, it's safe for walkers, runners, skaters, and parents teaching their children how to ride a bike, to venture back to the park. Gone is the smell, the noise, and the constant danger posed by speeding cars, at least on weekends on WRD. But wait!, you say. At noon, a wall of screaming, stinking cars comes roaring up the lower portion of WRD from the Art Museum area. What's up with this? Pedestrians and skaters flee from the road as the automotive terror approaches. Why is this allowed? Why is the safety of dozens, sometimes hundreds, of non-motorized road users sacrificed so that drivers won't be "inconvenienced"? Why isn't the entire length of WRD closed on weekends? Who makes these decisions? Ask the Fairmount Park Commission. Under pressure from the car-addicted faction, the Commission chose to re-open the lower portion of WRD to cars after the initial closure. Doesn't the Commission realize that it's a PARK, not a PARKING LOT? With Kelly Drive and the Schuylkill Expressway ready to serve speeding traffic, and the Strawberry Mansion Bridge open, there's no reason in the world to leave any of WRD open to cars during the "closure". It's time to pressure the Fairmount Park Commission into reinstating full closure of West River on the weekends. Cars have hundreds of miles of city streets to drive on, 24 hours a day. It's not too much to ask to give back 1.4 miles of WRD to non-motorized park users for 20 hours a week, is it? ---- You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the Bicycle Coalition of the Delaware Valley list named "bike." To subscribe or unsubscribe or for archive information, see <http://www.purple.com/list.html>. ---- You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the Bicycle Coalition of the Delaware Valley list named "bike." To subscribe or unsubscribe or for archive information, see <http://www.purple.com/list.html>.
