I don't know how many of you are bicyclists, or how many make regular trips down Hennepin, but after the little confrontation I only barely avoided tonight, I feel like I need to say something.
I make almost daily trips from my home in northeast Minneapolis to MCTC downtown. I used to feel pretty safe in the bike lanes on Hennepin, despite the traffic and despite the occasional taxi driver who likes to use them as a left turn lane. In the past month or two though, I've encountered increasing numbers of drivers who seem to have missed the No Left Turn/Right Turn signs, the signs indicating which lanes are for what, and the obviously not-car-size markings of the bike lanes themselves. In the past two or three weeks, I've shooed or shamed drivers out of the bike lanes on every single trip I've taken. People in general have also taken to using the bike lanes as left turn lanes, sometimes pulling into them well in advance of the intersection and cutting me off no matter which way I'm travelling. So far, I've put up with all of this (and I assume you other bikers out there have too) with only a little grumbling. I always try to remain polite, but I do let inattentive drivers know I'm there if I feel I need to--we have to share the road, after all. However, being chased down the bike lane by a psycho in a Jeep Cherokee because I tapped on his window to let him know I was there--after he gunned it to make a left turn in front of me, and then had to slam on the brakes because of pedestrians, obviously not paying attention to his surroundings--is where I have to say I can't just put up with this anymore. (And yes, the police know who he is, because in addition to being a psycho, the guy was dumb enough to pull all of this within a block of the police station on 4th St; when he stopped in the middle of the bike lane and got out of his car to pick a fight, I just made a left turn, rode up the block, and gave them his license plate number. My only regret is that I don't know which way he went after that!) Whatever has been done to make drivers aware of the bike lanes, and of the bicyclists in them, it is obviously not enough. I'd really like to see the police out--even just one, during rush hour--to make sure the bike and transit lanes are kept open for the vehicles that belong in them. Jeremy Brezovan St. Anthony East REMINDERS: 1. Think a member has violated the rules? Email the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
