Driving While Entitled

Regarding statements made in the article "Consider Consideration" by Karen Pruett, it should be noted that there is a difference between what Ms. Pruett claims to be the law and what the actual laws are regarding bicycles and riders and their rights to be on state roads. While she references RCW 46.61, she either didn't read the whole thing, or perhaps rewrote it in her mind so that it fit her driving style, which appears to involve a large bubble encompassing her space- a much larger but nevertheless mortally threatened bubble than those surrounding other human beings transiting the planet without the aid of an automobile. In my reading of RCW 46.61.755 there appears to be no vaguery in the law's intent, as she claims. It states that: "Every person riding a bicycle upon a roadway shall be granted all of the rights and shall be subject to all of the duties applicable to a driver of a vehicle by this chapter." There are exceptions and you can read them if you like, but none involve riding a skinny tired  road bike into the gravel so that she, or any other autocentron, can get to the latte stand 30 seconds faster, and then dash on with unabated haste to make the boat that she was made late for by all those cars waiting at the latte stand as she made her way to shop off Island at Costco. I am allowed a few assumptions for effect, as Ms. Pruett seems to rely solely on them.

            The "logic" employed in Ms. Pruett's overlong article serves also to call into question her defense of what may or may not be a wrongful murder conviction. As I recall my high school drivers ed class, passing a slower car on a hill on a corner was never a good idea, so I have never understood why car drivers feel that it is an okay idea when approaching a cyclist from behind in that situation. Whether it is a car or a bike or a horseback rider, it is the responsibility of the overtaking vehicle to take the safest option, which is slow down and wait until passing is safe. It is certainly not the cyclist's mandate to search for a speedy roadway exit strategy so that the bubble of self-importance might pass unencumbered. Pedestrians in crosswalks have been granted the right of way, as have cyclists both on the roadway and in crosswalks- running them down because you would rather not see them there is an aggressive act, possibly murder, but then again, murder has become a relative term that depends on how some people feel it should be defined- just look at what we are doing in Iraq and Afghanistan. It seems that in Ms. Pruett's world, errant cyclists and pedestrians along with errant roommates all will just get what they deserve and really have no one to blame except themselves for their demise.

            There is something that has just been passed and signed by the governor in this state called the Vulnerable User Bill- SB-5326, which finds any driver that " causes the death, great bodily harm or substantial bodily harm to a pedestrian, bicyclist, motorcyclist or wheelchair user" is guilty of negligence in the second degree and subject to a fine of $1000-$5000 and a 90-day driver's license suspension. This of course does not come anywhere near compensating for the loss of a life or a debilitating injury suffered at the hands of someone choosing to "stay in my lane" regardless of the rules or common sense surrounding the situation.

            In my trying to understand the car/bike conundrum I've read numbers of articles over the past few years in the category of "biker down". The one that always returns to mind actually describes an accident in Italy. It involved a businessman on his way somewhere in a car that happened to be traveling well over the listed speed limit in a small town. The driver struck and killed an aspiring young bike racer out on a training ride. A few months later the family received a notification in the mail from the driver's attorney. Expecting some compensation for their loss, they opened the letter to find that they were being sued for the cost of the damage that their son had done to the speeder's car. The case was thrown out of court- which might at least offer some degree of comfort to Ms. Pruett to know that justice, on some level, can be found in the Italian legal system, although I don't believe the driver was fined for anything other than speeding.