Motorists, cyclists need to learn how to share pavement [via Dispatch]
KYLE ROBERTSON | DISPATCH
Tim Cristy, one of a growing number of cycling commuters in central Ohio, was bruised in a collision with a car last week.
Monday, March 21, 2011 03:05 AM
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
Jim [sic] Cristy's string of close calls came to a crashing, bruising halt a week ago on Cannon Drive south of Ohio State University.
The North Side resident was riding his bike in the right lane when a car passed on his left and then made a right turn into a parking lot. Christy [sic] hit the car's rear passenger side and was thrown to the street. He bruised his hip and shoulder.
The car never stopped.
Coexistence isn't always peaceful these days on central Ohio streets, many of which are being re-engineered to accommodate people driving on two wheels and four.
Columbus has created 14 miles of bike lanes on its streets since 2008. The city also has added pavement markings - "sharrows" - and signs along 37 additional miles to welcome cyclists to the streets.
But people's knowledge of the rules of the road hasn't kept pace with the biking boom.
"There's a new paradigm," said Bernice Cage, spokeswoman for the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission, which monitors traffic of all types. "Motorists aren't sure where cyclists should be, and a lot of cyclists don't know where they should be."
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