To the Readers' Forum:
Friends and neighbors, we are getting careless with our driving and riding. In the last week I have nearly been in three accidents and it really concerns me. Two times I was in the right lane of a four-lane street or the right lane of a one-way street when the driver to my left decided to move into my lane without signaling or looking to see if anyone was beside him/her.
Please, please, look over your shoulder to see if anyone is in your blind spot. Mirrors are not enough.
The third time of a near miss was a driver turning left in Brooklyn Square and cutting the turn so short that I was nearly hit in the far right lane.
We are so busy and distracted by phones, children, errands that we are making some serious driving mistakes. I see drivers pulling around to the right of a left turning vehicle. That berm is for pedestrians and bicycles. You don't want to run over someone in the dark because you were in a hurry.
Bicyclists, you are a vehicle. You must obey the vehicle traffic laws. That means you don't belong riding in the halls of downtown buildings; you don't belong on the sidewalks where you can run pedestrians down. You don't belong in my lane, facing me. This is how people get killed.
Please, please, clean up these bad habits. I want you to live.
Diane Spangler
Bemus Point