Pavement etiquette

Any driver who has encountered a bicyclist going your way on a narrow road knows it can be frustrating to have to slow down and wait for an opportunity to pass. If there's a group of bicyclists, getting around them can be difficult and even dangerous.

Any bicyclist who has been tailgated by a car or truck on that same narrow road knows some of the same frustration. You're out enjoying the exercise and scenery when somebody who happens to have an internal combustion engine decides you're in his or her way.

By law, cyclists have the same rights to the road as motorists. As reporter Bob Miller pointed out in a first-person story from the road last week, the ride is a lot smoother if both cyclists and motorists know what those rights and the rules are. Common sense and cooperation are required of both groups.

The debate between motorists and bicyclists over who has more right to the road may never end so long as both have to share the same stretch of asphalt. Some communities have addressed the problem by building bike lanes to separate these two very different modes of transportation. Outside of biking trails, this approach hasn't taken hold in Southeast Missouri.

People who ride bicycles are improving their health, using less fossil fuels and creating less pollution. That doesn't mean they rule the road.

Let's treat each other with greater understanding.