Southwest Community Association

Your Worst Nightmare!

May 04, 2003

With the completion of the widening of Old Pearsall Road, we all must recognize something new to the road?—bike lanes in both directions. [That?’s those narrow lanes on the right side, marked with diamond symbols and ?“Bike Lane?”.] That?’s new for our area; but we must all become very cognizant of them and anyone riding in them. We must be more cautious whenever we attempt to turn on to (or out from) another street or driveway. We must remember to look both ways, not only for motorized vehicles, but also for bicycles. We must start looking in our right rearview mirrors every time we plan to make a right turn (or move into the right turn lane). Typically, bikers have the RIGHT-OF-WAY, not vehicle drivers. We haven?’t seen many bikers traveling this route yet, but bike traffic will pick up as it becomes more known. We imagine anyone?’s WORST NIGHTMARE would be to hit or kill a bicyclist on Old Pearsall Road ?—just because they (drivers) were not paying proper attention. Take that back, we imagine anyone?’s WORST NIGHTMARE would be to have their family member hit or killed while riding a bicycle on Old Pearsall Road?—because the child and/or the driver were not paying proper attention. We?’ll have more regarding bicycling rules and rights-of-way in future newsletters; the immediate point to make is, ?“our?” Old Pearsall Road has changed tremendously through this widening project. Be extra alert when you drive on it.