Schmidt, John

"Oh these bicyclists, they are so hazardous and menacing, whaahh whaaah

whaaaaah "

"Also on tonight's news, four traffic related deaths due to head-on car

"accidents" .... "



I don't know but getting killed seems a little more menacing to me. Well at

least it sounds like the Seattle police get it.



By the way, I almost always wait at red lights. Especially if there are

cars waiting too. It really really makes people upset at bicyclists if you

roll through it. Don't do it. (yeah at work I get to hear people bitch

about cyclists all the time )



Anyway here's what I sent, to some maybe a tad extreme but something to

think about:





To: 'kensc-@komo4news.com'

Subject: re: Ken Schram Commentary: What Is It With Bicyclists?



Mr Schram,



Being a cyclist, I get pissed off at these people too... They make drivers

unpredictable around cyclists because the drivers don't know what the

cyclists is going to do... If everyone just followed the rules it makes

things much easier. However...



"I wondered then, and I wonder now, why police don't issue more tickets to

these cycle-nazis. "



Well for one thing, cyclists rarely if ever kill people.   



Bicyclists can get themselves killed. But they aren't typically going to

hurt you. Cars and drivers in this Country on the other hand kill about the

same number of people as died in the world trade centers EVERY MONTH.



You can also easily argue that the world trade center bombing would never

have happened if this Country didn't have so much dependence on middle east

oil. This dependence is why Slick Willie had us sailors sitting in the

Persian Gulf for 4 months when I served in the US Navy (Of course now its

Bush). Therefore as far as I'm concerned if you aren't personally doing

something yourself or at least supporting ways to reduce this dependency

than YOU are an unpatriotic bastard. At the very least don't be an

un-supporter.



Motorists, especially those who have to drive to make a living, should love

cyclists! It's simple economics, too much demand for gasoline and prices go

up. Cyclists reduce the demand for gasoline. Some may say we don't make

any difference. Bull-crap, we make a huge difference and can make even

more. I save myself $50 a month! Multiply that by the percentage of people

who ride bike in a big city and that's a lot of money and gas. And we could

do better.. we need more cyclists...



We could be like some places in California where half the kids develop

asthma. Yeah lets just drive more, we need more cars, more roads, more kids

poisoned. Furthermore, according to recent nightly news our country is

headed for serious health care problems and costs due to obesity. So

who/what are the real terrorists? What are the real costs? Aircraft

Carriers in the Persian Gulf 24/7... Yeah they're cheap. Come on, WAKE UP!

Finally, what would you rather have: silent bicycles riding by or noisy

traffic? If you love cars so much, go buy a house alongside I-5 or some

other busy road.    



Therefore, I would rather put up with a few annoying idiot cyclists because

what they are doing for this country by riding their bike far outweighs

their stupid behavior.      



John M. Schmidt

Portland, Oregon 97210 USA