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To the Editor:
I have a quick follow up to Kim Alsbrook’s “Another Perspective,” her rejoinder of May 8 to my piece “Bicycles on Pavements.” I don’t disagree with anything she says about the unsafe conditions of the streets on bike riders. And yes, they do accommodate bikers in Europe much better than here. I will even add that they have a system that works beautifully in Key West as well, where bicyclists and motorists obey the traffic laws and are civil to one another.
Whether that can be attributed to city planning or something in the culture, I don’t know. But the atmosphere sure doesn’t exist here. Where Kim and I diverge is on her argument that rests on the fact there are hazards on the streets, so bikers prefer to ride the pavements (but at least they’re courteous to everyone). If I carry that logic to an analogy, it would be like coming down in the morning to find a broken window and a street person sleeping in your living room, who then awakes and says courteously, “Hey grumpy, selfish guy, what did you expect? It’s cold out there. Did you want me to freeze to death?”
So maybe, the issue we should be addressing here, is what can and should be done to accommodate bicyclists on the streets better. Go figure the populace of South Philly has made a remarkable effort to mimic the café atmosphere of Paris on [East]Passyunk Avenue. There is hope for this!
Louis Lezzoni
South Philadelphia
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