I would like to underscore the headline on Mr. Grady’s letter of Nov. 23 that bicyclists should ride on the right-hand side of the road. In all 50 states bicycle riders are considered drivers of vehicles, and legally have the same rights and responsibilities as car drivers.
That means bicyclists—no matter what their age or how slow they ride—have the right to drive on the portion of the road that is safest for them (which is not necessarily the shoulder as that is frequently full of sand, glass, and potholes). They also have the responsibility to be courteous, to ride single file, to yield to faster moving traffic when appropriate, and to stop at stop signs.
Pedestrians also have rights and responsibilities, and I find it appalling that so many adult walkers, joggers, and runners in Harvard ignore these, to their peril. Pedestrians—unlike bicyclists—should stay on the left side of the road, facing oncoming traffic. Some of the worst malefactors, in my mind, are those otherwise loving parents who take their children for walks on the wrong side of the road, thus instilling unsafe traffic habits for yet another generation.
Harvard has beautiful roads for walking and riding, and it wouldn’t take much in the way of changing incorrect behavior to make them safer.
Mary H. Vesenka Turner, PhD
Littleton County Road
Former director of BikeEd Hawaii, which brings bicycle safety classes to 8,000 fourth-graders annually
