Your lesson for the day

I am so tired of mean drivers. I'm talking about the people who don't know the rules of the road and who get mad at bicyclists. Twice in the past week, Ricky and I've been cursed at by drivers who are mad that we are in their way, even though we are following the rules of the road and they are not.

According to the Oregon Driver's Manual:

•You must yield to bicyclists in a bicycle lane or on a sidewalk,
before you turn across the lane or sidewalk.

• You must yield to bicyclists at intersections, the same as you do for
other types of vehicles.

So then please explain to me why, when Ricky and I were crossing the street and this guy wanted to turn right, I was the one who was a dumba--. Or why, today, when we were crossing the street and another person wanted to turn right, Ricky was an m-f-er.

People need to learn the rules of the road. It's getting ridiculous out there, and it's frustrating for us because we do everything we can to make it easy on people. We stick to bike lanes, separate trails, or the sidewalk whenever possible. We pull over if it's a narrow street to let the cars go by. We signal, we have lights and reflectors, we wear helmets. We are always on the lookout and try our best to stay out of the way of cars. But still, we get called names simply for going straight when we have the right to do so.

So let this be a lesson to you all - when you see a bicyclist who is going straight and you want to turn, if there is a green light then they have the right of way. Don't yell at them, don't honk, and please don't call them names.