Biker Safety
Bikers in the Miami-Dade county are using up a car lanes in major streets and highways.
Writing to you from Miami-Dade County, I write this in hopes to develop licenses for bikers that ride along important streets/causeways that are heavily packed with cars, specifically in the areas of Sunny Isles Beach ranging all the way to South beach.
Usually, when the weekend hits in Miami Beach, various professional bike riders in pelotons or small groups completely over lap over the car lanes and do not use their assigned bike lanes. As cars pass by or they try to pass around these groups the bikers do not move out of the way nor do they respect traffic lights, considering that they are masses of people. They most of the time slow down traffic and can cause harm to themselves as well as to drivers. Riding not only in streets but also in major causeways that require cars to reach speeds of at least 45, these riders deem to think that they are entitled their own car lane.
Being a resident that drives and has family members that drive as well, I think it’s important to protect our citizens in terms of road safety. Although it might seem that I am writing against the sport, I actually do appreciate it considering my mother is a cyclist. Its very crucial in our growing society to realize that this sport is becoming more and more popular and these cyclists do require long rides in order to train, thus, they use these major roads. So, with act of assigning license plates to bikers, they can all be treated as if they were vehicles that are required to follow road rules like every other citizen.
If he/she that is cycling professionally is seen not following the rules of the road, officials may have the authority to fin these riders, so that gradually they start respecting rules of the road.
This letter was not intended to bash on any sport because I strongly agree that good physical health is important for any human to have, but, there is a degree to which they need to respect laws that are set for the general public since they can be a hazardous variable to the road.
Thank you for considering this matter. Sincerely,
Nina Latorre