Irvine Police Should Help, Not Harass, in Solving Bike Problem

Re “Irvine Police Put Bicyclists in Their Place” (May 5): The California Department of Motor Vehicles Handbook states: “Bicycle riders on public streets have the same rights and responsibilities as automobile drivers. Drivers of motor vehicles must treat bicycle riders the same as drivers of other motor vehicles. Bicyclists are not out of place on the roadway--they are part of the traffic and share the road with other drivers. . . .”

The handbook continues: “ . . . This means that automobile drivers must leave safe passing room and must not turn so close to cyclist that they are in danger of being hit. Bicycle safety is just as much the responsibility of motor vehicle drivers as cyclist.”

There is a part of the Vehicle Code that states, “Bicycle lanes on city streets and county roads are controlled by local governments.” I assume this part of the code allows the Irvine police to harass cyclists when they are using one lane of the street for their use.

But there isn’t a mention in the code book that says cyclists cannot ever ride side by side. It suggests they ride single file, except to avoid debris and prevent “dangerous conditions.” Have you ever tried to ride single file in a group of 50 cyclists? I do agree more cyclists should get nailed for running not only stop lights, but stop signs as well, and riding the wrong way against traffic is stupid and warrants a citation.

But please don’t look down your nose at people who are doing more to clean up the atmosphere than the other gas hogs are doing. Come join us. With more cyclists, maybe we can encourage the city and county governments to build new streets with just two lanes of traffic each way, and take the rest of the money and separate a decent-sized bike lane from the gas hogs with a curb or barrier. That would prevent us from trespassing on your sacred area that we have a right to be on.

DAVID R. DORTON, Tustin