Posted 12:35 am Sunday, January 27, 2013
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Keep Loop 49 open to bicycles as well as cars and trucks
My thanks to the members of the board of Northeast Texas Regional Mobility Authority (NETRMA) for allowing a group of cyclists and concerned citizens to make our case for the continued use of Loop 49 for cycling. Special thanks to Chairwoman Linda Thomas for her cordial welcome and Vice Chairman Gary Halbrooks for his support in allowing us another 60 days to make our case.
Two primary reasons given for closing the loop to bikes are the safety of cyclists and potential liability to NETRMA in case of accident.
As an avid cyclist who has ridden road bikes for 30 years, I am intensely interested in safety. Any cyclist understands the issue of size and speed, and that bikes never win in a collision. Loop 49 is unquestionably the safest road in Tyler to ride, bar none. In all my years of riding I have never found another road in Texas where I feel safer. This is because of many factors including wide shoulders, limited and controlled access and its unparalleled visibility. The alternatives, such as Highway 69 and Texas 155, are much worse because of even greater traffic and lack of controlled access. Winding, hilly two-lane roads with virtually no visibility, while scenic, can be truly scary.
The issue of potential liability to NETRMA is more difficult to address. Bicycles are considered by the Texas Motor Vehicle Code to be a “vehicle” and are subject to similar rules and regulations as a car, and are given no more or less rights. I can see no reason for any more liability to NETRMA in the case of a car/bike collision than in that of a car/car collision.
There will always be the possibility of a tragic accident occurring but I believe that anyone who has ever ridden a bike around this area will agree that it is less likely to occur on Loop 49 than any other area roadway.
I also firmly believe that far more tragic deaths will occur each year as a result of the complications of obesity and inactivity than will ever happen on Loop 49.
Bob Gaddy
Tyler
Two primary reasons given for closing the loop to bikes are the safety of cyclists and potential liability to NETRMA in case of accident.
As an avid cyclist who has ridden road bikes for 30 years, I am intensely interested in safety. Any cyclist understands the issue of size and speed, and that bikes never win in a collision. Loop 49 is unquestionably the safest road in Tyler to ride, bar none. In all my years of riding I have never found another road in Texas where I feel safer. This is because of many factors including wide shoulders, limited and controlled access and its unparalleled visibility. The alternatives, such as Highway 69 and Texas 155, are much worse because of even greater traffic and lack of controlled access. Winding, hilly two-lane roads with virtually no visibility, while scenic, can be truly scary.
The issue of potential liability to NETRMA is more difficult to address. Bicycles are considered by the Texas Motor Vehicle Code to be a “vehicle” and are subject to similar rules and regulations as a car, and are given no more or less rights. I can see no reason for any more liability to NETRMA in the case of a car/bike collision than in that of a car/car collision.
There will always be the possibility of a tragic accident occurring but I believe that anyone who has ever ridden a bike around this area will agree that it is less likely to occur on Loop 49 than any other area roadway.
I also firmly believe that far more tragic deaths will occur each year as a result of the complications of obesity and inactivity than will ever happen on Loop 49.
Bob Gaddy
Tyler
GUN CONTROL
Over the past several years, Americans have endured horrific attacks on our citizens. These were carried out by people who were mentally unstable and needed some kind of help.
Instead of focusing on the root of our problem — a lack of mental health care facilities and too little funding for programs to identify potential problems — we throw the proverbial book at guns and gun owners.
This is nonsense. When you disarm a nation’s people, those people are unable to defend themselves against those who would abuse governing power, which is why our Founding Fathers considered the “right to bear arms” so important. They knew personally that unlimited power corrupts, and the only way to stop it was revolution and thereafter to maintain the ability to defend one’s home and freedoms.
What we are facing today is an opportunistic grab for more power: power to disarm the citizens of this country and enable the powers-that-be to continue to steam roll over our inalienable rights as Americans.
I plead with our elected officials to be reasonable and deal with the real cause of these tragedies. Spend the millions of dollars you want to use on gun control and use it instead on our mental health care system and stop these people before it’s too late.
Tamra Bolton
Jacksonville
Instead of focusing on the root of our problem — a lack of mental health care facilities and too little funding for programs to identify potential problems — we throw the proverbial book at guns and gun owners.
This is nonsense. When you disarm a nation’s people, those people are unable to defend themselves against those who would abuse governing power, which is why our Founding Fathers considered the “right to bear arms” so important. They knew personally that unlimited power corrupts, and the only way to stop it was revolution and thereafter to maintain the ability to defend one’s home and freedoms.
What we are facing today is an opportunistic grab for more power: power to disarm the citizens of this country and enable the powers-that-be to continue to steam roll over our inalienable rights as Americans.
I plead with our elected officials to be reasonable and deal with the real cause of these tragedies. Spend the millions of dollars you want to use on gun control and use it instead on our mental health care system and stop these people before it’s too late.
Tamra Bolton
Jacksonville
IT MATTERS
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made the following statement when asked about the lie that was put forth by the Obama administration that the Benghazi, Libya consulate attack was due to a film that inflamed Muslims and not by terrorists: “We have four dead Americans. What difference at this point does it make?”
The point is that she and Obama have no problem lying to the American people. We are to believe anything they say and not question what their motive is.
Where is the ethics and where is the shame?
David Carder
Flint
The point is that she and Obama have no problem lying to the American people. We are to believe anything they say and not question what their motive is.
Where is the ethics and where is the shame?
David Carder
Flint
