Share the Road?

A few weeks ago I included an anecdote about bike paths in one of my posts here on Sag Hampton. It was just an anecdote in an article that was about something else entirely — but I made the point that a bike path could be beneficial in jump starting increased use of bicycles as a means of transportation, in addition to the way they’re mostly used — as a form of recreation. In that post, I did not develop the idea at any length, because — well, the article was about something else. This past weekend though, the need for more bike-friendly roadways was brought home to me in a very powerful way.

On Sunday, Bobbie and I were on our way to New York to visit some freinds from my college days. As we were driving down Scuttlehole Road, we began to pass a steady stream of bicyclists. The further we went, the more bicyclists there were. Obviously, it was some sort of planned ride. Now as anyone who has driven or biked on Scuttlehole knows, this road is far from an ideal place to ride a bicycle. It is a major back road “shortcut” used by countless motorists to avoid the stretch of Montauk Highway that bottlenecks in Bridgehampton. It’s also a quick way to get to Sag Harbor, and maybe, via Rt. 114 to East Hampton and beyond. Unfortunately, although it’s used by an inordinately large number of vehicles, it is only two lanes wide (one in each direction), has many twists and turns, at least one of which is entered blindly from either direction, a roundabout that can barely accommodate the cars that squeeze through it (and can’t accommodate the trucks and buses that also use this back country road) and has no shoulders anywhere along its length. In short, a road that’s barely safe for motorists, and entirely unsuitable for any other form of transportation.

Well, as I was saying, riding along this very dangerous road, which was crowded with weekend traffic, were at least fifty or sixty cyclists strung out over its entire length. Now, as inconvenient as this was for me as a driver, I’m not going to say that they did not have a right to be there. They were clearly well within their rights. I’m also not going to vent about the few who found it necessary to ride two and even three abreast, forcing traffic to a crawl behind them. Annoying, but not a crime. But what I am going to complain about, and LOUDLY, was that at least two of these bicyclists had children riding along with them in this potentially deadly exercise. One had what looked to be a homemade tandem bike, larger in the front, and smaller in  back so his child could ride along behind him. This one wobbled so badly at one point that Bobbie and I both flinched as we thought they were going to tumble over in front to our car. The other cyclist with child was towing one of those covered child carriers behind his bike. I assume there was a very young child inside, or what would be the point of towing the device? I was and am aghast that any parent would knowingly subject his or her child to a situation as fraught with peril as riding a bike on Scuttlehole road. I can see no justification/excuse for that behavior. And, as we all should do with our friends who have had too much to drink, their bicycling buddies should have “taken away their keys,” rather than acquiescing to this insanity.

OK, these two parents were irresponsible, and it made me sad and angry, but why blog about it? The answer is simply that bicycles, whether for recreation, sport, or transportation have long been part of the local scene here in Sag Hampton, and as fuel costs continue to rise with no relief in sight (or even possible, despite the “drill baby drill” nonsense) we will undoubtedly see an ever increasing number of bicycles on our roads. Where will they go to fit in safely? And, if a bicyclist wants to ride from Sag Harbor to Water Mill, and bring his or her child along, what route will they travel? Currently, there is no good answer to these questions. Yes, there is a Bike Committee in Southampton Town. All volunteers, they have done an admirable job of putting together a plan for bike paths, lanes, and routes (all different, but that’s another story). However, given the restrictions they have had to work under, the plan is fragmented and incomplete. Even if fully implemented, best case you will be able ride safely on some roads, but not others. This may work for recreational bikers, but it’s wholly inadequate for anyone hoping to use a bicycle for serious transportation.

That’s a shame, because a road system that truly accommodates bikers is not only good for them, but good for the rest of us too. More people on bikes means fewer people in cars. Fewer cars on the roads means less traffic, less pollution, less noise, fewer automobile accidents, and fewer frayed tempers. It could also mean fewer overweight children and adults, as we get in shape by rediscovering our ability to generate our own power. As more of us get in shape, we remove some of the strain on our precarious health care system, and potentially lower the cost of health insurance for everyone. (When there are more healthy people in a plan, the insurer faces less risk, and can lower the cost to all members of the plan.)

So, in a perverse way I’m grateful to those two irresponsible parents who endangered their children on Scuttlehole road this weekend, because they’ve made me think more deeply about why our local governments need to get off their asses and get to work developing a serious plan to make our roadways more accommodating to bicyclists. A few “Share the Road” signs are not a plan. Really. There are lots of good reasons to get out ahead of this issue before it reaches critical mass. This time, let’s not wait until the issue has to be addressed because of a rising accident toll a la County Road 39.

And, since you were probably wondering, no, I don’t (currently) ride a bike.