A
Anonymous
Guest
The following is the kind of press that the airboating community does NOT need. This matter needs to be addressed within our ranks. If anyone knows the individual described in the following article, you should bring it to his attention that he made it in the statewide news and that he is the new airboating community's poster boy.
Also, an email to the article's author (Mark DeCotis) would not be a bad idea to let him know that the discourteous behavior displayed by the airboater described in his story is not acceptable conduct and that it would be appreciated if he would not stereotype and attack airboaters in his future articles.
WaterLizard 8)
http://www.floridatoday.com/apps/pbcs.d ... 062/SPORTS
FLORIDA TODAY
March 16, 2006
Bicycle, automobile incidents on the rise
It would be nice if the following incident could be portrayed as something unusual or isolated. It can't be and it won't be.
On one side was a group of hard-core cyclists, steeled by encounter after encounter with motorists who don't know or can't (or choose not to) understand the laws governing vehicles in Florida. Thus, the cyclists are more than willing to stand their ground -- in this case, protect the roadway that is legally theirs.
On the other side was a guy driving a big, four-door pickup hauling an airboat. He was obviously in a hurry to reach his ever-shrinking accessible stretch of waterway, and obviously fed up with the increasingly more frequent delays on Brevard's traffic-clogged roads.
It was a prescription for flaring tempers, exacerbated by frayed nerves and at least a bad case of road rash or perhaps even worse.
The cyclists were heading east, riding at about 20 mph in a paceline on and just off the shoulder -- until you've done this, you don't know how careful you have to be. Just about warmed up, they were ready to kick into a higher gear.
The guy in the pickup, tooling along at perhaps the speed limit or a little above, encountered the cyclists. He moved off his lane toward and over the center line to accommodate them.
It appeared everything would be just fine, just another driver moving over -- as he or she should -- to make room for cyclists riding in single file as they are allowed to under Florida law.
But then, in the time it takes a bicycle tire to turn, things turned ugly.
The guy in the truck -- recognizing he had reached the point where he needed to make a right turn -- tried to make that turn but found the line of cyclists in his path.
Had he decided to physically force the issue, there was no doubt his multi-ton vehicle could have plowed through the line of people on bicycles weighing no more than 20 pounds apiece -- with horrible consequences.
To his credit, he didn't force the issue. But it didn't stop there.
He let loose with a stream of profanity, which was matched with equal vitriol from the cyclists. For a moment or two it appeared things might get out of hand. But the cyclists moved forward, the driver turned right and the whole incident was forgotten -- at least by most of the cyclists. When you find open stretches of road and the weather is nice and the wind is friendly, there are few things esthetically or otherwise that can compare.
As for the driver, it would be nice to assume that once he fired up his airboat and hit the open water, his day was made.
But we won't know for sure until he encounters another group of cyclists who he believes are impeding his forward progress.
Between now and then, let's hope he lets loose of any grudge he might be carrying because a man or a woman on a lightweight aluminum, carbon or steel road bike is no match for a man or a woman behind the wheel of a motor vehicle.
But more car/truck-bicycle accidents are taking place, mainly because of the way traffic is increasing and roads, many without shoulders, are -- or are not -- being built. And guess who ALWAYS loses? That's right, the cyclist.
Keep that in mind, because that next bike rider you encounter has just as much of a right to be on the road as you do -- it's the law. And he or she also has the same right to return home safely to enjoy the company of his or her family and friends, just as you do.
Contact DeCotis at 242-3786 or mdecotis@flatoday.net
Also, an email to the article's author (Mark DeCotis) would not be a bad idea to let him know that the discourteous behavior displayed by the airboater described in his story is not acceptable conduct and that it would be appreciated if he would not stereotype and attack airboaters in his future articles.
WaterLizard 8)
http://www.floridatoday.com/apps/pbcs.d ... 062/SPORTS
FLORIDA TODAY
March 16, 2006
Bicycle, automobile incidents on the rise
It would be nice if the following incident could be portrayed as something unusual or isolated. It can't be and it won't be.
On one side was a group of hard-core cyclists, steeled by encounter after encounter with motorists who don't know or can't (or choose not to) understand the laws governing vehicles in Florida. Thus, the cyclists are more than willing to stand their ground -- in this case, protect the roadway that is legally theirs.
On the other side was a guy driving a big, four-door pickup hauling an airboat. He was obviously in a hurry to reach his ever-shrinking accessible stretch of waterway, and obviously fed up with the increasingly more frequent delays on Brevard's traffic-clogged roads.
It was a prescription for flaring tempers, exacerbated by frayed nerves and at least a bad case of road rash or perhaps even worse.
The cyclists were heading east, riding at about 20 mph in a paceline on and just off the shoulder -- until you've done this, you don't know how careful you have to be. Just about warmed up, they were ready to kick into a higher gear.
The guy in the pickup, tooling along at perhaps the speed limit or a little above, encountered the cyclists. He moved off his lane toward and over the center line to accommodate them.
It appeared everything would be just fine, just another driver moving over -- as he or she should -- to make room for cyclists riding in single file as they are allowed to under Florida law.
But then, in the time it takes a bicycle tire to turn, things turned ugly.
The guy in the truck -- recognizing he had reached the point where he needed to make a right turn -- tried to make that turn but found the line of cyclists in his path.
Had he decided to physically force the issue, there was no doubt his multi-ton vehicle could have plowed through the line of people on bicycles weighing no more than 20 pounds apiece -- with horrible consequences.
To his credit, he didn't force the issue. But it didn't stop there.
He let loose with a stream of profanity, which was matched with equal vitriol from the cyclists. For a moment or two it appeared things might get out of hand. But the cyclists moved forward, the driver turned right and the whole incident was forgotten -- at least by most of the cyclists. When you find open stretches of road and the weather is nice and the wind is friendly, there are few things esthetically or otherwise that can compare.
As for the driver, it would be nice to assume that once he fired up his airboat and hit the open water, his day was made.
But we won't know for sure until he encounters another group of cyclists who he believes are impeding his forward progress.
Between now and then, let's hope he lets loose of any grudge he might be carrying because a man or a woman on a lightweight aluminum, carbon or steel road bike is no match for a man or a woman behind the wheel of a motor vehicle.
But more car/truck-bicycle accidents are taking place, mainly because of the way traffic is increasing and roads, many without shoulders, are -- or are not -- being built. And guess who ALWAYS loses? That's right, the cyclist.
Keep that in mind, because that next bike rider you encounter has just as much of a right to be on the road as you do -- it's the law. And he or she also has the same right to return home safely to enjoy the company of his or her family and friends, just as you do.
Contact DeCotis at 242-3786 or mdecotis@flatoday.net
:shock:
