After getting knocked off bike, citizen asks, ‘Is BG too dangerous for anything but cars?’ – BG Independent News

After getting knocked off bike, citizen asks, ‘Is BG too dangerous for anything but cars?’ – BG Independent News

This week, for at least the sixth time, I was knocked off my bicycle. Over the past eight years, I’ve been knocked over on Poe by a parent leaving the high school, run off Fairview by a senior citizen apparently looking at the golf course, run over the curb by a school bus on East Wooster, and run into twice by people pulling away from stop signs when I was on the through street. Wednesday morning, while riding south on Grove, a car stopped at the stop sign then pulled out. I was able to brake enough that I hit the side of their car rather than it hitting me. Still, I sympathize with drivers. This week, I also saw a child riding a battery-powered bike – faster than I can peddle – north on Fairview in the southbound lane. At the intersection, they just shot through the yard of the house on the corner and across the sidewalk crosswalk. I also saw several kids on electric scooters riding on sidewalks without slowing down, or even looking at cross-streets, and a boy and girl on a battery-powered scooter both staring at her phone. If you’re driving a car, it’s hard to know where the next micro-vehicle will be coming from. It seems only a matter of time before someone on some vehicle without four wheels is seriously hurt or worse. It’s time for BG to initiate an alternative vehicle safety program and policies for alternative vehicles other than merely banning them from downtown sidewalks. I’d be happy to help if there’s any interest working on a solution. Rick BusselleBowling Green