Road Warrior: Los Angeles Edition

What is it like to bike in a much more hostile environment than New York City?  Conan Nolan reports for NBC TV, Los Angeles:

CONAN NOLAN: It’s just the start of the afternoon rush hour, and the fight begins.

MICHAEL CLARK, BICYCLE COMMUTER:  There is no sense of sharing. I have to battle for my five inches out there while the automobiles are trying to get where they’re going.

NOLAND: It’s a battle for space, and it can get bloody. Clarke has scars from an incident when a driver suddenly cut in front of him. (His was) one of 3,000 bike accidents each year that occur in Los Angeles County alone. There are an average of more than two dozen deaths a year.  But plenty of drivers are frustrated, as well — with bicyclists who, they say, run stop signs or red lights or ride against traffic.

DENISE MCKINNEY, MOTORIST: I just think they should be on the sidewalk. Bikes are for sidewalks, not for streets.

Photo: gbasilio/Flickr

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