With respect to the letter that appeared in the Nov. 9 issue of the Press, from Belinda Friedrich and Marc Abouaf, expressing “outrage” at Chief Denmark’s comments about the car-bicycle accident Oct. 28, I have a little outrage of my own—about people in my town who yet again refuse to take responsibility for their own actions being the cause of events.
First, I support Chief Denmark’s reasoned and factual description of what happened. That is his job, and he does it exceptionally well. In particular, I am proud of his “calling it like it is,” even if it ruffles feathers. His observation that Amelia may have “saved the cyclist’s life” by evasive action (hopefully a positive result of driver’s education), and the fact that the Harvard and state police investigations team flatly stated “there was no driver error” support his comments. That also means there were no speeding or stop-sign issues.
How does that set of facts translate into yet another rant about speed limits and stop signs?
I am not engaging in car vs. cycle rhetoric—no point. I rode a bicycle to grammar school every day in Cambridge, crossing through both Fresh Pond rotaries at rush hour. And I never got hit, mostly because I stayed out of traffic lanes and looked over my shoulder before entering them.
Cyclists on light bicycles tend to tilt the bike front when pushing down hard on the left pedal, causing the bicycle to veer left maybe a foot or more (and suddenly), right in front of traffic. Several times while driving in Harvard I have had to cross the center line suddenly to avoid a happy cyclist doing this exact thing. If I had hit a cyclist, whether I was going 25 or 40 mph would be immaterial to the smashed bicycle, beyond the physics of it.
Finally, people will drive at a reasonable speed, no matter what the numbers on a sign say. We have to deal with that as the reality it is, and present speeds are reasonable. The accident record in town supports that, just as the chief says.
John Grady
Slough Road
