I have read with interest Gary Trendler’s letter regarding “sidewalk rules” in the Eugene Weekly (Nov. 29). This letter was in response to a letter by a pedestrian who had a near miss with a bicyclist on the sidewalk and a subsequent confrontation.
I walk or bike almost everywhere in town and strongly support human-powered transportation as the best option in terms of safety, environment and health. My personal experience is that, generally, bicyclists on the sidewalk move to the street to avoid pedestrians. In the case mentioned, this didn’t happen.
While Gary can be legally correct in his rendering of the law, I think this misses the larger point. I try to use bike lanes, as I feel this establishes our “right” to streets that are often seen as “belonging” to cars. Ideally bikes would co-exist with cars on streets (as they do in Europe), but this would require lower speeds (“twenty is plenty”) and more bicyclists.
Endangering pedestrians is not the way to engender the change I envision. Please be courteous and understand we can kick the car habit when we have viable alternatives. Let’s work together to make this happen instead of scaring pedestrians. We need everyone.
Bruce Tufts
Eugene
A Note From the Publisher
Dear Readers,
The last two years have been some of the hardest in Eugene Weekly’s 43 years. There were moments when keeping the paper alive felt uncertain. And yet, here we are — still publishing, still investigating, still showing up every week.
That’s because of you!
Not just because of financial support (though that matters enormously), but because of the emails, notes, conversations, encouragement and ideas you shared along the way. You reminded us why this paper exists and who it’s for.
Listening to readers has always been at the heart of Eugene Weekly. This year, that meant launching our popular weekly Activist Alert column, after many of you told us there was no single, reliable place to find information about rallies, meetings and ways to get involved. You asked. We responded.
We’ve also continued to deepen the coverage that sets Eugene Weekly apart, including our in-depth reporting on local real estate development through Bricks & Mortar — digging into what’s being built, who’s behind it and how those decisions shape our community.
And, of course, we’ve continued to bring you the stories and features many of you depend on: investigations and local government reporting, arts and culture coverage, sudoku and crossword puzzles, Savage Love, and our extensive community events calendar. We feature award-winning stories by University of Oregon student reporters getting real world journalism experience. All free. In print and online.
None of this happens by accident. It happens because readers step up and say: this matters.
As we head into a new year, please consider supporting Eugene Weekly if you’re able. Every dollar helps keep us digging, questioning, celebrating — and yes, occasionally annoying exactly the right people. We consider that a public service.
Thank you for standing with us!
Publisher
Eugene Weekly
P.S. If you’d like to talk about supporting EW, I’d love to hear from you!
jody@eugeneweekly.com
(541) 484-0519
Comments are closed.