Dear lady who honked and then yelled at me as you peeled past me while I was biking with my two small children on a quiet residential street:

Where were you going that could be so important that it’s worth pulling a dangerous, not to mention stressful and obnoxious, move like that? When you pulled over, and I stopped to talk to you, you asked why I would endanger my children’s lives to prove a point. Is it really proving a point to get from my house to a nearby business via a quiet neighborhood street on a bicycle carrying two small children in the warm spring sunshine?

To adhere to the laws of the road and take a full lane of said quiet neighborhood street since there wasn’t room for me to safely let you pass without fully pulling over, which I’m in no way required to do? And let’s think about who is actually endangering my children: me who is teaching them that getting around our neighborhood is a fun, active thing to do outside and doesn’t require fossil fuels, or you in your car who is so offended at being kept at 14 mph for two whole blocks that you had to pull past us sketchily while honking? Seems to me like you were presented with an opportunity to slow down, which is always a gift. If you’re not happy slowing down in your car, perhaps you should find a form of transportation that brings you more joy.

Rachel Elise Hawks

Eugene

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