I don’t know whether it’s the cooler weather, the latest rise in the price of gas or a sudden environmental concern on the part of some, but there seems to be a lot more bicycles out and about these days. This is in many ways a heartening sign for those who want to see fewer internal combustion-powered vehicles on the roads, but it raises a couple of issues. Should people be driving their bicycles on the sidewalks, even the wider sidewalks downtown? I have seen more than a few very close calls involving pedestrians coming out of buildings or turning corners.

There are arguments to be made on either side, but it seems to me that bikes need to be driven on the streets in the direction of traffic as we were taught.

The other issue is that as more people ride their bikes to and from work, the use of cell phones needs to be considered. If cell phones are a distraction for drivers of motorized vehicles, aren’t they an equal distraction to those on bikes?

What about the guy I saw in the suit the other day going against traffic on M Street and talking on his phone? This guy was weaving in and out of traffic with one hand on the handlebars while the other held the phone to his face. It was nuts, and I fear for his future.

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Advertising trucks are eyesores

Here’s a perspective from the other side. Rick is a bike commuter and writes: “I read your column religiously right after I bike up Wisconsin Ave. past three Metro stops from D.C. into Bethesda almost daily. What ‘Sprawl and Crawl’ issues could affect me on my blessed commute?

Well, working on Wisconsin Avenue I see trucks with huge, very narrow, signs constantly running up and down the avenue. All advertising, no room for cargo, only adding to congestion, emissions and distraction. Lately it’s been a national bank and a consortium of local sun tanning enterprises.

In choosing alternatives dedicated to easing our urban problems we need to collectively dissuade purely self-serving interests that only make problems worse.”

I’m with you, Rick. I find those things offensive eyesores, and I wonder what a modest gust of wind would do to them. It seems like there are more than enough tractor-trailers and box trucks driving around town to offer advertising space while actually getting something accomplished.