This was sent to me today. The author asked that I post it.
Tragically, a 9 year-old boy lost his life this week when he collided with a vehicle. A car hit and killed another bicyclist last week. Such accidents sadden all El Pasoans and when a child is involved it is even more tragic.
The investigation of both accidents is on-going. In the meantime, the El Paso Bicycle Club member quoted in the El Paso Times today seems to be blaming motorists and the law. “We have seen an increase of accidents because cycling is growing and people are not aware of the laws in place to protect cyclists and the laws aren’t strong enough.”
http://elpasotimes.tx.newsmemory.com/?token=a23HXgzJsfxavxesb9KiFCYtx0XjaMzl
Well, according to the BikeTexas website
http://www.biketexas.org/es/infrastructure/texas-bicycle-laws
Bicyclists have the rights and duties of other vehicle operators: (551.101) Yes, this means you have to stop at stop signs and red lights, but cars are required to yield right-of-way to a bicycle when appropriate, just as to any other vehicle.
According to my personal observations and those of friends, it seems very rare for a bicyclist in El Paso to obey the motor vehicle laws. (It’s even more rare for the police to issue a ticket to a bicyclist, but that’s another issue). Only once have I seen a bicyclist stop at a stoplight and wait until it turned green to proceed. That particular stoplight happened to be at a busy intersection and the bicyclist would have been crazy not to wait for a green light. Most of the time, bicyclists will run a red light after merely slowing down and glancing both ways.
I’m a careful driver. I always give bicyclists the required 3 feet or change lanes if I can. I yield even when the bicyclist is disobeying the law. But recently I almost hit a bicyclist in broad daylight when he turned left in front of me illegally. Luckily, we both stopped before colliding. Otherwise, there might have been another headline about a bicyclist’s death and a member of the El Paso Bicycle Club saying motorists need to know the law.
The law states that bicyclists must obey the motor vehicle laws. If not now, when?
Balmorhea
elpasospeak 
A significant percentage of El Paso cyclists absolutely disregard laws, including failure to obey stop signs and stop lights, yet they blame motorists for not being courteous. Pedestrians regularly cross streets at places where there are not crosswalks, which has resulted in a number of deadly accidents. Coincidentally, I have NEVER see a police officer stop a cyclist or pedestrian for breaking the law. Our laws should be enforced fairly and equally.
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I agree that many cyclists ignore stop signs and lights. Cyclists come to an intersection, look both ways and run thru the intersection. I’m sorry cyclists, it’s much too convenient to blame motorists.
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Here’s my impression of a “bicycle enthusiast.”
‘Oh, look at me regressing way back to the 19th century with this primitive contraption called a bicycle. Now watch me glide down Montana Ave. at 1/8th the speed during rush hour, because I’m just too much of an a-hole to ride my precious bike one block north or south from here. Wow, this feels like I’m almost kinda, sorta getting some exercise.’ Over a dozen years ago, Denis Leary was right-on about “bicycle enthusiasts.”
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