A local cyclist sent us a video of a road rage incident he experienced last weekend while riding his bike south on East Henrietta Road near the intersection at Westfall. Thankfully, no one was hurt – in the end, a good samaritan stepped in and called RPD. But there are clearly some important lessons to be learned. First a word of caution; this video contains some graphic language…
Reckless Driving Concerns Highland Park Neighbors
Guest essay submitted by: Michael Tomb & Marcia Zach, Highland Park residents…
Dear Friends,
As many of you are aware, because of a crash near the intersection of Meigs & Linden, in 2009, we created the HPNA Traffic Calming team which eventually became “The Highland Placemaking Team”. We came up with a plan for traffic calming in the area of our playground and, although quite a few items were implemented, many of the safety related traffic calming features were not because of County resistance, City policy and other things.
Our intent was to avoid something as what JUST happened in my neighbor’s front yard. No children should have to witness such a scene in their front yard while waiting for the school bus. I am thankful we avoided (barely!) a major heart-wrenching tragedy, but it was NOT because of this driver’s fear of the consequences of being so careless. It was only a matter of timing that prevented something much worse from occurring. You and I both know we need to do better.
We are also both saddened and absolutely outraged the driver was NOT ticketed. Maybe I am bit ashamed of my city as well. My assessment after working on matters of traffic calming in Rochester has actually been to expect that kind of response from law enforcement. Indeed, I have been telling friends that if a person desires to damage property and and even kill innocent bystanders, in order to face the fewest number of consequences, the car IS your weapon of choice. It wasn’t always that way… the tolerance for irresponsible driving was a hard -earned privilege. Read more
Packed schedule for Bike Week 2017
Bike Week 2017 in Rochester officially runs 13-21 May, and the schedule is packed! The RCA calendar lists it all: You can learn about biking instead of driving at I pass gas: An event for the bikecurious, find good routes at Route planning HELP!, and learn maintenance at the Bike repair skill share. You can take a ride with the kids at Kidical Mass Pittsford, or take a ride with the ladies at the CycloFemme Mother’s Day ride, and another at the Full Moon Vista Ladies Ride. You can ride to school as part of any of seven local Bike to School Day events. You can advocate for safer streets on the Ride of Silence and the Light Up the Night Ride, then advocate for exploited children at the Ride for the Missing Children. You can cruise the 19th Ward on the Unity Ride, cruise the South Wedge on the Taco Tuesday ride, see Beechwood on the Beechwood Ride, roll through City Center in style on the Seersucker Social, and see the Wedge again on the Wednesday Night Cruise. Cap it off with a visit to the open house at Dream Bikes. Read more about the City’s facilities and events here, and see Bike Week on Facebook. Wow, what a week!