Dear Editor, I am writing in response to the April 17 Red Phone
letter titled,
”
Bicyclists Need to Follow Traffic Laws.
”
I am a cyclist and ride in a pack. In order to ride with the
group, I must demonstrate that I am a skilled rider and have
knowledge of the rules of the road. Although some people may not
follow the traffic laws, I would like to make a few points in
defense of cyclists like me who do follow the rules. First of all,
we always ride in a bike lane or on the right side of the road when
there is no bike lane.
Not all bike riders disobey the rules of the road
Dear Editor,
I am writing in response to the April 17 Red Phone letter titled, “Bicyclists Need to Follow Traffic Laws.” I am a cyclist and ride in a pack. In order to ride with the group, I must demonstrate that I am a skilled rider and have knowledge of the rules of the road. Although some people may not follow the traffic laws, I would like to make a few points in defense of cyclists like me who do follow the rules.
First of all, we always ride in a bike lane or on the right side of the road when there is no bike lane.
As far as riding two or three abreast, we ride in twos when the bike lane allows enough room. Otherwise, we ride in a single line. The only exceptions are when crossing at intersections. When making left hand turns, we must enter the roadway of the intersection and cross as one group in order to avoid holding up traffic by crossing one by one. We also bunch up at stoplights so that we don’t block or hold up traffic in the turning lane. We take special measures to avoid holding up traffic as many of us in the group are motorists as well.
There are many benefits to riding in a pack. All riders receive safety and road awareness training as well as proper equipment checks before going out on a ride. Riding in a group makes us more visible to motorists and less likely to get into an accident with a vehicle.
This is especially important when a motorist is speeding around the corner. It also helps to have other cyclists around to help out when someone has a flat tire, crashes their bike, or gets a water bottle thrown at their bike by an obnoxious passing motorist.
In closing, Morgan Hill has a lot of beautiful and challenging back roads for cyclists to ride. The fact is cyclists are allowed to ride on any road except the freeway.
If both motorists and cyclists can be a little more aware and courteous of each other, they should be able to safely share the road.
Austin Heiser, Morgan Hill, and a 13-year-old member of the Wolfpak Racing Team
Thursday night music will create a family event, promote downtown
Dear Editor,
I would like to respond to to recent articles and letters to the editor regarding the Friday Night Music Series. First of all it has been a tradition for the last 15 years to hold this event downtown and it has been very successful.
I have heard that some businesses say that there is virtually no increase in business. I find this hard to believe as I have run sound for this event for nearly all Fridays last year and I can tell you that most of these businesses were packed every Friday night.
Next, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. If the Chamber and the city want to justify all the money they spent on the amphitheater they should organize a summer concert series such as the Amy Grant show that Gary Harmon put on, not by moving something that is already successful. Some people say the new Thursday night music that is being planned is in response to moving the Friday night music. No! It is not for competition, it is to create another family event and to continue to promote downtown businesses (something the chamber is failing to realize).
I would like to encourage the chamber to at very least thank those who were responsible for putting on these events. I for one have left several messages and worked every event without so much as a thank you or a returned phone call. The people of Morgan Hill and the chamber should be grateful to the Pats, Pattis and the Brads of this community because without them, these events would surly not exist.
Mike DiRubio, Morgan Hill
Universal maternity care lowers infant mortality rate
Dear Editor,
Every country that provides universal prenatal/maternity care has a lower infant mortality rate than the U.S. Most have lower maternal mortality rates too.
In those countries, 75 percent of those births are attended by midwives mostly in homes or birth centers. In the U.S. only 4 percent are attended by midwives.
The average cost of a midwife attended birth is about $1,200, whereas the average cost of a physician attended hospital birth is about $4,200. And we know that nearly 1/3 of births attended by physicians end in major abdominal surgery, upping the monetary, health and emotional costs tremendously.
If the U.S. used the midwifery model of care, it would save about $8.5 billion annually.
By using the midwifery model of care, the cesarean rate would drop to the safest rate recommended by the World Health Organization and the U.S. Healthy People 2010, saving another $1.5 billion annually. Another plus is that breastfeeding success rates would rise (saving even more health care dollars) along with mother’s birth satisfaction.
Jeannie Batacan, Morgan Hill
