Maybe stopping will break their circuit …?
Quite a coincidence for me, the “Electric Avenue” article [Jan. 16]. I was about to write a letter for Nikki Silverstein’s Zero feature about electric bikes. First, though, I fully agree with Peter Seidman’s optimistic tone in his “Electric Avenue” piece. I can give you two great examples of how these bikes can relieve traffic. They’re also my Zero nominations.
I live in Terra Linda. Marco, the wonder dog, and I very often walk in the mid-afternoon, about the time schools around here get out. The traffic for this usually quiet part of San Rafael gets really heavy in places then. We avoid some streets. We often see a woman and a man, the lady with two elementary school-age kids and the man with one kid, all probably enrolled at St. Isabella Catholic School, beat all the traffic with the children on the back of their electric bikes as they commute from Sleepy Hollow, San Anselmo to and from Terra Linda via the multi-path where Freitas Mountain Parkway dead-ends at the open space between the two—not that there’s anything wrong with that. Keeps them from having to drive that slog on Sir Francis Drake and keeps two cars off the road. What’s wrong is I have never seen either one of them, ever, stop at a stop sign, even the four way stops that are everywhere in this neighborhood. They blow through them without a signal or, seemingly, regard for the autos around them or their passengers’ safety. Hang out at Freitas Parkway and Montecillo Road some afternoon when school gets out and be amazed as they blow through three stop signs making the left turn.
Robert Bock, San Rafael
