I don't see this so much as a "demonstration" as an expression of
solidarity and a reminder that regardless of the bike path, there will be
bicycles and cars on the same roads. Some will continue to ride the
Moscow-Pullman Highway, but there are other places not connected by bike
paths. The idea is to simply remind ourselves that being in the right is
never enough--we have to be hypervigilant; and motorists need to be aware
that even the slightest mistake can be fatal.
Lois
----------
> From: Don Coombs <dcoombs@uidaho.edu>
> To: Sam Scripter (MoscowSam) <scripter@mines.uidaho.edu>
> Cc: Miles Moore <moor9717@uidaho.edu>; Palouse-Clearwater Environmental
Institute <pcei@moscow.com>; Lois Melina <lmelina@moscow.com>;
vision2020@uidaho.edu; marianng@uidaho.edu; 1keenan@norby.latah.lib.id.us;
erne@osprey.csrv.uidaho.edu; lclark@turbonet.com; nmack@wsu.edu;
matt@elder.csrv.uidaho.edu; rcp@uidaho.edu; FOX8950@novell.uidaho.edu
> Subject: Re: bicycle fatality
> Date: Friday, May 02, 1997 3:20 PM
>
> The memorial bicycle ride seems to be presented as a demonstration, and
> demonstrations usually are expected to have some kind of message. I'm
> having trouble seeing how this recent tragedy should be, or can be,
> exploited in that fashion.
>
> Going beyond the plan to ride the highway, some of the discussion seems
> like a social science experiment gone weird: We are going to tell the
> people who contributed to the bicycle trail, some of them motorists who
> mostly drive the highway, that if they ponied up money in the interest of
> safety, the joke is on them -- because many bicylists will insist on
their
> legal right to ride the highway. And then there will be data to collect
> about what happens when people are told they have no sense of humor.
>
> Wouldn't it be better if bicyclists and motorists and people who do both
> could continue cooperating?
>
> Don H. Coombs
>