Pacific Coast Highway is a crowded road, at best. More than ever these days! I, along with so many others, have a particular gripe with the rogue bands of bicyclists that always seem to want to have a lane just for themselves. Today, as I was driving into Santa Monica, about 30 cyclists nearly caused car accidents because of their illegal road behavior. They were riding four, five and six abreast, rather than single file. They were well out into the right lane of traffic, making it absolutely impossible for cars to safely pass them. Instead, the cars had to suddenly stop in the right lane of traffic, until the driver of the car could safely make way into the left-hand lane of traffic to continue on around the cyclists. This sort of riding by the cyclists is dangerous and they should be put on notice that it will not be tolerated on PCH here in Malibu.
I called the Sheriff’s office and was told, “Yeah, they usually do that on Saturdays.” Well, that’s not acceptable. If an accident were to happen (surprisingly, it hasn’t), the cyclists would clearly be at fault, though with our legal system, I fear that it would somehow be the motorist who would dearly pay. These cyclists are not the exception, but rather the rule. They are not satisfied to “share the road,” they want the entire road. A friend of mine was driving on PCH a few weekends back and merely honked at a group of cyclists. When my friend stopped at a light a bit further on, and the cyclists caught up, she was assaulted not only by crude verbal insults by the cyclists, but also by a barrage of spit from some of the male cyclists. I urge other motorists here in Malibu who echo my frustration with this dangerous behavior perpetrated by the cyclists to also write in to the local papers in an effort to highlight this reckless practice in order to get it stopped. Before it’s too late.
J. Murphy