Spring Reflections: Bad Drivers Kill Cyclists

Spring has arrived once again in the state of Utah, with typical twenty four hour temperature fluctuations of forty degrees, with clear, broken, overcast skies, and with rain and snow all occurring in the same day; nevertheless, cyclists are emerging from their cocoons like multi-colored butterflies. Which is a good sign. Too bad the driving behavior gene of motorists in Salt Lake City has not mutated, because you see the weirdest driving behavior of local motorists on a bicycle. Automobile drivers who refuse to yield when they are required to by law, but, who refuse to proceed at an intersection when the law requires the cyclist to yield. People who use scarce bicycle lanes as a parking or construction lot. People who pass you on the left, then turn right, or worse stop and back up. There is nothing more frustrating in this world than a brain dead motorist who is unqualified to drive a car, or a twenty thousand ton bus, or a loaded "eighteen wheeler." There are people who drive down the bicycle lane instead of in the traffic lane, and who insists on merging right, right over the top of you. There are times in life where you are tempted, against the rules of cycling etiquette, against the rules of common decency and common sense, to middle finger idiot motorists who lack common sense and a brain. Unfortunately, an irresistible temptation also exists of shouting out instructions on how to drive, "put down the cell phone and pay attention to what you are doing!" The exasperation factor approaches critical on so many occasions. Of course, in these cases you invite aggressive people to perpetuate assaults, and that is a very bad idea, because cyclists are assaulted enough already for no reason at all by idiot motorists who have no business on the road.

That felt good, for the moment, erupt like Mount Vesuvius. But there is forever the sickening news reports of dead cyclists, of injured cyclists, of hit and run cyclists, who die because of inattentive motorists, or who were driven from the road intentionally by some psychopath who had a bad day. People who scream in your ear to "get off the road."

WADA director general David Howman wants to resurrect the idiot concept of abandoning the "B" urine tests that confirm that the "A" tests have validity and reliability. In all doping cases where a positive test for a prohibited substance has been found, a "B" confirmation test is currently required by WADA code if requested by an athlete, and the testing procedure may be witnessed by a scientific expert representing the athlete, if requested. David Howman considers these safeguards costly and unnecessary because WADA labs have a very high confirmation rate of "A" sample diagnoses. Once again WADA expresses the concept of an unwarranted laboratory infallibility and a flippant disregard in respect to athlete rights and protections. Howman argues that there is no need to continue to ensure protections of these rights against possibly unwarranted assumptions or accusations. Incredibly, even doping expert Don Catlin disagreed with David Howman's opinion, citing a limited quantity of sample available (blood or urine) for testing and the possible necessity of testing needed to confirm a result; a "B" test without any material available to conduct the test.

It is endlessly the same old nonsense with these people! Spend the money to ensure fairness, David Howman, that is the right thing to do.