Letters to the editor

In response to Sarah Walters’ letter (“Bicyclists deserve courtesy when they’re facing 1-ton vehicles,” Letters to the Editor,” April 12 View) agreeing with Janet Snyder that seniors should be allowed to ride bicycles on sidewalks, I couldn’t agree less.

Ms. Snyder may feel safer on the sidewalk. In fact, she is not. Similarly, some riders feel safer riding against traffic. They are not. Study after study has proven that both of these actions put cyclists in much greater danger.

The League of American Bicyclists has been promoting bicycling through advocacy and education since 1880, when it began as the League of American Wheelmen. (The league’s) cycling safety education program was created by, and based on, “Effective Cycling” by John Forester, M.S., P.E., Cycling Transportation Engineer. He knows a thing or two about bicycle safety. The basic tenet behind this highly respected volume is, in Forester’s own words, “Cyclists fare best when they act and are treated as drivers of vehicles. That is the guiding principle that cyclists should recognize ... ”

Statistically, sidewalks are the least safe venue for a cyclist to ride. There are more than 20 times more cyclist-involved accidents per rider-mile on sidewalks than on roads. The Regional Transportation Commission claims more than 360 miles of bike routes, lanes or paths, and more than 98 percent of valley roadways are bike-compatible. There’s no reason to ride on a sidewalk — ever.

There is a reason they’re called sidewalks, not siderides. There’s a reason they’re called road bikes, not sidewalk bikes. It’s downright dangerous, discourteous to pedestrians and illegal in Nevada to ride a bike on a sidewalk.

When it comes to safety, don’t trust your feelings. Educate yourself. You’re worth the effort.

— Ken Stein

Henderson

Able-bodied Spouses shouldn’t
get a free ride with handicap plates

(I) just read your article about violators of handicap parking laws (“Drivers skirt handicap-parking laws,” April 12 View.) The law has built-in problems, offering loopholes for violations. Why? Because husbands and wives are using their spouse’s car with handicap license plate and cards all the time when driving around town by themselves, instead of using their own cars. What they should do is have one color code for male and one color code for female. Just a thought.

We at the Las Vegas Railroad Society are here to influence the young generation to look at adults to continue ethical role model behavior. People who sneak around the law have bad influence on our youth and need to be stopped now.

— Trudy Platzer

CEO / Founding Chairman

Las Vegas Railroad Society

Proposed education budget cuts hurt parents’ ability to encourage students

What is the purpose of parents sending their children to school and telling them that their lives will be better with a good education if the government takes away the opportunities and skills necessary to succeed?

The people who are supposed to be in charge forget or don’t comprehend that by taking programs like music, art and extracurricular activities, (they are) taking away the only outlet that our students have not only to express themselves but to unwind and get rid of any stress that they feel.

Why (don’t) the people in charge take a pay cut, or when law enforcement does a drug bust and finds money, that money should be put toward our children’s education? Raise taxes on users of tobacco, alcohol, drugs, monitored prostitution, etc.

Someone like (Gov. Brian) Sandoval, whose kids go to private school, doesn’t have to worry about their kids’ education. But parents like me, who are either unemployed or scrimping to make ends meet with one income, (are trying) to take care of our kids and encourage them to get an education to have a better life, (but we’re) faced with mediocre school curriculums, underpaid teachers, education budget cuts and high rate of dropouts because someone in power decided (to) take the money we need.

Why tell our kids that an education is important when they won’t have the classes, curriculum, electives or skills needed to get a job? Might as well let them drop out. My kids want to be able to go to college to get an education and be able to have a career. But what am I supposed to tell them next year when my daughter won’t be able to have orchestra or get the teacher/office aid elective to learn how to do office work or work in a library?

All parents want what is best for their kids.

— Mildred Johnson

Las Vegas

Editor’s note: According to a Dec. 27, 2010, report in the Las Vegas Review-Journal Gov. Brian Sandoval’s son attends a private parochial school, but his two daughters attend public schools.