LETTER: Driver shares thoughts about 'sharing the road'

On Wednesday, Aug. 19, I was driving south on U.S. 93 to the Toyota dealership. Road conditions were dry and visibility only slightly impaired by smoke. There was only light traffic and I was not distracted in any way.

Upon approaching the dealership I turned on my left turn signal and eased into the center left turn lane. After ensuring there was no oncoming traffic I began turning into one of the west side dealership entrances. Suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, appeared a female bicyclist in the northbound bicycle lane. Somehow we avoided a potentially tragic accident. I deserved every admonishment the bicyclist shouted at me, am grateful no collision occurred and apologize for not seeing her.

While l practice the “share the road” philosophy, I believe bicyclists and runners have the responsibility of dressing in highly visible upper body attire. This bicyclist was wearing a mostly white helmet and dark red upper garment. I strongly recommend one of the neon green or hunter orange upper garments for their own safety, especially when traveling on high speed roadways. Such apparel would have likely attracted my attention and avoided a very dangerous situation.

Again, my apologies to the bicyclist. —Ron Stevens, Kalispell