Dont publish pictures of dangerous behavior
Don’t publish pictures of dangerous behavior
When I opened the paper today, I was stunned to see a donated picture of a girl, Abbie Fowler, standing on a reef with a smashing wave behind her. Stunned.
The island has too many deaths caused by just such a scene: tourists unaware of the power of waves and risking their lives for a dramatic picture!
People who take these risks not only endanger themselves but also the rescuers. Their lives are risked every time someone does this and drowns.
I am objecting very strongly to depicting these types of dangerous activities which only incite others to duplicate them. The newspaper has a responsibility to our rescuers and visitors not to encourage dangerous behavior. Many lives are impacted by these actions.
Please adopt a policy of not accepting or printing such pictures.
Judith Fernandez, Kapaa
Roads not wide enough for bikes, cars
In addition to Sunday’s TGI letter, “Cyclists, please pay attention,” cyclist should be riding on the shoulder single file with traffic, especially where there is a guard rail and overgrowth.
Our shoulders are not wide enough to support them (cyclists) to ride side by side. It causes less space (new law to create space between the cyclist and the driver’s vehicle mirror; at least a foot and a half or more), causing the driver to drive close or cross over the center line of the highway.
If there is a wide load oncoming in the opposite direction, there is no way a driver can move over to create the space needed. It’s an accident waiting to happen.
Howard Tolbe, Eleele
Many of the hundreds of road bikers now gentrifying our toads now also believe they are cars and can ride in the middle of the road with no repercussions. Sometimes traffic will back up a mile behind some boomer lance Armstrong impressionist believing they are “leading the climb.” In reality I would just like to get home from work. Maybe let the cars pass.
The bike thing on this island is ridiculous. There are nearly zero cyclists- nor have there ever been. But oh yeah we’ve got bike lanes all over Lihue. Thing is, if you only see 1-2 cyclists per YEAR in a given spot, you’re not really expecting to see a cyclist there. So they’re gonna get hit by accident! This whole Bikes on Rice is not going to help anything because it’s an organized event, not organic use by cyclists. Having 8 people cycling around on Rice st didn’t help the lone cyclist riding in a blind spot by the airport that I almost hit. It’s more bad planning by people who see something on YouTube and decide to bring it here. Our buses run nearly empty, our multimillion dollar bike lanes are empty, but thousands of people are stuck in traffic every day on our pathetic 3-lane Highway. How many more decades of poor planning will there be?
Yes, you hit the nail on the head. The bike lanes on Kauai, for the most part, are non-existent. How do we co-exist with bikes? Give them room, don’t take any chances, be patient and pass carefully. It would forever change your life, in many ways, if you hit and killed a bicyclist by being careless and getting frustrated.
Well guys, I’m one of many road bicyclists on Kauai; I’ve been riding since I returned to Kauai in 1980 after living in Oahu from ’60 through ’80. Reality is that IT IS LEGAL TO RIDE A BICYCLE ON EVERY SINGLE ROAD on Kauai. And, the law, as recently changed, requires that cars give at least 3 feet of clearance between their vehicle (including the mirrors) and a bicyclist. Yes, we are required to ride in single file. All you folks keep putting all the burden on bicycles. And I’m saying SLOW DOWN and remember that your time is not more important than someone else’s life. Why is it so hard to share the road???
Even in paradise, 12 to 18 inches can’t qualify as “a bike lane”
“Bicyclist on Kauai”…one who puts his or her life into another person’s hands..while that other person is speeding, texting, reading, waving to other motorists, putting on make-up, changing the channel, drunk, on legal pakalolo, careless…or unlucky…
When following a bicyclist who was not on the side of the road whether bike lane or not a gentle and quick tap on the horn( I know, not pono) usually fixes the problem. How hard is that. The “shoulders” are literally shoulder width. We need more bicyling but we need wider roads. Chicken or the egg for Kaua’i.
Ones again, cyclists & joggers, please wear LIME colored clothing when using the roadways.
Please make it easier for drivers to SEE YOU.
numilocal, you miss my point. “cyclist riding side by side can cause an accident to happen for both (incoming and ongoing) traffic and the cyclists1″
Also for the record, ” I always slowdown to twenty five mph when approaching a cyclist(s) on the shoulder of the road/highway.”
Howard Tolbe