[Letters] Bike safety education needed

I read your article in the April 21 paper about biking. Korea does an excellent job of providing parks and bike lanes along the rivers.

For three years now, I’ve biked at least 20 kilometers every day to and from work. There’s been an obvious increase in bike traffic this past year.

Most bikers obey international bike rules.

The problem is the large number of pedestrians who never look before walking across the bike path, pedestrians who choose to walk in groups on the bike path instead of on the walking path five meters away, and unattended children who are unpredictable.

I’ve had several small collisions and quite a few near-collisions that were all caused by negligent pedestrians.

It’s mandatory to ride defensively, but it’s hard to anticipate when a pedestrian will suddenly decide to change direction or cut over to another side.

Also, it’s appalling to see the number of children who ride alone or on an adult’s bike without a helmet. Particularly with the emphasis on more bike riding, there needs to be some education.

Many accidents could be avoided by educating pedestrians and bikers on basic safety rules.

Thanks for making people more aware of the wonderful bike paths in Korea, but hopefully there will be education about how to safely ride on the bike paths.

Susan Toms, Korea International School