To the Editor:

Bicyclists beware! I was riding my bike from Valley Road on my way to the Princeton Shopping Center. I arrived at the traffic light and stopped in the left lane (the right lane is only for right turns). When the light turned green I crossed Harrison Street and signaled right to cross to the right turning lane.

A car rushed past on my left and cut in front, passing me by about two feet. It also cut right in front of two pedestrians at the crosswalk. The three of us were shaken as we expressed shock at the speed of the driver and how we’d had a close call.

I locked my bicycle and waited for the driver. When she approached me I said something about her speed, and rushing by, she said, “You don’t belong in the middle of the road. I’m a cyclist and I know I have to stay on the side.”

Motorists and cyclists need to know the rules of the road and follow them (nj.gov/transportation/commuter/bike/regulations.shtm), but even more important, I wish motorists would keep in mind that pedestrians and cyclists are vulnerable to great harm by motor vehicles while they do us the favor of not adding pollutants to the air we breathe. May Princeton support Vision Zero in order to have fewer bodily injuries and deaths.

I love to bike, feel the wind on my face, and be in touch with the earth, but I don’t want to be inside the earth sooner than necessary.

Eliane Geren
Dempsey Avenue