I agree that bicycle law code IC 9-21-5-7 should be observed by both motorists and bicyclists alike.
However, I do not understand why people riding bicycles can't just ride their bikes on the sidewalk instead of riding out in the middle of the street, like most of them do in this town, it seems like.
I grew up in Fort Wayne, and my mom always told me "never to ride my bike in the street." Of course, I was born legally blind, so that is why she made me ride my bike on the sidewalk, but I don't understand why everybody riding a bike doesn't do that?
It's not safe to ride a bike in the middle of the street. A person could very easily get run over by a car, or by some idiot who thinks that the roadway is their own personal NASCAR trials.
As I got older, and lost more of my eyesight, I was no longer able to ride a bike. Now I have to walk everywhere with a white cane because the taxi costs too much to take everywhere all the time and KABS will only take you to places that are on a set schedule, like to work and back, but not to get groceries, or other such things. For those things, I have to walk, even if it means crossing Ind. 15 with nothing but my feet and a white cane.
Take it from someone who's never been able to drive a car his whole life, driving is a privilege, not a necessity.
When I lost my job this past year, I could have said to myself, "I'm going to be lazy and just sit here and do nothing but collect Social Security" like anyone else going blind would do, but no, I chose to live and do something about it. I chose to walk five miles to Combined Community Services to ask about volunteering. They didn't want me to because they were afraid something would happen to me.
I asked VR for help in sending me back to school for additional training in the computer field I wanted to get into. They did, and I'm currently going for my bachelor's in business and data communications. I didn't want to just sit around and collect Social Security. I wanted to do something to get off Social Security and into full-time employment, but have yet to be hired anywhere because employers are nervous to hire someone legally blind, but I continue to try even if it means showing up on their doorstep every day. It beats sitting around all day doing nothing.
