It is doubtless tragic that a young man riding his bike had to be hit by a motorcycle in Greenfield to bring the issues of sharing the road safely to the attention of the press (I'm probably at fault here), but the fact of the matter is that we now need to move on in hopes of not letting something like this happen again.

But, because this was a tragedy, everyone lined up to get their message out. First Joanne Yepsen was quick to espouse (actually, I called her, but only after someone else mentioned her bike path project), the importance of creating safe bike paths and getting cyclists off the road.

Then, in reaction, today representatives from the New York Bicycle coalition called me to object to the assertion that bicycles should be off the roads. "We are traffic, as defined by New York State law," said one representative. And it's true. Bicycles are entitled to nearly all of the rights and privileges of automobiles while driving, a fact that escapes some drivers. And I say this with the authority of someone who has spent countless hours pedaling around the roads of Saratoga County.

It is not yet clear who is at fault in the case of the Greenfield accident (the police report was about as clear as mud), but one thing is clear is that both the cyclist and the motorcycle operator should have been more aware of their surroundings. To that end, I would recommend everyone, really everyone, go to the police station and pick up a pamphlet called "Sharing the road safely." Not only does this pamphlet do an even-handed job describing traffic laws for cars, bicycles, skaters, motorcyclists and pedestrians, but it does so without going into a victim's litany, which I sometimes feel is a fault of similar publications written by cyclists or other members of that community.

The pamphlet is free, go pick it up. Please, for everyone's sake.