Bicycling my annual ride-my-age trek (62 miles this trip) on the Farmington Canal Trail in September, I emerged from the path’s solitude, skirting busy Simsbury.

Sharing the road once more with cars triggered the adrenaline, causing me to reflect on the culture war between bicycles and vehicles.

I thought of a man I recently met, a 53-year-old, experienced cyclist whose life was changed for the second time by a reckless driver. He and two friends were cycling on a one-lane bridge in the woods this summer and, with no escape, were violently run down by a speeding truck. All three survived, but with serious injuries among them.

As warmer weather creeps up on us, it’s time to acknowledge that bicycles are no match for tons of speeding steel.

With a long healing process still ahead, the victims and their loved ones continue to struggle with reconciling driver recklessness and the personal destruction it leaves behind.

I wondered how I’d recognize him when we first met at Starbuck’s in East Lyme, but the crutches were a dead giveaway. This is what a crash statistic looks like in person. Numbers don’t tell the painful truth of broken bones, concussions, internal injuries, months of physical therapy, and psychological scars.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports that over 700 cyclists are killed by motor vehicles every year and over 48,000 are injured. Almost all are caused by driver carelessness or aggression.

Connecticut General Statute Section 14-232 requires drivers to give bicycles three feet of clearance when passing. Statute 14-242 prohibits cars from making any right hand turn that endangers a cyclist.

But, like distracted driving laws, they’re meaningless.

Disturbingly, the problem appears to be worldwide.

Bike blogger Laura Laker reports in theguardian.com that undercover bicycle police in West Midlands County in England stopped eight drivers within an hour for passing too close to cyclists and 80 more over four days.

The initiative stemmed from the fact that of 530 cyclists killed on West Midland roads over the past four years, 98 percent were the drivers’ fault.

Traveling in Italy recently, I asked our tour guide about the relationship between Italian drivers and the many bicycles I saw. “We hate-a da bicycles!” she replied.

Surprisingly, this hatred knows no bounds, regardless of consequences.

Yankee magazine’s August 2016 edition tells a dramatic story of a high-speed collision in Vermont between a car and a cyclist. Both driver and cyclist were killed. Had the driver survived, police would have charged him with second degree murder.

In Michigan this year, a pickup truck mowed down nine cyclists, killing five. The driver was charged with five counts of second-degree murder.

The road edge looks very different from a bicycle. Fragile bike tires are built for speed, not endurance, and have to battle holes, frost heaves, branches, sharp glass and metal. Sand is everywhere, and the smallest patch can send bicycles flying.

Granted, it’s not always easy for cars to allow three feet of clearance, but bicyclists have an equal, legal right to the road.

Still, drivers run them down. Bicycling simply shouldn’t be this dangerous.

Of course, nothing will change until motor vehicle operators (remember: I drive a car, too) fear the penalty for striking a bicyclist. Laws must be strengthened with serious consequences for drivers at fault.

Leaving Simsbury, returning to the trail’s safe seclusion, I decided my new goal is not only to bicycle my age every year, but to advocate for stronger laws that convince drivers to give cyclists a break, and I don’t mean bones. 

John Steward lives in Waterford and works at Electric Boat. He can be reached at tossinglines@gmail.com or visit www.johnsteward.online.