As someone who commutes to and from work, this story hit me extra hard. I've been on edge whenever some dumbass driver gets too close or rolls a stopsign in my path. I've been overly vocal at times, sometimes too much.

For the amount of cyclists in the San Diego County area, there should be MORE awareness than there is. And, I think that penalties for car versus bike should be higher - let's be pragmatic for a moment here. Two cars crash into eachother - drivers are surrounded by steel & padding, and sometimes airbags, and they usually walk away with a few scratches and bruises. Car versus bike, no contest, cyclist usually DIES. The laws and penalties should reflect this.

Some drivers are no more than big bullies who think they own the road, and sincerely believe that bikes don't belong anywhere. Hey. I work an honest living trying to survive. I pay taxes that support the maintenance of those roads. I own the road just as much as Joe Suburban or Marcy Minivan does.

That "bump" in the road could have been our brother, sister, cousin, aunt, uncle, or friend.

p.s. as far as the Illegal immigration problem is concerned, it's HUGE here. They estimate that at least 25% of the drivers in San Diego County alone are uninsured and illegal immigrants. It's similar with other boarder communities as well.