Dear earnest bicyclists, considering that you now have your own month, May, we’ve come to praise you, not to run you off the road or flip you the bird. It would be nice if pedestrians had their very own special month, too, but that would be, perhaps, too pedestrian.

Since islanders who travel behind the wheel and the handlebars are forced to share our narrow island roads, many of which are shoulderless, it’s incumbent for both to adhere to the basic rules of the road. That boils down to drivers slowing down when necessary and not passing on curves or hills.

As for bicyclists, their first priority needs to be sufficient safety lighting and clothing, plus overcoming the tendency to ignore stop signs and take off-road shortcuts. After all, they are more vulnerable and it’s their responsibility to bike as defensively as possible. This is especially critical for commuters.

Because of less traffic, it could be argued that the island is safer than metropolitan areas such as Portland and Seattle, both of which consider themselves bike-friendly because of many miles of off-road trails. There are island bicyclists, for example, who use Seattle’s Burke-Gilman or other trails for lengthy workouts rather than pedal around the island because of safety issues. And there are others who seldom use their bikes on the island primarily because some of the primary roads are dangerous.

Widening existing roads and beginning to plan an all-island, non-motorized trail for two-wheelers would go a long way toward encouraging the use of bikes and lessen our environment-polluting dependency on motor vehicles. How to pay for such improvements?

Taxing bicyclists just for using our roads is absurd since most of them own vehicles and are already paying their fair share for the state’s transportation system. But there are bike activists who understand that the impetus for such improvements must come from them, including a funding role. The movement is in place, which is one of the reasons May is their month. Support it.