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Quote:
Originally Posted by subtle plague
You put your skinny low bone density ass in my hands every time you tension up your Vento Infinito Carbon 2s and wobble up a fog line.
Not OK with that? Consider using the bike paths instead of the busy roads right next to them.
I do my best to keep cyclists safe when im driving eg. cross the centerline to give them more room, wait to pass when its safe even if its a minute or more, block the bike lane when turning right so they cant sneak up on my right side and get squished, etc. I even try to give the benefit of the doubt to the cyclists who exhibit poor etiquette or bike handling skills that objectively put themselves in danger... i just give them more room, or wait a few more seconds to get around them. Last thing i want to do is hurt, maim or kill someone.
But, and this is a big BUT, they are waaay smaller visually than 95% of road users that a car driver is used to seeing and looking for, typically go a vastly different speed than car traffic, and have no functional protection should they impact a car. It adds up to a very dangerous situation for them. Cyclists will be accidentally not seen far more than cars, the road user speed differentials are very dangerous (hence why speed limits exist), and nearly any accident will prove to be pretty serious for the cyclist. Separated bike lanes and routes are needed for bike commuters in urban areas, and for the folks recreationally pursuing road biking who ride mountain roads and highways there will always be a high risk of serious injury from a car hitting them or running them off the road- similar to the known risk of us skiers driving rogers pass (or many other mountain passes) in a snowstorm.
In a way you're not wrong, but there's something really insidious about blaming cyclists when motorists can't see them.
Its not only that they are more difficult to see because they are smaller, its that as a driver you are used to looking for car-sized obstacles and so pedestrians and cyclists can slip through your scan easily. Ironically, if there were more cyclists i bet it would be safer as they would be a common thing to look out for and something that size would click in a drivers brain as an obstacle. And no, its not the cyclists fault. But it also seems to be a general fault of the human brain to ignore what you arent actively looking out for (see the gorilla and basketball passing video). More cyclists would also reduce the thinking of "drivers owning the road" and cyclists just being annoyances and lesser users- thus likely reducing dangerous driving around cyclists.Quote:
Originally Posted by Thaleia
The other day I am getting my better half comfortable with how to drive stick in the country since she's been riding the subway for ten years and we have to make a right from a 55 to a pothole infested sandy uphill local road. There's very little shoulder to speak of while crossing a river so she has her blinker on early and is over almost as much as possible. When she goes to finally make the turn the driver behind just lays into the horn for the slight inconvenience of having to slow down for a few seconds so someone could make their turn. She was pretty freaked out and asking me what she did wrong but it wasn't her fault that people are just fucking assholes. Now imagine being on a bike and having that happen, fuck.
When it comes to cars vs bikes, if you equal out the ass holedness, I generally favor the cyclist, however .....
This morning while waiting at an intersection that was one of those red light all around stops so pedestrians can cross wherever they want including diagonally, a cyclist roars though with absolutely no hesitation. There were pedestrians crossing. If there had been no pedestrians and he had at least slowed to demonstrate his awareness then it probably wouldn't have even registered. I did get a chuckle out of the numerous hairy eyeballs given by the pedestrians.
I mean, if you proceeded like you were supposed to because you didn't see the dickhead running the stop at full speed (or saw him but expected him to stop), and shit went south, no one would hold it against you. You might not be able to recover any money for your bodywork though, which would suck. There's a difference between being a flagrant asshole and riding where / how the law requires; it's the second case where I think many drivers need to improve. Having said that, around here, 95% of drivers coexist well with cyclists, it's just that last 5% tends to make an impression, sometimes literally.Quote:
Originally Posted by PB
I drive a vehicle in which I got hit from behind by a normal passenger car going 60mph and it was like a bit of a bump to me in my seat and made a scratch on the rear bumper…that’s it…and it balled the car up into a wad of metal.Quote:
Originally Posted by ml242
In that huge car-destroying commercial vehicle people still pull in front of me, brake-check me, swing car doors open into my lane…all of it.
Cars are too safe, too comfortable, and too fast…it should be way way harder to get and keep a drivers license and way easier to use transit, cycle, motorcycle, or moped/scooter.
Amen brother.Quote:
Originally Posted by ill-advised strategy
Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums
Agree; although there is a small number of cyclists who have a similar feeling of misplaced safety due their feeling of nimbleness and maneuverability; same with skateboarders, one wheelers and e-scooters.Quote:
Originally Posted by ill-advised strategy
Quote:
Originally Posted by dan_pdx
All true, but: although I was in a car at the time, my reaction was that of a pedestrian (my favorite mode of locomotion, after skiing). While not entirely the same regarding mass/physics, cyclists getting munched by cars and being upset about it is similar to pedestrians getting munched by bikes (or cars, of course), thereby making a few self-righteous cyclists that ignore pedestrians but scream at cars rather hypocritical.
That's pretty funny given who you were responding to.Quote:
Originally Posted by PB
Small number of; unpossible he's one of 'em.
At least spell ketamine correctly.
A-l-u-m-i-n-i-u-m?Quote:
Originally Posted by MakersTeleMark
And props for adding the e to ketamin in USrican. It really ties the word together.
Yeah, that gets my goat too. You don't get to give pedestrians the brush by and then complain when a driver does it to you.Quote:
Originally Posted by PB
You are losing the war in your own mind. Take heed and administer special K at your discretion.Quote:
Originally Posted by subtle plague
Another near miss in the roundabouts of Bend yesterday. Boomer as per usual never looked, until he nearly took me out with his right front bumper. At least his reflexes were not too bad for an old guy, and his brakes worked. I've taken to riding in the center of the lane in the roundabouts. Too far left and they definitely never see you. Too far right and you have less margin for error. Had I been to the far right in the lane, I would be in the hospital right now with a bunch of broken bones.
I've actually started going on to the sidewalks and going through the crosswalks these days. Still not a sure thing you won't get hit. But I have seen two fender benders where a driver has hit the brakes last second to avoid hitting someone in the crosswalks next to the roundabouts, and the car following too close has rear ended the person stopping short because, well because no one pays attention while driving.
I have actually reduced the amount of time riding around town because of the traffic and stupidity of drivers here in Bend. Might just switch to the mtn bike and get off the road. It's patently obvious that motorists at least around here suck at driving. I have noticed that the few TX plates I see are the absolute worst drivers I have ever encountered. They apparently must not have to take a drivers test down there to get a license. Maybe they just hand out DL's when they are at the gun store.
Traffic returning to normal has been noticeable on my rides around here
Quote:
Originally Posted by Toadman
Did you have to get a license to ride your bike on the roads and roundabouts of Bend?
Really weird shit happens psychologically when people are in cars. Inconsequential losses of time enrage people. I am certainly not immune, either.Quote:
Originally Posted by ml242
Yeah. There's even a rather large percentage that are niceholes who cause problems by being overly courteous.Quote:
Originally Posted by dan_pdx
This.Quote:
Originally Posted by ill-advised strategy
Dude, always claim the lane in a roundabout. Advisory speed limits for roundabouts are usually 15-20 mph and on a road bike you're usually going that fast. Anyone that takes offense to you claiming the lane in a roundabout can fuck right off. Getting honked at is way preferable to getting creamed.Quote:
Originally Posted by Toadman
around me and probably lots of other cities, traffic has been way worse since about may last year. no one wants to get on the bus or ride the train with the plague in the air and the streets have really suffered.Quote:
Originally Posted by ::: :::
Ridership has really not come back entirely in NY but this gives an idea of the ghost trains last year:
https://64.media.tumblr.com/0834e632...8c3258e449.png
+++Quote:
Originally Posted by Dantheman
In CA - class 1 and 2 (assist up to 20mph) can use bike paths, class 3 (assist up to 28mph) can use bike lanes. If it goes faster than 28mph it's considered a motor vehicle.Quote:
Originally Posted by old goat
https://currentebikes.com/ebike-classes-california/
There are self-entitled asshole cyclists and self-entitled asshole drivers, they both suck. As a cyclist it pisses me off to see other cyclists unsafely running stop signs and red lights (putting themselves and others at risk) or unnecessarily blocking traffic. Cyclists have the right to take the lane for safety but if there are a bunch of cars piled up behind you, find a place to pull over and let them by. You may have a legal right to just keep riding (though check minimum speed laws in your jurisdiction) but by ignoring the impact you're having on others you're just being an asshole. I quit doing big group rides because people tend to ride like assholes in a group (safety in numbers or something) and I didn't want to contribute.
Plenty of asshole drivers as well, like the guy yesterday who passed me when I was riding on the shoulder going 30mph and immediately pulled in front of me and hit the brakes. I had to slam on my brakes and swerve into the road to avoid hitting him. Looked over and he was taking a picture of the view with his phone so I guess it was an Instagram emergency.
The difference is generally that asshole cyclists are annoying and cause drivers to get where they're going a few minutes later. Asshole drivers send people to the hospital or the morgue. (Yes, I know about that one pedestrian killed by a cyclist in SF - compare that to the number killed by drivers.)
I'm also kind of impressed by the guy apparently able to ride 200 miles (including Turnagain Pass I assume) with a kid in a trailer. Though riding Seward Highway during summer tourist season seems terrifying to me, with or without a kid.