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Things people blamed on bicycles

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Re: Things people blamed on bicycles

#21

Post by sasaf5 »

gernb wrote: post #4

I wonder if the "cross a red light anytime I want to on a bike" is the reason so many are now doing the same in their cars. it could be (1) got used to it on a bike so repeating in car (2) saw cyclists get away with it so decided might as well do the same (3) unrelated reason note: I'm seeing egregious traffic violations by cars every time I drive now which was not true say 10yrs ago. Don't know what changed as a cyc…

It's actually because of pedestrians jaywalking all the time. Horrible example for car ownership abiding citizens. As if it wasn't enough, they also make traffic a lot more dangerous by selfishly exposing themselves unvehicled.

Re: Things people blamed on bicycles

#22

Post by eloisius »

gernb wrote: post #4

I wonder if the "cross a red light anytime I want to on a bike" is the reason so many are now doing the same in their cars. it could be (1) got used to it on a bike so repeating in car (2) saw cyclists get away with it so decided might as well do the same (3) unrelated reason note: I'm seeing egregious traffic violations by cars every time I drive now which was not true say 10yrs ago. Don't know what changed as a cyc…

I'm guessing (3). For one, I'm not sure that your observation is because you've gotten older and have become a more cautious driver, or if there is a quantifiable uptick in traffic violations. I also subjectively observed a behavior change right around the time COVID was declared a global pandemic and shelter in place orders were issued. At the time, I thought to myself that everyone was driving like they were in their own apocalypse movie.

A relaxation of police enforcement would likely result in driving behavior change, but it would be hard for us to quantify. Could be the result of increased immigration from countries with different driving attitudes. Could be changes to drivers ed. Could be a lot of things. Most likely it's our perception that has changed as we've gotten older.

I doubt it's cyclist who get in their cars and forget they can't run red lights though. I run reds on my bike because it's safer than waiting at an intersection (this is a demonstrable fact, before anyone replies how much they hate me and my kind or how unfair or yada yada). What I don't do is carry that behavior over when I'm driving a car. I'm in a completely different mode.

Re: Things people blamed on bicycles

#24

Post by cocoto »

gernb wrote: post #4

I wonder if the "cross a red light anytime I want to on a bike" is the reason so many are now doing the same in their cars. it could be (1) got used to it on a bike so repeating in car (2) saw cyclists get away with it so decided might as well do the same (3) unrelated reason note: I'm seeing egregious traffic violations by cars every time I drive now which was not true say 10yrs ago. Don't know what changed as a cyc…

In France, crossing red lights by bike is allowed when there is a special sign. It’s extremely convenient but dangerous when you are used to it and rarely driving a car.

Re: Things people blamed on bicycles

#25

Post by quietbritishjim »

HN (and twitter) wants to find people that hate cyclists so we can get angry at them, but I don't think that's what's really happening here. For example:

> "We may recall the sage observations made by a writer in one of the English medical journals two or three years ago, that the habit of smoking and the prevalence of appendicitis had both increased during the last two decades, and consequently it was reasonable to suppose that the former was the direct cause of the latter -- or the latter the cause of the former, we forget which."

Seems very clear that this article in particular is satire. Its actual underlying point is that a connection between smoking and health problems is as ridiculous as a connection between cycling and health problems.

It's impossible to tell for sure whether the other articles are serious or satire with a point or just shallow jokes, because they're quoted with so little context. But it's safer to assume they're not serious.

Re: Things people blamed on bicycles

#26

Post by mnd999 »

vocram wrote: post #15

Hate for bicycles hasn’t changed. People think a bike travel is recreational, and thus less important than a car travel. Someone goes out of their way to affirm that, by having to overtake bikes or not let them overtake their cars. A couple of times I met cars busting their brakes trying to keep up with me with a disc road bike on long technical descents

I have a lot more hate for bicycles since I stopped driving and started walking as it turns out.

Re: Things people blamed on bicycles

#27

Post by ggm »

Cthulhu_ wrote: post #18
vocram wrote: post #15

Hate for bicycles hasn’t changed. People think a bike travel is recreational, and thus less important than a car travel. Someone goes out of their way to affirm that, by having to overtake bikes or not let them overtake their cars. A couple of times I met cars busting their brakes trying to keep up with me with a disc road bike on long technical descents

It depends on where you're from and how your cities are designed though; this is not an issue in e.g. the Netherlands.

Don't be a naieve tourist in NL and fail to understand who has right of way in cycle lanes, easily mistaken for pedestrian pavement

Re: Things people blamed on bicycles

#28

Post by theK »

vocram wrote: post #15

Hate for bicycles hasn’t changed. People think a bike travel is recreational, and thus less important than a car travel. Someone goes out of their way to affirm that, by having to overtake bikes or not let them overtake their cars. A couple of times I met cars busting their brakes trying to keep up with me with a disc road bike on long technical descents

Re: hate for bicycles

I think, especially in cities, you just have the problem of bicycles not fitting in either of the two historically present transport modes. They are too slow for the street and waaaaay to fast for the pedestrian side.

Bike lanes historically do not deliver as they increase traffic pattern complexity significantly for all three participants.

I have seen some very ambitious plans to make city Centers free of anything that can go faster than 25kph and I root for such plans but they are all very naive usually.

Still, happy to see the world move in such a direction. Until then I think we will have to live with the fact that there are some legitimate reasons to hate on the bicycle.

PS: before you all get worked up for what a bicycle hating subhuman I must be. I own a mountain bike, I happily use it in forests and mountainous regions and get huge amounts of recreational value out of it.

Re: Things people blamed on bicycles

#29

Post by Oras »

Nothing changed over the years, bicycles here is just a variable.

{something} is the reason of {insert a problem}.

I wonder if there is a template for these titles.

* You might want to search YouTube for "Daily mail cancer song" by Russell Howards.

Re: Things people blamed on bicycles

#30

Post by radicalbyte »

Cthulhu_ wrote: post #18
vocram wrote: post #15

Hate for bicycles hasn’t changed. People think a bike travel is recreational, and thus less important than a car travel. Someone goes out of their way to affirm that, by having to overtake bikes or not let them overtake their cars. A couple of times I met cars busting their brakes trying to keep up with me with a disc road bike on long technical descents

It depends on where you're from and how your cities are designed though; this is not an issue in e.g. the Netherlands.

I'm from NL and I kind of hate the way too many drivers don't look for cyclists and how many old people on eBikes clog up all of the nice cycle routes here. Although the latter is more a problem of old people from the Randstad vacationing here (Gelderland).
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