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Things people blamed on bicycles

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Re: Things people blamed on bicycles

#281

Post by yrro »

bostik wrote: post #219
peoplefromibiza wrote: post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> car squeezes past you at high speed many cyclist don't understand this because they are bad drivers the point of passing a bike on the road is to avoid the danger you as a driver pose for the bike in the case of an unexpected event. like if the biker falls. clearing up the way as fast as possible is safer for both. Doesn't matter who's faster in the end, if that was the purpose, it would suffice for drivers to not…

> people make a lot of excuses when confronted with something that they do not want to do I am a cyclist who would want to do it a LOT more. And the main reason is two-fold. One: cycling in London is scary, dangerous and extremely stressful. The cycling lanes, where they exist, are poorly maintained, tend to hop between the sides of the road at a rapid pace, and far too often cross with bus stops. On a bike you are f…

An electric bicycle will make a huge difference in getting you out of the valley. But unfortunately you can't do anything about the atrocious non-design of London streets and the endless traffic gumming them up.

Re: Things people blamed on bicycles

#282

Post by dimva »

Stratoscope wrote: post #209
kevingadd wrote: post #168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just this morning I was walking down the street on a sidewalk and as I crossed in front of a driveway - having checked first - a car pulled out of the garage right up against my leg and stopped, and when I stepped away they started moving again to get close. The stuff people do in cars when they don't have right of way is absolutely deranged sometimes.

Yesterday I was at the four way stop in the parking lot next to the corner of the Costco building in Mountain View, after coming down the driveway from Rengstorff. As usual, many people were crossing the far side of that intersection as they left Costco, and of course I waited for them. After I'd been there 30 seconds or so, a big SUV pulled up to the stop sign on my left. He was wanting to make a left turn toward To…

For some reason, driving a car causes a strong desire to move forward quickly in most people. Even for me, a person who hasn't owned a car in over a decade and always bikes or walks everywhere, whenever I get behind the wheel of a car, I get incredibly anxious when I'm stopped waiting for something, and I have to consciously tell myself it's OK if I wait for 30 seconds.

I have no idea what causes this, but I've noticed it in many others. Maybe because if you do wait a bit, some drivers behind you will get irritated and honk, flash their lights, tailgate, and pass you via some dangerous maneuver? That might be enough to associate waiting with anxiety for people who'd normally be ok with waiting.

Re: Things people blamed on bicycles

#283

Post by vladvasiliu »

peoplefromibiza wrote: post #256
_joe wrote: post #237

Earlier quoted context omitted.

OP lives in Rome, where the average driver mentality is somewhere between "need for speed" and "carmageddon". Basically no one is ever willing to wait for anyone else, as OP's reasoning shows pretty adamantly. Of course they're grossly incorrect.

Worst drivers I've seen are not in Rome. It used to be like that around 2000s, things have vastly improved here though. Have you ever tried Barcelona or New York or Paris or Krakow or Milan or, god forbid it, Naples? Prejudices are fun, but usually they are grossly incorrect. Also as I've said, I drive very little (less than 2.000km/year) and cyclists in Rome are still from Rome. they are not Martians so their mental…

I haven't driven in Rome, but I've tried the North of Italy, in Aoste. I'm from Paris and drive / ride my motorbike here quite often [0].

The only time in my life when I felt people were out to get me was in Italy. They drove like absolute maniacs. And I was on a big motorbike, not a bicycle going at 10 kmph. The road was wide, too (outside a city), with very light traffic, but for some reason they really couldn't be bothered to move over to the other lane when overtaking. Weren't going particularly faster, either.

---

[0] I'm not saying Paris is great, mind. I'd even say that in the last few years it has deteriorated a lot: whenever a light turns red, at least one person is guaranteed to run it.

Re: Things people blamed on bicycles

#285

Post by DonHopkins »

rocgf wrote: post #259
moffkalast wrote: post #246

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Going out for drinks? Bike. As long as you don't actually drink anything hah. Everyone's a designated driver with bikes.

Cycling drunk is technically illegal, but often unenforced in the Netherlands. You should see the thousands of obviously 'drunk' people leaving festivals on bikes, under the eyes of the police.

You have to be careful about where you park you bike around drunk people. I locked my bike up in Leidseplein once, and when I came back, somebody had barfed on my bike seat!

achenet: The officer will direct you to the separate bike lanes for Ketamine and LSD.

Re: Things people blamed on bicycles

#286

Post by atoav »

cinntaile wrote: post #275
atoav wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This kind of driver is the same that would accelerate towards you as you (legally) cross a road only to stop at a red light 50m behind you – a red light was clearly visible from where they were when they saw you. For them driving is just about their own emotion. The moment they see someone "who deserves it" their emotion takes over and their brain switches off. People like that should have their driving license taken…

I don't think I have ever seen this behaviour? This must be a cultural thing?

I live next to a street which I cross daily (I am legally allowed to cross here in Germany, as the next pedestrian crossing is far enough away).

When I cross I make sure nobody has to worry about hitting the brake (provided they go with roughly the same speed they did before).

Yet it happenstwice a week that some lunatic thinks "hey the street is for cars" and starts speeding towards me (definitely also over the speed limit) just to get to a stop at the red light down the road.

Re: Things people blamed on bicycles

#287

Post by yrro »

xattt wrote: post #245
montebicyclelo wrote: post #114

Cycling is cheap, often faster than driving (in my city), healthy, less noisy, creates vastly less pollution, less dangerous to pedastrians... And I'd guess that about 95% of drivers that I come across are respectful of the danger they present - overtaking with enough space, and not at too high a speed (my city doesn't have great bike lanes). Unfortunately, a typical journey involves passing more than 20 cars, which…

> Cycling is cheap, often faster than driving (in my city), healthy, less noisy, creates vastly less pollution, less dangerous to pedastrians Can we talk about people on e-bikes with phat tires? There’s a certain profile of riders that think they are just as meek and harmless as a normal rider, but their presence and riding style is usually aggressive. Don’t forget the angsty 40- and 50-year-olds who uncapped their l…

They aren't cyclists -- they are motorists using illegal uninsured vehicles.

[In the UK, electrically assisted pedal cycles must cut out after 15.5 mph; the max motor output is 250 W; and the motor must solely be activated by the action of turning the pedals; vehicles that don't comply with these rules are illegal]

Re: Things people blamed on bicycles

#288

Post by agos »

peoplefromibiza wrote: post #180
jimmytidey wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The pattern: -- A car squeezes past you at high speed -- Less than 30 seconds later I pull in front of it as we both stop at a red light. In fact, a car coming too close and knocking you off your bike is not a common cause of injury. It certainly makes cycling unpleasant though. 40% of non-cyclists in London say the danger of cycling is a significant factor in their decision not to cycle.

> car squeezes past you at high speed many cyclist don't understand this because they are bad drivers the point of passing a bike on the road is to avoid the danger you as a driver pose for the bike in the case of an unexpected event. like if the biker falls. clearing up the way as fast as possible is safer for both. Doesn't matter who's faster in the end, if that was the purpose, it would suffice for drivers to not…

if you mention bikes in Milan becoming "a problem" because they are parked like that maybe we should also talk about the absolute chaos of cars parked everywhere (on bike lanes, in the middle of the road, on sidewalks), otherwise one might think that in Milan bikes are the worst offenders regarding parking.

> As a pedestrian bikes are much more disruptive than cars for me

yes, for you. for the collectivity, the cost of cars killing people all the time outweighs the discomfort of seeing mopeds parked, you'll understand

Re: Things people blamed on bicycles

#289

Post by chriswarbo »

goethes_kind wrote: post #218
montebicyclelo wrote: post #114

Cycling is cheap, often faster than driving (in my city), healthy, less noisy, creates vastly less pollution, less dangerous to pedastrians... And I'd guess that about 95% of drivers that I come across are respectful of the danger they present - overtaking with enough space, and not at too high a speed (my city doesn't have great bike lanes). Unfortunately, a typical journey involves passing more than 20 cars, which…

I would agree with all of those points, except for one. I do not think it is less dangerous to pedestrians. I remember when I used to live in the Netherlands, it was uncomfortable being a pedestrian because there were so many cyclists. They are still going fast enough that if they crash into you, you can expect a concussion or even worse. And they do not respect the traffic laws in the same way that cars do. And beca…

> And they do not respect the traffic laws in the same way that cars do

This seems to be a persistent myth. All the studies I've come across say the exact opposite; for example:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/carltonreid/2019/05/10/cyclists...

Re: Things people blamed on bicycles

#290

Post by stinos »

jokoon wrote: post #248

I often discuss on the french subreddit, and it's crazy how hard some people fight back giving up their cars. The recurring excuse is a long commute and bad availability of public transit. Most people don't have a long commute, since public transit covers most french citizens, but weirdly there is a very vocal minority who live in the middle of nowhere. I keep explaining to them that they can keep driving since they'…

Sometimes I suspect if it's just the car lobby

Well, don't know about the situation in France, but Belgium is likely worse when it comes to this, imo the main reason being the completely insane amount of subsidies for company cars. Also leading to more SUV type of cars (company pays anyway, also for fuel, so why nog get that). There's no way there's no lobbying going on there, Belgium is probably a small goldmine for car manufacturers. Maybe I'm biased, but looking at this from a distance all I can see is state-subsidized traffic jams, pollution and accidents.

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