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Things people blamed on bicycles

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Re: Things people blamed on bicycles

#321

Post by markus_zhang »

maxerickson wrote: post #309
markus_zhang wrote: post #307

There are so much love for bicycles. I'll offer something from the other side that people who drive. What I really find it scary is that cyclists often take the road as they wish and then block dozens of vehicles, or do something else that might seem to be quite normal from their perspective, but nevertheless is dangerous from drivers' perspective (e.g. suddenly get into road from sidewalk, are you going to cross or…

Laws vary widely of course, but for example, in my state, cyclists have a right to all roads except limited access highways. They are meant to keep as far to the right as is safe, so for example, to execute a left turn you enter the middle of the lane and follow the same path a car would. Or another example, if there is a parked car blocking the right side of the street, the cyclist can take the center of the lane to…

The law definitely permits, but law doesn't override risks. I do believe bicycles should have separate lanes and my city already have a lot of them. Not enough in some older parts of the city though.

Re: Things people blamed on bicycles

#322

Post by soco »

dimva wrote: post #282
Stratoscope wrote: post #209

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 notic…

You could be on something, as I must tell my wife all the time that she should focus on what's in front of her, not on what is behind her. She'd do silly things otherwise, like speed if she thinks the driver behind is too close, or miss turns to not bother... why??? For me it's the other way around - I was once stopped by a police barrage because a patrol followed me half the town with their lights on to tell me a stoplight was broken and I ignored them (didn't look back once)

Re: Things people blamed on bicycles

#323

Post by martyvis »

I found this article in an 1896 Australian magazine that bicycle riding was "a new disease is a kind of intoxication for movement, that is shown in an unconscious, or semi-unconscious bearing of the body, which becomes especially plain when great steadiness is called for, as for instance, in sitting for a photograph. It is shown also in an over desire for rapidity of motion, as if it were necessary at every moment to overcome time and curtail distances by labor of an extreme kind. The constant impression given is that the sufferer, from this general vibratory condition of the body, must jump on his wheel and be off, although the weather and circumstances are not opportune for riding. The whole manner bespeaks haste, although there is not the slightest occasion for it." https://twitter.com/martyvis/status/1562362136612859904

Re: Things people blamed on bicycles

#324

Post by feet »

soco wrote: post #317
grardb wrote: post #266

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you get too drunk to ride a bicycle every time you go out for drinks?

The good thing is, "too drunk to ride a bike" happens much earlier than "too drunk". And while with a car some push it and still drive drunk (sometimes with horrendous consequences), a bike has this safety mechanism where they simply cannot be ridden when drunk.

A bike also has the safety mechanism of not being 3000 pounds and the inability to easily drive through the walls of buildings

Re: Things people blamed on bicycles

#325

Post by LtWorf »

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…

I agree. In Copenhagen multiple bas stops just go onto bike traffic. And they DO NOT CARE that a bus just stopped and people are about to come out.

Re: Things people blamed on bicycles

#326

Post by achenet »

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.

It's okay officer, I'm not drunk, I just had a bunch of ketamine and some LSD.

Re: Things people blamed on bicycles

#327

Post by matsemann »

evandijk70 wrote: post #76
ChrisRR wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the UK as a cyclist I still get so much hate on the road. I'm just trying to get to work like everyone else, but people still drive their cars up right behind me, squeeze past when there's not enough space, beep their horns and shout out the window. And then the justification is always "well I saw a cyclist run a red light once, therefore all cyclists are shit"

How often does that kind of thing happen? Daily, weekly, monthly, yearly?

I bike with a camera. I capture cars doing illegal and dangerous stuff multiple times a day when I bike, and post it online or/and report them. So your suggestions are way off. Just in may&june I totaled over 160 reports.

Re: Things people blamed on bicycles

#328

Post by corney91 »

O__________O wrote: post #262
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…

Recall seeing research that showed biking in London is actually bad for your health due to close proximity to vehicle pollution: https://www.google.com/search?q=london+cycling+health+pollut...

But driving could be even worse, due to the cars collecting pollution: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/dec/13/cyclists...

In fact, the second link for me in that Google search mentions this study, as well as others suggesting the physical and mental benefits of cycling outweigh the pollution you breath in: https://www.standard.co.uk/optimist/theairwebreathe/cycling-...

Re: Things people blamed on bicycles

#329

Post by cheschire »

rimliu wrote: post #295
laputan_machine wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And just like that, you've proven his point. This guy doesn't run reds, I don't either. Apparently that's irrelevant because some cyclists do (and here's a bunch of anecdotes) so it's not a problem to harrass cyclists. Right on!

I see a car passing red light maybe twice in a year. I see a cyclist doing the same twice a week.

I see idiots at least twice a day. Does that mean it’s cool for me to treat you like an idiot? If no, then I think you may have skipped over the point of this sub thread.

Re: Things people blamed on bicycles

#330

Post by LtWorf »

stinos wrote: post #280
goethes_kind wrote: post #218

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

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. Actual statistics about encounters clearly do show it is less dangerous, and expecting a concussion to be a false interpretion of actual risks. I do get your problem though: you're not used to it. You need eyes everywhere which essentially…

Bah, in my experience bicycle users behave really badly on average. Certainly no better than car drivers.

For example they will be ready to crash on a pedestrian who is walking on a bike lane for good reason (most common ones are: an excavator made a trench on the sidewalk, the snow clearing machine took all the snow from the road and made a mountain on the sidewalk).

However when there is no bike lane available, they will have no problem in going on the sidewalk at 50km/h with their electric motor. Despite this being clearly forbidden.

And getting hit by an electric bike going 50 is no joke. You don't just get a bruise and move on with your day.

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