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Things people blamed on bicycles

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Re: Things people blamed on bicycles

#431

Post by bluGill »

wkjagt wrote: post #304
DoubleFree wrote: post #194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem of dangerous interactions between drivers and cyclists is much smaller here in the Netherlands, mainly due to two reasons. The first reason is the infrastructure, both visible and invisible. Separated bicycle lanes are commonplace and in the few places where they intersect with car traffic, care is taken to make crossing safe and comfortable. This visible infrastructure is complemented by the concept of "…

Another reason is that being really respectful around cyclists is an important part of driving lessons in The Netherlands. And I think you can fail your driving test if you pass a bike too close, open your door without looking if a cyclists is coming from behind, or passing over a bike lane at an intersection without looking. I am from The Netherlands and I only realized since moving to Canada that my home country is…

>I find it interesting that no one in The Netherlands wears a helmet when cycling and yet serious cycling injuries don’t seem to be a common thing

Neurosurgeons in the Netherlands disagree with this, and are begging locals to wear helmets. https://www.dutchnews.nl/news/2021/10/neurologists-launch-ca...

I don't know how rates of injuries compare between countries, but that is irrelevant.

Re: Things people blamed on bicycles

#432

Post by ajuc »

eptcyka wrote: post #201
ajuc wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Yes, at intersections, as a driver, I will let bicycles and pedestrians cross first if there's a stop sign or the traffic is moving slowly. There's no if, and you're not in a position to "let" them do anything. Doesn't matter how fast they go. If they have the right of way - they do. If they don't - they don't. Speed doesn't matter and it's not your decision. > I am specifically referring to a situation where there…

The soccer mom comment is a bit insensitive, but I meant to imply that the person operating their vehicle isn't paying attention to driving much. As for the cycling enthusiast remark, if you're cycling on mountain roads for the purpose of recreation, I think it's fair to say that you'd be interested in cycling more than most other people. I might be very wrong. I don't have anything against cyclists, I am one myself.…

Maybe I was reading too much into this and interpreting your post uncharitably. Sorry for that.

In any case - I don't think the law you refer to means what you think it means. For example if you're driving a farming equipment (or a bike) at the top comfortable speed - you don't have to speed up or stop on a nearest parking to "let people pass". You just continue driving as normal, close to the right side of the road. What's forbidden is slowing down on purpose to block the traffic, which is a whole different thing (usually done as a form of a political protest). At least that's how it works in Poland and I suspect in the rest of EU.

Re: Things people blamed on bicycles

#433

Post by xattt »

bsagdiyev wrote: post #315
yrro wrote: post #287

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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]

This kinda feels like a no true Scotsman, if it walks quacks and flies like a duck it doesn't matter. Edit: I say this a cyclist myself. I see other people on bikes do some dumb shit, we can't say they aren't real cyclists because they do something that makes us look bad.

I am a cycling idealist and I struggle with outcasting a group.

However, e-bikes can give unconditioned people “superhuman” strength and endurance. Physical training tends to give individuals intuitive limits for personal safety, but using a modified e-bike short-circuits this intuition.

I am thinking that limits on stuff like diameter of frame tubing or tire width (which would not stand up to riding at speeds outside of normal “human” parameters) can help.

Re: Things people blamed on bicycles

#434

Post by markus_zhang »

bwindels wrote: post #333
markus_zhang wrote: post #316

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The point, from a driver's perspective, is that driving is a social activity, so whoever does not behave well is not welcomed, drivers or cyclists. I have no issue if cyclists are riding on reserved lanes, but I DO have an issue if 1) they are blocking other vehicles for 20+ seconds, 2) suddenly come onto road from sidewalk, 3) anything else that adds mental burden to other people That said, I hope ALL roads have cyc…

So if you can't safely overtake a bicycle, you expect it to stop by the side of the road to let you pass after 20 seconds?

As dageshi said, yes if there is significant traffic.

When cycling, under such circumstances, I usually stay between two parked cars until the traffic is better (that is usually after a switch of traffic light to red). But again I try to stay in reserved lanes, much safer.

Re: Things people blamed on bicycles

#435

Post by ClumsyPilot »

antihero wrote: post #310
DoubleFree wrote: post #194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem of dangerous interactions between drivers and cyclists is much smaller here in the Netherlands, mainly due to two reasons. The first reason is the infrastructure, both visible and invisible. Separated bicycle lanes are commonplace and in the few places where they intersect with car traffic, care is taken to make crossing safe and comfortable. This visible infrastructure is complemented by the concept of "…

Just need a way to deal with bike theft. My number one concern is parking my pretty decent bike within view of where I’m sitting or not leaving it unattended for over five minutes. I’m insured, but I have a bond with my wheels! If anyone has recommendations for stealth theft detection/tracking devices I’m all ears.

there are quite a few trackers, but I don't know how much they help you in recovering the bike

https://pimpmybikeretail.co.uk/product/sherlock-bike-tracker...

Re: Things people blamed on bicycles

#436

Post by School-Cotton »

Tade0 wrote: post #342
tralarpa wrote: post #179

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> In fact, a car coming too close and knocking you off your bike is not a common cause of injury Interesting question. I just googled for statistics and found some for German cities. In Berlin (2021), the majority (~50%) of accidents involving bicyclists in which the bicyclist was not at fault were caused by cars turning. But "insufficient distance" was still at 5%.

A popular topic in my father's complaints during family trips was that you have to watch out for cyclists when you turn because some, well, will try to race you to the intersection. I haven't seen many do that, but I still look over my shoulder when I turn.

What made him think they were trying to race him?

Re: Things people blamed on bicycles

#437

Post by acomjean »

throw0101a wrote: post #374
antihero wrote: post #310

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just need a way to deal with bike theft. My number one concern is parking my pretty decent bike within view of where I’m sitting or not leaving it unattended for over five minutes. I’m insured, but I have a bond with my wheels! If anyone has recommendations for stealth theft detection/tracking devices I’m all ears.

> Just need a way to deal with bike theft. Vehicle registration works, but takes a bit of effort: * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=el1Xznv5ge4 Vancouver had a 42% drop in theft after joining this program: * https://project529.com/garage Created by X-box co-founder: * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J_Allard

Someone broke into my building and stole a bunch of bikes from the bike room (people weren’t locking them up once inside). The few that were registered to park at the university (big silver stickers) were left alone.

Often I don’t think the bike theives check if the bike is “good”. My cousins bike was just over $150 new and was stolen. He had a cheap lock because he thought who would steal this.

I’ve been riding 10 years a moderately decent bike. No issues but I use a U lock which is decent.

Please lock through the frame. I’ve seen like 6 front wheels locked to bike racks with the rest of the bike gone..

Re: Things people blamed on bicycles

#438

Post by josefresco »

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…

> And the frustrating thing is that the drivers who impatiently pass dangerously are putting people at risk for the sake of ~10-30 seconds (or less).

As a bicyclist and driver I do think it can be difficult to pass a bicyclist that's travelling at a considerable pace. At 10 MPH I can easily and safely get by a bicyclist but if they're travelling 15-20 MPH it can be more difficult (assuming a speed limit of 30 MPH) and almost require a higher rate of speed than is comfortable for both parties.

The solution is better roads and bike pathways and less mixture of automobiles and bicycles.

Re: Things people blamed on bicycles

#439

Post by seszett »

slingnow wrote: post #372
seszett wrote: post #187

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well... I'm both a pedestrian and biker (and I generally use a car when outside my city) and honestly, I find it normal for pedestrians to give priority to bikes. It's just a lot more energy expensive to stop and start again for a bike, while it is essentially free for a pedestrian. As a pedestrian I always try to avoid making bikes stop unnecessarily, and most people seem to do the same here, even if pedestrians tec…

Well if energy output is your reasoning: then it's orders of magnitude more energy for a car to come to a full stop and re-accelerate than it is for a pedestrian to let it pass. Should cars then have priority over people in a crosswalk?

I hesitated talking about this in my post, but I should have.

There are two different reasons to consider for pedestrians having priority over cars, unlike over bikes.

First, as the sibling comment says, there is no energy personally spent by the driver to stop and start their car. It's effortless, while in the case of a bike, the energy is the biker's own.

The other reason is that it is generally more difficult to cross a stream of cars that don't stop compared to crossing a stream of bikes that don't stop. Cars drive faster and cannot really deviate from their path (more than a few tens of centimeters) while bikes drive slower and can more easily move while staying in their lane to make way for a pedestrian without stopping.

Of course, reading comments here (and generally, comments on American websites) you would think that bikers in general are found in the form of a swarm of dangerous, malevolent savages that are totally unpredictable at best. Maybe that's the case in the US (that was definitely not the case in Québec when I was living there but that's my only point of reference in North America) but it was not the case in any of the cities of Europe and Asia where I've lived.

Bikers are just more averse to stopping because they are more physically affected by it than users of other forms of transportation, and not because they are a despicable subspecies of humans with a particular propensity towards bothering others.

Re: Things people blamed on bicycles

#440

Post by jnsaff2 »

gray_-_wolf wrote: post #319
jnsaff2 wrote: post #253

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In my local EV forum there are a lot of people who join just to come and say: EV's are wrong because: "it doesn't stimulate my hearing, just no feeling without the engine growl", "charging something something", "what about road trips", yadayada. I guess people who don't want to change their habits feel threatened somehow? Because deep inside they understand that the change is correct? I don't know, this is all super…

> charging something something But charging is (well, would be, I don't have EV) annoying. I usually fill the gas tank once a month or two and it takes 15 minutes including the trip to gas station. The ~500km distance I get from full tank is enough to cover my car use for a long time. So yeah, having to charge more often, having to find a place to charge at, all of that sounds quite inconvenient and I do not want it.…

> well, would be, I don't have EV

This I think is the crux here. You don't have experience so you think how it would be different .. and different is .. bad?

I have an EV and my experience is:

- when I get home and I have a feeling that next drive might be long and need charge, I plug it in. Next day it's charged.

- if there is a drive long enough to need charging (for me happens very seldom) I go and get a coffee at a fast charger

- petrol car fill up was about 130EUR, the electric to do the same distance between 2 and 40 EUR depending price of electricity and whether I do fast charge.

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