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Things people blamed on bicycles

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Re: Things people blamed on bicycles

#501

Post by markvdb »

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.

Getting a good quality folding bicycle (Brompton!) may be even easier. Just take it inside with you.

Re: Things people blamed on bicycles

#502

Post by alistairSH »

mlang79 wrote: post #336
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…

As a blind pedastian, I disagree violently. I typically hurt myself once a week because a careless cyclist put their bicycle in an inappropriate place. In front of a shop, because they are just going in for a minute, for example. Cyclists do the most harm to blind individuals in a city. Cars cant even come close.

Largely because bikes and pedestrians are forced to mix in most areas in the US.

Provide reasonable bicycle infrastructure and the problem starts to resolve itself.

A few local examples... the main road outside my subdivision has a bike lane, but it ends a few blocks before the school, starts again, then stops a few blocks before the shopping center. So, bikes have to move to the sidewalk and interact with pedestrians, dog walkers, children (or enter a traffic lane). Terrible design.

That shopping center has a single bike rack at one end. To get from that rack to the coffee shop on the other side requires a long walk through the shopping center OR walking across a large parking lot. So, people just leave their bikes leaning against the wall outside the coffee shop. Terrible design.

Re: Things people blamed on bicycles

#503

Post by peoplefromibiza »

tcfhgj wrote: post #236
davisoneee wrote: post #227

Earlier quoted context omitted.

if a driver has to 'squeeze past', they are a bad driver. if a driver is driving so close that they couldn't react to a cyclist falling, they are a bad driver. You should drive within safe limits. If you cannot brake in the distance between you and the car in front, you are _too close_. If you squeeze to overtake, you are too close. Potholes exist. Wind exists. In the UK, the (edit) guidance is that you should pass a…

you are not up to date with the UK traffic rules: > Cars must leave at least 1.5 metres room when passing bicycles - while revised guidance also says "it can be safer" for cyclists to ride two abreast.

Yeah. and it's usually much more than that, because people know that bikers can't go straight and compensate for that.

But cyclists will always complain, because they don't talk about reality. they talk about their perceptions because they are scared and need to blame someone.

Cyclist also make the worst drivers I know, because they really can't stop thinking they are the victims.

Re: Things people blamed on bicycles

#504

Post by Vrondi »

DoubleFree wrote: post #194
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…

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 "…

This is what is needed. Unlike coming upon a cyclist on a highway, in a blind curve, on a mountain road with a 45 mph speed limit. Where I live, there's no bike culture or infrastructure, and the rare cyclist in this setting strikes me as rather suicidal.

Re: Things people blamed on bicycles

#505

Post by philamonster »

DoubleFree wrote: post #194
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…

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 "…

Couldn't agree more. Not going to get into philosophical/cultural differences between life in your country and America but it cannot be ignored the gap between a cyclist's mentality and the right-to-road mentality of the average car driver, even in supposed bike friendly cities, in the US. This fundamental difference in thought is reinforced by infrastructure and the type and size of vehicles that are pervasive on American roads. Just had another white bike memorial erected on my route to work some 2 months ago that stamps out any idea of either being able to commute to work safely again myself or that this gap in thought could/is shrink/ing.

That said, I have seen and still see some questionable cyclist practices on these roads from type of bike, lane of travel, footwear (or gear in general), lack of helmet (or misfitting/unfastened helmet) and route choice though I understand, at least where I live now, there sometimes isn't a choice. In larger cities there was an unspoken agreement _most_ of the time between myself and vehicles in the road that we were "aware" of one another. I find sometimes cyclists being far too aggressive to assert that awareness on drivers here (or today?) where it could be an honest misconception that the person behind the wheel knows how to interact with a cyclist for any number of reasons.

Full disclosure; former bike messenger in Boston, Philly & Portland OR, long-time commuter when not riding for work.

Re: Things people blamed on bicycles

#506

Post by peoplefromibiza »

davisoneee wrote: post #249
peoplefromibiza wrote: post #239

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> if a driver has to 'squeeze past', they are a bad driver if they do not kill you, they are not. or maybe if you are scared of other road users and need a "safe space" you aren't a good road user. just maybe > if a driver is driving so close that they couldn't react to a cyclist falling, they are a bad welcome to the reality. I'm not driving too close to you, you are zig-zaging in the middle of the street and you we…

I ride daily through my country's largest city. I'm not scared. I don't need a 'safe space' (or your desire to start a culture war, as your provocative wording imples). I don't jump red lights. I pull over if the road is busy and fast and wave drivers to overtake if possible. I'm simply asking that, given we share the road, people should drive with some damn courtesy rather than entitlement? Most people think they ar…

> Most people think they are good drivers and its "the others"

Most cyclists think they can ride a bike and it's the cars.

How is that different?

The main issue is don't harm.other road users, you don't do that?

Fine with me

I've never been in an accident that was my fault in my career as a driver, than now spans 3 decades.

The only accidents I've been were:

- a bike hit me laterally because the rider was going too fast on a wet road, panicked and hit the front brake. He almost killed himself and ruined my day.

- a moped took a turn too fast and hit me straight on the drivers door. When the father of the rider arrived he apologized saying his son "is a bloody idiot" (my adaptation of his Italian words, which are probably NSFW)

- I stopped at a stop sign and two teens on a motorbike hit me on the back because they were running too close to me. They also attacked me for braking, I showed them the stop sign, I threatened to call the police, they calmed down and gave me some money asking me to not make it official or their parent would be furoious at them. it wasn't their first time.

people are people, people make mistakes, people who think cars are dangerous for bikes usually aren't aware how shitty as cyclists they are, I'm sure they are bad drivers too.

Riding is dangerous, do it at your own risk, but nobody is really trying to kill you, because you are not that important.

Be careful and you'll live.

Wanna be safe on a bike?

Don't use it! Walk!

have you noticed that in motor sports at 300km/h nobody dies while every year in professional bike competitions someone dies or injure himself badly?

Because bikes are dangerous.

Re: Things people blamed on bicycles

#507

Post by josefresco »

acdha wrote: post #455
josefresco wrote: post #438

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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) an…

I used to feel that way too, but then I started paying closer attention to travel times, which were the same no matter whether that happened. Unless you’re on a rural road with no traffic or signals, a cyclist going 15mph is probably not costing you a second of door to door travel time rather than decreasing the time you spend stopping for signals or waiting for the car ahead of you to start moving.

I understand that I'm not gaining a huge amount of time as a motorist, but if I follow behind I end up "stalking" the bicyclist which can make them uncomfortable.

Re: Things people blamed on bicycles

#508

Post by sjostrom7 »

jimmytidey wrote: post #142
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…

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.

I would imagine it happens a lot more than hospital visits would let on. Being nudged into the curb - or getting spooked by a too-close car and hitting it yourself - would likely result in just scrapes and bruises, especially if you're wearing a helmet. But it's terrifying.

Re: Things people blamed on bicycles

#509

Post by isbvhodnvemrwvn »

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

Where I live the organized thieves (as opposed to the local drunks) disassemble the bike and get rid of the frame ASAP. Same with cars, they park them in large car parks with no monitoring to see if it had a tracker, after a couple weeks they drive it off to disassemble (with fake plates to avoid ANPR)

Re: Things people blamed on bicycles

#510

Post by JackFr »

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...

As a pedestrian in Manhattan I am in much more danger from cyclists that from cars, trucks and buses. Literally every single day I will see a dozen cyclists run red lights, go the wrong way down one way streets and ride on crowded sidewalks. While bicycles are much lighter and don't move as fast as cars, they pose a greater danger to me than cars because a very large number of cyclists in Manhattan simply do not subscribe to any rules of the road.

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