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Things people blamed on bicycles

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Re: Things people blamed on bicycles

#601

Post by neutronicus »

wpietri wrote: post #597
neutronicus wrote: post #468

Earlier quoted context omitted.

FWIW, I live in one of the least right-wing cities in the US (Baltimore), and cyclists here report that aggressive driving towards them is common. A few have reported that pedestrian aggression towards them is common, too.

It doesn't take a lot of people for aggression to feel common to cyclists. Just as a proxy measure of right-wing-ness, 11% of people in Balitmore city voted for Trump, and 35% in Baltimore County. But I think the aggression is part of dominance assertion, a behavior that is more approved of on the right, but you still see plenty of on the left.

Just as a note, the County and City have a somewhat antagonistic relationship, although County residents probably make up a decent number of drivers within City Limits.

Re: Things people blamed on bicycles

#602

Post by [deleted] »

kiliantics wrote: post #457
dageshi wrote: post #358

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let's be honest, the real reason is that cyclists are frustrating to drivers merely by being cyclists. They're slow so they force the driver to either try to overtake or slow down everyone behind them and most people when driving will feel a pressure not to slow down the journeys of others behind them. So long as cyclists and drivers share the same roads it will always exist, some drivers will just be better about it…

The funny thing though is that, in most urban settings, this is completely untrue. Cyclists actually speed things up by creating less traffic. Every cyclist on the road means less cars on the road. And the speed of traffic is not determined by the speed of the cars, which most drivers seem to believe for some reason. In a city, the speed of traffic is entirely determined by the stop signals. There is a fixed time it…

[deleted]

Re: Things people blamed on bicycles

#603

Post by wpietri »

cogman10 wrote: post #584
wpietri wrote: post #578

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I also think the police just don't take it very seriously. Certainly that's the case here in SF. I've reported a number of stolen bikes over the years and my impression was of massive indifference. After bike number 7 was stolen, I just gave up. A few years later I'm thinking about buying a bike again, and risk of theft is my number one concern.

Well, not to defend the police, but after a bike is stolen I don't know what you could expect them to do. Even if they had a dedicated bike recovery task force, the most they could do is visit local pawn shops and browse community marketplaces for a bike matching the description (assuming it wasn't broken down for parts). Now, before a bike is stolen, I'd expect police to actually patrol places where bikes are being…

I think it would be great if they actually policed not just the pawn shops and sketchier bike shops, but also the people randomly selling them on the street and the back-alley bicycle chop shops, which are easily visible. Instead of the theft victims wandering the neighborhood trying to find their bike and get it back, which is what happens a lot here, I would like the police to take a swing at it.

But from the air of the police taking reports, absolutely nothing will happen. One time a cop asked me why I was bothering, did I need it for insurance or something? No, I told him, it was a crime and I figured that being police, they'd want to know. That seemed novel to him.

But I don't just want them to do something for me after my bicycle is stolen. I'd like them to be energetic enough in running down organized bike theft operations that those criminals find some other line of work. And a good way way to do that is taking individual bike thefts seriously.

Re: Things people blamed on bicycles

#605

Post by jasonwatkinspdx »

lastofthemojito wrote: post #569
bluGill wrote: post #431

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>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.

As I understand it there are 2 Dutch words for cycling [0]: >Crucially, the Dutch distinguish between everyday cycling (fietsen) and competitive cycling (wielrennen). Fietsers (cyclists) are found everywhere. ... The term wielrennen, on the other hand, is reserved for the sweaty, colourful and seemingly endless cycle races on which the people of Benelux are so keen. In my experience, at least in my area of the US, mo…

In the US there's a derogatory slang for the most obnoxious form of the second category: Freds. Fred is a guy on a $10k bike that treats a pedestrian and commuter heavy bike path like their own personal tour de France.

Re: Things people blamed on bicycles

#606

Post by pastage »

peoplefromibiza wrote: post #551
agos wrote: post #288

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

> we should also talk about the absolute chaos of cars parked everywhere two wrongs don't make a right. but I've never seen a car chained to the subway gate > yes, for you. for the collectivity, the cost of cars killing people a spare me the "pistolotto" I use public transport and my feet, bikes are not saving anyone and frankly having to hear people defending the right of bikers to break the law is ridiculous. At le…

> bikes are not saving anyone

They are actually, biking improves health a lot more than any negative aspect. It's a ridiculously good way to save lives.

Re: Things people blamed on bicycles

#607

Post by spaetzleesser »

grecy wrote: post #173
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.

A lot of people have no idea of the destructive power of the three ton death machine they are in command of. For that reason I think it should be mandatory to volunteer in a crash recovery ward at a hospital for 100 hours before getting a drivers license.

A lot of people buy these three ton machines to feel "safe". In turn they don't feel the need to protect others from that machine. In my LA neighborhood I saw a lot of moms barreling through the neighborhood in their big SUVs with their kids while talking on the phone or texting. I have had several occasions where I had to jump out of the way to not getting run over. I don't think the drivers even noticed me.

when I had my motorcycle most near misses were also with SUV drivers not paying attention when changing lanes. The more expensive the SUV the more dangerous.

Re: Things people blamed on bicycles

#608

Post by spaetzleesser »

dazc wrote: post #258
grecy wrote: post #173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A lot of people have no idea of the destructive power of the three ton death machine they are in command of. For that reason I think it should be mandatory to volunteer in a crash recovery ward at a hospital for 100 hours before getting a drivers license.

These people never consider the possibility they will actually hit something, their driving skills being so above average and all..

Personally I think they don't think about this. They want to feel safe and that's where the thinking ends.

Re: Things people blamed on bicycles

#609

Post by wpietri »

neutronicus wrote: post #601
wpietri wrote: post #597

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It doesn't take a lot of people for aggression to feel common to cyclists. Just as a proxy measure of right-wing-ness, 11% of people in Balitmore city voted for Trump, and 35% in Baltimore County. But I think the aggression is part of dominance assertion, a behavior that is more approved of on the right, but you still see plenty of on the left.

Just as a note, the County and City have a somewhat antagonistic relationship, although County residents probably make up a decent number of drivers within City Limits.

Yes, that was my thinking. A lot of urban core drivers come in from the suburbs. I'd be willing to bet that people from outside the city are behind a disproportionate share of aggressive incidents.

Re: Things people blamed on bicycles

#610

Post by kennend3 »

BlargMcLarg wrote: post #542
navane wrote: post #524

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Everyone is a cyclist and therefore drivers are very empathetic towards cyclists: a couple hours later or earlier they were the cyclist, and the cyclist was the driver.

This is a highly idealistic myth. Most drivers are not "cyclists a few hours earlier/later", and many definitely aren't empathetic. The split between bike lanes and car lanes, as well as the law favoring cyclists, should make that obvious. Cyclists even get away not showing their direction despite this being taught from early age.

This is how we can tell you are not a cyclist.

It is very difficult to use the brakes and indicate a change in direction at the same time.

While cyclists should indicate, the nature of the vehicle does make it hard under some conditions.

Here's a question for you. If i am stopped at a red light on my bike in what is clearly a left turn lane, why do cars attempt to pull up in front of me anyhow?

Cant be bothered waiting for me to make the left so they just force themselves in front of me? is this because i didn't signal?

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