121–130 of 294 posts
I can highly recommend trying out the Citi bike if you live in New York, it's so cheap and many of the companies pays for it.
As a pedestrian crossing the straw in NYC, you will typically wait for cars to stop, then walk about 2/3 of the way into the street, then peer into the bike lane to make sure no bikes are coming, then complete your crossing. Most of the bikers, from my experience, do not follow rules such as stopping at a Stop sign or for pedestrians or at their own bike designated stop lights. It may be nice to bike in the cities pa…
I would encourage anybody who thinks cyclocommuters are particularly bad actors to stand on a busy urban street corner and count the percentage of drivers who are actively engaged with their mobile phone. You can identify them easily because they will be shiftily looking downward at sporadic intervals, rolling stop signs, and failing to notice traffic light changes. In addition to the phone-related dangerous behavior…
I would love to bike, but the major issue is that every single person I know who's biked for more than 1 year has gotten into some type of accident (around 10 people), whether car, car door, or poorly maintained road. These are all 30s and work-at-the-office types so maybe they're not the most coordinated, but they are also not doing stupid shit.
And while everyone who bikes will take a fall at some point, the vast majority of those actually result in only a few scratches. I know it seems terribly scary to imagine falling of a bike. But I've done so twice in about 12,000k, and the joy of biking far outweighs the pain I've suffered.
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What kind of e-bikes do people have in Canada? Electric-assist types, or ones with a throttle? In Europe the assist-type is way more common, limited to 25 km/h and at least in Germany the stereotypical user is an elder person that now suddenly can go a bit faster and go comfortably up hills.
I've seen both, the Electric-assist seem less common [or maybe just harder to identify?]. The ones that I see as not really fitting in are the larger ones that look kind of like an electric Vespa.
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A million times this! I live in Chicago and am an avid biker (been doored by a cab, right of passage i guess?) I am one of the few who stops at stop signs and slows down or stops at cross walks to watch for pedestrians. I attend my local alderman's meetings to push for more protected bike lanes which we are now getting, but my fellow bikers are making us all look bad wrt following the rules of the road. I can't tell…
As a cyclist yourself, I'm sure you're familiar with intersections where the sensors controlling the lights do not sense bikes. I think the best way forward is for more states to adopt Idaho's policy: cyclists can treat stop signs like yield signs, and treat red lights like stop signs. [1] If I'm riding toward a stop sign at a clearly deserted intersection, I would very much like to roll through at 10~15 MPH without…
IMHO, for the most ideal city experience, transit options should be prioritized in this order: 1) pedestrians, 2) buses, 3) bikes, 4) cars. Biking being faster than motoring is excellent news towards this ideal.
As a pedestrian crossing the straw in NYC, you will typically wait for cars to stop, then walk about 2/3 of the way into the street, then peer into the bike lane to make sure no bikes are coming, then complete your crossing. Most of the bikers, from my experience, do not follow rules such as stopping at a Stop sign or for pedestrians or at their own bike designated stop lights. It may be nice to bike in the cities pa…
It's a similar situation in Philly, every day I watch bikers run red lights and stop signs or speeding in a 25. I've yet to see a cop pull over someone on a bike
It's so sad that people born into a world where cars are everywhere just have no concept anymore of what is human. You put a random dude on a bike and they are never going to average 20 mph, struggle to even get to 18 mph. Barreling up 15% inclines in SF at 30 mph is not normal.
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You cannot seriously expect the rules of the road to be the same for multi-ton vehicles capable of 50+ mph speeds and human-powered vehicles that weigh 200lbs tops / max out at 20 mph.
Even if you do, the bikes are not going to kill you . Someone on a bike breaking the "rules of the road" is pretty much only risking his own safety, someone in a car it's almost always other people that die.
Even if you do, the bikes are not going to kill you.
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You should ask your local government for dedicated biking infrastructure then.
Dedicated bike lanes have actually been going out of style. Especially those using half of the sidewalk with only symbolic separation from pedestrians are plagued by the inattentiveness of pedestrians, and are usually too narrow to pass other bikes. The pavement is also at higher risk of damage, because these lanes are usually right next to any trees lining the roads, and their roots quickly create breaks, bumps and…
Proper, separated lanes, with kerbstones between both the cars and the pedestrians is best. It's also the most expensive.
There are some examples from Copenhagen here: http://nyc.streetsblog.org/2006/10/04/notes-on-bicycling-in-...
I would love to bike, but the major issue is that every single person I know who's biked for more than 1 year has gotten into some type of accident (around 10 people), whether car, car door, or poorly maintained road. These are all 30s and work-at-the-office types so maybe they're not the most coordinated, but they are also not doing stupid shit.
It's now generally thought that, even without a helmet, the positive health effects of biking outweigh the dangers from accidents. And while everyone who bikes will take a fall at some point, the vast majority of those actually result in only a few scratches. I know it seems terribly scary to imagine falling of a bike. But I've done so twice in about 12,000k, and the joy of biking far outweighs the pain I've suffered…