XPost: or.general, or.politics
From: anonymous@anonymous.com
"Curt" wrote in message
news:12ebu5udt0pak0a@corp.supernews.com...
>
> "Matthew Beasley" wrote in message
> news:6IkFg.167$Mx5.48@news.cpqcorp.net...
>>
>> "Curt" wrote in message
>> news:12eav6i8ti5g9a1@corp.supernews.com...
>> >
>> > "Matthew Beasley" wrote in message
>> > news:Zy0Fg.90$e25.40@news.cpqcorp.net...
>> >>
>> >> "TailHooker7" wrote in message
>> >> news:4smdnUCJgY5DQX7ZnZ2dnUVZ_sednZ2d@comcast.com...
>> >> > You part of the problem quite honestly Paula, and I'm sure some
>> >> > immature
>> >> > dreadlocked bicyclist is going to flame this because they can't
> handle
>> > the
>> >> > truth, is that most bicyclists think that they own the road. They
>> >> > try
>> >> > to
>> >> > make the point that it is their "right" to be there too, which I
> won't
>> >> > argue with. But the truth of the matter is that people make
>> >> > mistakes,
>> >> > we
>> >> > are all human. And the biker with the attitude that thinks that he
>> >> > is
>> >> > making a point by blocking traffic is sooner or later doomed to get
> hit
>> > by
>> >> > something that weighs 100 times more that he. Not very bright if you
>> >> > ask
>> >> > me. Then again, it is my opinion that most of them are so self
> centered
>> > in
>> >> > their own granola world that they can't reason what it sometimes
> takes
>> > for
>> >> > a 5000lb. vehicle to stop. .
>> >
>> >>
>> >> Then once the inevitable happens, they all want the car driver locked
> up.
>> >
>> > You would too, if the cager had hit your kid.
>> >
>>
>> Not if my kid had swerved out in traffic with no chance for the vehicle
>> to
>> stop.
>>
>> I would feel bad for the driver, and punishing the driver would serve no
>> purpose.
>
> I did first aid on a 12yo kid (who died anyway) who got smashed by a motor
> home, in exactly that situation. Just rode right under it. The motor home
> guy was sitting on the side of the road completely devastated. He couldn't
> even talk, just sobbing and sobbing. I don't think anyone charged him.
>
> But we're mostly talking about a frustrated post something about granola
> hippy bicyclists making a point by blocking traffic.. and even if that
> were
> what was mostly going on (which I really REALLY doubt), that's not
> "swerving
> into traffic with no chance for the vehicle to stop".
5 years ago, while riding my bike (not swerving and as close to the edge as
possible on a clear day), I was hit from behind by a white Cadillac driven
by an elderly couple. While laying in the gutter in the tangled wreck of my
expensive recumbent bike, the woman, just before the caddy drives away from
the stop light, rolls down the window, peeks out and says "Oh, did you fall
down? Well, you'll be okay." Doesn't stop. Doesn't offer assistance. In
fact, seems completely oblivious to the fact that they had hit me.
Fortunately I had witnesses (others did stop) who called the police and we
had the license plate number. Given that my injuries were minimal (I was
wearing my helmet) and I was willing to deal, the driver's insurance company
was quite happy to accede to my request that they 1) replace my bike and 2)
get the driver off the road - permanently (guy was at least 85). I honestly
don't think he ever even saw me.
Unfortunately, this isn't the worst of it. I've been hit other times - one
time the impact was enough that it split my helmet, left me unconscious and
with a broken arm - was so befuddled that when I made it to work, I worked
the whole day with the broken arm and the concussion until someone noticed
and called my wife to take me to the emergency room. The odds are stacked
against the bike rider - those who complain about the minimal room that
bikes take and giving them space just haven't a clue.
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)
|
