XPost: or.general, or.politics
From: Orion@NOSPAM1noemail.com
I don't think the issue is about complaining about the "space" that bikes
take up.
I think it is more that, given the right conditions, traffic is delayed
while waiting behind a bicyclist until they have room to get around him.
This is especially true of riding on a small two lane road with no bike
lane. Drivers are most often focused on the road ahead and sometimes tunnel
vision can set in or they reach down to grab that big gulp. Anything
distracting at the wrong moment can be bad.
It also has to do with safety; some people on bikes ride around not paying
attention to traffic like they are the only one on the road. Swerving to
miss that rock and not looking to check traffic or whatever. This is just
asking for trouble. Both car drivers and people on bikes need to pay close
attention to the road and have the patience for such situations. Stop
pointing the finger people, everyone has the responsibility to be aware when
they are on the road, this includes people on bikes as well! I am an avid
bike rider and you can be damn sure that I will watch traffic very closely
because accidents can and do happen.
Drivers traveling at 35mph have a lot more information to process in less
time than a person on a bike does. I have found that the bicyclists have
more of an attitude than the drivers do regarding this. Myself being a
bicyclist and a driver both I have noticed this to be true.
As someone said earlier, cars weigh a lot more than a person on a bike. That
is a lot of mass to control in the split second that an accident can occur.
That's just the reality of things everyone. The bicyclist is going to loose
in all cases so why not have the sense to watch your own butt and stop
blaming the driver.
Bottom line is both drivers AND BICYCLISTS TOO, have the responsibility to
watch the road. And anyone who cannot realize this is not being honest with
themselves.
So quitchurbitchin, get over it and be safe!
"--" wrote in message
news:KgoFg.7896$oa1.7151@news02.roc.ny...
>
> "Curt" wrote in message
> news:12ebu5udt0pak0a@corp.supernews.com...
>>
>> "Matthew Beasley" wrote in message
>> news:6IkFg.167$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)
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