Posted on 07/30/2008 4:07:43 PM PDT by Harley
IT'S murder out there if you like to walk. The bike people won't repeat this. But those who enjoy hoofing it on city streets stand a good chance of experiencing a close encounter with a kamikaze rider who treats stoplights like suggestions, and pedestrians like speed bumps. And some of you will die.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
We have these same cyclists in Boston. The couriers are the worst. And, it's not instigated by any thing the police do.
Seems like just a little sensationlism in her column, IMHO. While it’s horrible when anyone dies, 1 or 2 deaths a year from bicycle vs. pedestrian accidents in a city the size of New York, with as many messenger and commuter bikers as they have on the streets daily is actually pretty low. So is the 500 collisions a year, IMHO.
Don’t get me wrong... I do agree that some of these cyclists - particularly those who treat traffic laws as mere suggestions to be ignored - ARE a threat to the safety of pedestrians, I just think she’s a little over the top with her “taking your life in your own hands” while walking spiel...
She did allude to the cop in this column, but I would speculate that she herself had a “close-encounter” which prompted her to dig deeper... I still wonder if there aren’t more pressing problems in New York than errant bicyclists... Of course, I don’t live there, so maybe it’s more of a hassle than I know.
I hate bikers. They are arrogant..they think they are better than everyone else. They think they should be allowed to ride in the road and hold up traffic..but then jump up on the curb and be pedestrians when there is a traffic jam. When u walk down the street and they are behind you they think it is your obligation to look out for them..rather than vice versa. They need to decide if they are autos or pedestrians and stick to it.
Then..if they are pedestrians..it should be legal to carry around a can and jam it in their spokes if they yell at you as they blow by u from behind.
If they are autos..it should be legal to throw stuff at them when u drive by if they are going more than 5 mph less than speed limit.
Also..any grown man who wears spandex and a lance armstrong bracelet is gay..unless you are lance armstrong..although he is probably gay too.
Elderly bro in law was knocked down by a bicyclist in NYC a couple of weeks ago. The rider was flying with no care at all for anyone crossing the street.
damn..such a good rant and i left the e off of cane..it should be a cane that u r allowed to jam in their spokes..not a can.
occasionally one of them meets his due.
when i lived in austin, tx a bicyclist ran a red light and
hit a police car!
the bicyclist was hospitalized.
Amen, amen and amen.
Doesn’t matter. I had a vision of you tossing an empty beer can into the spokes. The cane would do a much nicer job though.
I could care less when these guys or gals gets smeared on a road that was not designed for automobiles AND bicycling.
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Mine is ash with a brass horse hame handle. Haven't used it yet even though a couple of idiots have brushed my shoulder going by. When cyclists are nice they're very nice and when they are not they're horrid.
This has been going on for years. Back in the early 90s a kiwi friend of mine showed up at the office with a bloody leg. He said he was crossing the street and a messenger bike guy tried (unsuccessfully) to weave through the people crossing, and ended up tangled, but not quite falling, with my friend. So long story short, Doug found himself in perfect position for an uppercut, took the opportunity, and put the guy down for the count, took his bows to applause, and went his way.
Gotta love kiwis.
v.
I ride a bicycle and I'm not arrogant, nor do I think I'm better then anyone else.
Also..any grown man who wears spandex and a lance armstrong bracelet is gay.
I wear spandex when I ride a bike, and that doesn't make me gay, it just makes me cooler (read temperature) than the idiot in drenched cutoffs.
The bikers (mostly couriers) are the worst. They make their money by the way they ride. The faster the better for them. It can also take their life. I have personally seen one accident were the biker was flying in & out of traffic, slid out of control and his brains were suddenly all over the place. They all know it’s a possibility but they still do it. There was a messenger business in the building when we use to be in Chelsea. They lost 2 messengers in 1 month but still bragged about their riding speeds and complaining about us damn pedestrians. They even bragged about hitting people and kept on going. Stupid idiots.
What were they selling?
Pretty harsh since there are a few of us bicyclists here.
GRRRRR! The remark from the guy “walking on a bike path”. It is a BIKE path not a walking path, get out of the way!
Strange but hardly anyone holds them to the same standards such as taxation through licensing or bicycle registration, otherwise, they don’t have any “right” to the street. I’m taxed on my wheels and so are bikers (meaning motorcyclists) so these people need to pay the price as we do.
No, I’m not for more taxes but in this case it needs to be “fair”, right??
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