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Is It O.K. to Kill Cyclists?
New York Times ^ | November 9, 2013 | Daniel Duane

Posted on 11/10/2013 6:57:21 PM PST by nickcarraway

EVERYBODY who knows me knows that I love cycling and that I’m also completely freaked out by it. I got into the sport for middle-aged reasons: fat; creaky knees; the delusional vanity of tight shorts. Registering for a triathlon, I took my first ride in decades. Wind in my hair, smile on my face, I decided instantly that I would bike everywhere like all those beautiful hipster kids on fixies. Within minutes, however, I watched an S.U.V. hit another cyclist, and then I got my own front wheel stuck in a streetcar track, sending me to the pavement.

I made it home alive and bought a stationary bike trainer and workout DVDs with the ex-pro Robbie Ventura guiding virtual rides on Wisconsin farm roads, so that I could sweat safely in my California basement. Then I called my buddy Russ, one of 13,500 daily bike commuters in Washington, D.C. Russ swore cycling was harmless but confessed to awakening recently in a Level 4 trauma center, having been hit by a car he could not remember. Still, Russ insisted I could avoid harm by assuming that every driver was “a mouth-breathing drug addict with a murderous hatred for cyclists.”

The anecdotes mounted: my wife’s childhood friend was cycling with Mom and Dad when a city truck killed her; two of my father’s law partners, maimed. I began noticing “cyclist killed” news articles, like one about Amelie Le Moullac, 24, pedaling inside a bike lane in San Francisco’s SOMA district when a truck turned right and killed her. In these articles, I found a recurring phrase: to quote from The San Francisco Chronicle story about Ms. Le Moullac, “The truck driver stayed at the scene and was not cited.”

(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Editorial; News/Current Events
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To: nickcarraway

Here’s a scenario that I’m sure many bikers are familiar with: you’re waiting to cross the street at a stop sign leading into a busier street. Several cars are waiting to turn into traffic. And every single driver is looking the other way, watching the traffic for a break. They don’t even know you’re there. I will always stare hard at the first driver and force him to feel my presence. After about 15 seconds he will instinctively turn his head and look at me. And they always get that same shocked expression on their faces, like “where the hell did you come from?” Once you see that look, you know it’s safe to cross in front of them.


181 posted on 11/11/2013 5:28:46 AM PST by jespasinthru (Proud member of the Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy.)
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To: nickcarraway

On every tombstone of every cyclist killed by a vehicle it should read “At least he had the right of way”.


182 posted on 11/11/2013 5:29:56 AM PST by Hot Tabasco (I don't call "911", in my house, I AM '911"....)
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To: yarddog

Flat lander....... If there hills and real grades, not so easy.


183 posted on 11/11/2013 5:33:49 AM PST by bert ((K.E. N.P. N.C. +12 ..... Travon... Felony assault and battery hate crime)
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To: Secret Agent Man

Best post on the thread.


184 posted on 11/11/2013 6:32:40 AM PST by TalonDJ
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To: umgud

Yesterday, I was stuck behind a bike rider riding outside the new bike lane.

...well, in that case, blast your horn at the guy and make a show of pointing to newly painted areas...

...I love bicycling...but I don’t love cyclists who ride stupid...and that would include some of the stupid things I’ve done on a bike...


185 posted on 11/11/2013 7:47:28 AM PST by IrishBrigade
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To: raybbr

There are many freepers who believe, truly believe, hitting cyclists would be okay.

...I agree with this...and there are many drivers here in southcentral Pennsylvania who would agree also...


186 posted on 11/11/2013 7:49:00 AM PST by IrishBrigade
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To: IrishBrigade

...I agree with this...and there are many drivers here in southcentral Pennsylvania who would agree also...

...let me rephrase...I believe many drivers love to yell at bicyclists and give them the finger...but I think most of them would be mortified if they actually maimed ine...


187 posted on 11/11/2013 7:54:22 AM PST by IrishBrigade
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To: Secret Agent Man
"assholes and idiots will be assholes and idiots regardless of the vehicle they’re driving."

Well said...may I also add that your list could include were they post at?

R.D.

188 posted on 11/11/2013 7:56:50 AM PST by Red Dog #1
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To: nickcarraway
My wife and I took up bicycling three years ago.

Not the speed demon dropbar bikes, but the laid back hybrid types.

We are extremely fortunate to live in Central Florida which has many beautiful trails. And we ride around 2000 miles per year.

We would NEVER ride our bikes where we had to share the road with cars and trucks.

Alligators, snakes, wild turkeys, armadillos, rabbits, squirrels and other wildlife are a much lesser threat than a side-view truck mirror in the back of the head.

189 posted on 11/11/2013 7:57:18 AM PST by N. Theknow (Kennedys=Can't drive, can't ski, can't fly, can't skipper a boat, but they know what's best for you.)
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To: IrishBrigade
I resent the fact that they have special privileges. they
should observe the rules for slow moving vehicles: move to the side of the road to allow faster vehicles to pass. Also,
there's the issue of paying for bike lanes. bicycle folks
should pay for the bike lanes, not average taxpayers.
190 posted on 11/11/2013 7:59:48 AM PST by upcountryhorseman (An old fashioned conservative)
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To: Vendome
"Just beautiful..."

...but, oh so wacky and politically out of control.

191 posted on 11/11/2013 8:30:35 AM PST by Baynative (Wake me up early, be good to my dogs and teach my children to pray.)
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To: nickcarraway
I used to ride bicycles quite a lot. I live in a rural county in Northern CA. One day driving home from seeking employment I was stopped by a line of traffic where there normally wasn't any traffic. I could see up ahead there was a logging truck(This was before the liberals killed the logging industry)and a guy lying on the road. After a short while I noticed the guy wasn't moving, at all. When the traffic started moving again I saw the guys bicycle and recognized it as one belonging to a fellow that rode all over the county, miles and miles per day. The truck had hit him and ran over his head. His brain was lying a few feet from the top of his flattened skull, it had popped out like a grape from its skin.

I quit riding bicycles from that day forward and haven't gotten on one since.

192 posted on 11/11/2013 8:38:34 AM PST by calex59
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To: real saxophonist

yep just like the sign at the complex.. they still do it!! not to mention all the day labors riding bike on the sidewalk!! not watching for cars slowing down to make a turn!!!


193 posted on 11/11/2013 8:47:01 AM PST by markman46 (engage brain before using keyboard!!!)
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To: prisoner6
Wow. There's a hill in a local neighbourhood that I have trouble with. That just looks ridiculous.

Bet nobody parks their car on that road.

194 posted on 11/11/2013 8:52:45 AM PST by real saxophonist (Rock, paper, scissors, GUN. I win.)
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To: Uncle Miltie

choose your risk. Flat tire or a personal view of the underside of someone’s car tire.


195 posted on 11/11/2013 9:40:22 AM PST by SwankyC (Democrats and Republicans agree, govt coercion is OK if it fits your idea of whats OK)
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To: noprogs

>>Ride all you want, but have lane discipline. Don’t ride on sidewalks either, if for no other reason than someone may be walking a large breed dog with a barely latent prey drive, like my American Bulldogs from my friend’s pack of wild hog catchers. You can’t pedal that fast.

So, stay off the road and stay off the sidewalks?

Can your bulldog outrun a 9mm? I carry and wear a camera when I ride. I will kill your feral mutt if you can’t control it.


196 posted on 11/11/2013 9:43:34 AM PST by Bryanw92 (Sic semper tyrannis)
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To: null and void

I live in a rural area where the roads are narrow with lots of hills. I was trying to get home one day and had a pack of about 6 cyclists blocking the road. When I finally got to a place I could pass them, as I was going past I gunned the engine of the diesel truck I was driving (ford excursion), just to show my annoyance more than anything. I looked in my rearview mirror to see the reaction and you couldn’t see them for all the black diesel smoke my truck spewed out when I gunned the engine. I didn’t mean to do that, but it sure felt good.


197 posted on 11/11/2013 11:00:27 AM PST by tuffydoodle (Shut up voices, or I'll poke you with a Q-Tip again.)
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To: SwankyC

Nice of you.


198 posted on 11/11/2013 11:17:39 AM PST by Uncle Miltie ( "I was all for Obamacare, until I found out I was paying for it." - California Girl)
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To: doorgunner69

“All the exercise haters screech about cyclists not staying in bike paths, having never tried riding in one.

So everyone that doesn’t like poking along behind a group of spandex wearing idiots is an “exercise hater?” I exercise daily, 7 days a week, 365 days a year but I don’t impose my activity on anyone else. I always try to be considerate of other people. You never know when that person poking along behind you is trying to get to the hospital, or home because they are sick, or a loved one is hurt....


199 posted on 11/11/2013 11:18:58 AM PST by tuffydoodle (Shut up voices, or I'll poke you with a Q-Tip again.)
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To: Truthoverpower
We’re radical bikers here. And we run over cars. Bikes rule cars spew crap.

And that fecal attitude gets innocent bikers in deep bandini.

200 posted on 11/11/2013 11:23:20 AM PST by jimt (Fear is the darkroom where negatives are developed.)
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