Posted on 05/11/2010 10:41:01 AM PDT by End Times Sentinel
Professor Peter Furth has ridden his bicycle to work at Northeastern University each day for the past six years. The two-mile trip through the Boston suburb of Brookline, Massachusetts, is usually without incident.
Furth's journey is worlds apart from his former Boston commute, which for 13 years was a battle with drivers who wanted him on the sidewalk.
"I've had motorists that drive a couple of inches from my elbow, trying to scare me," he said.
Furth would catch up with drivers at stoplights and ask them whether they knew how close they'd come to hitting him. Invariably, they would say, "Yes, move over."
It's a cultural thing, he said.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
I still think you should stop and look before proceeding.
That is legal in CA.
Yes, splitting lanes is legal in CA. Insane, but legal.
...which will happen in Seattle, of course, when pigs fly.
All cyclists should be restricted to cul de sacs.
There's a nifty device that costs about $7 that you can install on your bike so the sensors will see it.
It's an oversized magnet.
Its funny how strongly people feel about this. While I don’t ride a bike or think they should be on the road with cars, I’m glad my community has bike lanes on most streets.
Not quite as you describe. When you do something that endangers your life - then you tell the hospital to put a gun to my head and demand that I and the local taxpayers pay the bills; well, I object to that.
Want to smoke, drink or take drugs. Fine, I don't care. But, forgive me if I want you to assume fiscal responsibility for the folly you are committing. Taxes on cigarettes and liquor go to offset the damages people do to themselves and others (or are supposed to be used for that purpose).
Go running? Fine, the risk of you killing yourself on your morning jog is minimal. Maybe you'll twist an ankle, maybe you'll fall down at the pace of 3.5-6 mph and get an owie. Usually, not too deadly.
But, when you take your bike on the road where the speed limit is 25-75mph; were the vehicles easily weigh 10x what you weigh, where they have a crumple zone and you are the crumple zone - forgive me if I think you should have some fiscal responsibility for this risk.
Now, I frankly do not care if you wear a helmet, or if you wrap duct tape over your eyes when you go for a ride. You are a big boy/girl; you can make your own decisions. But, when you are forcing me to pay for your medical bills - then I feel I have the right to object.
In short, get your insurance, get your license and then ride in a G-string for all I care. The ONLY reason that I can think of, for the gov't to mandate protective gear; is that the local hospitals are being forced to pay for the mistakes that happen.
In the last 15 years, more than 76,000 Americans have been killed while crossing or walking along a street in their community. More than 43,000 Americans – including 3,906 children under 16 – have been killed this decade alone.
Source
Many others weren't quite so fortunate.
I always stop. It would just be foolhardy not to do so.
Traffic signals use a design called a Colpitts Oscillator. Essentially, when a chunk of iron sits near a coil of wire buried underground, the frequency of the oscillator changes, which tells the sensor that there is a car, truck or big chunk of metal nearby.
Most bikes made from the mid-70's have moved away from iron; as iron is really heavy. Most bikes use either Aluminum or some alloy of non-ferric metals - so they do not trigger the oscillator like the old, heavy bikes did.
So, when you ride a bicycle - you could sit on that sensor all day long. So, allowing the bike to proceed after coming to a complete stop makes sense. Whereas motorcycles, cars and trucks have enough iron in them to trip the sensor. Just a FYI.
Bankrupt the industry on Hodar’s say so? Not likely. Let’s be honest with other for a moment. You and I both know that it’s highly unlikely to see a radical change in bicycle regulation in our lifetimes. As it stands, I have every legal right to commute on my bicycle, so let’s deal with that reality and move forward.
I agree, and unfortuantely there are going to be a lot of deaths because of it. There will be idiots on 2 wheels who feel entitled to 'teach a lesson' getting killed by other idiots out to 'get revenge'.
Now, while I don't mourn the idiot who is stopping traffic in his ego-serving campaign to impose his lifestyle on the commuters who simply want to go to work/home - I do mourn the bike hobbyist who simply went out for an evening ride, to enjoy the scenery, the weather, to burn off some stress or weight .... and encounters the random idiot who hates all bicyclists.
It will come to a point where everybody will be driving those electric scooters or golf carts in the city, only the ‘’priveledged’’ will be allowed to use the intertate roads and Express ways. I’m surprised they haven’t made ATVs street legal by now.
Now hold on a second. What about me, the guy on a bicycle who just wants to get to work, or get home from work? Why am I any less of a deserving commuter because I'm not behind the wheel?
I bicycle too but the unfortunate aspect of bike riding vs. vehicles is that almost all of today's roads were designed in width for vehicles only. The natural response of a driver, as you probably well know, is to drift to the left of the bicyclist in order to prepare for any veering of the cyclist to his left due to any unanticipated obstacle in his path.......Bicycle riders are intruders in that safety zone.....
With most vehicles today being SUV's, the average width is over 6 1/2 feet which only leaves a distance of 5 1/2 feet between curb and the vehicle who stays on the right side of the road. Bicyclists who claim their right of way are riding in a zone only about 5 1/2 feet wide..........In my opinion, that is a definite danger zone!
Why, do you ask? Because of the manhole covers lining every street or highway that will cause the bike rider to swerve to his left in order to avoid them and thus putting them in the vehicle's rightful zone..........
Until bicycle riders are able to convince their communities to expand the roads and highways to accomodate them, they had better be prepared to accept the harassment they will inevitably receive from the vehicle drivers..........And as long as the cyclists continue to demand their "right of way", there will continue to be confrontations between the cyclist and the driver............
Tombstone of a cyclist: "He had the right of way"..........
Current cities with their sidewalks and roadways were created to accomodate pedestrian traffic via the sidewalks and the roadways for vehicles. The sidewalks also accomodated the bicyclists who were primarily kids.
Unfortunately the cycling industry evolved along with the demands for adults to incorporate cycling into their own lifestyles and along with the lifestyle change came the road bikes.
As a result, the sidewalks were no longer able to accomodate today's exercise cyclist and roads were not altered to accomodate them either.....;......
So the exercise cyclist with his roadbike is now an intruder on the highways which were designed only for motorized traffic only..........
Most bike paths don’t take you where you want to go - they usually lead to a park or recreation field. I ride the roads to get someplace specific - I ride the paths for exercise.
Make no mistakes FRiend. I fear the stupidity of those behind the wheel, not the possibility of harassment. I'm helpless against tons of fast moving steel, but I'm more than prepared to deal with harassment. More than once I've encountered a moron who wants to pull over and scream at me. Had it escalated, said individuals could well have found out why my hand never left my cycling jersey. I don't believe in cycling alone..or hell...walking alone, driving alone, dining alone.....
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