Posted on 09/07/2019 5:09:00 AM PDT by Berlin_Freeper
In 2019, more and more cities across America are encouraging their residents to commute by bicycle. Cycling, of course, is good for the environment in terms of reducing pollution from car-dominant streets, and it’s a healthier way to travel.
But cities gaining new cyclists are quickly, tragically finding that they do not have the proper infrastructure to keep them safe. Cyclist fatalities have gone up 25 percent across the U.S. since 2010, and up 10 percent in 2018 itself, while all other traffic fatalities have decreased.
And it matters where you live: 75 percent of these cyclist deaths occur in urban areas. New York City became the most dangerous city for cyclists in 2019 with 19 deaths to date—almost double the total in 2018.
(Excerpt) Read more at vice.com ...
These are called "road diets" and are popping up in cities all across the country. Basically, take away a lane that was previously used for traffic or street parking and turn it into a bike lane. Install bollards or cement separators to prevent cars from using them. Vehicle traffic becomes maddeningly congested, small businesses suffer from lack of close parking, while the bike lane is virtually empty.
This is what our liberal betters have in store for us. They're going to pry us away from our cars come hell or high water.
You’re an astute fellow!
Just ... no. You sound as if you’re in a ever present foul mood. Bet you’re fun to be around (though I certainly would not want to test the wager).
Pro tip: Never use an absolute.
I pay taxes and I’m a biker. What’s your point?
I spend as much time biking on a sidewalk as the street (where I’m supposed to be). How often you see people on a sidewalk in a small town? Once every 1000 feet or so except in business area.
Here we go! This is why more people are getting killed on bikes. They are special, protected snowflakes whom it is everyone elses responsibility to look out for. Notice in the aforementioned comment how ANYONE who hits a cyclist should spend years in prison, regardless of who's fault it is or how stupid the cyclist was acting? This is the mindset of a dangerous cyclist. This is the sort that gives the rest a bad name. This is the type that will crowd a car on a narrow road with the righteous battle-cry of "I have the right-of-way!" Never mind that there is a bike path thirty feet away. I like to ride a bicycle but I do it carefully and in places that are well suited for biking.
The problem isn’t so much the cyclists but the DRIVERS these days. At what point did EVERYONE become an aggressive driver? I drive the speed limit or higher but I can’t go anywhere without someone riding my bumper the whole way. The power and safety of modern cars makes people think they can drive like a race car driver while talking on the phone. Then they wonder why cyclist are getting hit.
A healthy portion of blame lies with the elitist bicycle snobs dressed up in their spandex who demand to ride on the roadways since they somehow believe riding on a separate bike path is an indignity.
There are MANY motorcyclists out there that endanger themselves. I assume that every motorcyclist on the road is going to make an unpredictable lane change or acceleration move, drive at speeds much higher than prevailing traffic, flip in and out of lanes where there is not enough space or time auto drivers to respond.
On the rare occasion that we observe a law abiding motorcyclist, we are in awe.
In my opinion most women my age should probably stay away from spandex. :-) I don’t judge them if they do but it’s not my thing.
When my daughter was little we lived in a small town. She and I would ride around the neighborhood and I made her ride on the sidewalk. There were a few places where I did. Nobody would say anything as long as you aren’t running over pedestrians.
The problem is that cyclists ride on the road yet go vastly slower than cars. Bicycles do not belong on the road. They’re just too slow. It would be like allowing mopeds and scooters on the highway.
Make them ride on the sidewalks where there are no bike lanes - and no, we cannot provide bike lanes everywhere. American cities were built with the car in mind.
Licensed (registered and inspected) and insured just like everyone else using the roadway.
For their part, cyclists have a responsibility to be more careful as well.
I’ve seen far too many weaving in and out of traffic and blowing off red lights.
A sure recipe for disaster.
Reading comprehension not your strong point, eh. You Canadian?
It doesn’t help when I see this cyclists ignoring traffic and safety laws.
What am I saying. Those morons will take this seriously!
“Amen to that! I’m in a rural area and I wouldn’t bike in my small town. I stick to back country roads if I ride on the road but I mostly ride trails on a mountain bike.”
One of our adult 50 something off springs is basically an addicted bike rider.
He lives in a tourist county where there are wineries, great restaurants, beer brewing business and basically any business with food serves some type of alcohol to the tourists.
When he first moved to this so called small eden, he tried to ride his road bike to and from work. After a few close calls, he and some friends started driving to great and basically safe rural bike paths during the lunch hour of after work. Where they ride, no cars/trucks/pickups are allowed. Then, after their rides, load their bikes back on their vehicles and drive home or back to work.
It’s as if wearing the spandex “uniform” somehow makes them into a Lance Armstrong... no matter how out of shape or unfamiliar with mechanical contraption they are straddling.
Mostly because cyclists ride like idiots.
Liberals are morons.
Bicycles are hobbies, they do not belong on sidewalks nor roads.
Folks on bikes see themselves as the most important person. They do not obey the rules of the road, they weave around stopped or moving cars, the zip past stopped cars oblivious to doors that may open....
Folks on motorcycles have a long record of severe injury and death because some people in cars cannot drive or do not focus on driving.
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