This thread is REALLY making me yearn for a nice long ride around the bottom of the lake after work!
I was feeling the same way, but was leaning more towards a one-man criterium around the downtown seattle core... fly down 2nd ave, turn left on james, left on 6th, left on pine, left on 2nd, repeat 20 times... should be fun
I just get frustrated that many cyclists tend to be so focused on being good to the environment and to themselves that they tend to forget that despite their best efforts they do leave a fingerprint-we all do.
I for one am not your typical Seattle cyclist. For one. I rode for a long time with "dittohead" stamped across my helmet. It is like walking into a black panther meeting alone with a KKK sheet over your head.
Second, I figure that my bike commuting actually INCREASES the communities overal gasoline usage. All that engine gunning people do when they pass me probably uses more fuel than I would have personally used had I just drove my Scion xBox to work. But I do it for fitness and the added brain power it gives me at work.
Cyclists are not motor vehicles, and should not be on the roads with motorists unless they have the same laws-and they don't.
Yes they do.
Registration, licenses, bicycle inspections for safety should be required before they are allowed to share the road with those that must pay the extra funds and provide the extra documentation to prove that they have tried to reduce the risks-
Regarding the context of that paragraph, I disagree and I think you will to when you understand my logic, which goes as follows:
There are several types of vehicles on our roads, and each has different rules, at least within the context of your paragraph above. I would like to focus on three:
1. Bicycle - you must obey all traffic laws as though you are a car and you are not allowed to use certain sections of interstate highways.
2. Automobile - you must have a valid operators permit. You must get emissions inspections every two years. There are minimum mandatory insurance requirements.
3. Semi's or "tractor-trailers" - you need a special license to operate one of these vehicles on public roadways. On most interstates these vehicles must obey a different speed limit than passenger cars. There are regular safety and weight inspections. There are special road taxes paid every year in the thousands of dollars due to their adverse affect on the roads (they're heavy).
Then there aree motorcycles, etc.
Question: Do you think we should just apply the tractor trailer rule to all vehicles? I don't. The rules apply to each vehicle according to its footprint, it's ability to do harm in an emergency situation, and many other factors.
Bottom line: A bicycle is not a car in the same way that a car is not a tractor-trailer.
And again, bikes were on the roads before cars were invented. They are mind bogglingly efficient and are not going away any time soon. In fact, they appear to be doing to cars what vinyl is doing to CD's. Still a tiny minority, but exploding in popularity.
As someone who has driven cars, semi's, motorcycles, bicycles and everything in between, and had to deal with states and laws, I desperately want law enforcement to leave bicyclists the he!! alone. We allow 40,000+ deaths a year to allow people to drive cars. Surely a few hundred bicycle deaths (or 20) are not out of line.
Here are some of the errors that bike riders frequently commit which greatly increase the chances of a collision with a motor vehicle:
1. They do not follow the traffic laws for vehicles when operating a bicycle. Instead,
a) they may use the traffic laws for pedestrians and thus ride on the sidewalks or the wrong way on the streets,
b) they may follow the traffic code for vehicles part of the time but not all of the time,
c) they may adopt a policy of hiding from motor vehicles rather than riding in the traffic lanes,
d) they may be guerilla cyclists deliberately breaking the law,
e) or they just might not think about how they are behaving.
2. They don't have lights mounted on their bikes when riding at night.
3. They ride along in the gutter or weave in and out between cars.
4. They don't pay attention to nearby vehicles.
5. They haven't learned how to control their bicycles effectively.
6. They panic when motor vehicles approach.
7. They don't keep the bike in sound mechanical condition.
8. They ride when too tired (or even drunk) to do so safely.
While there are both dangerous and clueless motorists, the vast majority have no desire to harm cyclists and attempt to drive safely and appropriately when cyclists are around. Motorists nearly always obey the traffic code, except for driving too fast, and they usually will cooperate with the cyclist.
As a long time bike commuter (and motorist), I agree with all these points. The same person who probably drives responsibly in an automobile hops on a bike and ... . I have no clue how they rationalize their behavior.
Comments
It's amazing I can even reach the pedals, ain't it!
I was feeling the same way, but was leaning more towards a one-man criterium around the downtown seattle core... fly down 2nd ave, turn left on james, left on 6th, left on pine, left on 2nd, repeat 20 times... should be fun
Second, I figure that my bike commuting actually INCREASES the communities overal gasoline usage. All that engine gunning people do when they pass me probably uses more fuel than I would have personally used had I just drove my Scion xBox to work. But I do it for fitness and the added brain power it gives me at work. Yes they do. Regarding the context of that paragraph, I disagree and I think you will to when you understand my logic, which goes as follows:
There are several types of vehicles on our roads, and each has different rules, at least within the context of your paragraph above. I would like to focus on three:
1. Bicycle - you must obey all traffic laws as though you are a car and you are not allowed to use certain sections of interstate highways.
2. Automobile - you must have a valid operators permit. You must get emissions inspections every two years. There are minimum mandatory insurance requirements.
3. Semi's or "tractor-trailers" - you need a special license to operate one of these vehicles on public roadways. On most interstates these vehicles must obey a different speed limit than passenger cars. There are regular safety and weight inspections. There are special road taxes paid every year in the thousands of dollars due to their adverse affect on the roads (they're heavy).
Then there aree motorcycles, etc.
Question: Do you think we should just apply the tractor trailer rule to all vehicles? I don't. The rules apply to each vehicle according to its footprint, it's ability to do harm in an emergency situation, and many other factors.
Bottom line: A bicycle is not a car in the same way that a car is not a tractor-trailer.
And again, bikes were on the roads before cars were invented. They are mind bogglingly efficient and are not going away any time soon. In fact, they appear to be doing to cars what vinyl is doing to CD's. Still a tiny minority, but exploding in popularity.
As someone who has driven cars, semi's, motorcycles, bicycles and everything in between, and had to deal with states and laws, I desperately want law enforcement to leave bicyclists the he!! alone. We allow 40,000+ deaths a year to allow people to drive cars. Surely a few hundred bicycle deaths (or 20) are not out of line.
Life is risk.
As a long time bike commuter (and motorist), I agree with all these points. The same person who probably drives responsibly in an automobile hops on a bike and ... . I have no clue how they rationalize their behavior.
how do you manage to do that in seattle?
I love the comments, especially the ones about it being the biker's fault.