How do drivers treat you
aisa
Hi,
This article created a bit of a stir around Christmas. Its author had
to apologise and he got into trouble. It is a worrying article, not in
the least bit funny as people do behave like this with out
encouragement. Again I am interested in the American point of view. Do
you have a bit of an us and them attitude between some drivers and
cyclist?
You may have seen this already. . Mostly the comments at the bottom
are pro cycling
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/matthew_parris/article3097464.ece
Neil Jones
identify some social ill, avoid any factual analysis, attempt to use
humor a la "A Modest Proposal" to persuade people that it is a real
social ill, and therefore Improve The World as the culprits (here,
cyclists) realize what horrible people they've been. Among people who
write well, this is called "satire".
Anyway, my take on American cyclists is that there are some cyclists
that call cars "death cages", and some that shake their fists and yell
"SHARE THE ROAD". But I think the majority actually get the facts
that:
(a) cars rule the road
(b) cycling does not make you morally superior
(a) is a bit contentious -- by the laws of most US states, cars must
share the road with bicycles, even if a bike lane is present. That's
great and all, but the laws of physics say otherwise. The penalty for
running over a cyclist may range from minor (license suspension) to
severe (jail for manslaughter) for the driver, but are always
extraordinarily severe (loss of life or limbs) for the cyclist. Thus,
cars always rule the road, even if it's not "Right" in some universal
sense. That is, get out of the way of a driver who is stupid. It's
not really that different if you drive a car: defensive driving works.
(b) is I think the point the author of the article tried to point out.
Yeah, cyclists litter. As do hikers. And drivers. The less
short-sighted view would be to point out that littering is bad, not to
try to pull some nonexistent correlation between littering and
bicycling. But hey, that would actually mean doing some research and
putting some thought into an article. And that's a lot of work. You
know?
Maybe my impression of the American attitude is wrong. Certainly
among some circles it is: I disagree on most philosophical points from
John Forster, of "Effective Cycling" fame in that I happen to think
that bike paths and bike lanes are a great idea, and that forcing
cyclists to share the roadways with cars is a bad one practically
speaking. You should also keep in mind that the vast majority of
Americans do not own a bicycle.
..Neil
--
..Neil
aisa
We are like parallel universes, we have www.ctc.org.uk and you have
the League of American Cyclist. You have John Forester and we have
John Franklin and Cyclecraft. http://www.cyclecraft.co.uk Also there
is a bit of a purist distain of cycle paths over here. But some of our
cycle paths have been so funny. Just 3 metres long, or 16" wide.
www.eye-books.com have been selling a book over Christmas with
pictures of the worse cycle lanes in it.
Do you have an equivalent of Sustrans http://www.sustrans.org.uk/
Sustrans are building off road transport routs. It used to be cycling
based but seems to be encouraging walking too now.
DennisTheBald
of course cycling makes one morally superior!
further, cars drool.
seek your penance now before it's too late.
Walker,Frederick H.
Fritz
Neil Jones
"Sorry, officer. I, like, TOTALLY didn't see him there."
--
..Neil
DennisTheBald
On Jan 15, 6:20 pm, "Neil Jones" <ncjo...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Careful or I'll run you over with my silent-as-a-cat Prius.
>
> "Sorry, officer. I, like, TOTALLY didn't see him there."
>
Walker,Frederick H.
John
place!
DennisTheBald
Cycling rather than motoring does in deed demonstrate the character
rather than develop it.
Well, maybe there is some character development going on too.
Bradford Champlin
Bob Sutterfield
It is focused on empowerment to expand your options.