MHO on the car driver/bike rider discussion
The Psych Major (AJ)
any rate, having spent the last two weeks driving to and from school {in a
car loaned from the people I was house-sitting for, so don't be asking me
for rides to the airport =)} I feel I can now make rash generalizations
about those who drive and those who ride.....
When the thread first appeared I wanted to immediately defend us bike
riders (we bike riders?), but then I drove, and I realized, even
objectively I can automatically take the bike riders' side...I guess my
opinion is that since the car drivers are in a potentially death-causing
situation, that it is not too much trouble to ask them to be wary of the
bike riders....
Just my six and half bucks....
-Stu
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"I can't wait to get back to Deep Space Nine and see your face
when you find out that I never existed."
---Quark
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pjantzen
"The Psych Major (AJ)" wrote:
>
> I know, I know....the thread was years ago....well, not that long
And to continue it, ... I just got back from a week-long conference in
Los Angeles, where I participated in the traffic/motility experience as
a pedestrian (shuttle bus to the LA convention center available from my
hotel and all that nonsense, so I didn't have to walk through South
Central to get to the conference) and I anticipated, in light of the
vaunted and ignominious gun-toting LA motorist, to be ducking bullets
and diving for the curb on a regular basis. Much to my surprise, I
found the exact opposite - the most courteous automobile drivers (and
pedestrians, and bicyclists) I've ever seen. Nobody runs lights,
motorists yield without question to pedestrians, pedestrians _never_
jaywalk, and bicyclists are accorded all the rights and responsibilities
of motorized vehicles (except that bicycles, but not cars, are allowed
on sidewalks ;-). Then I found out why.
The LA police actually enforce traffic laws - $80 tickets for jaywalking
- no questions; bicyclists get ticked for infractions as motorists
would, and motorists who _don't_ respect the rights of bicyclists and
pedestrians can very nearly be hauled off on the spot - enormous fines
are levied, at the least. I guess there's nothing like an educated
commuting public and a police force who gives a damn. One anecdotal
aside I heard from a transplanted Angelino was that LA natives who move
east have a much higher accident/fatality rate as pedestrians - they
expect courtesy, but rarely get it (heck, it took me three days to get
used to the crosswalks there. I can't imagine it being the other way
around.)
Drew Smith
the crosswalk next to the parking garage means *not* to cross? (I'm
*really* getting tired of getting a green light and then having to wait
while someone *then* starts across as if the little red hand never
existed.)
Drew
--
Andrew M. (Drew) Smith
School of Library and Information Science
University of South Florida, Tampa, FL
dsm...@luna.cas.usf.edu (813) 974-6849
pjantzen
Drew Smith wrote:
>
> So, what is it going to take to educate people that the little red hand at
> the crosswalk next to the parking garage means *not* to cross? (I'm
> *really* getting tired of getting a green light and then having to wait
> while someone *then* starts across as if the little red hand never
> existed.)
Easy - a few well-placed $80 jaywalking fines. That'll cure the problem
in a heartbeat, methinks. (Okay, at least it'd cure _me_ of jaywalking,
if I were to be of the persuasion to do so.)
P.
Rochester
Just hit them. You'll be doing the gene pool a favor.
On Tue, 17 Nov 1998, Drew Smith wrote:
> So, what is it going to take to educate people that the little red hand at
> the crosswalk next to the parking garage means *not* to cross? (I'm
> *really* getting tired of getting a green light and then having to wait
> while someone *then* starts across as if the little red hand never
> existed.)
>
> Drew
>
> --
> Andrew M. (Drew) Smith
> School of Library and Information Science
> University of South Florida, Tampa, FL
> dsm...@luna.cas.usf.edu (813) 974-6849
>
>
>
>
"Silly Robert, hollow points are for meddlers..."
"Wit is the only wall Robert Fernandez
Between us and the dark." rfer...@chuma.cas.usf.edu
- Mark Van Doren http://chuma.cas.usf.edu/~rfernand
AIM: Gamaliel8
Rochester
> Easy - a few well-placed $80 jaywalking fines. That'll cure the problem
> in a heartbeat, methinks. (Okay, at least it'd cure _me_ of jaywalking,
> if I were to be of the persuasion to do so.)
Well, I jaywalk semi-regularly, so I firmly disagree with that, but I am
smart enough to stay out of the way of vehicles.
Suzanne M. Saunders
>So, what is it going to take to educate people that the little red hand at
>the crosswalk next to the parking garage means *not* to cross? (I'm
>*really* getting tired of getting a green light and then having to wait
>while someone *then* starts across as if the little red hand never
>existed.)
Which "next to the parking garage" do you mean? If you mean North
Palm and Holly, the pedestrian light on the noth side of Holly doesn't
work, so we're reduced to craning our heads at the car traffic lights to
see if we're going to be stuck in the middle of the road when the light
changes. (That light does not allow enough time for pedestrians to cross.
That and when one tries to cross Holly with a favorable pedestrian light,
one is almost invariably held back by people turning off of Palm onto
Holly, who also have a green light.)
Suzanne
--
Suzanne M. Saunders segn...@geocities.com
"You're not a very experienced woman, are you?" -- Jon Young
Drew Smith
> Which "next to the parking garage" do you mean?
The light on East Holly between the Parking Garage and Epsilon.
> If you mean North
> Palm and Holly, the pedestrian light on the noth side of Holly doesn't
> work, so we're reduced to craning our heads at the car traffic lights to
> see if we're going to be stuck in the middle of the road when the light
> changes.
I don't think we're talking about the same light, since this one isn't at
North Palm. And the pedestrian light does work on this one.
Drew
The Psych Major (AJ)
> So, what is it going to take to educate people that the little red hand at
> the crosswalk next to the parking garage means *not* to cross? (I'm
> *really* getting tired of getting a green light and then having to wait
> while someone *then* starts across as if the little red hand never
> existed.)
I say if they are going to ignore the red hand then you can run them
over...they annoy us bikers also.....=)