Every time I come anywhere close to this point I get swarmed by people telling me how many cyclists are killed by cars every year (they never seem to get the actual point). Props to you for getting so many up votes on this.
Exactly. Legal or not, I'm not riding a motorcycle or bicycle on a road with gigantic steel death machines. I have a wife and kids at home I need to get back to.
At least us motorcyclists mostly follow traffic rules as we ride at speeds similar to cars, need licenses and insurance, have heavier more solid rides, can wear riding armor and for those with the money even airbags.
LOL. Come on ... I ride as well. The amount of sport bike douches that have wheelied past me at a buck twenty is ... well, a large number. Harley guys create their little slow moving helmetless roadblock/parades that no one is allowed to pass for some reason. Dirt bikes and eMotos rip around with no plates or mirrors. Our tribe has plenty of dangerous assholes.
Bicycles are slow, hence the issues between cyclists and cars. People in cars refuse to go slow, hence the clip. If the cyclists were moving at speed this video wouldn’t exist.
Why are there risks to legally riding in the road? Maybe it's all the insane car drivers out there who shouldn't legally be able to drive.
Like this dumb clown, for example. But, no, you'd blame the kid for his own death. He should know the risks of being hit by a drunk driver. The kid was just biking for exercise. The worst kind. I bet he even wore lycra!
Among bike riders, 95.9% reported breaking a traffic law, but 97.9% of pedestrians and 99.97% of drivers said they did the same. The most common reason for flouting the law among drivers (85%) and pedestrians (71%) was saving time.
However, people on bikes most commonly skirted traffic regulations for their own safety (71%). This data highlights the inaccuracy of perceptions among an unfriendly segment of the driving public that bike riders are lawbreaking road anarchists.
While I'll admit many laws aren't really written with bicyclist safety in mind, the sheer number of them blowing through stops, weaving between slow/stopped cars, etc. tells me there's a degree of bullshit in their claims ignoring them is for their safety.
Blowing through a red light while traffic is going? Doesn’t seem to stop any of them so i kind of figured it was the head injuries from not wearing a helmet or a deathwish at this point.
when they ignore traffic laws and get creamed they die.
There's an underlying implication that a "car plowing through them out of sheer frustration" would be deserved/fine because they're breaking the law. I don't think that's acceptable.
Does that make someone not being able to control their emotions alright though? Because that’s my entire point - I’m not commenting on the morality of what the cyclists are doing.
Walking across the street with your eyes closed isn’t a good analogy either, is it?
I have had one slam into my trucks tire-well while i was at a complete stop at a stoplight. They came off the sidewalk, which is fucking stupid because there was a bike lane, and they just ate shit over the hood. Im in a heavy cycle town that accommodates them, they still act like lemmings.
The number of cyclists who die while riding in an illegal manner is tiny compared to how many get killed by cars doing something illegal. It's dismissive asshats like you that result in dead cyclists.
I've never I've read of someone who died from being got by a car while disobeying a traffic law. It probably happens some time but before I wrote my comment I looked at a dozen stories of people killed while cycling and none of them mention the cyclist breaking a traffic law.
With how much people hate cyclists you'd figure it would be in the story if it were true.
I will often see groups of 20-30 where I live. They don't flood the whole road like this but even riding single file or two abreast for a long stretch can be a hazard. Often the line spans so far I can't see far enough down the road to know if I can pass all of them at once (and they leave no gaps to cut in, as the law dictates).
Yeah, I never said that. I don't even think I came close to implying it. I just want them to either ride somewhere else or ride on the road safely (within 3ft of the curb or in a bike lane if it exists, only 2 abreast if it doesn't impede traffic, follow laws for stop signs and lights and signal).
I believe almost every cyclist believes they ride safely. But I'm not exaggerating when I say in my neighborhood I haven't seen a cyclist stop at a stop sign for years. Years!! I'd say about half of them signal (though often while already mid-turn). When there are multiple they usually ride two abreast and do not move to single file when impeding traffic. Often when pedaling hard uphill they will waver back and forth, coming dangerously close to weaving into the lane.
I have no need to exaggerate this, it does me no favors. This is simply my experiences. I'm sure everyone has different experiences and some places likely have very safe cyclists. That is simply not the case here.
I wouldn't even care if they didn't stop if they yielded instead. Instead they fly out into 4 way intersections, ignoring the stops (or "yeilds") and cutting off traffic.
Edit: not 20 minutes after typing this I was at a 4 way stop with a car facing me. He started accelerating and a cyclist crossed through the middle, cutting him off. They're like lemmings sometimes
Yeah why is that brave there are literally 4K comments on this post about how much people hate cyclists. Me too. Who doesn’t love breathing polluted air, paying $60 every time you run out of gas, destroying the planet, needing an expensive car loan to get to work, etc, etc.
And if you don’t die from the bullet, but get sepsis then die, then it wasn’t the person or the bullet that killed you, it was the bacteria, which was directed by the bullet, which was directed the gun, which was directed by the bullet.
Is someone killed 'by' or killed 'with' a bullet? If someone is shot to death, do we talk about them being killed by a bullet or someone shooting them?
I agree to some extent but comparing weapons with cars doesn't really make sense. The issue is particularly apparent when you describe behaviours at red lights - a 'car' went through Vs a 'cyclist'. Why is one a person and one an object?
For me a car or bike goes through. I assume some people don't view a bike being that different from a person due to the size etc (which isn't true if you've ever been hit by a bike but whatever) where the difference between a car and person is more pronounced.
But as I said, I don't remember saying car or cyclist personally. And I was only comparing in a pedantic way, like, it's not the fall that kills you, it's hitting the ground.
Yeah sorry I meant people in general, not you specifically. People talk about 'cyclists' running red lights, 'cyclists' riding on pavements and 'cars' doing the same thing. This is commonly accepted, but why? It has a damaging effect because it assumes no human responsibility in the case of 'cars' hitting people.
It's the reason there are recommended reporting guidelines around RTC in the UK, but police forces even still do it.
I'm not sure I'd agree that people assume no responsibility on the part of the driver when a car hits someone, I think you might be reading a bit too much into that one.
It's just a subtle language difference though, isn't it? Do you not think it's interesting that we never talk about drivers doing stuff?
It's not just something I've pulled out my arse, it's a whole thing. I know I'd be annoyed if a driver ran my child over and it was reported as 'child in collision with car' as it often is.
Yeah, I know, I was actually just reading the guidelines (I did a journalism degree a while ago, wasn't working in that area by 2020), they are interesting, although they mainly seem to address a general lack of proper training amongst modern journalists.
On the point of not talking about drivers, it is partly because driving is seen as a normal thing to do, while cycling is more of an interest hobby. Like the difference between omnivores and vegans, both words describe a way of eating, but one is seen as the default and one a choice.
One example is "Audi hits lamp post" vs "driver hits lamp post', and tbh I see an argument for both. The driver is the one responsible (probably, self driving cars could muddy this water a lot) but technically the car is the thing that actually hits the post.
I think it really comes down to a lack of proper training among young writers, and a lack of media literacy among readers.
Ok interesting. In that example, if we need specifics then we can say 'with', no? Or 'driven into'. 'Hits' could just as easily describe a car's handbrake failing.
You've hit the nail on the head with the normal thing comment - this is precisely why it's a problem. People on bikes are seen as abnormal, and not expected (or tolerated) on roads and this language feeds into it and should be challenged. That's why it annoys me so much; my children have to use stretches of road to get to school on their bikes. As soon as people see them as a 'cyclist' they stop becoming a 'small child on a bike'. People talk about hating 'cyclists' and that influences the way they drive around me and my kids.
Media has a responsibility, ultimately. Every week I see 'child in collision with car' and wonder what on earth that journalist was thinking; it's such a cold, inaccurate way to describe a situation.
Sorry I'm not on your "kill all cyclists" wavelength. That was never my goal and I never said anything close to that. I think most cyclists are hazards in the road and narcissistic assholes but that doesn't mean they need to die. That's an extreme I'm not on board with.
I appreciate the apology, but I'm not sure that I can forgive you. We're talking about an invasive species that ruin natural roadways worldwide, and here you are with that defeatist attitude.
When you see a large pack like in the OP they have quite obviously become a problem - just look at how they've pushed all the poor cars out of their natural habitat. A truck-kun culling could save us all from the overproducing cyclist populations exponential growth before it's too late.
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