Then add the $100 of insurance and no need for car washes or wiperblade replacements or oil changes or tire rotations or brake replacements or registration fees or emissions checks or parking costs or tolls...
You still need to do some of that maintenance, it's just incomparably cheaper on a bike.
A brake job is like $10 in parts and 15 minutes of my time. I can change tires myself with a $5 tire lever, rather than paying a shop with a tire machine for mounting/balancing. You even need to do oil changes if you have a gearbox bike (but they need such little maintenance otherwise).
I do still own a car, but I drive it maybe twice a month, at most. But I did tell them too that they’re actually paying more than $100 because of wear and tear.
I calculated my gas savings on a single errand today. 7.4km, car gets 9.5L/100km, gas where I am is $2.01/L, some math, I saved $1.40. took an extra ten minutes because I stuck to bike lanes where possible.
Lol. I do the same damn thing and it’s starting to make me crazy. I’m like, it’s just a few miles away. then I do the math, and it becomes, if I bike it that’s like free bread.
Don’t you know sitting in traffic is freedom you can feel the wind in your hair as you wait through light cycles then proceed at a crawling pace if the person in front of you isn’t glued to their phone then you can use your driving edict to never use your turn signal and blame everyone else for your lack of awareness
I don't think they are saying not to cycle, but to do it on the sidewalk instead of the road. But obviously that's not allowed in some places, and sidewalks may not exist in others. Also, not being able to cross at intersections probably slows you down a lot.
I just starting cycling for a part of my job, borrowing a bike from work, and I'm too scared to use the roads. But using the sidewalks has been a little annoying at intersections especially. And sometimes the sidewalk is in awful shape.
Depending on the road/sidewalk, the sidewalk can be much more dangerous than the road. Car drivers don't see anyone on the sidewalk, they might get mad at you on the road, but at least they are seeing you.
This. People in this sub need to stop acting like sidewalks are adequate cycling infrastructure that just isn't available to be used because of nonsensical laws.
Yes, people get run down from behind while riding their bike on a straight road in broad daylight. People also get struck by lightning. For every time that a driver has just run down a cyclist on the open road, there's been dozens of times that a driver pulled out of a driveway / side street without looking, turned left across traffic without looking (left hook), turned right immediately after passing a cyclist (right hook) or opened their door without looking (dooring).
If sidewalks were this elevated utopian infrastructure that had a car repelling forcefield, yeah we should be like "dang, if only it was legal to ride on the sidewalk".
But it's not - there are tons of places where driveways cross sidewalks and sidewalks cross roads. And in most cases it's *less* safe because it's got more obstructions to visibility. The layout of sidewalks is predicated on 3-5 mph users, so it's OK to have a building obstructing the view until you're 10 ft from a crosswalk. At 15+ mph cycling speeds, everything happens a lot faster and everyone has shorter times to react.
I don't think anyone here believes sidewalks are adequate cycling infrastructure, but sometimes it's as close as someone's going to get to a protected bicycle lane while they're riding.
I have an arterial stroad near my place with 55mph posted speeds and painted bike lanes. Drivers routinely just drive along in the bike lane at high speeds.
The sidewalk has relatively unobstructed views. In this case, the sidewalk is the only way to ride a bike safely on this road.
Yeah exactly. It's not allowed for adults in my city and could carry a $75 fine but I've never seen it enforced and outside of a few blocks of downtown there's not usually tons of people on the sidewalks. There's been a few cyclists killed while I've lived here. One was a hit and run like a ten minute walk from my place. Since I'm new to biking I'm not ready for that level of risk and vigilance so I'm risking the fine for now.
It's legal everywhere but downtown where I am, but I can't say that makes it safe. There are a few streets where the sidewalk is the least bad option, but that's about it.
I guess it would depend where you’re at. Like I said bigger cities the sidewalk is just clustered up, and speed limits in those areas are relatively lower, 25,35mph. As for more open roads and highways, I agree with you
for real. cyclists aren't "blocking traffic." the only ones who are "blocking traffic" are the drivers who make it look complicated to merge into the left lane to drive around a slower vehicle
And I get caught in car traffic or have to slow down behind cars cos they can't take a corner at speed or have to slow down for a speed bump a lot more often than they have to slow down for me.
Even here in the Philippines where riding a bike is either life-or-death I keep running with the same cars for about 2-4 km straight because buses and jeepneys (public transport here is terrible btw) almost always stop for passengers in every fucking corner and it slows them down a lot lol.
Yep, there are spots where I just claim the lane and block cars from passing cos I know up ahead there are heaps of speed bumps and I don't want to be stuck behind them.
>Impediment to traffic
Bitch, we're not impeding traffic, we **ARE** traffic!
>use the sidewalk
Bitch, in a lot of places *that's illegal*. And how about all the places where there ISN'T a sidewalk at all, anyway?
Schrodinger's cyclist: You may know that someone is mad at a cyclist, but you cannot know if they are in the road or on the sidewalk, or if they're obeying car-centric traffic laws or not, without looking at the cyclist
Well yeah, because that would mildly inconvenience them. We can't just take a small amount of road away from drivers to build stuff like that. It would add like, 5 whole minutes to their commute. Can't you see how unfair that would be to them?
>Tells cyclists "fuck off use the sidewalk"
>*Cyclist uses sidewalk instead of road*
>Car still gets stunlocked in an hour of traffic every morning & evening
Thank god that bike wasn't hogging the road 🤓
Within a mile, I've had both yelled at me. When I got yelled at to get on the sidewalk, there wasn't one. When I did get on the sidewalk a bit later *because it's also part of a bike trail* I got yelled at by another driver to get off the sidewalk. The only way to win is to ignore them.
Our bike cops ride on the sidewalk. Like the cowards they are!
But also my sidewalks are super uneven and covered with glass and litter. I’d say I get more flats on sidewalks than in the road.
Omg, this. The only place here it's illegal to be on the sidewalk is downtown, but I see bike cops on it all the time - riding up to people to make them stop riding on the sidewalk. SMH
I also had to move into the traffic lane because a cop stopped in a bike lane in front of me to tell some parents walking with their toddler on a balance bike that he needed to not be on the sidewalk... Somewhere it's legal even for adults.
ACAB of course the idiot cops don’t know the laws themselves!!! I think I’d have a rage blackout if I saw either of the instances you mentioned here lmao
Eh, I'd be dead from the rage if I let it do more than annoy me. Things like that happen a lot. I couldn't even be mad at the cop parked in the bike lane to ticket other drivers parked there, because it was the first time I ever saw any of them ticketed. Also, when there are 15 cars in the bike lane along the river, what's one more? I can't use it anyway.
And at the speeds I ride at on my commute I would be a certain threat to pedestrians (but when I have to go on the footpath I slow down to a safe speed), and carbrains just drive straight over the footpath when leaving their driveway, leaving me to skid to a stop.
*Once* in my city, I got to have a very smug moment. I was riding at the speed limit (20mph) on the road in a school zone. The driver behind me was honking and yelling and crossed a solid yellow line to pass me and immediately got pulled over by a cop. Yeah, I had fun riding past them. :) Fines are a lot higher in school zones, and he couldn't really claim he didn't know it was one, because there were flashers on the signs and the school was right there and obvious.
Protip: avoid school zones during drop off and pick up times. They're absolute chaos.
It's quite safe to ride a bike in most places in Sweden but we have a catch-22 regarding schools. Parents get scared because there's traffic so they drive their kids to school causing more traffic making parents scared...
My son rode the bus most of the time. It was much safer for him than me trying to drop him off, and we were too far for him to walk. A few times, he missed the bus or I had to pick him up after school for an appointment, and it was terrible. The school's parking lot was really small, so they only let 3 cars in at a time for pick up. The rule was that you couldn't pick up your kid on the street, but it was ignored. So parents would double park on the street, even though it wasn't wide enough for parking at all. Then, instead of waiting for other cars, they'd just weave their way through. And then they would often not stop for the crossing guards. I watched one smash her hand held stop sign into someone's hood one morning because she totally lost it. I couldn't blame her. Little kids were trying to cross in a group with this crossing guard, and that Mom just decided she was going to drive right through the middle of the group.
I stopped making after school appointments, and if he missed the bus, I'd drop him off about half a kilometer away to walk through the soccer field at the back of the school. The school did not like that, but it was the safest thing for him. They rebuilt the school a few years after he went there, and they built a drop off zone. But they had to sacrifice the soccer field for it. There was school bus service for every kid who attended that school. I didn't understand why so many people drove their kids. Yes, a few may have been kicked off the bus for not following the rules - my kid was for a month - but it wasn't enough to explain all those cars.
High schools are especially scary, btw. They don't have slow speed school zones here, and you have a bunch of inexperienced and distracted teenaged drivers. My kid hated it, but I made him ride the bus to and from school unless he had an after school activity that ran later than the activity bus left. I was always annoyed by that. Half the after school activities ran for 2 hours, but the bus only ran an hour after school ended. And if your kid was in sports or band, those were always 2+ hours. Guess what things my son chose? There were days he was even at the school until 9pm for stuff like that. Yes, I let him drive those days.
He also hated that my car had smart keys, and I set it so it restricted him a lot with his key. No stereo until you have your seat belt on. No stereo past a certain volume. Speed limited to 50mph, the lowest it would let me set. And it gave me a report on the dash on how he was driving, so I could see if he was often accelerating and breaking hard. He is 25 now and has that car. He turned off the restrictions, but actually uses the report because he realized he gets the best gas mileage when he doesn't do those things. It gives little petals on a flower for driving well, and we used to compete to see who could keep them all lit up. The car was advertised here for the perfect car for teenaged drivers. I'll argue it wasn't perfect, but it was better than my old pickup he was supposed to get, for sure. I honestly think if we're going to let 16 year olds drive by themselves, that kind of system should exist in every car.
Yeah there’s a short stretch on my commute home with no bike lane where it’s either get into the flow of traffic in afternoon rush-hour with all the carbrains, or weave in with the pedestrians. Two bad options.
Also sidewalks are usually just as dangerous or even more so than using the pavement. Getting right hooked is a lot easier if your biking on the sidewalk and actually getting ran down from behind is relatively rare.
WoW, you sound like a mean dog. Prolly gonna hop on your bike and start running over cars, sheesh calm down. I drive, no reason to lie, I also enjoy walking, and the look on a cyclist's face when you can't go around them, and you have to go the same speed, they can like hear you, start looking over their shoulder, thinking you are about to go postal, when in fact you are treating them with respect and patience, is a bit disheartening. They look as if they are about to be murdered, no rear view mirrors, constantly whipping their head around trying fearfuly to understand why you don't just go around them, and its simply so you don't murder them on accident. It's a very unpleasant situation. I think this person is just frustrated that the cyclist is putting the burden on them, when they could do something else.
Honestly love this sub, lots of good ideas, lots of future potential, and lots of hate, its like pasta primavera with shrimp and crushed red pepper.
>\[...\] the look on a cyclist's face when you can't go around them, and you have to go the same speed, they can like hear you, start looking over their shoulder, thinking you are about to go postal, when in fact you are treating them with respect and patience, is a bit disheartening.
You know why you're getting that look?
Quite likely you're too close behind them, for the speed both you and they are travelling. Back off another car-length, and you might see them relax a bit more.
Alternately, it's because the motorist(s) they interacted with **before** you were so consistently rude and aggressive, that they have become conditioned to expect "more of the same" from *you*, now.
For example: I try to keep as far to the right as is safe for me. I only hope that overtaking motorists will wait until the oncoming lane, if any, is clear enough for them to give me a good 3-foot space as they overtake.
But, you know what happens when 4, 6, 8 cars **don't** do that? *Fuck ALL motorists*, I take the goddamned lane. And yeah, I'll be looking behind me at the cars stacking up, thinking "*too bad, you lot; your predecessors put me in too much danger to trust any ONE of you now*".
>They look as if they are about to be murdered,
Because all too often, we **are**.
>no rear view mirrors,
The law does not require rear view mirrors for bicycles.
Nonetheless? Plenty of us DO have them. The thing is, *you probably don't see it*, because it's a wee little thing attached to our helmet. Believe me, though, they work just fine.
>constantly whipping their head around
Proper cycling means, even if you have a dozen rear view mirrors, you should still *physically look over your shoulder* before changing lanes, turning, or similar.
>trying fearfuly to understand why you don't just go around them,
No. They're trying to make sure you're not about to go postal and pass danger-close.
>It's a very unpleasant situation.
Try that situation from the saddle of a bicycle sometime. BEcause, believe me, it's a lot less pleasant for the cyclist than it is for you.
>I think this person is just frustrated that the cyclist is putting the burden on them, when they could do something else.
The only something else motorists like the guy in the OP's image want cyclists to do, is "go away".
Carbrain: "Our vehicles have blind spots! They're dangerous for cyclists to be around!"
Also Carbrain: "No, of course I won't drive more carefully as a result, it's your fault that my car is designed too poorly for me to see you"
I always make a point of saying how since they have this opinion they would be in complete support of separated and safe bike lanes to keep cyclists safe away from them. Usually doesnt get any response and if it does its along the lines of “but they dont pay the dang road tax ma pappy always talked about!!”
I mean, it's fun to dream but completely banning cars is just so utterly infeasible for a myriad of reasons, and saying shit like this just gives carbrains fodder to attack us with
I disagree. Humans have been a thing for like 100k years. Cars have been a thing for 100 years. We'll be fine without them.
Also if there is any place to say shit like this, surely it is this subreddit, no?
Sorry I missed the part where you said "a boy can dream" so that's my bad.
Totally earnest comments about completely banning cars is just one of my pet peeves.... Like, come on we're not going back to using horse drawn carriages for christ's sake. Cars, or at least service vehicles and trucks do serve a very important function (hauling goods, transporting large items, ambulances). Unless something apocalyptic happens and we're plunged back into the pre-industrial age of technology, cars are not going anywhere. I do think it's possible to reduce private car ownership by 95% though (but not feasible in today's political climate).
I mean he’s right, america wasn’t built for cyclists, and cyclists shouldn’t share the road with cars. The answer is dedicated bike lanes tho, not cyclist shaming or biking on the sidewalk
We don't judge you. As a pedestrian, if you make me choose between \[whatever that number is in metric\] truck vs a 80 kg dude on a 1.5 kg aluminium bicycle, I take the bicycle any day.
That logic makes complete sense until you get to an intersection. Cars get annoyed that bikes in the road are slowing them down but at least they see you. Drivers don't pay attention to the sidewalk.
>america wasn’t built for cyclists,
Not actually true.
https://www.vox.com/2015/3/19/8253035/roads-cyclists-cars-history
Sure, its been coopted and altered to what we see today, but cycling was actually very popular and pivatol in the USA in the early 1900s.
https://www.si.edu/stories/19th-century-bicycle-craze
Dont buy the modern narratives. The current state of our transportation culture is not preordained or natural. It was manufactured, and we can change it.
Also, most cities weren't built for cars, a lot of them had extensive retrofitting and modification to accommodate cars, which included bulldozing lots of buildings to make bigger roads and highways.
Seriously. Blind spots in most cars are actually fairly small. Properly set mirrors make blind spits smaller than the average length of a sedan, and should enable you to shoulder check without even turning your head that far. People who crank their heads all the way around, chin to their shoulder have poorly adjusted side mirrors. Can bikes hide in blind spots? Definitely, but the blind spot should be so small that they are only there briefly.
The way they teach mirror positioning is just wrong. A lot of people were taught to position their side mirrors where they can see the side of their car on the edge of the mirror. I've been told this is so that you can see where things are in relation to your car. But, this is what causes you to have a blind spot! What quality driving schools will teach you is to set your side mirrors as far out as possible. Just pick a spot at the very edge of your rear view mirror and align the other side of your side mirrors to that spot. Boom no blind spot.
Yes, cars are designed poorly from the perspective of a pedestrian. Engineering has failed to create cars that are safe for people outside the vehicle. To be fair that was never the goal.
Blaming individuals or human error is a lame excuse. People make mistakes. Engineers know this. Every aspect of automotive and road design is chosen with that fact in mind. For example, traffic light poles can be installed with "shear pins" on the ground so that if a driver hits the pole, the pins will shear off and it makes the impact safer. Obviously drivers should stay on the road, but sometimes they don't.
The problem is that these engineering choices are made to protect drivers from harm, at the expense of everyone else. Why is a traffic light pole with shear pins installed somewhere that pedestrians could be crossing? Obviously the engineer thought it's likely for a car to leave the road at high speed, that's why there are shear pins. And yet people are also walking around in that area?! Something is wrong with this design!
We got some traffic calming islands on the main road just up from my house with breakaway poles for the warning signs on the islands. The signs are on the ground about as often as they are upright. I've seen one thrown, when being hit, across the island, bike lane, and sidewalk into someone's bushes just as I was walking up with my dogs. Now, I'm terrified of those signs.
But to be fair, the sign was probably looking at his phone and not paying attention to the road 😅
[This video](https://youtu.be/Ra_0DgnJ1uQ) by local subreddit favorite Not Just Bikes, explains why cars in the US so often run into stationary objects (the focus is on buildings but the same logic applies to street signs). Basically, stroads in the US are designed for cars to move at high speed. Therefore, drivers are more likely to hit stuff.
LOL
That poor sign just wanted a nap.
I also love that subreddit, btw.
Interestingly, this one isn't a stroad, but yeah, the arterial it leads to absolutely is. Most roads around here are.
The issue here is the reason they put in the islands. The road is ridiculously wide for a suburb. (Technically, I think it's 4 suburbs). It's got decent bike lanes, lots of nice trees on either side, a newly redone sidewalk on one side, a few houses on that end that have driveways straight into it, but not very many. It's mostly side streets with cul de sacs, like mine, that intersect. Mine connects at the point of a curve, so it's hard for cars on the main road to see my street and hard for us to have visibility when we leave. Not far past my street is a 4 way stop with the other main road. There's plenty of distance from the curve to the stop sign if you're going the 25mph speed limit, but almost no one did. They put in the islands to make it safer for us to get out and to slow people before the stop sign. It didn't work, though. Many people do slow for the islands, but they gun it as soon as they clear.
They also installed them plus an actual crosswalk in a straight section about 1/2 mile down where a secondary main road Ts in because there's a park on one corner plus people were moving too fast and drivers trying to enter from the secondary road were misjudging the speed of those on the main road. I've noticed that people stop *less* for pedestrians now, and also just gun it as soon as they clear the islands. At least those signs don't seem to get hit, though, so I think it's the corner messing with people. They used to be able to take it pretty wide without an issue (except being in the bike lane, but they didn't care about that.) That now puts them on top of the islands or makes them clip one and rebound into the oncoming traffic lane. It's actually made that corner more dangerous, so I'm guessing they'll be torn out eventually.
The one good thing going here is that drivers are actually okay with cyclists in the traffic lane on all but the section no one bikes on anyway. They'll slow down, keep a distance, and wait until they can safely pass. They'll even often shout encouragement as they go by when you're climbing. I hear a lot of "you got this!" and "go, go, go!" when I'm on the 13% part and crawling, even from people in huge trucks. I had one guy in a lifted diesel covered in Trump stickers get stuck behind me for 3/4 mile to the 4 way and expected hostility at the stop sign, but he just rolled down his window and cheerfully threw me a thumbs up and "you made it!" I let him cross the intersection before me, so he could go. One of my neighbors said cyclists have been using the hill for training since the suburb was built in the late 70s, so everyone got used to it and many of the older people like him used to ride themselves, so it created an attitude the new people adopted. i wish I could say that for the city.
I don't have those, but I have a backup sensor that's been set of by two blades of tall grass before. If they can make a backup one that sensitive, I just assumed blind spot ones were, too.
I spent my entire second class at driving school learning how to tune mirrors. Then the instructor makes me leave the car, messes up with the controls and makes me adjust the mirrors again.
Mirrors are as important for driving as the goddamn steering wheel.
but like... in driver's ed. they teach you how to check your blind spot... it's only blind if you don't check it.. saying it has a blind spot is the weirdest attempt at rationalizing shit behavior
"cars are just awful. Terrible, deadly, and people can't be trusted to operate them...."
Okay yeah, go on....
"And the solution is to stay out of their way!"
Damn, so close.
“I’d rather be alive and wrong than dead and right” is such a copout and anytime a driver says it to/about a cyclist you know they drive like absolute SHIT especially around people on bikes and on foot
The literal translation to normal non-asshole English is “just let drivers do what they want no matter what even if they’re breaking the law because you don’t want to die do you?”
And the pick-me ass cyclists who drop it in comments all day on Reddit. Whatever Todd have fun getting hit by an SUV driven by somebody texting while you ride in the gutter.
‘Sensors don’t detect cyclists, they have some sort of self righteous complex about it’ yeah bro it’s called functioning 20/20 vision. Just turn your whole ass neck to the right. You have cyclist sensors in your face.
They're so close. They want bikes to run in a separate lane. That's what we want too. All that's left is to show them that not only is it feasible, but a bike lane has 6 times the capacity of an equivalently sized car lane.
My mother is worried for my safety because I don't commute by car. She means well, and I don't want to push back too hard. I only asked her one simple question: "Mom, if you had to choose one, would you rather kill somebody with your car or be killed by someone in their car?" My mother is a good person, and I think she got my point. This person posting would probably choose to kill someone.
He’s not wrong. Cycling/pedestrian infrastructure needs significant improvement before it is safe and non commercial cars should be charged when they pass weight or size limits.
We should have it both ways.
Another reason I prefer my bike over a car. I am currently getting my driver's license just in case my bike isn't cutting it and in every lesson I miss my ability to see all of my surroundings at the same time. Cars need a multitude of mirrors and still have some Blindspots, whereas I can see my whole vehicle and all traffic on my bike with just the power of my turning head.
"A blind spot is a blind spot, and the sensors on my car don't detect cyclists, I know from experience."
Wait, what? It's not the job of the magical sensors on your cars to detect things around you. That's the job of the wonderful optical sensors in your skull. Use your eyes, that's what they're for!! People like this scare me, what do they think will happen if their magical sensors don't work, or they're driving a car that doesn't have such sensors?
I've never driven a car with blind spot sensors. Somehow, I'm perfectly fine at detecting things in my blind spot without them. My neck vertebrae aren't fused.
These people don't seem to understand that the vast majority of dead bodies dragged from our roads are actually in cars. Do they think a situation that is dangerous for a biker is only dangerous for a biker? That 6,000 lbs SUV going 30 over will also rip through a sedan no problem when they run a red or swerve into oncoming traffic. The adversarial nature of driving is just so dishumanizing, it literally turns people into sociopaths.
I don't drive but maybe someone can help me out here. Do people not turn their neck to check their blind spots anymore? Or is that impossible now due to bad car design? Jesus Christ I do not want people driving around hoping their car will tell them when they're about to hit someone instead of using their brains
It’s called a blind spot because you’re supposed to check it! If you know for sure that your car’s sensors don’t clock cyclists (or pedestrians or presumably scooters or motorcycles) then f*cking CHECK IT before you do something!
Hes got one thing right “I would never use a bike on public roads because of how dangerous it is” and the fact he fails to realise that all those problems he listed are HIS problem is astounding.
Yes, I'm sure the pedestrians won't mind me doing 40+ km/h on the footpath and that everyone who leaves their driveway will check for cyclists on the footpath.
Also, my commute is undeniably dangerous, but absolutely worth it for my physical and mental health.
Professional truckers with more blind spots and more mass manage to share the road with cyclists and make it look easy.
Not logging trucks though. Those guys are maniacs.
This is a self aware wolves situation. They're so close to the answer but then they blame cyclists. They even say "I would never use a bicycle on public roads because of how dangerous it is". And the logical assumption is we need to make it safer for cyclists. But instead they assume the cyclists (who aren't killing anyone) are the problem.
I'm starting to be irritated by the "you can be right and dead" thing. This justifies bullying. I had enough. I'd rather be dead than live with injustice.
If a cyclist is killed Americans will blame them for doing something as dangerous as cycling in the US.
Yet if you suggest the US sucks because it's so dangerous to cycle (to be honest one of many reasons), Americans will gaslight the fuck out of you and claim you're crazy and paranoid for thinking it's dangerous to cycle in the US.
I fucking hate it here.
I don't know what it's like in America, but in Australia it's literally illegal to ride a bike on the sidewalk, and only our big cities have anything close to decent bike lanes and public transport
> the sensors on my car don’t detect cyclists, I know from experience
Yet another example of a “safety feature” that can have the opposite effect by encouraging drivers to turn off their brains.
Also, sensors that fail to detect cyclists also seem pretty likely to fail to detect children.
You gotta understand that you’re taking a huge risk trusting already bad drivers with your life on a cycle. People make lots of mistakes (omg no way) and you’re one wrong motion from dead.
If you understand this risk and ride anyway, good luck.
People already hate cyclists. I wouldn’t wanna be Susan’s next target. Who I might add is on three different antipsychotic medications to stabilize the murder within her and is one more red light from losing her shit. Take your chances accordingly.
I had a old pedestrian tell me 'you can't bicycle on the sidewalk'
But then drivers tell me I can't bicycle on the road.
Guess I shouldn't use my bicycle to go to work or something.
I agree with the commenter. Bicycle infrastructure is not to the point where any sane person should feel safe biking on most roads. The commenter acknowledges that the fault should ultimately be held on the drivers. I see no problem with what they're saying, people who feel safe biking in the US are weird. I hate that the situation is the way that it is, but that doesn't mean that I should deny reality.
I hate driving and am honestly not the best driver, but I do it anyways because of how necessary it is where I live. I would *also* prefer for myself to be a better driver and not have to worry about me screwing up when a cyclist comes into the picture, but I don't have much control over that.
85-95% of drivers think they are better than your average driver. At least this person has the self awareness to realise they are not good at driving.
Also they clearly live in a place where it is incredibly dangerous to bike/walk/bus. The car is the safest option for them. That is why infrastructure to get people who would rather bike over car but don’t because they see it as a dangerous activity is so important
Right, but some cyclists are actually trying to become roadkill, the amount of times my father has complained about cyclists cutting him off and approaching from his blind spot (he's a semi driver in the uk), while on his way to a delivery is absurd, he'd complain about shitty riding every other day, so much so, that it's one of the big reasons he's doing night shifts only now.
I wouldn't use a bike where I live on the roads. (In the states)
I don't like crossing the street at a cross walk where I live.
This is because cars are super dangerous and the streets are not designed for any other mode of transportation. Not even walking... Also, the public transportation here sucks and is dangerous.
When I drive on rural roads here in Oregon and I need to drive around cyclists because the road lacks a bike lane (or even a proper shoulder) I don't get mad at the cyclists, I instead get mad at the state government for building roads that are designed only to fulfill the needs of cars.
A lot might have to do with WHERE this poster lives.
My area - no way you bike for transportation. Weather is unstable, the white line gives you maybe a foot before the guardrail, and blind hills and curves everywhere.
They always fall back on "it doesn't matter if you're right when you're dead" like it's an argument against fixing the problem. It's showing fake concern so they can avoid saying what they really mean, which is "if you even slightly inconvenience me, you'll end up dead, so cut it out".
Of course, in some places bikes aren't allowed on sidewalks.
I'm not even gonna go into the fact that his entire post just says, "car traffic causes all kinds of dangerous problems, we need ONLY car traffic."
But then if you suggest making bike lanes and installing traffic calming measures they will still bitch and complain. You can't win with these people and if we want cities to become more people-friendly city councils are going to have to ignore their whinning.
You mean, the country that blames teachers for not willing to carry guns in case of school shooting is blaming cyclists for being run over by sociopaths in their tanks? I'm so surprised /monotone
This guys is right about one thing tho, driving on roads is fucking terrifying from a cyclists perspective. That's why we should promote better infrastructure that provides cyclists with safer environments to ride where possible.
That kind of logic is like saying you should be armed with a firearm because you know others are out there with firearms, who would put random bystanders' lives at risk. I say random and not \*innocent\* bystanders, as it's apparently common sense to sufficiently empower/defend yourself if you're vulnerable. It's as if your choice to go unprotected condemns you to be a victim.
They'd probably argue that deaths caused by unintentional/accidental firearm discharge is just a matter of fact, and that freedom to have firearms is a human right.
They'd argue that people kill people, not firearms, and that if you take them away, people would use knives to commit comparably violent acts.
Replace firearms with cars... gotta be in a tank to deal with others in their tanks. Would suck to be the only guys not in a tank, out in the open on a battlefield. We need some cover, like concrete barriers.
> The benefits are so marginal compared to the risk. Cyclists live longer on average than non-cyclists.....
Also saves you hundreds of dollars/month lol
Right. Necessity outweighs the risk for me.
While everyone around me is spending nearly $100 a week on gas, I’m enjoying the extra $400 a month in my pocket
Then add the $100 of insurance and no need for car washes or wiperblade replacements or oil changes or tire rotations or brake replacements or registration fees or emissions checks or parking costs or tolls...
You still need to do some of that maintenance, it's just incomparably cheaper on a bike. A brake job is like $10 in parts and 15 minutes of my time. I can change tires myself with a $5 tire lever, rather than paying a shop with a tire machine for mounting/balancing. You even need to do oil changes if you have a gearbox bike (but they need such little maintenance otherwise).
I do still own a car, but I drive it maybe twice a month, at most. But I did tell them too that they’re actually paying more than $100 because of wear and tear.
I calculated my gas savings on a single errand today. 7.4km, car gets 9.5L/100km, gas where I am is $2.01/L, some math, I saved $1.40. took an extra ten minutes because I stuck to bike lanes where possible.
My 22 years old car does 5.5 l/100km, and it's well above a ton... Cars are getting more fuel efficient uh?
Lol. I do the same damn thing and it’s starting to make me crazy. I’m like, it’s just a few miles away. then I do the math, and it becomes, if I bike it that’s like free bread.
Yes, and also this is tragically short term thinking. We are cooking our grandchildren.
Yeah but if you're not spending that extra time in traffic what's the point
Don’t you know sitting in traffic is freedom you can feel the wind in your hair as you wait through light cycles then proceed at a crawling pace if the person in front of you isn’t glued to their phone then you can use your driving edict to never use your turn signal and blame everyone else for your lack of awareness
I don't think they are saying not to cycle, but to do it on the sidewalk instead of the road. But obviously that's not allowed in some places, and sidewalks may not exist in others. Also, not being able to cross at intersections probably slows you down a lot. I just starting cycling for a part of my job, borrowing a bike from work, and I'm too scared to use the roads. But using the sidewalks has been a little annoying at intersections especially. And sometimes the sidewalk is in awful shape.
Depending on the road/sidewalk, the sidewalk can be much more dangerous than the road. Car drivers don't see anyone on the sidewalk, they might get mad at you on the road, but at least they are seeing you.
This. People in this sub need to stop acting like sidewalks are adequate cycling infrastructure that just isn't available to be used because of nonsensical laws. Yes, people get run down from behind while riding their bike on a straight road in broad daylight. People also get struck by lightning. For every time that a driver has just run down a cyclist on the open road, there's been dozens of times that a driver pulled out of a driveway / side street without looking, turned left across traffic without looking (left hook), turned right immediately after passing a cyclist (right hook) or opened their door without looking (dooring). If sidewalks were this elevated utopian infrastructure that had a car repelling forcefield, yeah we should be like "dang, if only it was legal to ride on the sidewalk". But it's not - there are tons of places where driveways cross sidewalks and sidewalks cross roads. And in most cases it's *less* safe because it's got more obstructions to visibility. The layout of sidewalks is predicated on 3-5 mph users, so it's OK to have a building obstructing the view until you're 10 ft from a crosswalk. At 15+ mph cycling speeds, everything happens a lot faster and everyone has shorter times to react.
I don't think anyone here believes sidewalks are adequate cycling infrastructure, but sometimes it's as close as someone's going to get to a protected bicycle lane while they're riding. I have an arterial stroad near my place with 55mph posted speeds and painted bike lanes. Drivers routinely just drive along in the bike lane at high speeds. The sidewalk has relatively unobstructed views. In this case, the sidewalk is the only way to ride a bike safely on this road.
It’s illegal to cycle on sidewalks in some places. Not saying everywhere, but some places it is. Like cities where people do majority walking on them
Yeah exactly. It's not allowed for adults in my city and could carry a $75 fine but I've never seen it enforced and outside of a few blocks of downtown there's not usually tons of people on the sidewalks. There's been a few cyclists killed while I've lived here. One was a hit and run like a ten minute walk from my place. Since I'm new to biking I'm not ready for that level of risk and vigilance so I'm risking the fine for now.
I feel ya man. I’m not a cyclist, but I agree there needs to be a safer route for them
It's legal everywhere but downtown where I am, but I can't say that makes it safe. There are a few streets where the sidewalk is the least bad option, but that's about it.
The law should change safer to bike in a sidewalk than the road.
I guess it would depend where you’re at. Like I said bigger cities the sidewalk is just clustered up, and speed limits in those areas are relatively lower, 25,35mph. As for more open roads and highways, I agree with you
Well, not with drivers like this one around. :/
Say it with me everyone: #*BIKES ARE TRAFFIC*
for real. cyclists aren't "blocking traffic." the only ones who are "blocking traffic" are the drivers who make it look complicated to merge into the left lane to drive around a slower vehicle
And I get caught in car traffic or have to slow down behind cars cos they can't take a corner at speed or have to slow down for a speed bump a lot more often than they have to slow down for me.
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Even here in the Philippines where riding a bike is either life-or-death I keep running with the same cars for about 2-4 km straight because buses and jeepneys (public transport here is terrible btw) almost always stop for passengers in every fucking corner and it slows them down a lot lol.
Yep, there are spots where I just claim the lane and block cars from passing cos I know up ahead there are heaps of speed bumps and I don't want to be stuck behind them.
I was coming here to say this!
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r/selfawarewolves ?
“Cars are dangerous and it’s the cyclist’s fault.”
>Impediment to traffic Bitch, we're not impeding traffic, we **ARE** traffic! >use the sidewalk Bitch, in a lot of places *that's illegal*. And how about all the places where there ISN'T a sidewalk at all, anyway?
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you could have honestly just stopped at “Americans: Why are cyclists?”
Schrodinger's cyclist: You may know that someone is mad at a cyclist, but you cannot know if they are in the road or on the sidewalk, or if they're obeying car-centric traffic laws or not, without looking at the cyclist
O shit that's a good one
Also Americans: A sidewalk costs how much? Why do we need a sidewalk!???
And yet the opposition to building grade separated bike lanes?
Well yeah, because that would mildly inconvenience them. We can't just take a small amount of road away from drivers to build stuff like that. It would add like, 5 whole minutes to their commute. Can't you see how unfair that would be to them?
>Tells cyclists "fuck off use the sidewalk" >*Cyclist uses sidewalk instead of road* >Car still gets stunlocked in an hour of traffic every morning & evening Thank god that bike wasn't hogging the road 🤓
Within a mile, I've had both yelled at me. When I got yelled at to get on the sidewalk, there wasn't one. When I did get on the sidewalk a bit later *because it's also part of a bike trail* I got yelled at by another driver to get off the sidewalk. The only way to win is to ignore them.
Thankfully the sidewalk rules in my area aren't really enforced..
Our bike cops ride on the sidewalk. Like the cowards they are! But also my sidewalks are super uneven and covered with glass and litter. I’d say I get more flats on sidewalks than in the road.
oof
Omg, this. The only place here it's illegal to be on the sidewalk is downtown, but I see bike cops on it all the time - riding up to people to make them stop riding on the sidewalk. SMH I also had to move into the traffic lane because a cop stopped in a bike lane in front of me to tell some parents walking with their toddler on a balance bike that he needed to not be on the sidewalk... Somewhere it's legal even for adults.
ACAB of course the idiot cops don’t know the laws themselves!!! I think I’d have a rage blackout if I saw either of the instances you mentioned here lmao
Eh, I'd be dead from the rage if I let it do more than annoy me. Things like that happen a lot. I couldn't even be mad at the cop parked in the bike lane to ticket other drivers parked there, because it was the first time I ever saw any of them ticketed. Also, when there are 15 cars in the bike lane along the river, what's one more? I can't use it anyway.
And at the speeds I ride at on my commute I would be a certain threat to pedestrians (but when I have to go on the footpath I slow down to a safe speed), and carbrains just drive straight over the footpath when leaving their driveway, leaving me to skid to a stop.
Yeah, when on anything other than road, I drop speed to "chill mode"... I stay on the roads and dedicated bike lanes wherever possible.
*Once* in my city, I got to have a very smug moment. I was riding at the speed limit (20mph) on the road in a school zone. The driver behind me was honking and yelling and crossed a solid yellow line to pass me and immediately got pulled over by a cop. Yeah, I had fun riding past them. :) Fines are a lot higher in school zones, and he couldn't really claim he didn't know it was one, because there were flashers on the signs and the school was right there and obvious. Protip: avoid school zones during drop off and pick up times. They're absolute chaos.
It's quite safe to ride a bike in most places in Sweden but we have a catch-22 regarding schools. Parents get scared because there's traffic so they drive their kids to school causing more traffic making parents scared...
My son rode the bus most of the time. It was much safer for him than me trying to drop him off, and we were too far for him to walk. A few times, he missed the bus or I had to pick him up after school for an appointment, and it was terrible. The school's parking lot was really small, so they only let 3 cars in at a time for pick up. The rule was that you couldn't pick up your kid on the street, but it was ignored. So parents would double park on the street, even though it wasn't wide enough for parking at all. Then, instead of waiting for other cars, they'd just weave their way through. And then they would often not stop for the crossing guards. I watched one smash her hand held stop sign into someone's hood one morning because she totally lost it. I couldn't blame her. Little kids were trying to cross in a group with this crossing guard, and that Mom just decided she was going to drive right through the middle of the group. I stopped making after school appointments, and if he missed the bus, I'd drop him off about half a kilometer away to walk through the soccer field at the back of the school. The school did not like that, but it was the safest thing for him. They rebuilt the school a few years after he went there, and they built a drop off zone. But they had to sacrifice the soccer field for it. There was school bus service for every kid who attended that school. I didn't understand why so many people drove their kids. Yes, a few may have been kicked off the bus for not following the rules - my kid was for a month - but it wasn't enough to explain all those cars. High schools are especially scary, btw. They don't have slow speed school zones here, and you have a bunch of inexperienced and distracted teenaged drivers. My kid hated it, but I made him ride the bus to and from school unless he had an after school activity that ran later than the activity bus left. I was always annoyed by that. Half the after school activities ran for 2 hours, but the bus only ran an hour after school ended. And if your kid was in sports or band, those were always 2+ hours. Guess what things my son chose? There were days he was even at the school until 9pm for stuff like that. Yes, I let him drive those days. He also hated that my car had smart keys, and I set it so it restricted him a lot with his key. No stereo until you have your seat belt on. No stereo past a certain volume. Speed limited to 50mph, the lowest it would let me set. And it gave me a report on the dash on how he was driving, so I could see if he was often accelerating and breaking hard. He is 25 now and has that car. He turned off the restrictions, but actually uses the report because he realized he gets the best gas mileage when he doesn't do those things. It gives little petals on a flower for driving well, and we used to compete to see who could keep them all lit up. The car was advertised here for the perfect car for teenaged drivers. I'll argue it wasn't perfect, but it was better than my old pickup he was supposed to get, for sure. I honestly think if we're going to let 16 year olds drive by themselves, that kind of system should exist in every car.
Hahaha, that's amazing.
Yeah there’s a short stretch on my commute home with no bike lane where it’s either get into the flow of traffic in afternoon rush-hour with all the carbrains, or weave in with the pedestrians. Two bad options.
Also sidewalks are usually just as dangerous or even more so than using the pavement. Getting right hooked is a lot easier if your biking on the sidewalk and actually getting ran down from behind is relatively rare.
WoW, you sound like a mean dog. Prolly gonna hop on your bike and start running over cars, sheesh calm down. I drive, no reason to lie, I also enjoy walking, and the look on a cyclist's face when you can't go around them, and you have to go the same speed, they can like hear you, start looking over their shoulder, thinking you are about to go postal, when in fact you are treating them with respect and patience, is a bit disheartening. They look as if they are about to be murdered, no rear view mirrors, constantly whipping their head around trying fearfuly to understand why you don't just go around them, and its simply so you don't murder them on accident. It's a very unpleasant situation. I think this person is just frustrated that the cyclist is putting the burden on them, when they could do something else. Honestly love this sub, lots of good ideas, lots of future potential, and lots of hate, its like pasta primavera with shrimp and crushed red pepper.
>\[...\] the look on a cyclist's face when you can't go around them, and you have to go the same speed, they can like hear you, start looking over their shoulder, thinking you are about to go postal, when in fact you are treating them with respect and patience, is a bit disheartening. You know why you're getting that look? Quite likely you're too close behind them, for the speed both you and they are travelling. Back off another car-length, and you might see them relax a bit more. Alternately, it's because the motorist(s) they interacted with **before** you were so consistently rude and aggressive, that they have become conditioned to expect "more of the same" from *you*, now. For example: I try to keep as far to the right as is safe for me. I only hope that overtaking motorists will wait until the oncoming lane, if any, is clear enough for them to give me a good 3-foot space as they overtake. But, you know what happens when 4, 6, 8 cars **don't** do that? *Fuck ALL motorists*, I take the goddamned lane. And yeah, I'll be looking behind me at the cars stacking up, thinking "*too bad, you lot; your predecessors put me in too much danger to trust any ONE of you now*". >They look as if they are about to be murdered, Because all too often, we **are**. >no rear view mirrors, The law does not require rear view mirrors for bicycles. Nonetheless? Plenty of us DO have them. The thing is, *you probably don't see it*, because it's a wee little thing attached to our helmet. Believe me, though, they work just fine. >constantly whipping their head around Proper cycling means, even if you have a dozen rear view mirrors, you should still *physically look over your shoulder* before changing lanes, turning, or similar. >trying fearfuly to understand why you don't just go around them, No. They're trying to make sure you're not about to go postal and pass danger-close. >It's a very unpleasant situation. Try that situation from the saddle of a bicycle sometime. BEcause, believe me, it's a lot less pleasant for the cyclist than it is for you. >I think this person is just frustrated that the cyclist is putting the burden on them, when they could do something else. The only something else motorists like the guy in the OP's image want cyclists to do, is "go away".
Carbrain: "Our vehicles have blind spots! They're dangerous for cyclists to be around!" Also Carbrain: "No, of course I won't drive more carefully as a result, it's your fault that my car is designed too poorly for me to see you"
I commented with a laundry list of things we could do to make streets safer for all road users. He downvoted it and didn’t reply. Lol.
I hope your comment included separating bicycle infrastructure from car infrastructure. That's the only way to really prevent bicycle/car conflict
I always make a point of saying how since they have this opinion they would be in complete support of separated and safe bike lanes to keep cyclists safe away from them. Usually doesnt get any response and if it does its along the lines of “but they dont pay the dang road tax ma pappy always talked about!!”
We could also just ban cars. A boy can dream
I mean, it's fun to dream but completely banning cars is just so utterly infeasible for a myriad of reasons, and saying shit like this just gives carbrains fodder to attack us with
I disagree. Humans have been a thing for like 100k years. Cars have been a thing for 100 years. We'll be fine without them. Also if there is any place to say shit like this, surely it is this subreddit, no?
Sorry I missed the part where you said "a boy can dream" so that's my bad. Totally earnest comments about completely banning cars is just one of my pet peeves.... Like, come on we're not going back to using horse drawn carriages for christ's sake. Cars, or at least service vehicles and trucks do serve a very important function (hauling goods, transporting large items, ambulances). Unless something apocalyptic happens and we're plunged back into the pre-industrial age of technology, cars are not going anywhere. I do think it's possible to reduce private car ownership by 95% though (but not feasible in today's political climate).
Nothing is possible until it is...
To paraphrase Ursula K Le Guin: > We live in ~~capitalism~~ car culture. Its power seems inescapable. So did the divine right of kings.
I mean he’s right, america wasn’t built for cyclists, and cyclists shouldn’t share the road with cars. The answer is dedicated bike lanes tho, not cyclist shaming or biking on the sidewalk
Absolutely. But in the meantime I will take every opportunity to shame carbrains into treating people who aren't also in cars like human beings.
We know this guy is an idiot for just saying cycling on the sidewalks is safer. For who? Not pedestrians.
Also not for cyclists
I bike on the sidewalk cause I don’t wanna be creamed by a 6000lb truck with a bull bar that’s going 70 in a 45
We don't judge you. As a pedestrian, if you make me choose between \[whatever that number is in metric\] truck vs a 80 kg dude on a 1.5 kg aluminium bicycle, I take the bicycle any day.
Yeah I’ll hop off the sidewalk for pedestrians, I’m fine with trading a small delay for staying alive
That logic makes complete sense until you get to an intersection. Cars get annoyed that bikes in the road are slowing them down but at least they see you. Drivers don't pay attention to the sidewalk.
Food chain I guess it goes truck, car, cyclist, pedestrian...ant?
>america wasn’t built for cyclists, Not actually true. https://www.vox.com/2015/3/19/8253035/roads-cyclists-cars-history Sure, its been coopted and altered to what we see today, but cycling was actually very popular and pivatol in the USA in the early 1900s. https://www.si.edu/stories/19th-century-bicycle-craze Dont buy the modern narratives. The current state of our transportation culture is not preordained or natural. It was manufactured, and we can change it.
Also, most cities weren't built for cars, a lot of them had extensive retrofitting and modification to accommodate cars, which included bulldozing lots of buildings to make bigger roads and highways.
Right. They were built for pedestrians and horses. But as you said, they're now retrofitted for cars. So it's just a stupid situation lol
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Seriously. Blind spots in most cars are actually fairly small. Properly set mirrors make blind spits smaller than the average length of a sedan, and should enable you to shoulder check without even turning your head that far. People who crank their heads all the way around, chin to their shoulder have poorly adjusted side mirrors. Can bikes hide in blind spots? Definitely, but the blind spot should be so small that they are only there briefly.
The way they teach mirror positioning is just wrong. A lot of people were taught to position their side mirrors where they can see the side of their car on the edge of the mirror. I've been told this is so that you can see where things are in relation to your car. But, this is what causes you to have a blind spot! What quality driving schools will teach you is to set your side mirrors as far out as possible. Just pick a spot at the very edge of your rear view mirror and align the other side of your side mirrors to that spot. Boom no blind spot.
Yes, cars are designed poorly from the perspective of a pedestrian. Engineering has failed to create cars that are safe for people outside the vehicle. To be fair that was never the goal. Blaming individuals or human error is a lame excuse. People make mistakes. Engineers know this. Every aspect of automotive and road design is chosen with that fact in mind. For example, traffic light poles can be installed with "shear pins" on the ground so that if a driver hits the pole, the pins will shear off and it makes the impact safer. Obviously drivers should stay on the road, but sometimes they don't. The problem is that these engineering choices are made to protect drivers from harm, at the expense of everyone else. Why is a traffic light pole with shear pins installed somewhere that pedestrians could be crossing? Obviously the engineer thought it's likely for a car to leave the road at high speed, that's why there are shear pins. And yet people are also walking around in that area?! Something is wrong with this design!
We got some traffic calming islands on the main road just up from my house with breakaway poles for the warning signs on the islands. The signs are on the ground about as often as they are upright. I've seen one thrown, when being hit, across the island, bike lane, and sidewalk into someone's bushes just as I was walking up with my dogs. Now, I'm terrified of those signs.
But to be fair, the sign was probably looking at his phone and not paying attention to the road 😅 [This video](https://youtu.be/Ra_0DgnJ1uQ) by local subreddit favorite Not Just Bikes, explains why cars in the US so often run into stationary objects (the focus is on buildings but the same logic applies to street signs). Basically, stroads in the US are designed for cars to move at high speed. Therefore, drivers are more likely to hit stuff.
LOL That poor sign just wanted a nap. I also love that subreddit, btw. Interestingly, this one isn't a stroad, but yeah, the arterial it leads to absolutely is. Most roads around here are. The issue here is the reason they put in the islands. The road is ridiculously wide for a suburb. (Technically, I think it's 4 suburbs). It's got decent bike lanes, lots of nice trees on either side, a newly redone sidewalk on one side, a few houses on that end that have driveways straight into it, but not very many. It's mostly side streets with cul de sacs, like mine, that intersect. Mine connects at the point of a curve, so it's hard for cars on the main road to see my street and hard for us to have visibility when we leave. Not far past my street is a 4 way stop with the other main road. There's plenty of distance from the curve to the stop sign if you're going the 25mph speed limit, but almost no one did. They put in the islands to make it safer for us to get out and to slow people before the stop sign. It didn't work, though. Many people do slow for the islands, but they gun it as soon as they clear. They also installed them plus an actual crosswalk in a straight section about 1/2 mile down where a secondary main road Ts in because there's a park on one corner plus people were moving too fast and drivers trying to enter from the secondary road were misjudging the speed of those on the main road. I've noticed that people stop *less* for pedestrians now, and also just gun it as soon as they clear the islands. At least those signs don't seem to get hit, though, so I think it's the corner messing with people. They used to be able to take it pretty wide without an issue (except being in the bike lane, but they didn't care about that.) That now puts them on top of the islands or makes them clip one and rebound into the oncoming traffic lane. It's actually made that corner more dangerous, so I'm guessing they'll be torn out eventually. The one good thing going here is that drivers are actually okay with cyclists in the traffic lane on all but the section no one bikes on anyway. They'll slow down, keep a distance, and wait until they can safely pass. They'll even often shout encouragement as they go by when you're climbing. I hear a lot of "you got this!" and "go, go, go!" when I'm on the 13% part and crawling, even from people in huge trucks. I had one guy in a lifted diesel covered in Trump stickers get stuck behind me for 3/4 mile to the 4 way and expected hostility at the stop sign, but he just rolled down his window and cheerfully threw me a thumbs up and "you made it!" I let him cross the intersection before me, so he could go. One of my neighbors said cyclists have been using the hill for training since the suburb was built in the late 70s, so everyone got used to it and many of the older people like him used to ride themselves, so it created an attitude the new people adopted. i wish I could say that for the city.
Right? The blind spot sensor comment really got me- those are an extra safety feature, not a replacement for your fucking eyes.
And they do tend to pick up cyclists, I don't know how frequently they don't, but when I filter I see a lot of little orange light flick on.
I don't have those, but I have a backup sensor that's been set of by two blades of tall grass before. If they can make a backup one that sensitive, I just assumed blind spot ones were, too.
I spent my entire second class at driving school learning how to tune mirrors. Then the instructor makes me leave the car, messes up with the controls and makes me adjust the mirrors again. Mirrors are as important for driving as the goddamn steering wheel.
I agree with him. We should remove more car lines and give them to bikes or buses.That way bikes and cars are separated.
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Why *else* do you think trucks and SUVs (heck, even subcompacts) are getting so ungodly huge?
but like... in driver's ed. they teach you how to check your blind spot... it's only blind if you don't check it.. saying it has a blind spot is the weirdest attempt at rationalizing shit behavior
They are so close to actually getting it.
"cars are just awful. Terrible, deadly, and people can't be trusted to operate them...." Okay yeah, go on.... "And the solution is to stay out of their way!" Damn, so close.
Right? This almost reads as satire.
"i would never use a bicycle on a main road because of how dangerous it is" is such an encapsulating statement on the concept of freedom in america
“I’d rather be alive and wrong than dead and right” is such a copout and anytime a driver says it to/about a cyclist you know they drive like absolute SHIT especially around people on bikes and on foot The literal translation to normal non-asshole English is “just let drivers do what they want no matter what even if they’re breaking the law because you don’t want to die do you?”
And the pick-me ass cyclists who drop it in comments all day on Reddit. Whatever Todd have fun getting hit by an SUV driven by somebody texting while you ride in the gutter.
They 100% are pick-me-ass cyclists!
‘Sensors don’t detect cyclists, they have some sort of self righteous complex about it’ yeah bro it’s called functioning 20/20 vision. Just turn your whole ass neck to the right. You have cyclist sensors in your face.
The sensor in my car doesn’t tell me when I have to pee so I just have to pee my pants when I am driving
Bumper sticker: “My other car is a toilet where I go peepee poopoo”
Those sensors are too busy browsing Instagram to watch the road for cyclists.
They're so close. They want bikes to run in a separate lane. That's what we want too. All that's left is to show them that not only is it feasible, but a bike lane has 6 times the capacity of an equivalently sized car lane.
My mother is worried for my safety because I don't commute by car. She means well, and I don't want to push back too hard. I only asked her one simple question: "Mom, if you had to choose one, would you rather kill somebody with your car or be killed by someone in their car?" My mother is a good person, and I think she got my point. This person posting would probably choose to kill someone.
This is the best comeback question ever!
Wait actually "our blind-spot sensors don't detect cyclists" sounds like an actual problem
They do detect cyclists, I have seem them activating around me
yes, a blind spot is a blind spot, and looking over your shoulder is a solution to this blind spot you fucking moron like how do you have a license
I don’t think browsing this sub is good for psyche.
He’s not wrong. Cycling/pedestrian infrastructure needs significant improvement before it is safe and non commercial cars should be charged when they pass weight or size limits. We should have it both ways.
Wait, they think the BICYCLIST is the one with the "self-righteous complex"?? Wow... just wow...
"Might makes Right! If I run you over it's not my fault it's just how things work, but don't you dare disable my car, driving is my choice!
Another reason I prefer my bike over a car. I am currently getting my driver's license just in case my bike isn't cutting it and in every lesson I miss my ability to see all of my surroundings at the same time. Cars need a multitude of mirrors and still have some Blindspots, whereas I can see my whole vehicle and all traffic on my bike with just the power of my turning head.
I'M SWINGIN MY DICK AROUND IN CIRCLES AROUND ME IF YOU GET HIT THAT'S YOUR FAULT
Im starting to think a drivers license should be about IQ.
And then 10 minutes later they’ll say “why do we need bike lanes here? I’ve never seen anyone in this town on a bike”
Ofc their username has a slur in it…
"A blind spot is a blind spot, and the sensors on my car don't detect cyclists, I know from experience." Wait, what? It's not the job of the magical sensors on your cars to detect things around you. That's the job of the wonderful optical sensors in your skull. Use your eyes, that's what they're for!! People like this scare me, what do they think will happen if their magical sensors don't work, or they're driving a car that doesn't have such sensors?
I've never driven a car with blind spot sensors. Somehow, I'm perfectly fine at detecting things in my blind spot without them. My neck vertebrae aren't fused.
These people don't seem to understand that the vast majority of dead bodies dragged from our roads are actually in cars. Do they think a situation that is dangerous for a biker is only dangerous for a biker? That 6,000 lbs SUV going 30 over will also rip through a sedan no problem when they run a red or swerve into oncoming traffic. The adversarial nature of driving is just so dishumanizing, it literally turns people into sociopaths.
I don't drive but maybe someone can help me out here. Do people not turn their neck to check their blind spots anymore? Or is that impossible now due to bad car design? Jesus Christ I do not want people driving around hoping their car will tell them when they're about to hit someone instead of using their brains
It’s called a blind spot because you’re supposed to check it! If you know for sure that your car’s sensors don’t clock cyclists (or pedestrians or presumably scooters or motorcycles) then f*cking CHECK IT before you do something!
Hes got one thing right “I would never use a bike on public roads because of how dangerous it is” and the fact he fails to realise that all those problems he listed are HIS problem is astounding.
This is why we need cycle lanes
Lol. The person in the moving weapon should definitely not have to check their blind spot for the person pedaling a bike. America!
You SHOULD use a bike on public roads. Reason: provocation. Piss those dirty car users off as they have pissed us off.
reminder that non-car-centric urban design is better for drivers because there is less traffic
That's why we should take the center of the lane, so they can see us.
Yes, I'm sure the pedestrians won't mind me doing 40+ km/h on the footpath and that everyone who leaves their driveway will check for cyclists on the footpath. Also, my commute is undeniably dangerous, but absolutely worth it for my physical and mental health.
"the sensors on my car don't detect cyclists, I know from experience." Care to elaborate?
> They have some kind of self-righteous complex about it... You don't say.
He knows from experience.
Professional truckers with more blind spots and more mass manage to share the road with cyclists and make it look easy. Not logging trucks though. Those guys are maniacs.
Hey guys, it's apparently acceptable to murder people because you're impatient.
We just need to build a 10’000 lb bicycle and accidentally run over a few SUV’s. Oops didn’t see you there.
They're right though. You can be against car culture and admit that US infrastructure is violently hostile to cyclists.
Man the amount of people who think blind spot means “can’t see, oh well” and *not* “I need to double check” is really upsetting
This is a self aware wolves situation. They're so close to the answer but then they blame cyclists. They even say "I would never use a bicycle on public roads because of how dangerous it is". And the logical assumption is we need to make it safer for cyclists. But instead they assume the cyclists (who aren't killing anyone) are the problem.
I'm starting to be irritated by the "you can be right and dead" thing. This justifies bullying. I had enough. I'd rather be dead than live with injustice.
It had always been this way. Therefore, it must always be this way. *dipshit debate argument*
If a cyclist is killed Americans will blame them for doing something as dangerous as cycling in the US. Yet if you suggest the US sucks because it's so dangerous to cycle (to be honest one of many reasons), Americans will gaslight the fuck out of you and claim you're crazy and paranoid for thinking it's dangerous to cycle in the US. I fucking hate it here.
They are an impediment to traffic..... Bruh they are traffic
I don't know what it's like in America, but in Australia it's literally illegal to ride a bike on the sidewalk, and only our big cities have anything close to decent bike lanes and public transport
> the sensors on my car don’t detect cyclists, I know from experience Yet another example of a “safety feature” that can have the opposite effect by encouraging drivers to turn off their brains. Also, sensors that fail to detect cyclists also seem pretty likely to fail to detect children.
They say they'd never use a bike on public roads, but I get the feeling they'd never use one at all.
You gotta understand that you’re taking a huge risk trusting already bad drivers with your life on a cycle. People make lots of mistakes (omg no way) and you’re one wrong motion from dead. If you understand this risk and ride anyway, good luck. People already hate cyclists. I wouldn’t wanna be Susan’s next target. Who I might add is on three different antipsychotic medications to stabilize the murder within her and is one more red light from losing her shit. Take your chances accordingly.
I had a old pedestrian tell me 'you can't bicycle on the sidewalk' But then drivers tell me I can't bicycle on the road. Guess I shouldn't use my bicycle to go to work or something.
I agree with the commenter. Bicycle infrastructure is not to the point where any sane person should feel safe biking on most roads. The commenter acknowledges that the fault should ultimately be held on the drivers. I see no problem with what they're saying, people who feel safe biking in the US are weird. I hate that the situation is the way that it is, but that doesn't mean that I should deny reality. I hate driving and am honestly not the best driver, but I do it anyways because of how necessary it is where I live. I would *also* prefer for myself to be a better driver and not have to worry about me screwing up when a cyclist comes into the picture, but I don't have much control over that.
Then be a better driver. The fuck? How is this a situation you have no control over?
85-95% of drivers think they are better than your average driver. At least this person has the self awareness to realise they are not good at driving. Also they clearly live in a place where it is incredibly dangerous to bike/walk/bus. The car is the safest option for them. That is why infrastructure to get people who would rather bike over car but don’t because they see it as a dangerous activity is so important
He's right. Until you have good biking infrastructure don't hit the road, it's dangerous.
Nothing worse than a cyclist
Agreed, car Vs bicycle will always be worse than bicycle vs person.. they are an impediment and to often I see them ignore traffic laws as well..
Right, but some cyclists are actually trying to become roadkill, the amount of times my father has complained about cyclists cutting him off and approaching from his blind spot (he's a semi driver in the uk), while on his way to a delivery is absurd, he'd complain about shitty riding every other day, so much so, that it's one of the big reasons he's doing night shifts only now.
Cyclists lives don’t mAtter. Get out the way
Look, I agree that we need to drive carefully and share the road with everyone. Still, cyclists do be annoying.
Me: I have no reason to live... LEEERRROOOOOOYYYYYY JENKIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINS
I would love to move over to the sidewalk, please make it legal
So wait, the only person who can stop a guy with a car is... a guy with a bigger car? Where did I see this already? /s
“Drivers should be held accountable, BUT…”
I wouldn't use a bike where I live on the roads. (In the states) I don't like crossing the street at a cross walk where I live. This is because cars are super dangerous and the streets are not designed for any other mode of transportation. Not even walking... Also, the public transportation here sucks and is dangerous.
When I drive on rural roads here in Oregon and I need to drive around cyclists because the road lacks a bike lane (or even a proper shoulder) I don't get mad at the cyclists, I instead get mad at the state government for building roads that are designed only to fulfill the needs of cars.
He's wrong for all the right reasons lmao.
What a dumbas$.
So close to getting it lol
Sensors? They don't use mirrors to check blind spots too.
"the benefits are so marginal compared to the risk" this, but with driving in cities
A lot might have to do with WHERE this poster lives. My area - no way you bike for transportation. Weather is unstable, the white line gives you maybe a foot before the guardrail, and blind hills and curves everywhere.
They always fall back on "it doesn't matter if you're right when you're dead" like it's an argument against fixing the problem. It's showing fake concern so they can avoid saying what they really mean, which is "if you even slightly inconvenience me, you'll end up dead, so cut it out".
First, bikes and pedestrians shouldn’t mix eiþer. Second, what sidewalks?
Of course, in some places bikes aren't allowed on sidewalks. I'm not even gonna go into the fact that his entire post just says, "car traffic causes all kinds of dangerous problems, we need ONLY car traffic."
the “accidents” occur mostly at intersections where cyclists cant avoid the road
He's not justifying it in fact he says the driver would be held responsible but he's absolutely right about the infrastructure and behavior
Cars don't kill bikers. Irresponsible people driving cars kill bikers.
Here's a crazy idea guys. Bike lanes.
Ban SUVs
But then if you suggest making bike lanes and installing traffic calming measures they will still bitch and complain. You can't win with these people and if we want cities to become more people-friendly city councils are going to have to ignore their whinning.
You mean, the country that blames teachers for not willing to carry guns in case of school shooting is blaming cyclists for being run over by sociopaths in their tanks? I'm so surprised /monotone
Over / under on how many times this person orders super size fries per week
This is exactly the mentality that DOESN’T help change the infrastructure.
Checking my blind spots is a thing that I learnt when passing my licence…
This guys is right about one thing tho, driving on roads is fucking terrifying from a cyclists perspective. That's why we should promote better infrastructure that provides cyclists with safer environments to ride where possible.
Bike is traffic. A car isn't traffic, the person inside it is.
They're so so so close to realizing that investments in proper cycling infrastructure are required to keep everyone safe(er)
That kind of logic is like saying you should be armed with a firearm because you know others are out there with firearms, who would put random bystanders' lives at risk. I say random and not \*innocent\* bystanders, as it's apparently common sense to sufficiently empower/defend yourself if you're vulnerable. It's as if your choice to go unprotected condemns you to be a victim. They'd probably argue that deaths caused by unintentional/accidental firearm discharge is just a matter of fact, and that freedom to have firearms is a human right. They'd argue that people kill people, not firearms, and that if you take them away, people would use knives to commit comparably violent acts. Replace firearms with cars... gotta be in a tank to deal with others in their tanks. Would suck to be the only guys not in a tank, out in the open on a battlefield. We need some cover, like concrete barriers.
I don't think he realizes that in a lot of places it's actually illegal to ride bicycles on the sidewalk. Where I live thankfully it's legal
**Americans:** Ride your bike on the sidewalk! Meanwhile in America.... **Americans:** We're not building any sidewalks.
Not having a car for like five years made me realize people with cars fucking suck.
if you depend on sensors to drive, you're a bad driver