...having had a friend who was killed in Chicago (near LSD) while he rode his bike by a hit-and-run driver, and a co-worker in South Carolina who was dragged nearly a 1/4 mile by a redneck ass in a pickup truck (and lived, after a long hospital stay), I am a proponent of bike lanes when they can be implemented appropriately, in urban and suburban settings. That being said, I've seen ALOT of bone-headed, mis-guided, impractical applications of bike lanes in Atlanta, Tempe, Phoenix, and the greater Phoenix metro area. Sometimes I think, a municipality says "ok, the lawyers say we have to put in bike lanes now, what's the worst way we could do this, where they'll be dangerous, unclear, un-used, and confusing as hell to automobile drivers". Some of the BEST bike lanes I have seen have been in the hills and mountains surrounding Reno Nevada, where my buddy Matt used to use them to commute to work, several times a week during non-Winter months.
Bike lanes CAN suck, but, they can also help to save lives and reduce traffic congestion if they are implemented more appropriately - in my opinion. And you know what they say about opinions... "Les opinions sont comme des trous de cul. Tout le monde a un, et la plupart peu."
I'll read the individual case studies later that Forrester references. His prologue comment is quite telling: "Instead of fighting with cars, you cooperate with other drivers, so that you all get home safely. Participating in, cooperating with the traffic system, obeying the same rules of the road as other drivers, acknowledging their rights while claiming your own, that's the key to safe and confident cycling in traffic. " ...that holds true when the motorists are not out to injure, harass, maim, or kill the cyclist. When the motorized driver believes they are superior, and they have an axe to grind, the cyclist loses, usually. This is too often the case in semi-civilized Umerikah.
Perhaps Alabama (and the very vehicularly polite UK, in a relative global sense) is more cyclist friendly than Arizona, or South Carolina, or Nevada where several avid cyclists I know have been intentionally hit by passing motorists with cars, bottles, various liquids, groped, clothes torn, etc, while they were safely cycling (adhering to traffic laws and being cautious) on non-bike pathed roads. Suburban and semi-rural Bike paths offer a "buffer zone" that wary cyclists can use to avoid being harassed and injured when an ill intentioned motorist decides to "cross the line".
Such malicious behaviour is difficult to model, or include in a government or private study, but my friend Shan is still dead, and my friend Fred still walks with a cane, and neither of them rode like fools. I'm not implying that had they been on well placed bike paths, their death and maiming would have been 100% preventable. Many inner city bike lanes are completely asinine in their design and application, I do not disagree.
I'll shut up now. My son wants to go see the new Batman film with his Dad, so I am outta here.
Rural Alabama is pretty bad. I think it should be legal to shoot dogs that chase you into the street. Rednecks in pickups are more worrying. I often wonder if a NASCAR jersey would help.
Switzerland was by far the best place to cycle.
I never had a problem in Chicago proper, and I did a lot of riding there, even in the loop in rush hour. Take your lane and everyone's fine. Biggest problem was bike messengers riding like assholes and making the rest of us look bad.
Chicago suburbs -- completely different story. Experienced suburban driver rage almost every time I ventured outside of chicago city limits.
London can be dodgy, but improving. Cabs and buses are dangerous.
9 comments:
...having had a friend who was killed in Chicago (near LSD) while he rode his bike by a hit-and-run driver, and a co-worker in South Carolina who was dragged nearly a 1/4 mile by a redneck ass in a pickup truck (and lived, after a long hospital stay), I am a proponent of bike lanes when they can be implemented appropriately, in urban and suburban settings. That being said, I've seen ALOT of bone-headed, mis-guided, impractical applications of bike lanes in Atlanta, Tempe, Phoenix, and the greater Phoenix metro area. Sometimes I think, a municipality says "ok, the lawyers say we have to put in bike lanes now, what's the worst way we could do this, where they'll be dangerous, unclear, un-used, and confusing as hell to automobile drivers". Some of the BEST bike lanes I have seen have been in the hills and mountains surrounding Reno Nevada, where my buddy Matt used to use them to commute to work, several times a week during non-Winter months.
Bike lanes CAN suck, but, they can also help to save lives and reduce traffic congestion if they are implemented more appropriately - in my opinion. And you know what they say about opinions... "Les opinions sont comme des trous de cul. Tout le monde a un, et la plupart peu."
Do you have any evidence that bike lanes save lives? I've seen none, ever.
Bike lanes are at best misguided albeit well-intentioned, at worst dangerous and cynical.
If you're truly interested in the subject, I strongly recommend John Forester's research:
http://www.johnforester.com/
these are good:
http://www.johnforester.com/Articles/facilities.htm
I'll read the individual case studies later that Forrester references. His prologue comment is quite telling: "Instead of fighting with cars, you cooperate with other drivers, so that you all get home safely. Participating in, cooperating with the traffic system, obeying the same rules of the road as other drivers, acknowledging their rights while claiming your own, that's the key to safe and confident cycling in traffic. " ...that holds true when the motorists are not out to injure, harass, maim, or kill the cyclist. When the motorized driver believes they are superior, and they have an axe to grind, the cyclist loses, usually. This is too often the case in semi-civilized Umerikah.
Perhaps Alabama (and the very vehicularly polite UK, in a relative global sense) is more cyclist friendly than Arizona, or South Carolina, or Nevada where several avid cyclists I know have been intentionally hit by passing motorists with cars, bottles, various liquids, groped, clothes torn, etc, while they were safely cycling (adhering to traffic laws and being cautious) on non-bike pathed roads. Suburban and semi-rural Bike paths offer a "buffer zone" that wary cyclists can use to avoid being harassed and injured when an ill intentioned motorist decides to "cross the line".
Such malicious behaviour is difficult to model, or include in a government or private study, but my friend Shan is still dead, and my friend Fred still walks with a cane, and neither of them rode like fools. I'm not implying that had they been on well placed bike paths, their death and maiming would have been 100% preventable. Many inner city bike lanes are completely asinine in their design and application, I do not disagree.
I'll shut up now. My son wants to go see the new Batman film with his Dad, so I am outta here.
Rural Alabama is pretty bad. I think it should be legal to shoot dogs that chase you into the street. Rednecks in pickups are more worrying. I often wonder if a NASCAR jersey would help.
Switzerland was by far the best place to cycle.
I never had a problem in Chicago proper, and I did a lot of riding there, even in the loop in rush hour. Take your lane and everyone's fine. Biggest problem was bike messengers riding like assholes and making the rest of us look bad.
Chicago suburbs -- completely different story. Experienced suburban driver rage almost every time I ventured outside of chicago city limits.
London can be dodgy, but improving. Cabs and buses are dangerous.
A NASCAR jersey would be a double edged sword. If you ain't wearin the rite drivur's numba, youh'd be even a biggah targeet.
Thanks for warning. Is there a gay french nascar driver? That would be the jersey for me.
#55 Perrier
http://www.nascar.com/2006/comm/collectibles/10/09/collectible2006/index.html
(but it's temporarily out of stock)
http://www.securemalls.com/nascar/jean-girard-tshirt-p-1529.html
=)
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