ecomodder.com — It may seem counterintuitive, but according to a recent report more cyclists on the road mean fewer accidents involving cyclists and motor vehicles. I was convinced of this after spending some time living and cycling in Japan, but it?s always nice to have some real research to back up one?s personal hearsay.
Sep 13, 2008 View in Crawl 4
rambleSep 14, 2008
I'm a big road cycling fan, unfortunately there are way too many pricks and way too many inexperienced cyclists around. We all get lumped in with the arseholes.I have no respect for a cyclist that doesn't respect the highway code and other users of the road.
idietiredSep 14, 2008
You don't think that my opinion might have been formed over multiple experiences?You're assuming I drive unsafely around bicyclists just so you can anonymously shoot me down over the internet, but one of the original points I made was how annoying it is that I'm forced to drive "nervously over-defensive" to avoid any of the steep penalties involved in a bike-related traffic accident. At my best, I take greater caution around cyclists on the road, and at my worst, I still won't get needlessly aggressive with them for fear of penalty. In a situation like this, the cyclist becomes the aggressor, and the end result is a cyclist who's being an assh**e for no other reason than "cars are scary." Then, if that's the case, they're even bigger assh**es because the middle of the road is a piss-poor place to avoid cars, and they probably have no business being there at all.Maybe you should think before you type next time ... when you don't, it makes you sound just like one of the arrogant f**kheads I'm talking about.
herolintSep 15, 2008
I lived in Japan for several years and for nearly all that time my modes of transportation were trains, buses, and a bike. About 80% of the time I was riding a bike.First of all, I was hit by a car while riding on the sidewalk in Maebashi, Japan; so it isn't always safe, no matter where you ride.Secondly, I think the main reason you don't have so many bike accidents in Japan is because in Japan, cyclists ride mostly on the sidewalk and not out in the street with the cars.In the U.S., at least where I've lived, it is against the law to ride a bicycle on the sidewalk and you are supposed to ride in the street; which I think is pathetically stupid. As Japan shows, it is much safer to mix cyclists and pedestrians than it is to mix cyclists with cars.On a somewhat related note... Nothing pisses me off more than trying to turn left on a busy street while some dumbass on a bike is in the way pretending to be a car. Since he can't accelerate fast enough to get in between the traffic safely, all us driving cars end up sitting there waiting for the red light so Mr. Bike can get his mosey butt out of the way.I don't care what the laws are, be courteous to drivers and get off your damn bike and walk it across the crosswalk.
bananasluggySep 15, 2008
There are a lot of times that using the pedestrian crossing zones is actually safer than going the "like a car" route. Half the time, the light sensors won't pick up on the presence of a bike, so you've either got to hit the crosswalk button, or hope a car pulls in behind you before the light changes. I was stuck at an intersection for three cycles of the light before I realized mine wasn't going to cycle (I'm slow in the head sometimes, it happens). I had to go over to the crosswalk button, push it, pull my bike back over into the road, and wait for the lights to cycle in time for the pedestrian that wasn't there.Yeah. Annoying.
Closed AccountOct 27, 2008
a) All four of you, calm down... that was not a rant, that was a "yeah they're annoying sometimes, but it doesn't keep me up at night"b) "Most places" does not include anywhere I've ever lived and driven inc) 1994 Honda Civicd) jerrycurley, if you're going to rip on me, please learn to spell