On Sat, Jul 14, 2007 at 07:43:37PM -0700, Paul Johnson wrote: > Andrew Sackville-West wrote in Article > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> posted to > gmane.linux.debian.user: > > > On Wed, Jul 11, 2007 at 08:09:23AM -0700, Paul Johnson wrote: > >> > >> I disagree: There's some people that really ought not be trusted with > >> bicycles to begin with, like those morons that drive their bicycle > >> against traffic or on the sidewalk... > > > > I disagree: riding against the flow or on the sidewalk can be > > perfectly safe, provided you're experienced and skilled. But that sort > > of defeats the whole purpose of this thread. > > Never mind it's illegal in most jurisdictions for good reason: Nobody > expects someone driving the wrong way or on a sidewalk.
just like noone expects cars driving the wrong way on a one way, but it happens a lot.... alway look both ways before crossing the street. There's nothing like getting blindsided by some idiot going the wrong way in their SUV. > > > I spent several years as a bicycle messenger in Wash DC and can tell > > you first hand that the best/safest riders were the aggressive riders > > who were willing to ride against the flow, on the yellow line, on the > > sidewalk, or through the parking garage tunnel. Many fewer accidents > > with those guys than with the calm, almost meek, with the flow > > riders. Of course, when the bad boys did wreck, it was pretty > > spectacular... ;) > > I've yet to collide with another cyclist who was following the rules. every car that ever hit me while on the road was breaking the law when it happened and... interestingly enough, I *wasn't* breaking the law. But that's just my anecdotal experience. Of course my friend got hit by a car that rolled out of an alley and failed to stop at the sidewalk (legal requirement) before coming to the curb and stopping again (legal requirement). They just rolled right through it all and into my buddy in the right lane. So that's his anecdotal experience. I've been hit by cars u-turning from the parking lane (illegal), cars u-turning in the middle of the block (illegal), cars failing to yield when turning left (illegal), cars failing to yield to traffic in front of them (illegal), cars failing to observe my lane (illegal), cars turning right from the center lane (illegal), you name it. I say hit, but many of these were "close calls" where I was able to either *quickly* get out of the way, or bounce harmlessly off a quarter panel. A little experience can turn these "Accidents" into just incidents on the road. That doesn't change the fact that they were caused by cars ignoring the laws of the road to the detriment of cyclists. A
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