On Fri, May 21, 2010 at 1:38 PM, John Sessoms <jsessoms...@nc.rr.com> wrote: > From: Christian Skofteland >> >> It's "Bike to work Week" in the US (Bike to work day was today). The >> Washington Post had an article about the conflicts between cars and >> bikes that was slanted against bikes. The writer kept going back to >> the "bikers blowing through red lights and stop signs" argument but >> only briefly touched on the drivers that go out of their way to >> intimidated and assault bicyclists. >> > > I have seen plenty of the "bikers blowing through red lights and stop > signs". It's a self correcting problem as far as I'm concerned. > > I've never witnessed motorists "go out of their way" to intimidate cyclists. > Not saying it doesn't happen, but I have never seen it. > > I have been hit (brushed) by motorists twice when I was on a bicycle. Both > times I was knocked down, but otherwise uninjured. In neither case, one a > city bus, did the driver stop and inquire if I was OK. I don't even know if > they were aware they had knocked me down. > > I have twice had cyclists crash into me in my automobile. Once from the > rear, once from the passenger side. In both cases I checked that they were > OK. In neither case did the cyclist inquire as to possible damage done to my > vehicle ... the side hit DID require body work to repair. > > I try to be vigilant whenever cyclists are on the road. Given the disparity > in road weights & momentum, I don't ever want to hit one. But, it's not > going to be my fault if it happens. It will be in spite of my having done > everything I could to "share the road". >
My experience, as a cyclist, is that cyclists are most of the problem in the city, but also the least dangerous portion. Unfortunately when somewhere between 50 and 70% of the cyclists commuting flagrantly ignore little things like traffic lights or traffic direction on one way streets, it's a little hard to justify cracking down on the 5-10% of drivers who drive in a fashion that's unsafe to cyclists. I've been hit by more cyclists than I have drivers (1 car hit, in a school zone, on a school day right before class almost 20 years ago, about 1 hit by another cyclist per year in the 6-7 years of commuting in Toronto, 1 total hit as a pedestrian by a cyclist riding illegally on the sidewalk through a construction awning). Thankfully no injuries yet. Most of my hits by other cyclists have come when I'm stopped for a light next to a car and they try and force themselves through too small a gap. -Adam -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
