Many regular cyclists in my city experience cars as devices trying to kill them on a constant basis. Hostility doesnt really rate much as an extra concern.
I think thats where part of the ‘Im special and dont have to worry about road rules’ thing comes from, its seen as more of an adventure sport than just getting from a to b.
Otara
Is it really a thing? I’ve been officially part of the bicycle community for about 6 months now and I had no idea. I guess i’m going to have to pay closer attention…
What really makes me crazy are the goddamn jaywalkers!
Why the fuck would anyone ride a vehicle without functional brakes in traffic? That’s the dumbest thing I’ve heard all day
But they’re 10 points!
I’m a bicycle rider.
I’ve been tail-ended by an 80 year old fool, half blind, with no insurance. My bike was wrecked.
I’ve been pelted with half-full beer cans by fratboys in pickups. And beer bottles.
I’ve been chased by a car–on the grass!
Fuck you all.
I’m a pedestrian.
I’ve had my foot run over by an elderly person. My flip flop was ruined.
I’ve had a frat guy spill his beer on me.
I’ve been yelled at by a bicycle rider --on the grass!
Based on these three incidents, FUCK ALL OF HUMANITY, ALL OF YOU, EVERYWHERE!
I could have explained a greater length I suppose. I don’t own a helmet, I don’t ride often, I don’t want to buy one, I don’t want to wear one. I don’t think they should be required for adults. Free country and all that. Don’t get me started on the freedom hating drug laws. And you know what else, sometimes I don’t wear a seatbelt while driving my car…
My only question about the thoughts expressed in this thread was why does riding without a helmet engender the same type of animosity as the driving behavior that is actually dangerous to others?
While I do not share in teh animosity personally, I think it has something to do with the fact that people who are then severely injured without helmets may more often become financial burdens on the state.
A friend of mine’s son was in a motorcycle accident last fall. he was wearing a helmet, but he wasn’t carrying any insurance. It wasn’t his fault. He’s a paraplegic now and the hospital bill alone is around $3 million. Which he will not be paying, seeing as how he cannot possibly.
So I’m thinking it’s all tangled up in that money stuff.
Thank you!
I do, too, for an hour and a half commute. But even with helmet, lights, and law-abiding powers, I still get hit by a car every couple of months.
Yes. Just trying to get to work and back, I’ve been HIT by fucking SUVs twice, and had car doors opened into me. The drivers were shocked-- they had NO idea I was there…
Bike riders, just assume you are invisible.
And, yes, stop being dicks.
Though even that won’t save you.
Did you come up behind a car that you had seen just pull up? That’s on you - you can anticipate that a car that has just parked is going to have a door opening soon. Maybe there was some other scenario; I can’t really picture it, though.
Yikes. ALthough I’m not really surprised. I make it a point to turn my head to shine my monster headlight into their eyes before I move in front of them. I did that at a stop to a woman in a driveway and she STILL started to move when I was in front of her. Then, looking right at me with my ridiculous headlight shining on her face, had the gall to say “I didn’t see you in the dark!” WTF???:rolleyes:
digs, that just sucks. I’m glad you haven’t been killed. I don’t onften have to park on the curb (not that we have many curbs here), but this thread has taught me to check behind me before I open my car door. I really don’t want to hurt anyone.
Today, I was riding to work (on my motorcycle) and as usual, when I saw a bike, I moved as far left from him as I could. Me on my scooter, biker in the bike lane and some idiot in an SUV roared between us. In OUR lane.
If we both hadn’t been paying attention, we would have been killed. Can we pit idiots in suvs now?
I always try to stay as far away from bike riders as I can. I also try to stay away from idiot teenagers who will dash across the road, or people who are driving and texting.
One of my fellow county workers rides his bike to work and he has a yardstick strapped sideways on his bike. He says that the car drivers will give him more room when its there. Probably because they don’t want to scratch their paint if they hit it.
I’ve been riding bikes for half a century. I try to keep my head on a swivel and share the road. I pulled my share of stupid shit in my younger days, but I think I’m a responsible rider now.
IME, the hard-core lunchtime/after work/weekend bicyclists are the worst; I’ve found them to be a pretty arrogant bunch. The sad fact is that there are just too many people riding/walking/driving with other things on their minds than the matter at hand.
Hey, I can do that while I’m walking - then maybe the cyclists will give me a wide berth when they fly up behind me!
After my foot surgery, I needed a cane for balance at times. While I was walking, the cane would swing around. Bikers tended to avoid me. They would even get off the sidewalk and ride in their lane. There were words and gestures spewed, but oh well.
People sit in cars and then get out for all sorts of reasons, phone calls being one obvious example. And they tend to be the times they dont look in my experience.
Otara
Thanks. Once I flew over the handlebars, rolled, and came up in an Olympic Just-Stuck-The-Parallel-Bars Landing: “Ta-DAAA!” I did that because the driver, who’d stopped, had been staring in abject terror. She laughed, she was so relieved.
Oh, and I like your swinging the cane approach to bikes on the sidewalk.
I was actually derided for the lights on my bike, I pointed out that in FL it is illegal to ride a cycle at night without lights. Their reaction? “That’s stupid, we can see the cars.” I not only have good lights, I keep them in half flashing mode at all times.
It can be really hard to predict when someone is going to open their door, even if you see them pull up. I don’t know what they’re doing in there, but the time from pull up to open can be pretty long. I keep an eye on them, but I’ve got to pass them at some point, and if there are cars moving in the lane beside me there’s really nowhere to go if they do open the door suddenly.
I don’t really get how drivers can just throw the door wide open without looking. Aren’t they concerned about another car hitting it? Or about getting hit themselves? It seems very foolish.