Comments on Ride Civil

why is it an SUV?

I like the idea of a RideCivil™, but I don't like how he simply states it's a "response to recent Critical Mass violence in Seattle, NYC".

98% of the Friday's CM ride in Seattle was trouble-free. The riders weren't causing violence or looking for it. Towards the end, a few riders and a motorists did get into the crazy Aloha incident.

And with NYC, a cop shoved a rider to the ground (and lied about it).

What happens if a RideCivil™ rider goes bonkers and hits a car? Or if a car goes bonkers and plows into some riders? With RideCivil™ be associated with violence?

I think it's cute.

Um seriously? Fuck SUVs, fuck idiot drivers. The whole "point" of CM is that how annoyed those drivers feel for 3 hours is how cyclists feel every second they are on the road.

This is retarded, nice drivers who will be sympathetic to this already care about not running people over and feeling like a god in their 2 ton metal box.

"You are free to remix, re-use, and share the RideCivil artwork as a flyer, shirt, jerseys, socks, thong bikini, tattoo, or whatever works."

All right, I'll bite:

http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/3643/ridecivileditfb4.jpg

Too much to ask that it read correctly, I suppose..... Ride civilly

blechhh

Then again, pedestrians here are stupid too. It's a three-way war with no winners.

This is like MLK Jr. getting media attention after the Black Panthers and certain Black Muslims made America sit up and take notice.

Critical Mass is the latter. RideCivil is the former.

Change is never pleasant, and the take home message from the altercations in LA, SF, and Seattle is that we need to DOUBLE all bike-only lanes and bike parking, as well as TRIPLE bike-carrying capacity for Metro bus lines.

Every US dollar shipped overseas means another Pakistani-assisted Saudi-financed terrorist gets to attack a US soldier.

This looks like a big "Fuck You" to people who walk or ride the bus.

Why is the picture that of two guys? Do women not ride bikes? Do women not drive cars?

I am three kinds of being offended.

That's me in the car, handing the biker a pulled-pin grenade.

Lets say -- hypothetically! -- that resorting to the "nuclear option" (as I like to call PSAs) were somehow, by some fluke or unlikely confluence of variables or just bad luck, if this PSA were to fail, let's say. I mean, obviously, in these situations, a PSA or two generally restores calm and peace to the world (Darfur, to name one example. Chechnya, to name another) but what IF!

What if after one, nay TWO, PSA campaigns. What if then, still there is strife when people ride their bikes among cars or pedestrians? What then?

I'd really like somebody to tell me at what point to we admit that bikes don't play well with others. Because I'll go along. I'll cooperate with whatever the next thing is we're going to try to make this work. But if that fails, can we finally give up?

Or will we try something else after that? And if so, what will that be? And if THAT fails, can we stop this nonsense? Will we ever realize mixing bikes with non-bikes is insanity? Or will be beat our heads against the same wall forever?

@9- You can't see "her" dress because she's sitting down in her car! haha.

-Why IS it the front of a HUMMER that we're using, instead of a Prius?

The only good Hummer is the one your gf gives you.

All the rest should be shipped to Afghanistan instead.

Today, I only had two cars nearly hit me while I was in crosswalks. The first, this morning, was when I was walking my bike, along with my kid, and a guy didn't bother to look right before making a right turn (his wife yelled at him to watch out for me). The second, this evening, I was riding very slowly across a multi-lane one-way street, because I could see a woman in the right lane who was roaring up to the intersection like she could also bust a free right without looking. She was talking on a handheld cell phone. She stopped just short when she finally saw me coming. Both times, I had a clear walk signal.

I'm all for civility, but when you put somebody else in danger because you're a careless speeder in a car, you deserve to get yelled at.

@14

So you either wildly exaggerate, or you are so stupid you go out every day and nearly get killed when you commute. Twice. And never stop to think maybe this is not a smart way to get around.

Or what? Maybe I'm misreading your statement that your daily commute includes nearly being hit by two cars, yet you fucking do it anyway. AND... I'm supposed to sympathize.

elenchos, he started his comment with "today." where do you get that he experiences this everyday? he doesn't even imply that. you're very aggro, aren't you?

Elenchos: Maybe you missed the part where I said that at both times, I was in crosswalks with a clear walk signal, once walking my bike, and once biking slowly. Hardly the riding-in-traffic part of the trip.

So a "smart way to get around" should not include walking, or biking slowly, with the light, in crosswalks? In other words, crossing streets in any manner other than in a bus or car?

Do you really find that a tolerable state of affairs? OK, besides bike commuters, tell me what our kids, or the elderly, or people who don't own cars, should do to get around safely? Shouldn't some of the onus fall on the drivers to improve their behavior?

OK, fine.

If what you say is true, the odds are you'll be dead in a month, with that many close calls from cars, whether walking or biking. Those of us who survive you will perhaps learn something.

I came up with a new version.

And for the back of the t-shirt...

Elenchos: Well, unless there's something different about the way I use crosswalks (and if anything, I use them more carefully than average), my odds of dying are the same as any other pedestrian, or cyclist. Thus, if you walk anywhere, you're as likely to be killed as I am. Hey, maybe you will learn something.

@15 "So you either wildly exaggerate, or you are so stupid you go out every day and nearly get killed when you commute. Twice. And never stop to think maybe this is not a smart way to get around."

Often enough merely crossing the street is enough to put you at risk. I walk and bus everywhere. Not long ago, I was crossing Roosevelt at 65th. A woman driving an SUV in the turning lane on 65th nearly hit me. It was broad daylight. I had the walk sign, so I was walking (the audacity!). Fortunately, she jerked to a stop to avoid hitting me, but then had the nerve to yell at me. I flipped her off and yelled "fuck you, you yuppie bitch!" I don't normally call other women bitches but you know almost being seriously injured brings it out in me. I noticed a young child riding with her. I also don't usually drop f-bombs in front of children either, but I don't regret it. You can't disregard someone's safety in the interest of selfishness and expect them to take it lightly. This is not the first, the only, or, sadly, the last time this will happen. Hopefully, I'll emerge uninjured.

People are not careful when they drive (e.g. talking on the cell phone, driving drunk, eating while driving, driving while sleep deprived). While I've seen some hotdog cyclists for sure, it's ridiculous to blame cyclists as a group for the dangers created by irresponsible drivers.

"And anyway I hate cars and I hate those who drive them"
- The Car Hater, from an episode of Speed Racer. Imagine it being said at the end of a soliliquy delivered all in one eager breath. It's exactly how I feel.

Elenchos can't defend the driver's behavior, and predicts death for the pedestrians - doesn't say they deserve it, mind you, but, well. Maybe they'll learn something.

Gas can't be expensive enough.

Why is the picture that of two guys? Do women not ride bikes? Do women not drive cars?

huh why do you assume that? bc the little symbols don't have skirts or eye makeup on them?

Let's do some simple math. 353 days a year motorists own the road and, on a daily basis: open their car doors into bike lanes without looking; make right turns across bike lanes without looking; drive at high speeds while talking or texting on their cell phones, etc. Those motorists are not concerning themselves with "not pissing off" cyclists. If a motorist fucks up, the cyclist gets hurt. If a cyclist fucks up, the cyclist gets hurt.
12 days out of the year, cyclists fill up the streets on their bikes in an attempt to draw attention to the hazards they face the other 353 days of the year. Why should cyclists be the ones responsible for "not pissing off" motorists? Why should cyclists be the ones responsible for being "civil," while motorists do whatever the fuck they want?

Here's where the word "civil" should come in to the equation... "civil" disobedience. That's what critical mass is. It's not about making friends with motorists. Like any other act of civil disobedience, it's about being enough of a nuisance that policymakers and city planners actually pay attention to the issue.

The level of delusion and self-righteous victimhood from the CM defenders is simply intoxicating.

Though I do wish the picture in the artwork used a car instead of a clearly-ginormous SUV.

@25 'Why should cyclists be the ones responsible for "not pissing off" motorists? Why should cyclists be the ones responsible for being "civil," while motorists do whatever the fuck they want?'

You should because you don't have any choice. At least, you don't if you care about bike safety.

There are many thousands of cars on the road. Which means the ones who have endangered you those 353 days are not typically the same ones you annoy when you "cork" them. Besides provoking incidents at the time (gratifying, no doubt, but not especially responsible), those annoyed drivers are going to be that bit more likely to endanger cyclists in the future.

What do those "policymakers and city planners" (and police) see? They see a number of bicycles commit an illegal act, which by escalation lead to violence. Guess who they blame?

The power difference between cars and bicycles isn't going to change. Only attitudes and behavior can change. And you can only change them by "making friends with motorists".

@26: If an SUV driver can pay attention to bicycles, anyone can. If a cyclist can be civil to an SUV driver, they can be civil to anyone.