City What He Said
posted by on August 7 at 14:27 PM
Dan Bertolet at Hugeasscity, making some excellent points as usual:
Bicycles have but the tiniest impact on most urbanites’ lives. But judging by the way some people spew the bile (google “slog” and “bikes”), you’d think bikes were holding the entire city hostage.The impact that bikes have on traffic flow is negligible. The damage that bicycles do to people and property is negligible. The objective reality is that pretty much the worst bicycles do is that they annoy people.[…]
I mean really people, are bicycles riding on sidewalks really that big of a source of anxiety in your lives? Does my riding up to the front of a line of cars stopped at a red light have any significant consequence, other than annoyance?
Meanwhile cars kill something like 40,000 people per year in the U.S. And maim who knows how many times more. And destroy a few bazillion dollars of property. […]
I am baffled by those who express the same level of contempt for cyclists that break the rules of the road as they do for drivers that break the rules of the road. In the latter instance, someone might end up crushed on the pavement, while in the former, perhaps someone might get, well, really annoyed. It’s awfully curious how these folks (including many cyclists) suddenly become sticklers for the letter of the law when it comes to bikes. But you can be sure that all but the purest saints among them have either jaywalked, or smoked pot, or committed some other trivial victimless crime.
Which brings us to the “we’ll only earn their respect if we set a good example” argument. Yes, there is some truth in that, but here again I find it remarkable how so many cyclists seem to believe it’s so important for all cyclists to strictly adhere to this saintly standard. Did cyclists in Europe have to prove they were all perfectly behaved at all times before their governments invested in serious cycling infrastructure? No, I think not. That’s because the Europeans are smart enough to focus on what matters: the support of cycling for the overall health of their cities — not trivialities such as a bike rolling through a stop sign.
And what also repels me from the “respect” argument is that it is based on — and therefore helps to propagate — the twisted attitude that drivers are doing cyclists a huge favor by merely putting up with their presence on the roads. In other words, you cyclists best be kissing our asses, and maybe we’ll be good enough not to mow you down. First of all, as I already pointed out, bikes have a miniscule impact on cars and people in the city. But more importantly, the truth is that every person who opts to travel by bike instead of by car is doing a favor for everyone in the city, including drivers. Cue up the indignant cries that I am claiming cyclists are superior moral beings. Whatever. The fact that travel by bike is good for the planet is objective, verifiable, quantifiable truth.
And furthermore, he'll clout anyone who disagrees in the head with a U-lock.
Biking may be good for the planet, but being a self-righteous cunt justifying his own bad behavior isn't.
Fuck that. I can't tell you how many times I've been nearly run over by cyclists who don't think they have to obey the traffic signals like all other traffic. Who the fuck do you think you are to believe you're exempt?
Erica, I don't usually find myself bothered by your over-the-top posts the way some people do, but this is ridiculous.
Again, fuck that.
last friday, i experimented: i obeyed every traffic law, light, & rule of etiquette on my way to work. 50 minutes.
yesterday, i broke every traffic law i could, rode on the sidewalk, rode to the front at traffic lights. 40 minutes.
the roads & the rules are made for cars. i can't tell you how many red lights i sat at because they changed just as i got to them. i can tell you how much time that adds, though. 10 minutes.
time is money, bitches.
@2 AGREED. Blowhard-ism blows.
I can accept this up to a point, but the reality is that, when a cyclist runs a stop sign, (s)he's not just putting himself at risk. If I as a driver happen to be the one that hits said sign-ignoring cyclist, then I've been put at risk myself. Not necessarily physical risk, although there is the potential, if for example, I swerve in an attempt to avoid hitting the cyclist and end up hitting something else in the process.
But regardless, I'm defintely put in the position of possibly hitting the scofflaw cyclist, which means injuring another human being, possibly fatally, plus damage to my vehicle, plus whatever psycho-emotional fallout occurs as a result, none of which has any bearing or relevence to the "red herring" argument of any prior, possibly illegal activities I may (or may not) have engaged in in the past.
Google "slog" and... anything and you'd think human civilization was coming to a swift end
Holy crap that article is full of terrible arguments and logical flaws.
Taking a bike on a street is like taking a knife to a gunfight.
You have to understand...you will always lose.
And so, I continue to bike...more and more.
"drivers are doing cyclists a huge favor by merely putting up with their presence on the roads"
There is some truth to this, in that cyclists don't have to pay outrageous registration fees, nor have a license to operate their vehicle on the roads. In some sense car drivers are subsidizing cyclists use of the roads. You might say that cyclists cause less wear on the roads, which is true, but also consider that a shitload of money was spent building the road in the first place so that they could ride on it for free. The least they could do is not endanger pedestrians while they tear through the crosswalk through a red light, and moving over if there is ample room to do so instead of righteously maintaining your lane position at 15mph.
Erica,
Please come ride with .83 tonight.
7 p.m. Westlake Center.
Do not wuss out.
Bicycles are fun.
Post less, ride more.
As one proponent of the Cyclists Should be Courteous idea, let me expand: this doesn't mean obeying every damn traffic law (I counted the stop signs I rolled through on my last 24 mile trip from the girlfriend's to my house: 72; on these trips, I also go the wrong way down some one-way streets, ride on sidewalks, and spit). Being courteous isn't absolute: it just means being careful and judicious. Because, frankly, annoying a driver can get you killed, and in some small-scale urban karmic sense, waving a driver through an intersection or a pedestrian through a crosswalk while smiling, creates at least some small counter-narrative among the drivers and pedestrians: hey, some cyclists aren't assholes.
Total agreement, though, regarding government attitudes towards cycling infrastructure: build it because it's the right thing to do, regardless of attitudes of drivers, saintliness of cyclists, etc.
Okay, so wait, what if a cyclist acts like a twat and I don't want to kill them with my big hulking machine, so I swerve to avoid them and hit another car, killing them? WTF? And what if a cyclist is riding on the sidewalk and a small child runs out of a store, and they run into them? That could fuck them up. This is absolutely ridiculous. Bikes have to be responsible on the road too, a bike may not run over someone itself, but it may cause other vehicles to.
I was actually run over on a sidewalk by a bicyclist when i was walking out of my girlfriend's apartment building last December. I had to go to the emergency room, my elbow was seriously injured, and I missed several days of work because of it. It was more than just annoying. It was expensive and painful.
When I biked to work back when I was employed I followed almost every single rule of the road--except when it was 6 a.m. and I was the only one on the road.
Toward the end of my time in Ann Arbor I started seeing the cops ticketing cyclists who were breaking the law. Of course, southeastern Michigan cities are trying to get money any way they can, and ticketing law-breaking cyclists is one way to get some cash.
Biking rocks.
When cyclists break road laws and do stupid things they mostly just put themselves in danger, but put the motorists at risk at an accident and thus some kind of involuntary manslaughter conviction.
Yeah, I'm with Comte--cyclists doing crazy stuff doesn't annoy me so much as frighten me.
When a cyclist comes flying up on my right, can she see my turn signal?
Is the cyclist at the four-way-stop going to wait his turn or just venture out into the intersection?
Is the guy who just rolled from the street onto the pavement going to behave like a pedestrian now, or is he going to roll back onto the street?
The major problem with bicycles is when the car drivers get all whiny they force them to ride on the sidewalk, and then we pedestrians have to deal with the fact that SUV drivers are whiny bitches who couldn't beat McSame in a debate, let alone Paris Hilton.
When a car driver acts like a self-obsessed cell-phone-using twat, people die or lose limbs. And buildings sometimes catch on fire when hit by them, or they go through walls.
The writer is missing the point.
It's the flagrant breaching of acceptable human etiquette that causes irritation. Hypocricy and entitlement, two qualities many bike riders have in spades, disgust people equally, no matter what the actual results.
The writer misses the point.
It's the flagrant disregard for basic human etiquette that so rankles. Hypocrisy and entitlement, two qualities many bike riders flaunt in abundance, disgust people regardless of what real-world consequences are attached to them.
Sorry about the double post...thought I lost my initial one, so I re-wrote it. And no, I don't have anything better to do.
@4
Total resurgence of the term BITCHESSS since the Paris Hilton video. amazing.
As a bicyclist, I'm curious: just how long does Mr. Bertolet suggest I marinate in my "I'm saving the planet" self-regard before the U.S. becomes as "smart" as Europe?
Selfishly, I like to see other cyclists obeying traffic laws for the same reason that I like to see cars obeying traffic laws: less accidents, more getting where we need to go. The more cyclists there are on the road, the more we need to be able to count on each other traveling in the right lane, signaling, and so forth.
It's disingenuous to point out that cars have a greater chance of killing you than a bike, and then wonder why drivers get so upset at someone who's biking unsafely. Could it be they don't *want* to scrape a biker off their bumper?
what is it about riding a bike that turns an otherwise decent human being into a flaming pile of condescending dogshit? any "excellence" in his opinions is completely overshadowed by his indignant gas-baggery. thumbing your nose at people is not a very effective [or mature] way of making a point.
The only excellent point I could glean from this post is that Dan Bertolet is a total fucking asshole.
I mean really people, are bicycles riding on sidewalks really that big of a source of anxiety in your lives?
Yes. Too many cyclists act as assholish to pedestrians as SUV drivers do to cyclists. I am not a pylon in your slalom race course. Ride on secondary roads if major streets scare you, yet you never want to go below 20 mph.
I'm also going to agree with Comte. On the rare occasions that I drive, I do my best to keep my eyes out for cyclists, give them wide berths, and treat them with the same respect I treat other cars, motorcycles, etc. When cyclists come flying out of nowhere because they can't be bothered to follow the same rules as everyone else on the road, it scares the shit out of me - I don't want to hit them, I know their bike is no match for my car.
BUT, the fact that some cyclists (those who have a reckless disregard for traffic laws) have so little regard for their own safety is what makes me angry. I'm looking out for them, but it seems like they're not even looking out for themselves.
Personally, I think that anyone operating any kind of vehicle in traffic on the road should be licensed. If a car drives recklessly, you get their license number and call the cops - there's a degree of accountability there. I think that if cyclists also had that kind of accountability, some car drivers might mellow out on this issue.
"I am baffled by those who express the same level of contempt for cyclists that break the rules of the road as they do for drivers that break the rules of the road."
I'm not sure that how contemptuous one is of rule-breakers should be contingent on their potential for hurting others. When bicyclists break traffic rules it endangers their lives, and puts me, if I am driving a car, at risk of being the tool of their damage or demise. It won't matter that much to me that it's not my fault if I accidentally hit a cyclist and that person is badly hurt, I'll still feel like a killer. Bikes can be tough to see even when you're really watching out for them. That's why in an ideal world they'd have their own lanes and what not. I do everything I can when I am driving to avoid causing harm to cyclists and pedestrians. It's really not helpful when those riding bikes are running red lights and stop signs, or not wearing the right reflective gear, or weaving on and off the road as if they're invincible.
What I dislike most is all the scratches and dents bicyclists put in my car.
Skateboarders hardly leave any marks at all.
@24
Seconded. I just want to ride my bike. So I don't need self-righteous ass-hats like this author fucking it up for me. Any time you invoke the "please treat me like legitimate traffic, but I don't need to follow legitimate traffic rules due to the following reasons..." argument, you are going to convince exactly zero drivers.
And I love how he tosses out the obligatory "green exemption" theory right at the end. Should a vehicle that expels 20 lbs/year of CO2 be allowed to role through a stop sign at 5 mph, while one which expels only 10 lb/year be allowed 10mph? Of course not, that is assinine. So don't even think about making a similar argument about bikes and their eco-friendliness. It's the dumbest argument ever. The law is the law and it's very simple. Let's ride bikes and obey the laws like everyone else and maybe people won't be such jerks to us.
What a brilliant quote to shamelessly agree with, Erica. Thank you for doing your part in the justification of our hatred. I will link back to this post to defend my laughter when the pieces of your skull are being collected.
Actually I think everyone will laugh. Something tells me if someone were to run over your head it would be an explosion of confetti, not brain matter.
@11: Thanks for the invite. I totally would, but I have another engagement (to bike to).
Erica,
Every Thurday. 7 p.m. Westlake Square.
Wow, this was a seriously awful post. I am all for biking, and I am all for bikers being able to bend the rules when it is safe and reasonable to do so (just as I don't always obey the letter of the law in some situations -- I'm a jaywalking fiend, but only when it's safe/reasonable).
But, the writer acts like there is no possible downside to a biker not obeying traffic laws, as if there is no damage they could do (by hitting a pedestrian) or as if there is no disadvantage other than to themselves if they get hit by a car.
@23 has a great point -- lots of us drivers love and support cyclists and (shockingly) do not want to kill them with our cars, so when I turn onto a one way street and immediately have to swerve to avoid a cylist coming the wrong way at 25 mph(as just happened yesterday), it is upsetting to me.
The author reminds a lot of this guy.
Putting away the car and getting out the bicycle is the equivalent of washing down 4 double cheese pizzas with a Diet Pepsi. There's just too many damn people.
I am baffled by the persistence and dexterity of those who operate bicycles while shooting themselves in the feet with their keyboards.
Exactly. Cyclists should arm themselves with shotguns and long rifles, which would put them on a par with motorists in terms of potential damage ...
@37 FTW.
It's the same issue with pedestrians and cyclists on a shared path. I've seen only the near collisions - not the ones that leave the icky blood stains on the trail - and sometimes it's the pedestrian at fault, sometimes it's the cyclist.
If I come to SLOGHappy, are you bitches going to rant about bikes all night? If so, tell me now, so I can get shitfaced before I get there.
Not usually, @41. I kind of doubt it.
"I am baffled by those who express the same level of contempt for cyclists that break the rules of the road as they do for drivers that break the rules of the road. In the latter instance, someone might end up crushed on the pavement, while in the former, perhaps someone might get, well, really annoyed. It’s awfully curious how these folks (including many cyclists) suddenly become sticklers for the letter of the law when it comes to bikes. But you can be sure that all but the purest saints among them have either jaywalked, or smoked pot, or committed some other trivial victimless crime."
This is so fucking stupid I can't believe it. He can't actually believe that a careless cyclist's actions on the road couldn't possibly cause an accident and harm others, can he? Speaking as someone who's been hit head-on by a bicycle messenger on the sidewalk (granted, messengers are the cab drivers of bicycle safety, but still...), I can assure you this is bullshit. A big part of being safe on the road is the fact that everyone (hopefully) knows the rules and can make educated guesses about what others will do (or fail to do, as the case may be) based on that. Some cyclists have a tendency to be a lot more creative and unpredictable with their disregard for traffic laws. Which is dangerous.
other than annoyance an ethical person would cease all behavior that annoys other people. An annoyance is, after all, harm. The moral basis of ethics is to do no harm. You need to be a better person, even if you think annoyance of others is OK.
Don't ride to the front of traffic, or cork intersections, don't pass on the sholder, yell "on your right" to foot-walkers when passing on bike/walking trails. In other words, be the better person, exercise self control and dont intentionally inflict the harm of annoyance just because you want to grab the open opportunity to annoy.
@23: right on, right on, right on.
@11: Don't know much about .83, but thanks for reminding me to plug tomorrow's RideCivil.
People in Seattle get 100 times angrier at traffic gridlock than at the fact that we're in a state of perpetual war. They won't bother to protest or organize against injustice but will protest adamantly and even take time off of work to contest a parking ticket. They won't do anything about the war on drugs, but will take immediate and irate action if their cell phones stop working or their wifi is down. Protests, we're told, don't accomplish anything, and deserve whatever repression they experience, while angrily blogging is treated as some kind of community organizing and speaking truth to power.
This whole out-of-proportion bicyclist hate is just part of that broader complete fucked-upness of people's everyday priorities. Most people hate anything that even slightly inconveniences them (bicycle scofflaws included), while acting as if there is no alternative to their own selfishness (including talking on cell phones while driving).
[i]"When cyclists break road laws and do stupid things they mostly just put themselves in danger, but put the motorists at risk at an accident and thus some kind of involuntary manslaughter conviction."[/i]
When has that [b]ever[/b] happened in Seattle? I think there's more chance of an SPD officer facing charges after shooting an unarmed black man.
@ 46:
I protest the "war on drugs", in my own special way several times a week...
Agreed @37 FTW
@46 STFU
The insane and vitriolic responses to this post only prove the author's point.
Drivers' response to anything done by a cyclist is completely disproportion to any real impact what the cyclist does has on them.
Reading these comments, one would think all these folks would lead happy, fulfilling lives if only it weren't for those damned cyclists who go through a red light!
So tonight, driving along nearing home, I encountered a cyclist doing about 7 mph.
I followed until it was clear, then moved into the left lane and passed.
He gave me the finger.
WTF?
"The fact that travel by bike is good for the planet is objective, verifiable, quantifiable truth."
I'm not sure I see how its good for the planet, at best its not bad for the planet. It not even that, someone mined the ore, to smelt the metal to make the bike and shipped it all the way from China for goodness sakes. Stay home.
@51: not unusual. fixie?
I'm a pedestrian.
90% of cyclists killed are so by their own fault (Statistics Canada).
Cyclists rolling on the side-walk can kill people, and they have do so.
Pedestrian, cyclist, driver: FOLLOW THE RULES OR DIE.
Thank you. I'm constantly amazed by the credit bicyclists give me to 1) see them through solid objects (large parked trucks, building corners, etc.) and 2) defy the laws of physics to avoid killing them when they appear from a direction I'm not expecting (wearing dark colors at night enhances this trill no end--though that's usually pedestrians at night walking into the street from between parked cars mid-block). No matter how sharp my reflexes or effective my brakes, Newton wins. My Saturn's door panels are going to pop back into shape after you bounce off of them. Even attentive drivers aren't omniscient. We're looking for traffic where we expect it, not directions it doesn't usually come from (and yes, that means if I've determined the car on the other side of the 4-way stop is indeed letting me take the left turn, I'm checking the other directions and no longer watching as closely for someone to come tearing around them through the intersection on a bike).
A cyclist can kill or seriously injure a pedestrian in a collision, whch is why they don't belong on the sidewalks.
The rules of the road aren't just designed for safety, but also to keep traffic moving. I don't care if a cyclist advances past cars to the red light. I do care when the cyclist blows through the light in front of traffic (common occurrence), potentially causing an accident (either for himself or when someone slams on the breaks to avoid hitting him and gets rear-ended), or maybe just slowing all the other road users down.
It's a public road. Share it. This whinge about the unfairness of this concept reinforces my belief that there's a group of cyclists out there who are holier-than-thou assholes.
"The fact that travel by bike is good for the planet is objective, verifiable, quantifiable truth."
It is also the objective, verifiable, quantifiable truth that commuting by bicycle is not a viable option for the vast majority of people who live in and around Seattle.
It is certainly somewhat more subjective to say that this writer is an insufferably smug prick, but I'm gonna go out on a limb and do so anyway.
But to get back to straight empiricism, laws apply to smug pricks, too.
Much of the anti-bike sentiment in comments referred to in this post was generated not out of hatred of bikes but out of outrage at Critical Mass not just defending but also promoting agressive rule-breaking bike riding.
Much of the anti-bike sentiment in comments referred to in this post was generated not out of hatred of bikes but out of outrage at Critical Mass not just defending but also promoting agressive rule-breaking bike riding.
this Hugeasscity guy gives off the same self-rightous vibe.
Everything sucks! My life is nothing but suffering! My job is boring and pointless! I'm fat, ugly and impotent and my favorite sports team is losing! My other favorite team has left the city! My country can't win a war against a bunch of medieval clowns, some asswipe drank all my cheap gasoline, and someone had the nerve to nominate a Negro for President! And it's all the fault of you damned bike riders! Grrrrrrrr how I hate you!
#60 LOL right on!
Have Stranger readers always been such reactionary assholes? Reading these comments makes me thing Stranger readers are about as cool as Seattle Times readers. Or worse. This is why I rarely come to Slog anymore.
The really funny thing is that you know that 90% of these drivers who despise cyclists for this or that reason driver around talking on their cell phone! But that's perfectly ok, right?
@61,
Talking on your cel phone while driving is also illegal, and I'm quite OK with that.
I own two bikes, by the way, and ride them reasonably often (though not as often as I should, I will grant - but that's my personal situation, and not one I would generalize or preach about to other people whose circumstances differ from mine).
So pointing out the obvious fact that biking doesn't work for most people makes me a reactionary asshole? Okey-dokey, so be it.
Cold hard facts occasionally suck, but being shrill and self-righteous doesn't change that - or the minds of people who could be your allies if your tone wasn't so off-putting.
I just don't understated how blog/advertising revenue stuff works. I get it that you post these inane trolls to get page hits. But at time I read this post, all the adds (except for things like Lustlab and Stranger Presents stuff) ate for The Hummer H2, seven slots on the the main page, and two on this comments page.
Apparently whoever places the adds has figured out that the vast majority of the comments on recent bike posts (specifically the ones about CM) have been critical of bikes.
I realize that Index Newspapers, LLC in in business to make money, but this shameless hypocrisy is a bit unseemly
Bureau of Intellectual Titans Crushing Hypocrisy
P.S. for whoever was complaining about the heat the other day ( http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/my_everything_is_sweating ), air conditioning is standard on Hummers.
God, get over it already. Cars, trucks, vans, semis...they're not going away anytime soon. It's not just wishful thinking. It's DELUSIONAL thinking.
All you poor, saintly drivers. You put up with SO much! You follow all the rules, you only think of others, you never act like assholes. You never run red lights, you never speed, you never have a few drinks and get behind the wheel, you never talk on your cell phone or put on makeup while driving, you never cut anyone off, you always stop for pedestrians in crosswalks. You certainly don't pollute and fuck up the air and the planet and help create sprawl! You only think of others and never yourselves. And instead of being thanked, you have these damned cyclists on YOUR roads acting like they have a right to be there!!
Car drivers -- the new oppressed minority!!
Haha, I love it.
@61
Yes.
@65
twee, the problem is that you and CM appear to be supporting and ADVOCATING this kind of behavior by cyclists. This perception is compounded by your martyr-delusion inspired willfull refusal to accurately read the comments of those turned off by CM style rhetoric and action. Makes you look like self-rightous morons.
Attempts to make this town more bicycle friendly for commuters, recreationalists, and kids moves forward despite your less than helpful "fuck you" pr efforts,not because of it.
i just can't get over the fact that someone thinks accidentally killing a person on the way home from the grocery store is just a minor "annoyance." i'm not sure if it's more idiotic or narcissistic. don't get me wrong, i'd much rather be the driver than the biker. but doing something "good for the planet" doesn't excuse you from obeying the law, nor does it render your self-rigteousness any less annoying. the main reason drivers posting above get irritated with bikers is because they don't want to kill them. now get over yourselves and stop at the fucking stop sign like everybody else, okay?
@62:
How about talking on your cellphone while biking, 'cause you know, I see a disturbing amount of that around here as well.
And @65:
If YOU happen to be the biker I someday hit, because you were too stupid/delusional to obey traffic laws, well - maybe I won't feel quite as guilty as I would otherwise...
#67 Please show me where I am advocating anything (other than sharing the road) or supporting critical mass in what I posted? Like 99% of cyclists I have nothing to do with CM and want nothing to do with CM. And you accuse me of inaccurately reading other people's posts? Uh, right.
#69 I think you mean hit me because you were talking on your cell phone, or running a red light, or speeding? Because I follow traffic laws. But I do like when drivers talk about their joy in killing people on bikes -- you guys illustrate my points for me. So thanks, sweetie.
You know why non-motorized vehicles need to obey the rules of the road? This:
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/374131_pedicab08.html
It is still unclear if there was an equipment failure, or driver at fault, but yes, any non-motorized vehicle, if riding on the road, needs to follow the rules just as a motorized vehicle. Running red lights and weaving in and out of traffic not only puts cyclists, but everyone else at risk, too. Cyclists and drivers have equal responsiblity to share the road and obey traffic laws, and both drivers AND cyclists cause accidents:
http://www.massbike.org/info/statistics.htm
The thing that gets me is that car drivers always seem so miserable. They’ve always got sour looks on their faces, telling other drivers to fuck off, grumbling about how “this guy cut me off” or “there’s no way I’m letting this guy in my lane.” Every driver seems to hate every other driver. A small traffic jam can ruin your afternoon. And heaven forbid someone takes “your” parking space!
And then there’s the insane expense of it all. What does it cost to drive a car 10 miles to work every day? 100 bucks a week? That’s my whole grocery bill for my three person family! 5 movies with a large popcorn! Or 2-3 meals at a good restaurant! Plus you gotta insure the thing and pay tons of money when the smallest part breaks down. Screw that. I have much better things to do with my money.
Someone needs to explain it to me: What is there to like about car driving? Why are you all working so hard to defend something that most of you can barely tolerate? The whiny arguments that I hear ad infinitum don’t convince me. Shit man, no one is making you drive your dumb car. You can work off a lot of that anger and resentment on a bicycle.
Riding a bike is fun. In the city I get where I’m going faster than most drivers, and I’m in a good mood when I get there. Plus I’m in good shape, my heart rate is super healthy, and my blood pressure is lower than most people my age. I’ve never hit anyone on my bike, never hurt anyone, and only had a few small injuries that I accept as my fault. As I say, your appeals to ‘the rules of the road’ and ‘fair is fair’ are weak and unconvincing. I’m gonna keep on riding my bike exactly as I want to and expect to do it for a long time.
You think calling me “self righteous” wounds me? If that means that I completely believe that I’m doing the right thing, you’re damn right I’m self righteous. If you live and work in the city, I think it’s just a mistake to drive a car. And despite your arguments to the contrary, I’m pretty sure you think the same thing.
I imagine I could save a lot of time commuting in my car if I broke every traffic law I could and drove on the sidewalk. So what's your point?
Besides, anyone who knows what's going on in Seattle knows that bicycles are no longer a threat to social order. Now it's pedicabs ...
The impact that bikes have on traffic flow is negligible. The damage that bicycles do to people and property is negligible.
His entire rant thus is nothing more than impotent spouting of his personal opinion because he never at any point gives up a concrete definition of 'negligible,' despite using the term to make several apparently concrete declarations.
So, essentially, he's just using his personal opinion as a concrete argument... which in effect is not at all concrete.
There are better arguments to be made against animosity towards cyclists than this.
@72,
I usually agree with most of your posts, and calling the writer who started this thread self-righteous wasn't particularly aimed at you.
That said, I personally enjoy the act of driving, and I don't think you can really attribute motives/feelings to people when you haven't spent any time in their shoes. While I don't hate the bus nearly as much as some Stranger writers who I need not name here, driving simply allows me time to reflect, listen to music, and get where I need to go a lot faster than a bus or bike would.
My fuel-efficient car just died, so I'm driving my truck until I can buy another cheapie vehicle, but even with the atrocious mileage I'm getting now I don't spend anywhere near as much as you think it costs to operate a vehicle.
If you're driving 100 miles during the work week in a car that gets 25 mpg, as my old beater Honda did, that's about 4 gallons of gas - or just under $20 at current rates. Even the absurd beast I'm driving now, which admittedly is less than half as fuel efficient, would cost about $40 a week if that was the length of my commute (it's actually shorter, but I'm using your figures). Since I drive older vehicles, my insurance costs less than $40/month for each one (when both are running).
Balanced against that is the time value of money. Taking the bus would add several hours a week to my commute at least - and a lot more if I didn't live near a route that goes close to both my home and my work. If I had to make a transfer, it would add a whole lot more time. I make more than minimum wage, and my time is valuable to me, so from a strictly dollars and cents standpoint driving actually costs me less than taking the bus (and add to that the fact that I often have to go to band rehearsals after work in a location that would at least 2 hours of travel time to my day if not more).
I think biking is a great thing for people it works for, but as of now that's about 3% of work commutes - a vanishingly small portion of the overall mode split for commuters.
But yes, telling people how you think they ought to live does make you come across as self-righteous, and doesn't exactly do much to build support for bicycling. Neither does a scofflaw attitude about obeying the rules of the road.
You know what would really make me miserable? Riding my 10-speed up that monster hill going home at the end of the day in the rain.
i don't drive and i don't ride a bike. i walk or take mass transit. i have no stake in this argument whatsoever. i'm just baffled why someone thinks "saving the planet" is an excuse to be a dick, or that being a dick acomplishes anything other than make biker-driver tension much, much worse.
If only ECB could post about Hillary Clinton running over a cyclist, I think we could get to 200 comments.
I understand why some people have let their anger build with cyclists. But it's such a short sighted view.
I have a car, I pay taxes on it. But I often ride my bike instead. When I ride my bike I can promise you I'll never crash into your car and kill your kid. I won't be contributing to global warming, or exporting our wealth to those sworn to our extermination. You'll never have to let me merge on the freeway. I'll never take the last space on the ferry. I'll never take the last parking spot or add to the congestion that's keeping you from getting to work.
All I want to do is slip through the city with as little friction as possible. Sometimes that means giving assholes the right of way so I don't die. Sometimes I'll slide to the front of the line so I merge at a safer part of the road. Sometime I'll jump a red light so I spend fewer minutes on the road at night (every minute is dangerous with drunks driving around!). I'm not looking for trouble, I'll never make you compensate for my actions. And whenever possible I'll do more then my share and surrender concrete when the law doesn't require me to. I'm one of us. Sitting stuck in a car sucks for so many reasons, and the truth is you DO HAVE OPTIONS.
It's not US vs. THEM. We are one in the same.
I am baffled by those who express the same level of contempt for cyclists that break the rules of the road as they do for drivers that break the rules of the road.
And right there's the problem. Traffic rules are there for everyone's safety. When nobody knows what to expect from other vehicles on the road at any given moment there are going to be accidents. And that's just what will happen more and more, as the cost of fuel keeps climbing and more and more bicycles are on the roads, and the rules apply to cars but only optionally to cyclists, if at all. If you give a good goddamn about the safety of people on the road then you can't be buying into crap like this. The fact that bicycles are much more nimble and automobiles are heavy and unable to stop as fast or get out of the way as quickly only makes it more important for everyone to obey the rules, not less. Bertolet is asking for, no, Begging for people to get hurt.
This isn't about cars verses cyclists. It's about people getting to where they're going safely verses ending up in the hospital or dead. Does that matter to you? Even a little?
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