In article <fvdu8e$gnq$1@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>,
Tom Sherman <sunsetss0003@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> writes:
>>>>> Second, it's the
>>>>> responsibility for those who don't have the right of way to wait for
a
>>>>> suitable gap in traffic before proceeding. That means that cyclists
and
>>>>> drivers waiting to turn or cross an intersection must wait for
traffic
>>>>> to clear before proceeding.
>>>> That's what non-suicidal, rational people do.
>>>> Despite popular opinion, people who aren't operating
>>>> motor vehicles aren't /that/ idiotic.
>>>>
>>> Ever ride your bicycle on a college campus?
>>
>> Yes.
>>
>>> Yes, people are that
>>> idiotic, and rush into the street in the middle of the block without
>>> looking. That is why I preferred to ride a 'bent, so I would not fly
>>> over the bars and land on my head if one of the idiots took me out
(been
>>> there, done that, earlier in life).
>>
>> I've /never/ run into anyone with my uprights.
>>
> I refuse to slow down for idiots.
I refuse to run-over anybody. Even the cognitively challenged.
Your above statement sounds so Car Driver-ish.
Sometimes we all have to slow down. Sometimes we all
have to speed up. Nobody has to hurt anybody just because
they're operating a certain kind of vehicle.
>>> Many of the cyclists are not any better. I have been hit a couple of
>>> times while walking by sidewalk riders - one overtaking from behind
>>> (clipped by the end of the handlebars) and one who was coming around a
>>> blind corner hugging the building wall
>>
>> I don't particularly like habitual
>> sidewalk cycling. That said, I've
>> never been hit by a sidewalk rider.
>>
> Maybe you have been in a less crowded area.
Heh.
>>> I was recently almost hit by a
>>> fixie poseur who was making a right turn on red without stopping or
>>> yielding.
>>
>> Car drivers do that a lot. I guess he was
>> a car driver on a bike. There are all too
>> many of those.
>>
> The guy is lucky he avoided me, since he would likely have landed on his
> face. Hitting a pedestrian while riding an upright usually is much worse
> for the rider.
It's bad all around.
>>> Notice that none of these incidents involve the dreaded steel and
glass
>>> cage.
>>
>> I notice that you lived to tell the tale.
>>
> The one incident with an upright involved several children running out
> in front of me while being screened from view by a parked vehicle. I was
> able to slow to less than 15 mph before the collision with an estimated
> 70 pound child (I probably weighed about 105 pounds at the time). The
> result was a nasty scalp wound for me, a bent fork on my Peugeot, and a
> minor scratch on the idiotic child's knee.
>
> Had I been riding a proper recumbent, the outcome would have been much
> more in my favor.
How so? Would there have been less hurtin' of people
all around?
>> I guess you're sharp enough to survive all
>> these dreaded onslaughts.
>>
> Hey, if a moron on a bike wants to run into me when I am a pedestrian
> and have the right-of-way, I will lead with my shoulder.
If you say so.
>> Heck, I survive & thrive well enough with
>> my ~normal~ bikes.
>>
>> I don't need to look to other configs
>> to make-up for my judgmental mistakes.
>>
> How is having others violate one's right-of-way a judgmental mistake?
The decision to retaliate is always a mistake.
Try not to retaliate. That just emits more bad vibes
into the world. There are usually more artful solutions
than BF&I. Often the solution is the realization that one
is one of many mistake-prone people.
This world needs more good vibes. Let's make 'em.
Lead 'em in with your shoulder & your heart & your
pedal-pumpin'.
And screw ego.
cheers,
Tom
--
Nothing is safe from me.
I'm really at:
tkeats curlicue vcn dot bc dot ca
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