Living car free

[flex wood]

Forget about laws, not signaling is a sure way to get run over. No, thank you.

Eh most bikers I have seen using signals think it gives them some kind of right of way and that just because their hand is out that traffic should stop so they can cross lanes to get to get over to the left. They just throw their hand out and don't look over their shoulder at all. So that is one of my main reasons I stay away from them and personally don't like bikers that use them.

If you're in a car doing 40 getting on the freeway and just turn on your signal and jump into a lane of traffic that is doing 55 you are causing the problem not the car that hits you or has to slam on their brakes.

[Ack]

So wait...you won't signal, you'll violate traffic laws, and you can't accept that some drivers might drive poorly around bikers because they've had bad experiences with bikers who don't happen to follow any sort of rules or regulations?

Also, wait, if you have better vision, stopping power, and control...why can't you use the sidewalk again? I mean, all those pedestrians have better vision, stopping power, and control than you do since they're not on a mechanical contraption. It seems you ought to be able to move around them just fine.

No I said most drivers drive poorly around bikers because they have no sense of the size of their cars or even how to drive them.

And sidewalks are much more dangerous for biker then the street because if you can see the traffic, you know for a fact traffic can see you. When you're driving how often are you paying attention to what is going on on the sidewalk? You get to an intersection to take a right turn you are looking for cars in front of you and pedestrians you can't see a bike in your huge blindspot on the sidewalk coming to cross the street. Would you rather have to make complete stop, and completely stopping traffic behind you, for every single right turn you make to check if there is a biker on the sidewalk or rather see a biker in front of you and be able to pass them and go about with your turn or being forced to slow down a tiny bit and only waiting a couple of extra seconds and not bringing traffic to a complete stop.

Relax, I'm just giving you shit.

But please be wary of the dangers, not just bad drivers but also road raging ones. We had an employee here who rides bikes regularly that got into an altercation with a motorist in June, and by alteraction I mean the guy ran him over and dragged him several hundred feet under his Escalade. The guy then went, hid his car, and removed the license plate. It took a month and a sizable bounty before the driver was finally caught. Thankfully Greg is recovering, though I don't know if he's out of the ICU yet.

[KalessinDB]

Stuff

And you just perfectly demonstrated the biker mentality that I hate. You want the best of both worlds - you want to be on the roadway, where people have to follow the laws of the road like signaling and stopping at traffic control devices, but you don't want to follow those laws yourself, and then you get mad at the people that your idiocy caused a hard time for.

[flex wood]

Stuff

And you just perfectly demonstrated the biker mentality that I hate. You want the best of both worlds - you want to be on the roadway, where people have to follow the laws of the road like signaling and stopping at traffic control devices, but you don't want to follow those laws yourself, and then you get mad at the people that your idiocy caused a hard time for.

How does me not signalling effect traffic? Or me running a light when no one is coming? I don't take a turn unless no one is coming same with going through a light. You think I don't have much more to worry about in cars that don't do those things? I have no airbags on my bike. I have much more to worry about killing me when I'm biking than any driver on the road. I'll make a list then.

Things that can kill you on a bike
squirrels, cats, dogs and any other animal that jumps in front of me
potholes
cars
other bikers
pedestrians at crosswalks
pedestrians going to their cars
people opening their parked car doors
and a ton of other shit I'm not going to bother listing because I think you get the point

Things that can kill you while driving
other cars
your own shitty reactions to all of the things I listed above except you have the chance to kill other people and as long as you are following the traffic laws and not drunk you won't even get into trouble for hitting any of the above objects.

[MrPopo]

Stuff

And you just perfectly demonstrated the biker mentality that I hate. You want the best of both worlds - you want to be on the roadway, where people have to follow the laws of the road like signaling and stopping at traffic control devices, but you don't want to follow those laws yourself, and then you get mad at the people that your idiocy caused a hard time for.

How does me not signalling effect traffic? Or me running a light when no one is coming? I don't take a turn unless no one is coming same with going through a light. You think I don't have much more to worry about in cars that don't do those things? I have no airbags on my bike. I have much more to worry about killing me when I'm biking than any driver on the road. I'll make a list then.

Things that can kill you on a bike
squirrels, cats, dogs and any other animal that jumps in front of me
potholes
cars
other bikers
pedestrians at crosswalks
pedestrians going to their cars
people opening their parked car doors
and a ton of other shit I'm not going to bother listing because I think you get the point

Things that can kill you while driving
other cars
your own shitty reactions to all of the things I listed above except you have the chance to kill other people and as long as you are following the traffic laws and not drunk you won't even get into trouble for hitting any of the above objects.

I can get through an intersection faster than a bike. If there's no traffic coming why can't I just blow through the red light in my car?

[flex wood]

I can get through an intersection faster than a bike. If there's no traffic coming why can't I just blow through the red light in my car?

What's stopping you? Do that shit homie! I mean as long you know if you screw up you are going to end up seriously injuring yourself and someone else right? A bikers actions can only hurt themselves. A drivers actions will end up hurting others.

Honestly I'm all for terrible bikers that hurt the flow of traffic getting hit.

[ZeroAX]

This discussion has been focused heavily on the bike aspect, but I have a different question for you my American friends:

If you had the choice to get bigger highways, or an awesome local railroad and metro network that makes it easy for everyone from the outer parts of the big cities, to get all the way into the center where you work, which would you pick?

On the one hand highways make cities ugly, they cause pollution and noise, and (when cars are pretty much the only means of transport) end up clogged by traffic jams.

On the other hand, not even the best metro system in the world can be comfortable enough to make you loosen up. I'm saying this cause when I am using the public transport to move around, I don't feel like work is over till I get in my house, but when I am going back home with a car, the moment I sit in that driver's seat I am already feeling more relaxed.



So basically, would you rather pay for more highways or for public transport, if you had the chance to choose one? (BTW I'm not saying for there not to be highways, or not using your cars at all)

[Jmustang1968]

Highways. I wouldnt take the public transportation anyway.

Dave can attest to this. NYC is an exception. Subway is easier there than trying to find parking for your car.

[MrPopo]

Mass transit is always a best effort to reach people, and if you aren't commuting to/from the hub in the mass transit system your life sucks. So I'd rather have bigger highways to alleviate the existing congestion.

[Blu]

I for one love the train system. If it was more of a high speed railway, which it will be once the infrastructure or trains get upgraded, it'll shave off an hour from the Ann Arbor -> Chicago route. Plus, I don't have to deal with the tolls, traffic, parking, or gasoline and vehicle maintenance.

I'm fine with open roads and maintain a car for the convenience of travel, but city driving, even though I'm comfortable with it, is a miserable experience. I'd choose an expanded rail system, it might alleviate some of the congestion of driving.