Oh, as if it wasn't dangerous enough already..

[gridlore]

Talk radio hosts are encouraging their listeners to be aggressive against bike riders, whining about not wanting to share the road.

Bloody Hell, as if it wasn't hard enough to dodge hurtling metal already, we've got these nimrods bitching? My bike occupies about five square feet of road space. Deal with it. There is no way in hell I'm going to ride on the sidewalk when I'm doing 12 mph, about three times the average walking speed.

http://www.bikeleague.org/mediacenter/quickresponse.htm

Comments

[lysana.livejournal.com]

And dear gods, the last thing pedestrians need is more bicycles on the sidewalks. I keep fantasizing about clotheslining someone when they do that, especially when there are clearly marked bicycle lanes in the road they're avoiding like the plague. I'm not that violent normally, but each bicycle feels like a low-grade threat due to the speed difference. It builds up the more I walk to different places.

[gridlore.livejournal.com]

I've ridden on sidewalks, but only when riding in the street presents such a danger that I simply have no other option. And I regularly ride along Almaden Expressway. When I do ride on the sidewalk, I keep my speed down, and watch for anyone walking out of doors and the like.

To be honest, it's less stressful to dodge cars!

[cmdr-zoom.livejournal.com]

The sidewalk's also a lot less likely to have a sixpack's worth of bottles in it, serving as improvised caltrops. But I suppose that's more an artifact of living near campus.

[kengr]

Heck, in the two areas I've spent any length of time in (Spokane and Portland) it's *illegal* to ride on the sidewalk.

And those talk shoe hosts are skating on the thin edge as I'd bet a cookie that a PO'ed DA could find a way to nail them using the "anti-terrorist" laws that are now on the books.

Mind you, I understand about the pain idiot bikers cause. A couple of years back when I was getting driving lessons, I wound up behind an idiot biker.

And as someone who has ridden a bike for decades, *I* wanted to yell at the idiot. They were cruising along at about 15 (ok, I do that too), but when the road widened and there were a couple of blocks with no parked cars, they stayed in the middle of the single traffic lane on that side.

I'd have moved over into the "parking lane" to let folks pass. I'd also have been looking behind me occasionally, to see if traffic was building up behind me.

I know that if this rider had been out on a "country road" they'd have been liable for a ticket (basicly if folks *cannot* pass, and you've got more than 4 cars stacked up behind you, you are required to pull off at the first opportunity and let ythem by).

Why is it that so many bike riders are such assholes about dealing with cars?

Between those and the ones who ignore traffic rules, I'm not surprised that even *good*, considerate driver cringe when they see a bike.

That's still no excuse for hassling riders who are obeying the rules and being considerate.

<sigh>

[dandelion-diva.livejournal.com]

Wow, what jerks. I wonder if they could be sued for incitement if any idiots follow their directives. Not that I *want* anyone to do that just for a test case. Ergh. Why would someone be that *stupid* as to suggest that a person on four wheels, encased in metal, try to slap down a person on two wheels with basically just hys skin. Fuckers.

Gessi