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RachelV

I run TheSkiDiva.com and work at OpenSnow.
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I just think that most drivers (I broke my 22-year no accident streak with a fender bender a few weeks ago so I include myself in this) are way too complacent. Cars need a blinking marquee above the windshield (facing the driver) that says something like "remember this thing weighs at least 2000 lbs and will kill anything you hit", or something. Driving is the most dangerous thing most people do on a regular basis and almost no one thinks of it that way.
 
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Rich McP

H20nSnow Elsewhere
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slowrider

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I just think that most drivers (I broke my 22-year no accident streak with a fender bender a few weeks ago so I include myself in this) are way too complacent. Cars need a blinking marquee above the windshield (facing the driver) that says something like "remember this thing weighs at least 2000 lbs and will kill anything you hit", or something. Driving is the most dangerous thing most people do on a regular basis and almost no one thinks of it that way.
Unless you make a living at it.
 
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TS
Tricia

Tricia

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Tom K.

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All part of why I find myself riding less and less on high-traffic roads.

Passed to closely, too many times, by people staring down between their legs.

At phones, I surmise.
 

Wendy

Resurrecting the Oxford comma
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I read all of this with sadness. I live in a region popular with cyclists. The Valley Preferred Cycling Center (aka Lehigh Valley Velodrome) draws in cyclists from all over the world, and many local cycling clubs, as well as a large Mennonite community which uses bikes as transportation, mean that there are lots of riders on our roads.

I used to road ride a lot, and I raced on the track, too. A bunch of these racers held a training ride every Wednesday evening called “the derby.” After joining them two or three times, I stopped, due to most rides’ lack of respect for car drivers....flipping them off, running red lights, taking up the entire breadth of road. IMO, it didn’t do much good to earn the trust of an already semi-hostile-to-cyclists public.

While out on a ride with friends, we passed a pickup truck driver waiting at a stop sign. About a mile down the road, the same driver passed us then immediately slammed on his brakes in the middle of the road. I nearly ended up in the bed of his truck. He got out, screaming and cursing at us and told us to “get off the goddam road.” (This was on a road marked with signage as a “PA bike route.”) We got his plate number and called 911. He drove off, but long story short, he was charged with reckless driving and I ended up as a witness at his hearing.

The judge dropped the charges and went into a full rant to me about “those cyclists who run stop signs and wreak havoc.” This was especially infuriating when I deliberately stopped riding with a group (the derby) who was guilty of that. I resented being placed by that judge in that same group.

I no longer ride on the road, knowing now that the legal system doesn’t have my back. In the many years I did ride, I had soda cans thrown at me, a driver play chicken with me, slurs hurled at me....basically I saw the worst side of humanity. All this in a region filled with cyclists.

The car driving public will overlook an infraction by a driver, but not by a cyclist. Or, they will imagine an infraction by a cyclist. It boggles my mind that killing a cyclist while driving isn’t vehicular homicide. I now ride a fat bike on dirt roads, fields, and mountain bike trails. No cars.
 

cantunamunch

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Wow, talk about wrong time, wrong place. That poor guy had no chance at all.


 

RobSN

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Nov 12, 2019
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Prescott Valley, AZ
I ride, but I don't fool myself that I'm anything but the dead body in any encounter with a car. What I do try to do is minimize my risks - in five ways:

1. I wear ludicrously bright clothing, and if it is dull, I have little flashing lights on the cuffs and waist of my rain jacket (one of the showers pass ones)
2. I actually obey traffic laws. I know, I know ...
3. I have a Garmin Varia back light which uses radar to create a display on my Garmin GPS of traffic behind me
4. I have mirrors on both left and right sides, and
5. I have an Airzound air horn (extremely loud)

None of those matter for the rednecks who want to run you down, but each one is something. Before I retired, I commuted on my bike 10 miles each way to work in Kansas City using back roads and cycle lanes to the extent possible: I was the fittest I have ever been. I'd hate to give it up and the fitness that comes with riding - but I do think very carefully about my routes and the likely traffic.
 

Henry

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Traveling in the great Northwest
We had a double tragedy in our town. A cyclist in the bike lane was passing a car on its right through an intersection. The car turned. The cyclist died, and the driver was in such despair that he attempted suicide and may never fully recover to face trial.

Riders must look out for drivers that may inadvertently do something dangerous in front of them. Plan ahead. Be ready to take evasive action. Motorcycle riders are taught this in the training classes. Bicycle riders need to believe this. A rider may have the right of way in the bike lane, but that means nothing at all if the driver fails to check their right mirror before turning right. One's safety is 100% one's own responsibility. No one else cares as much as you do. Be careful out there!
 

skibob

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