alanbikehouston

The Ft. Worth article included an incident that would be typical in Houston. An SUV struck and killed a cyclist with the side mirror. No charges. And that is the "rule" in Houston. If a motor vehicle is used to murder a cyclist, the cyclist is ALWAYS at fault.

In central Houston, if you ride everyday, you will get pushed over the curb a couple times a month by Bubbas in pickup trucks or SUV's attempting to strike you with their sideview mirrors. Some guys go around the block and make a second attempt. You can see them coming, with their "Bush/Cheney 2004" and "KKK" bumper stickers. It's helpful to carry around a five pound OnGuard Brute U-lock. EVERY Bubba is a coward when he is not hiding inside his big, macho truck.

ovoleg

Gas prices will soon weed out these people

Cromulent

Oh please. Public roads should be re-engineered to accomodate Hummers. No self-respecting American should be driving anything else. That pedestrian was asking for it.

It boggles my mind that some drivers fly in to fits of stroke-inducing, apoplectic rage when something... another driver, cyclists, a deer, a pedestrian... gets in their way. It's like the Windows 'blue screen of death' pops up in their brains and their whole system crashes.

timmhaan

exactly. that's the real problem - and it's always been the problem. doesn't matter what the laws are - if people are so easily prone to fly into a rage, that's far more dangerous than any cyclist or group of cyclist could ever be.

briscoelab

Ok... H2s are TOTAL piles of crap as it relates to an Offroad vehicle. But, they aren't really that big... it's really only a Suburban with a different body kit on it. The problem isn't the size of the vehicle... it is the person behind the wheel that can't drive worth a crap. Roads are designed for semi trucks... an H2 is nothing like a semi or a dump truck. And, for your info size of vehicles are regulated, total width, bumper height, fender coverage. This is mostly a state by state deal, and enforcemnt depends of police and where applicable year;y vehicle inspections. As someone active in the offroad vehicle community, these things are regulated VERY stickly depending on your state. I drive a modified Jeep on the road sometimes.... when it's nice out you just can't beat driving around with the top down and the doors off. The thing is heavily modified and I don't drive it in town much. Mostly it just get loaded onto a trailer and taken somewhere to play/compete. But, when I do drive it on the road, I don't drive like a jack@$$.... Nor do I consider myself an @$$hole as the one poster said guys driving large vehicles are. I agree that some are... often people who have NO business driving that type of vehicle. But, saying that roads aren't designed to fit something that is no wider than any other full size puckup truck just shows ignorance. I'll give you that most people I've experienced driving H2's are total pin heads though.

dfw

It is common for group riders to all go through a stop sign together. Can you imagine the traffic jam if 20-30 riders all stopped individually through each stop sign? This part of his story I don't contest, but if you look at the rest, it's obviously BS. First of all, how do you "nearly plow through" a group of 20 brightly dressed riders at a stop sign? I suppose it's possible if the driver was very inattentive, but think about it, do you reasonably think the next reaction after almost injuring somone would be to honk? And do you think the reaction of several people (not just one) after nearly getting "plowed through" would be to flip him off? Sorry, I have to call BS on that one. It sounds much more likely that the guy was pissed at having to wait 20-30 seconds longer at a stop sign and honked. That is the response from the 1 percenters around here.



I know two people who have been struck by cars and two that have been intentionally ran off the road. I don't see any BS there.



As I said, the article made some good points, but it also played into the simians who harbor rage against cyclists. Certainly I'm biased myself, but I'm also a motorist so I can see both sides where others can't. Here's an analogy. Some of my neighbors are upset because animal control won't do anything about the local coyotes eating their pet cats. Coyotes are a native species in Texas and have every right to be here. House cats are a non-native species. If the paper were to run a story and point out problems with coyotes and fuel rage against them, I would consider this irresponsible journalism.

As a cyclist, I have a right to be on the road, but there's more to the story. I take great care not to impede motorists and so do 99.9% of the cyclists I know. I ride in this area almost daily and I never see traffic jams behind cyclists. Do I feel sympathy for the 1 percent (or less) motorists who are too impatient to wait 30 seconds to pass? No I don't. And I don't think the newspaper should be giving sympathy to them and fuelling road rage either.

dfw

Don't bet on it. People around here would rather feed their kids dog food than to give up their land yacht. Perhaps in time the culture will change, but it will be later rather than sooner I can promise you.

genec

How about when there is a pack of cyclists "in the middle of the lane," and there are three lanes, yet the motorist choses to follow the cyclists...

Ever see that?

How about a single cyclist in a lane, where there are two other lanes, and a motorist comes up behind the one cyclist, and then honks because the one lone cyclist is "not far enough over to the right."

Ever see that?

genec

If a pack of riders is a tight group, that pack of riders is the equivalent to a fully loaded city bus; the cyclists take up not much more room, and they are acting as a single group. Now the flip side is that each rider can stop and go at the sign, and how much more time will that take up for the drivers following?

Not stopping is a questionable practice, to be sure, but group riding dynamics are a touchy thing. A single rider in the middle of a pack suddenly stopping or changing positions, can cause choas in a pack, throwing riders out into traffic or causing riders to fall, a dangerous situation, to be sure.

intence

Even though i'm new, I also found the article to be biased. No benefits of cycling are mentioned, nothing about personal fitness, environmental benefits, and less cars on the road overall (a bike takes up less space than a car).

I can't say that i'm surprised. It's virtually impossible to get around the Dallas Ft.Worth area without a motor vehicle, the vehicles of choice generally appear to be large SUVs with few or no passengers. Compound this with current state rules on getting a driver's license. There is no mandatory state-administered road-test, in fact a legal guardian can sign a waiver (after you've passed the written test) allowing you drive. I believe that this leads to many poor drivers on the road, as the bar for legally being allowed to drive is set extremely low.

I agree that cyclists may be at fault some of the time, but the article should have provided a balanced view, and perhaps should have pointed out that if the roads were more "bike friendly", or if drivers were sometimes more observant there would be less problems. I won't even go into the fact that Dallas is on the "Fattest Cities in America" list (so is Houston and Ft.Worth), and that promoting cycling would be beneficial to the community/city in general, and would contribute towards the "greater good" (better health, less polution, fewer accidents). Making motorist aware of cyclists, and aware of the cyclist's right on the road would be better than portraying cyclists as a nuisance.

dfw

As far as offering a balanced view goes, the article didn't come close even from a purely motorist's point of view if you think about it. Even in Texas, more than 99% of the drivers I encounter don't have a problem with cyclists and coexist very courteously and peacefully. It's very common for motorists to wave and say good morning or good afternoon. Most drivers give me plenty of room and are patient and I usually give them a wave for the consideration. I encounter more of those drivers than the beligerent ones, but the paper plays up the negative aspects. It's really just a case of the media trying to orchestrate a story where one doesn't exist by feeding the basic instincts of ignorant people. Let's face it, the upward trend of the sport of cycling is only going to continue. If the motorists can't learn to deal with it, then God help us because there's still plenty of kids that ride their bikes to school and more than a few injuries and deaths result.

jyossarian

Are you kidding me? No road test to get a driver's license? That's the most insane thing I've ever heard.

I think you can divide up drivers into at least 3 categories:

1) 98% of them can actually drive the vehicle they're in
2) 1% drive really terribly
3) 1% are irresponsible and would most likely be the "hit and run" type of driver (drunk drivers included)

The second type, well you can't do anything about them. They're just terrible drivers. The third type, well how many drunks kill people each year and aren't convicted? How many drive with suspended licenses? How many are malicious a-holes? The cops and the courts are supposed to take care of the third type, but it looks like they'd rather blame the victim and not the criminal.

I'm sure there's other categories, but these 3 seem to apply here.

dfw

There is a road test. I think you can get around the road test *IF* you pass a state approved drivers education course which includes a minimum amount of time behind the wheel with an instructor and a road test from the school. So the bottom line is you have to take a road test one way or another unless you transfer your license from another state.

dfw

I agree. My understanding of the H2 is GM basically took suspension/frame components from a few other trucks/SUVs and frankensteined them together for the H2. For a vehicle that heavy, their frame/suspension is severely underengineered for serious off-road use. They are quite popular with the frustrated soccer mommies in my area though. Nothing like toting junior around in a land yacht with a cell phone attached to your head. The "support our troops" yellow ribbon magnet on the back is obligatory.

cycleprincess

As a matter of fact, the city of Keller, who was cited in that article, certain residents are attempting to serve a petition to ban cyclists alltogether from their roads. I don't know much about it beyond that. Here is another interesting "opinion" from one other Star Telegram reader

https://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/opin...2/12610633.htm

I have personally been very nearly hit, honked at more times then I care to recall, had empty bottles (the glass kind as well) thrown at me, flipped off, shouted at, called nasty names and bitten by a dog...all in the persuit of fitness. Where's the love, ya'll?

CPcyclist

The signs for speed are a Limit=MAXIMUM speed one should travel on the road. We should all vow to take a "Sunday drive" on our favorite route at cycling speeds or even 5mph under the LIMIT see how pissed the cars would get. I has has a car try to pass me (while in the car) using the bike lane. Yes, I was doing the speed LIMIT of 30mph for the road. Drivers on both sides need to learn mutual respect. But I will also add this those with the greater Power have a greater Responsibility. On the road I ask where does the power lay.

The only place I have ever seen a MINIMUM and MAXIMUM speed posted is on the Freeway where bicycles are prohibited along with motorcycles less the a certain engine size.

nova

Yeh i hate stories like this where do to 20 riders (probably more like 4 or 5 in reality) give every one a bad rep because of media hype. As for the artical its a bit freaky. I live in ohio while this is in texas my last name is kellar with a a we have a arlington and mansfield as well as a jhonson road. Of all the roads i ride on jhonson is the only one where i have any trouble with cars of note. In a normal day of riding 3 to 5 trips to local park (silver creek) there not a single trip where i dont have at least one car blow by me at high speed while being way to close for confort. It doesnt matter if im taking the lane or as far over to the right as possible. Heck i even tried riding 2 or 3 feet shy of the center line to keep people from passing me aproaching the bridge and on the bridge. I kid you not one guy road half on road half on the gravle of the shoulder passing me on the right with in 2 feet of me.

nova

Thats when you do like one guy did here on a bike lane. Guy pass him on the bike lane seen the guy barly miss hittign me. pull along side smiles nods and speeds off. Passes the guy back up stays on the center lin slows guy tries it again this time he speeds up guts over and hits his break. Next thing i hear is breaks locking up followed by a crunching sound. The driver who gave me the nod was totaly in the proper lane comeing to a stop sign at the time and breaked just as the law dictates. Oppsy for motorist one he just rear ended head nodder I passed the guy in his old beat up truck and waved. Some mortorist you can just tell they ither ride or use to ride alot. Some just have a natural tendancy to respect people no matter what they choose to use to get from one place to another. Wich catagory head nodder falls in to i never did find out.

The bike lane in question isnt so much a bike lane(its unmarked) and is about 3 to 4 feet wide. There is no gravel or soft shoulder on this road so basically once your off pavement your ither hitting a pole going in a ditch or rideing in some ones lawn.

dfw

It makes you wonder how these same people feel about trash trucks, horses, road graders, farm tractors, mail carriers, school buses, mopeds, and everything else that travels slower than their own 50 mph minimum speed.

CPcyclist

As I say he tried to pass saw this in the mirror and with no cyclist to endanger I moved over and blocked him. Was the man stupid or blind and not notice the bike rack on top of the car??? Oh yea the bike lane is marked very well with the words BIKE LANE and there are sings that say for bikes, buses and right turns only: have a problem with the last one as it sets up right hooks way to often.
but it
I am sorry to here you had to deal with these two %&*heads in front of you. but it reminds me of the time I heard a crash just behind me can only assume it was a guy switching lanes. The sound of metal being mangled is not for the weak hearted when you have no protection.

Enthalpic

Lance has left the building.... Texas (and the USA) will forget cycling.

DXchulo

Let me clarify about cyclists going through signs.

Certainly every cyclist shouldn't stop, and it's ok for a group to go through together if it's their turn. This is best at 4-way stops. Most cars at a 4-way stop will wave the whole group through anyway. These are maybe 20-30 people groups I'm talking about, nothing too huge. If a group was 50+ it might make sense for half of the group to go through, let a car by, and then the other half could go through.

I guess what I'm bothered about is when you get to a T in the road, when you cross a road where cross traffic doesn't stop, or when you're making a left turn with cars up and the group is fairly stretched out. You always get these guys in the front who will pull out ahead of a car when there's not enough space for the whole group to get through. It's fine if they do that, say it's not clear, and then slow down to wait for everyone to catch up. But what usually ends up happening is they bust through, keep going fast, and now everyone who stopped has to sprint to catch up. So the people in the back have a choice- cut it close with a car or wait and try to catch up. I always play it safe, but I see a lot of guys cutting it close. I don't see the point- everyone could use a good sprint now and then.

I do agree that the article should have had a little bit more "cyclists have the same rights as drivers, FYI cyclists DO pay taxes, a little patience wouldn't kill you," and so on.

7rider

If gas rises to $7 a gallon (as mentioned in a cutscene in Act of War: Direct Action), do you think drivers will be friendlier to cyclists? I just feel fortunate that I live in a pretty bike friendly area after reading this article.

will dehne

I suggest we look at it from another angle. Biking, in these USA, is still a rather odd activity. Motorist are not used to us and yes the differential speed is an issue.
I go a lot on bike trails in Wisconsin. I am guilty of running stop signs all the time. There is a stop sign every mile for cross roads you never see a car on. But to play it safe, there is a stop sign. So I am a criminal because I just slow down?
More bikers will have more influence and get facilities, paths and rights.
Unfortunately, on a given beautiful Sunday, I see perhaps 10 bikers on a 50 mile trail.
That is not enough to get rules changed in our favor. We need more bikers. A lot more bikers. We need to get all the TV watchers out and move and bike.
Until then: Live and let live. Grin and bear it.

thewalrus

Last week I was honked at for riding 35kph in a 30 zone, in the middle of the lane, where the curb was full of parked cars and thus a major door-opening hazard.

the psychological question i have is whether the same driver would have honked at another car, in the same position I was in, traveling at the same rate of speed (5kph over). was i honked at just because i was on a bike and perceived to be "in the way" ?

(i beat him to the next red light).