rseeker

I don't know any of the backstory but I ran across this, showing a line of demonstrators/activists/bicyclists/human people standing along the car-side boundary of a bike lane* after a cyclist was killed there.

There's video, and the caption says "Cyclist killed on Howard in SF this morning. This evening protected bike lane advocates stood in the street to provide protection."

EDIT: after looking again, may be along the side of a lane that should be a bike lane but isn't.

https://twitter.com/nbcjeanelle/stat...768331776?s=21

venturi95

Like always,when a cyclist is killed two insightful and spiritually uplifting comments are already posted (not).

GamblerGORD53

Quote >>"Cyclists are special creatures. They want to be cars and pedestrians." LOL hahahahahahaha

JoeyBike

And the third comment is NFL SPAM. 3 for 3!

venturi95

Some distant friends of the family lost their son, he was on a motorcycle and hit something lying on the road and was killed in the crash. Many of the online comments were "he deserved it, being one of those [fill in the blank]." You can imagine the grieving parents reading these sort of things.

I-Like-To-Bike

What does commenting on the idiotic comments made by insensitive jerks on other blogs and social media sites really have to do with advocacy or safety?

JoeyBike

Believing that motorists have great disdain for cyclists is information that is good to have in general. I know it makes me cycle in a safer manner than if they all loved me.

I-Like-To-Bike

"Great disdain for bicyclists" from outspoken idiots on display is nothing special or unique.

Great disdain can be read on unmoderated social media sites for everything and everybody and every activity, opinion or political or religious belief under the sun.

mr_bill

CB HI

OP - look at the video again. There is a bike lane in the top of the video between a parking lane and the travel lane. Of course the bike lane is way too narrow for safety, either for remaining out of the door zone or away from moving traffic to the left.
It seems the bike lane likely disappeared as it approached an intersection.

JoeyBike

What is "special and unique" is the fact that one group, the same group I encounter many members every day, can kill me and get away with it. I most certainly need to be aware of their disdain. And reminded of it from time to time. Comment sections are a good place to find those reminders that motorists hate me.

Maelochs

You mean cops?
I could get banned in a heartbeat over a thread like this.

In case none of you have noticed, people will type stuff on the internet they don't have the balls to say or act on in real life. People use the internet to vent, to posture, to be dicks because in real life their dicks are too small. Internet comments have about as much relation to reality as Warner Bros. cartoons.

And the people who read internet comments and the vent and posture about them .... who knows?

JoeyBike

Them too. All five of them remaining at NOPD.

I doubt that motorists who love cyclists enter comments that are hateful on the Internet.

Maelochs

I think most people who comment on internet posts hate everything--in the privacy of their homes (or their parents' homes) and vent all over the internet about everything. I doubt they hate cyclists more than elephants, helicopters, astronauts ... and I bet any of them would post a long rant condemning any or all of those things just because they have miserable lives.

jade408

A woman riding in a door zone bike lane swerved into the travel lane to avoid an opening door and got hit by a truck and ended up being dragged.

There was a protected bike lane on the next block.

That segment of street is one of the most dangerous in SF. 12 streets account for about 80% of all the traffic injuries in SF. This is one of them. It leads to the freeway, cars speed, it is near a train station with a larger percentage of bike traffic. This street leads to the main business districts in the city - the SOMA area and the best path to the financial district if you are coming from the south or the train station.

All in all a terrible place to ride your bike, but it is better than the other parallel streets. Which is terrible. The city has been moving very slowly and getting the improvements out.

https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/...t-13680493.php

Rick

I avoid unprotected bike lanes. They are and will always be a death trap. Would you drive your car in the right lane on the freeway for several hundred miles. The high congestion and sensory deprivation going on in busy city streets, requires more than a painted line for you to have a safe ride. Where they put the cars parking to the left of the bike lane, this is the start at intelligent behavior. Society in the US expects bad things to happen so the law is overlooked when a person driving a car is not held liable in any way for killing people on bicycles.

rseeker

Thanks for the link. Yes, a tragic death and a terrible situation overall.

I happen to have discovered a new podcast (I went to it for climate then saw an episode about bike lanes) which happens to mention people demonstrating by wearing hi-vis and lining up as in the video. So this is a thing. Today I Learned.

Cool Solutions: Riding into the Future: Macon's DIY Bike Lanes Lead to Change