You can everything right, and still lose your life
07-25-21, 08:45 AM
#51
Klaatu..Verata..Necktie?
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Compare that with the famously bike-friendly Netherlands, with 17 million people, where 229 cyclists were killed last year.
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07-25-21, 09:02 AM
#52
Live not by lies.
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Nothing will change until we completely overhaul the current paradigm and use words like "negligence" instead of "accident," "crash" or "collision" to describe drivers who are indifferent, incompetent or outright hostile toward other people who are lawfully using shared public infrastructure.
The easiest way to get away with mayhem, assault and murder in the US is to hit a pedestrian or cyclist with a car, then invoke the magic words, "They came out of nowhere! I never saw them! The sun was in my eyes! I feared for my life and was just trying to escape!"
If you survive being hit, you'll be lucky if the cop doesn't write up the citation implying that the pedestrian or cyclist was partially at fault for failing to dodge the Dodge. Been there. Despite having the green light, pedestrian walk signal, and being established in the crosswalk, the cop implied I was partially at fault for not jumping out of the way of the driver who ignored the flashing yellow yield signal and was looking down rather than up.
I never ride a bike now without running video, usually front and rear facing.
The easiest way to get away with mayhem, assault and murder in the US is to hit a pedestrian or cyclist with a car, then invoke the magic words, "They came out of nowhere! I never saw them! The sun was in my eyes! I feared for my life and was just trying to escape!"
If you survive being hit, you'll be lucky if the cop doesn't write up the citation implying that the pedestrian or cyclist was partially at fault for failing to dodge the Dodge. Been there. Despite having the green light, pedestrian walk signal, and being established in the crosswalk, the cop implied I was partially at fault for not jumping out of the way of the driver who ignored the flashing yellow yield signal and was looking down rather than up.
I never ride a bike now without running video, usually front and rear facing.
07-25-21, 09:08 AM
#53
Live not by lies.
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I am not trying to minimize the risk of cycling, both on and off road, but, the reality is that no matter what one is doing, whether doing it 100% right or not, there is risk of being badly injured or killed. We can only control what is in our control, and I have come to believe that is not a whole lot. It's dangerous getting out of bed in the morning. I love riding bikes, particularly road cycling. I accept the risk because of that. Not doing it is not a good option for me. I do what I can to minimize the risk. What's worse, getting killed doing something you love to do, or getting killed doing something you dislike doing? I guess it really does not matter, but I think given an option, I prefer going out with a smile on my face. At the end of a ride, cycling ALWAYS makes me smile.
Huge life implications.
07-25-21, 11:59 AM
#54
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Oh, it's not as bad as all that. The vast majority of cyclists are able to ride safely without getting hit or killed. Almost 39,000 people were killed in car accidents last year. Only 675 cyclists, in the whole USA, a country of 328 Million people, which had a huge growth in cycling last year.
Compare that with the famously bike-friendly Netherlands, with 17 million people, where 229 cyclists were killed last year.
Compare that with the famously bike-friendly Netherlands, with 17 million people, where 229 cyclists were killed last year.
Last edited by PeteHski; 07-25-21 at 02:19 PM.
07-25-21, 02:12 PM
#55
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Many years ago, now, I did mt bike rides out of Moab, Utah. That was pretty nifty even if I didn't know the first thing about such riding. I have ridden some of the forest service roads near Seattle and those can be fun. But I'm mostly a road road bike rider. But the road bike has done some gnarly forest roads, too - can you say broken spoke!
07-26-21, 06:38 PM
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Threads like this always bring up different perspectives and ideas. It is good to discuss these situations and share with each other things that make us feel safer. Let’s face it , it is dangerous to ride a bike on the open road, but we still do it. I ride in one of the most densely populated places in North America, Southern California. I am in a more rural portion of my county but usually ride from my house to the coast and harbor area which is fairly crowded , especially this time of the year. I do what I can to be safe but still vulnerable. I have posted before about my helmet with lights and directional signals. I also have rechargeable lights on the bike but actually have had folks pull up at stop lights and tell me how great my helmet is because they can tell which direction I am going. It is usually while making a left turn in the turn lane. Still, given the wrong time- wrong place situation and it can be bad. Joe
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