to "On the Road" editor, Kelly Kearsley
 

[see:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/htm...heroad05e.html.
After reading this column, I wrote the following question to Kelly:]

Q. There are so many motor vehicles now, and many seem to ignore traffic
signals and stop signs. My biggest fear is that I will be riding my bike on
day and be hit by a motorist who has ignored a stop sign, and I will be
blamed. Are there rules for motor vehicles?


--
Warm Regards,

Claire Petersky
please substitute yahoo for mousepotato to reply
Home of the meditative cyclist:
http://home.earthlink.net/~cpetersky/Welcome.htm
Personal page: http://www.geocities.com/cpetersky/
See the books I've set free at: http://bookcrossing.com/referral/Cpetersky

On Sat, 06 Nov 2004 00:06:21 GMT, Claire Petersky
wrote:

[see:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/htm...heroad05e.html.
After reading this column, I wrote the following question to Kelly:]

Q. There are so many motor vehicles now, and many seem to ignore traffic
signals and stop signs. My biggest fear is that I will be riding my bike
on
day and be hit by a motorist who has ignored a stop sign, and I will be
blamed. Are there rules for motor vehicles?


I hear that loud and clear. About 6 months ago I was nearly hit by someone
who didn't even bother to slow down for an obvious stop sign, but
went through at around 35 MPH, in a 25 MPH zone. Would I have been
in the wrong because I was riding and not walking in the crosswalk?
Where is a cop when you need one?
Bill Baka


--
Using M2, Opera's revolutionary e-mail client: http://www.opera.com/m2/

Bill Baka wrote:

On Sat, 06 Nov 2004 00:06:21 GMT, Claire Petersky
wrote:

[see:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/htm...heroad05e.html.
After reading this column, I wrote the following question to Kelly:]

Q. There are so many motor vehicles now, and many seem to ignore
traffic signals and stop signs. My biggest fear is that I will be
riding my bike on
day and be hit by a motorist who has ignored a stop sign, and I will
be blamed. Are there rules for motor vehicles?


I hear that loud and clear. About 6 months ago I was nearly hit by
someone who didn't even bother to slow down for an obvious stop sign,
but
went through at around 35 MPH, in a 25 MPH zone. Would I have been
in the wrong because I was riding and not walking in the crosswalk?
Where is a cop when you need one?

What I find most disturbing is when cops ignore blatant violations happening
right in front of them.

One day in lovely Newport Beach, CA, I was sitting at a red light, next to a
motorcycle cop. 4-5 cars ran a red light right in front of us, in the most
blatant way. I don't mean yellow-to-red, I mean red for a second or so already.
They almost clipped cross traffic that had started on the green. There was no
excuse for this cop to not give chase to at least one, but he could have gotten
all of them easily -- they were headed right to another red light. So I glared
at the cop, like, "Aren't you going to do something about it," but he glared
right back, like, "Don't even look at me or I'll throw *you* in jail."

Red light running has really gotten out of hand in CA in the last 10 years. A
friend who's an actuary for AAA agrees. Apparently, claims due to running red
lights are way up. While I'm against speed traps and some other things, I'm all
for those red light cameras.

Matt O.

On Sun, 7 Nov 2004 12:31:23 -0500, Matt O'Toole wrote:

Bill Baka wrote:

On Sat, 06 Nov 2004 00:06:21 GMT, Claire Petersky
wrote:

[see:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/htm...heroad05e.html.
After reading this column, I wrote the following question to Kelly:]

Q. There are so many motor vehicles now, and many seem to ignore
traffic signals and stop signs. My biggest fear is that I will be
riding my bike on
day and be hit by a motorist who has ignored a stop sign, and I will
be blamed. Are there rules for motor vehicles?


I hear that loud and clear. About 6 months ago I was nearly hit by
someone who didn't even bother to slow down for an obvious stop sign,
but
went through at around 35 MPH, in a 25 MPH zone. Would I have been
in the wrong because I was riding and not walking in the crosswalk?
Where is a cop when you need one?

What I find most disturbing is when cops ignore blatant violations
happening
right in front of them.

One day in lovely Newport Beach, CA, I was sitting at a red light, next
to a
motorcycle cop. 4-5 cars ran a red light right in front of us, in the
most
blatant way. I don't mean yellow-to-red, I mean red for a second or so
already.
They almost clipped cross traffic that had started on the green. There
was no
excuse for this cop to not give chase to at least one, but he could have
gotten
all of them easily -- they were headed right to another red light. So
I glared
at the cop, like, "Aren't you going to do something about it," but he
glared
right back, like, "Don't even look at me or I'll throw *you* in jail."

Red light running has really gotten out of hand in CA in the last 10
years. A
friend who's an actuary for AAA agrees. Apparently, claims due to
running red
lights are way up. While I'm against speed traps and some other things,
I'm all
for those red light cameras.

Matt O.


The police around here mainly patrol the populated areas, and this is not,
yet. There is a 1,000 house development being built and it may take
someones' kid getting hurt for the police to start patroling.
Sometimes reality sucks.
Bill Baka

Sun, 07 Nov 2004 11:21:58 -0800, ,
Bill Baka wrote:

The police around here mainly patrol the populated areas, and this is not,
yet. There is a 1,000 house development being built and it may take
someones' kid getting hurt for the police to start patroling.
Sometimes reality sucks.
Bill Baka

If it had been built for people instead of their cars, a community of
1000 people could pretty much police itself.
--
zk

On Sun, 07 Nov 2004 12:20:30 -0800, Zoot Katz
wrote:

Sun, 07 Nov 2004 11:21:58 -0800, ,
Bill Baka wrote:

The police around here mainly patrol the populated areas, and this is
not,
yet. There is a 1,000 house development being built and it may take
someones' kid getting hurt for the police to start patroling.
Sometimes reality sucks.
Bill Baka

If it had been built for people instead of their cars, a community of
1000 people could pretty much police itself.

Very true. Real estate is crazy aound here, and these houses are being sold
before they are even finished. I wouldn't buy one just because I have seen
how they are built, el cheapo. No bike paths either, but it is all
25MPH zone. Last year it was just a nice open field to ride across.
My short cut has been paved over and clogged with houses. I think the
police
will start patroling shortly and follow the money, err, um, higher income
types.
Bill Baka

--
Using M2, Opera's revolutionary e-mail client: http://www.opera.com/m2/

Zoot Katz wrote:

If it had been built for people instead of their cars, a community of
1000 people could pretty much police itself.

Good point!

Matt O.

Bill Baka wrote:

On Sun, 07 Nov 2004 12:20:30 -0800, Zoot Katz
wrote:

Sun, 07 Nov 2004 11:21:58 -0800, ,
Bill Baka wrote:

The police around here mainly patrol the populated areas, and this
is not,
yet. There is a 1,000 house development being built and it may take
someones' kid getting hurt for the police to start patroling.
Sometimes reality sucks.
Bill Baka

If it had been built for people instead of their cars, a community of
1000 people could pretty much police itself.

Very true. Real estate is crazy aound here, and these houses are
being sold before they are even finished. I wouldn't buy one just
because I have seen how they are built, el cheapo. No bike paths
either, but it is all 25MPH zone. Last year it was just a nice open
field to ride across.
My short cut has been paved over and clogged with houses. I think the
police
will start patroling shortly and follow the money, err, um, higher
income types.

The problem is not the prices, etc., or where the police choose to patrol. It's
that we build houses too far from everything else, so most people feel the need
to get in their cars to do anything. Communities can and should be built so
children can walk to school and other activities, so that adults can walk to
stores, etc. While completely eliminating commuting to work by car may not be
practical, eliminating a major portion of the 80% of car trips that are less
than 3 miles certainly is.

Matt O.

On Sun, 7 Nov 2004 20:14:50 -0500, Matt O'Toole wrote:

Bill Baka wrote:

On Sun, 07 Nov 2004 12:20:30 -0800, Zoot Katz
wrote:

Sun, 07 Nov 2004 11:21:58 -0800, ,
Bill Baka wrote:

The police around here mainly patrol the populated areas, and this
is not,
yet. There is a 1,000 house development being built and it may take
someones' kid getting hurt for the police to start patroling.
Sometimes reality sucks.
Bill Baka

If it had been built for people instead of their cars, a community of
1000 people could pretty much police itself.

Very true. Real estate is crazy aound here, and these houses are
being sold before they are even finished. I wouldn't buy one just
because I have seen how they are built, el cheapo. No bike paths
either, but it is all 25MPH zone. Last year it was just a nice open
field to ride across.
My short cut has been paved over and clogged with houses. I think the
police
will start patroling shortly and follow the money, err, um, higher
income types.

The problem is not the prices, etc., or where the police choose to
patrol. It's
that we build houses too far from everything else, so most people feel
the need
to get in their cars to do anything. Communities can and should be
built so
children can walk to school and other activities, so that adults can
walk to
stores, etc. While completely eliminating commuting to work by car may
not be
practical, eliminating a major portion of the 80% of car trips that are
less
than 3 miles certainly is.

Matt O.


You are most likely correct in that there is a park and a school 'planned'
but not yet built, and a farmer down the road is convienetly offering a
parcel for a shopping mall or whatever, which probably will get done
as soon as a few more people move into the area. Even when I go to do
some shopping now it is about 4 miles to get to a semblance of a town.
If the school in planning does get built it will be in the middle of
the new houses, so with eventual 1,000+? houses built there will probably
be plenty of kids riding bikes. I just wish they had at least planned
bike lanes at a minimum since all these houses are family sized, 1,500 Sq.
feet
or more, and that most likely means a few kids per house. I guess I can
just ride through it all.
Bill Baka


--
Using M2, Opera's revolutionary e-mail client: http://www.opera.com/m2/

"Matt O'Toole" wrote

The problem is not the prices, etc., or where the police choose to
patrol. It's
that we build houses too far from everything else, so most people feel
the need
to get in their cars to do anything. Communities can and should be built
so
children can walk to school and other activities, so that adults can walk
to
stores, etc. While completely eliminating commuting to work by car may
not be
practical, eliminating a major portion of the 80% of car trips that are
less
than 3 miles certainly is.

I live in a neighborhood where just about everything is within walking
distance. People still drive almost all the time.