On Sun, 10 Nov 2013 15:04:21 -0800, Dan
wrote:

yirgster writes:

It's amazing to me that this thread immediately devolved into details concerning the context of what the roads are like an similar. Which have been fought over time and again in this group with virtually no resolve. Even the occasional lurker here could spout them from memory while solving differential equations.

The main thrust of the article--which appears to have been totally ignored--is that drivers who kill cyclists get away with it, even when they have committed violations, and get away with it with the outright complicity, to put it mildly, of the police.

The actions of the SFPD are beyond the pale, totally reprehensible.


It's the culture - the collective attitudes.

It's assumed that if a bicyclist was involved it must have
been their fault. The author of this article and many others
(in the collective mindset) propose the solution is for
bicyclists to behave _like good motorists_. But bicyclists
are not motorists. The Rules of the Road are geared for
motorists. It doesn't make sense for bicyclists to dogmatically
adhere to them - except to reinforce the sense that automobiles
rule. Bicyclists can violate these rules and _still not create
any sort of practical traffic problems_.

Certainly. cyclists are soft and comparatively light so even if you
hit one it doesn't cause much damage to the car, hardly a scratch in
some cases. So even if they do violate the rules of the road it is
little or no skin off the motorists nose.

Thus, one would suppose, the superior ( this is right out of Chinese
philosophy) person should conduct him/her-self (politically
correctness too) in such a manner as to not impose on the space
occupied by a large, heavy, hard, quickly, moving object.

It's these that should be the focus.

The culture and attitudes must change. The solution is
butts on bikes (that and human decency in social interaction
ala Monderman) which will be the writing on the wall that
automobiles do not rule. The rules will change, too - *more*
than the current token patches grafted and shoehorned.

Or perhaps the Butts on Bikes should concern themselves with not
coming in contact with large, heavy, hard, fast, moving objects.
--
Cheers,

John B.