On Fri, 11 May 2018 07:29:55 -0500, AMuzi wrote:

On 5/11/2018 12:33 AM, John B. wrote:
On Thu, 10 May 2018 23:06:28 -0400, Frank Krygowski
wrote:

On 5/10/2018 6:15 PM, John B. wrote:

I suspect that you, like I, are what might be called a sensible rider.
RE, door zones, just slow down a bit so you have time to dodge the
door if necessary.

Um... no, that's not sensible.

Consider what happens if you're riding just 15 kph and a driver pops his
door open as you pass his rear bumper. There's no way to stop in time.

If you're lucky, you'll hit his door squarely and crumple beneath it. If
you're unlucky, you'll snag the door edge with your right handlebar, the
bike will steer to the right, your body will be thrown down to the left,
and the motor vehicle you were worried about will run over you.

Unlike mountain lion attacks, dooring really is a danger. Most states
don't record it as a car-bike collision, because they record those only
if the car was moving. But Chicago did keep track, and found that
something like 20% of car-bike crashes were doorings.

Don't ride in the door zone. Just don't.

Funny, I can't remember ever having problem with "door zones" and
there was one area, actually a small bridge in a village I used to
pass through where cars congregated. There was a bank just at the edge
of the bridge which had ATM's there were always cars parked there. I
never gave it much thought but what I think I did was to move out
further into the road. I do remember having a couple of people open
their door just a crack and peer out at me and then close the door and
wait for me to pass.

One thing that is difficult in discussing traffic in different
countries is the different laws and customs. In Thailand, for example,
if you were to open the door of your car into someone's path and they
literally ripped your door off and punted it down the road that would
be your fault and you would be liable for both repairs to your car,
the "door ripper" and any damage the door did subsequent to being
ripped off.

But something that is happening in Bangkok at the moment might be of
interest in the U.S. Bangkok is literally covered with surveillance
cameras which are now being programmed to stop the rather reckless
lane changing one sees in Bangkok. As of yesterday, in one day, they
caught 750 vehicles making illegal lane changes and providing the
program gets the go ahead traffic tickets will be mailed to the
miscreants.

The news article emphasized that each lane change is a separate
offence so ten illegal lane changes equates to 10 tickets. Which, if
the news article was accurate would equate to about 10,000 baht in
fines. As a comparison, minimum wage here is 300 baht a day, at the
moment. 10,000/300 = ~33 days of minimum wages.

If the U.S. would install and program surveillance cameras to
recognize bicycles and to identify those who break the various laws
that control them it might put a large dent in the numbers of bicycle
accidents.



Be careful what you wish:
https://futurism.com/facial-recognit...social-credit/

This will not end with lane changes and jaywalking.

Of course not. Today, I would say, that a large number, perhaps a
majority of the street crime in Bangkok is "solved" by examining
surveillance camera film. I've read that G.B, has more surveillance
cameras installed then any other country in the world.

But, if, as recently happened here, someone punches you in the mouth
and steals your brand new iFone, do you care who's on Candid Camera?
Nope, you just want your iFone back.
--
Cheers,

John B.