#171
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Bicycle statistics
On Friday, June 7, 2019 at 1:57:44 PM UTC-7, Radey Shouman wrote:
Tom Kunich writes: On Thursday, June 6, 2019 at 8:09:46 PM UTC-7, Radey Shouman wrote: Tom Kunich writes: On Wednesday, June 5, 2019 at 7:05:05 PM UTC-7, Radey Shouman wrote: AMuzi writes: On 6/5/2019 9:02 AM, Radey Shouman wrote: Frank Krygowski writes: On 6/4/2019 7:52 PM, AMuzi wrote: On 6/3/2019 11:13 PM, John B. wrote: On Mon, 3 Jun 2019 19:05:23 -0700, sms wrote: Oops, hit send to soon.... On 6/3/2019 3:54 PM, John B. Slocomb wrote: snip How can this be? Segregated foot paths and pedestrian deaths are increasing while segregated bicycle paths will make us safer? Because the two things are not the same. As I am sure that you understand. Pedestrian injuries and deaths only occasionally happen on the sidewalk. The problem is at intersections, of which they cross a great many. Jaywalking and vehicle traffic violations play the biggest part. A properly designed protected bicycle lane will, by design, have proper controls at intersections. No right-on-red (or no right turn at all). Traffic lights with a phase for cyclists. Bollards and other devices that discourage vehicle intrusion into the protected bicycle lane even at intersections. Ah, again you enlighten us. Pedestrians get killed at intersections where they do not obey even rudimentary traffic laws because, apparently, there aren't any proper controls but bicycles will be safe because they do have proper controls. Tell me, what sort of primitive area do you reside in that doesn't have pedestrian controls at intersections? I ask as even in this benighted little country we have them and I find it amazing that they don't (apparently) exist in the U.S. -- cheers, John B. You don't have pedestrian controls. THIS is pedestrian control: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/w...-a8279531.html That's scary. Today my wife and I walked to the post office, then the pharmacy, then library and returned home. We could have been ticketed for jaywalking twice. The first was the one that made my wife nervous, across 60 feet of pavement between blocks. But we knew that if we walked to the only marked crosswalk on our route, the pedestrian button would not work. It hasn't worked for about a year. And it involves walking past the pharmacy, then doubling back on the other side of the street. And the multi-direction traffic and separate light phases make that marked crosswalk more hazardous than what we did, which was wait until there were no cars at all within a block either direction. It took a little patience, but it wasn't bad. Jaywalking is frequently rational when many drivers do not properly yield to pedestrians, eg turning right or left. Crossing mid block can give a much simpler traffic situation to deal with. Even stray cats can eventually figure this out. Coming out of the library, which is about 50 feet from a T intersection, there's a sign saying "No Pedestrian Crossing - Cross at intersection." But it doesn't mean that intersection 50 feet away, because there's an identical sign there! It means the intersection with a traffic light a block further away. Again, we waited just a few seconds, then were lucky enough to then have absolutely no passing cars - a rarity. And I think that's the reason lots of people jaywalk. The system has been set up so peds are expected to wait long times at crossing places that are quite a way from their intended destination. I'd rather ride a bike, where I'm a legitimate part of traffic. The invention of jaywalking was a fine bit of rhetorical judo. Before jay walking, when motor vehicles were a new idea, we had "jay driving", which meant driving without regard for the rules of the road, perhaps on the wrong side. "Jay" meant a rube or a hick, someone incapable of town manners. Eventually motor car advocacy groups managed to turn the idea around -- those walking across the road wherever it seemed convenient were hounded as "jaywalkers". In the modern era, when any white man might aspire to own a motor car, pedestrians would cross only where permitted by law. More at https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-26073797 . The book mentioned, _Why We Drive the Way We Do_, Tom Vanderbilt, is worth reading. " In the modern era, when any white man might aspire to own a motor car..." What the hell does that mean? I've known a lot of people in various shades, only a couple of dark hue & no car, among them my best friend, now passed, who had episodic epilepsy and couldn't be licensed. I had a pink skinned girl working for me with no license for the same reason so maybe not any real pattern there. You might want to rephrase that. http://www.yellowjersey.org/photosfr...st/beautqu.jpg I meant that motor cars were originally for the moneyed classes, but eventually aspirations of car ownership moved down the social scale. But only gradually. When jaywalking laws were first introduced, one of their purposes was to keep those dark people in their place. Some say that's still true in the USA today. -- You couldn't be more full of **** - firstly, Henry Ford increased his assembly line worker's pay and reduced the price of a Model T so that anyone could own a car and virtually overnight everyone owned a car. That's my point, sorry it's so hard to grasp. Jaywalking laws would not have been possible if only millionaires could afford automobiles. When ordinary people began to see that they could also afford one, things changed. Jaywalking laws were introduced for the plain reason that the Model T had drum brakes that were very poor acting and you had to know where you might have pedestrians crossing. Or you might have to slow down, just in case. That was expected in the early days, but drivers got tired of that. This group is absolutely the last place we need any more of the Democrat racism running wild with fake news. Wait, you think there wasn't real racism back when John B. Slocomb was the merest twinkle in his daddy's eye? Andrew pointed out that a Model T has "band brakes" but that is nothing more than another form of drum brake. I also remember having to replace the bands on emergency brakes when most cars had EB's on the rear side of the transmission. Band brakes are inside-out compared to drum brakes. They're more similar to each other than either is to a disk brake, but they're not the same. Whether the friction surface is on the inside or the outside it is nonetheless a brake drum. |
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#172
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Bicycle statistics
On 6/8/2019 8:43 PM, Tim McNamara wrote:
Probably depends in part on where you live- is it a "bike friendly" place? I see a lot of folks in their 20s-30s riding around here, although more in their 40s-60s. I started riding in ~1964 when I was five... For about a decade we had "Nice Ride" rental bikes all over the Twin Cities. Saw a lot of people riding them. About 4 years ago another company- Lime, I think- came in with freestanding bikes, no docking stations like the "Nice Rides." Pick 'em up wherever you see one, drop it off wherever. Now I see just about zero of those, the "Nice Rides" are still around but hardly anyone uses them- now they use electric scooters. Lots and lots of electric scooters. Bike share systems have been falling out of favor. Too bad. I was just in Europe. In Austria, in Salzburg, there is a docked bike share company, CityBike, with only a single location. I used the bikes and they were pretty awful--many had had their quick-release seat clamp ;ever stolen so the seat wasn't adjustable, some had flat tires, on the one son took the chain fell off after fifty meters. In Vienna I also used CityBike. Was lucky that someone had just returned one because every dock but one was empty. But returning, to another location, every dock was full. Fortunately the app lets you look for a nearby location and tell you how many bikes are free and how many docks are free. The bike was terrible. I thought I had a flat tire because there was a bump with every wheel revolution. I was going to try to borrow a pump then I realized that they had filled the Schwalbe tires with some kind of a solid and there was no tire valve. |
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