thorski
New member
When you factor in the drunks it's not harsh at all.
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Is road biking safe anymore?
- Thread starter thorski
- Start date
When you factor in the drunks it's not harsh at all.
bigbog
Active member
Sounds like a cell phone company stat mondeo..;-), ownership = no, but distraction while driving is a no brainer...
Does that mean I'm a moron for riding in the woods where bears live?
mondeo
New member
The point is that cell phones are a substitution, not a new phenomenon. Bad drivers will be bad drivers, that hasn't changed. Just fewer people reading newspapers and eating cereal because they're on the phone instead.
AdironRider
Well-known member
- Joined
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- Messages
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Living in an area where if you road bike you're just one step below the Dalai Lama in terms of the social hierarchy I deal with this every day. Ive given up caring at this point.
On the village road daily traffic will be held up by bikers riding 2, sometimes 3 or more, abreast. This causes massive traffic in the Yellowstone/Jackson area but the entitlement among bikers remains high.
If bikers want to keep riding that way fine, but you are going to get hurt, much more than the soccer mom in an SUV.
Sure we should share the road etc, but bikers still need to respect the fact that a 2 ton hunk of metal is going to kill you, regardless of who was right or wrong. This is the key element that bikers forget.
Regardless of the rules of the road, or who has the right of way, etc, bikers need to know that they will always lose in a collision with a car, who cares if you had the right of way?
On the village road daily traffic will be held up by bikers riding 2, sometimes 3 or more, abreast. This causes massive traffic in the Yellowstone/Jackson area but the entitlement among bikers remains high.
If bikers want to keep riding that way fine, but you are going to get hurt, much more than the soccer mom in an SUV.
Sure we should share the road etc, but bikers still need to respect the fact that a 2 ton hunk of metal is going to kill you, regardless of who was right or wrong. This is the key element that bikers forget.
Regardless of the rules of the road, or who has the right of way, etc, bikers need to know that they will always lose in a collision with a car, who cares if you had the right of way?
Magog Fishy
New member
8 miles south of Downtown LA? That is Watts – :blink: frankly, not a place you want to be riding through at any time of night; the riders were coming from Koreatown, so they rode straight through South Central. On the other hand the main boulevards in South Central are generally wide, pavement in good condition, generally well-lit, flat and grid-street system, and yeah not much traffic at 2:00 am aside from the drunks and gangs :angry: . LAPD keeps a bunch of helicopters up in the air at all times -- their spotlight lighting up a neighborhood about 3 nights a week looking for someone and sometimes coming over the loud speaker saying "we have you surrounded".
Certainly must make for entertaining riding! I lived for awhile in South Central, although not in the roughest of neighborhoods but still saw it all (as it was LA) – murders, police holding people at gunpoint, friends who were mugged (one at gunpoint), etc. You become streetwise quickly. My girlfriend and I would bike around short-distances during the day to errands/class, and never had any problems with vehicles. At least there was Mammoth for skiing!
thinnmann
New member
I do a fair amount of cycling on NJ roads, and used to commute. I would say almost every time I see a driver doing something stupid, he or she is on the cell phone. I love the ones that think they are on the DL by holding it away from themselves on speaker.
I think it is safer in this state to be "out there" when you are cycling. You are safer when you point a lot, make eye contact, get across an intersection even if the light is red to clear it before the traffic in your mutual direction starts.
Conversely, I know that sometimes I do something really dumb on the bike, and I admit that to myself as well as apologize to the drivers (yea, they can't hear me....)
I like to believe that cyclists in NJ are less likely to get injured while going down any street than anyone in cars. In the meantime, I am well insured and I wear my Road ID....
I think it is safer in this state to be "out there" when you are cycling. You are safer when you point a lot, make eye contact, get across an intersection even if the light is red to clear it before the traffic in your mutual direction starts.
Conversely, I know that sometimes I do something really dumb on the bike, and I admit that to myself as well as apologize to the drivers (yea, they can't hear me....)
I like to believe that cyclists in NJ are less likely to get injured while going down any street than anyone in cars. In the meantime, I am well insured and I wear my Road ID....
thorski
New member
Have the bears been drinking?
thorski
New member
Texting and driving is a whole new animal. Next time you are out driving around count how many people are texting while they are driving.
riverc0il
New member
Not that I approve of texting while driving (don't ever do it myself), but texting is just one form of distracted driving:
http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2011/06/what-happened-to-the-war-on-distraction/
bigbog
Active member
Yep...are an addition to the mix...
mondeo
New member
Statistics say they're a substitution or aren't significant. People aren't going to be talking on the phone and reading a newspaper. They're talking on the phone instead of something else.
Those that will be stupid, will be stupid. It doesn't matter how many options you give them, or how many you take away.
mondeo
New member
Show me the data. It's not like texting and driving is thought to be a safe thing to do, the people that do it just think they're good enough to pull it off. How can you say those people wouldn't be reading something, changing music, programming a GPS, or something else? The key decision is not to text, it's to do something other than drive in the first place.
thorski
New member
I see the data everyday when i am driving around. The people who are reading, changing music, or anything else are now also texting at the same time.
Texting is just a part of teenagers now, and their numbers on the road increase every year.
I've been wondering about this even when running in my local area. I live kind of out in the sticks, the roads aren't all that busy but there are rarely sidewalks and I often have to run on the edge of the road. It always makes me nervous - every so often you have a car drive by that really comes up close on you.
The texting & driving thing.... definitely makes me nervous. I know I occasionally check my phone when driving and I know it's a bad habit I'm working on breaking.
The texting & driving thing.... definitely makes me nervous. I know I occasionally check my phone when driving and I know it's a bad habit I'm working on breaking.
mondeo
New member
Anecdotes aren't data. Perception is often different than reality.
thorski
New member
So are you saying that you think people don't need to be more careful out there with all the cell phones and texting?
mondeo
New member
That's what I'm saying, and that's what the data says.
thorski
New member
Well i would strongly disagree, and would recommend all people on bikes be extra careful out there. I wouldn't wait for data to prove it's less safe out there when i can see it with my own eyes. Not saying you shouldn't bike at all, but it is more dangerous then it used to be.
As far as what the data says, hindsights 20-20.
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