On Jul 31, 4:46 pm, Wayne Pein <
[email protected]> wrote:
> Bill Z. wrote:
>
> > Most experienced bicylists can handle bike lanes just fine, and
> > find that ones in compliance with the current standards are not
> > a problem (ones that are substandard can be a problem). I know
> > people who have ridden across the U.S. who have no objections to
> > properly designed bike lanes.
>
> > So, why don't you cut your infantile ad hominem arguments? You
> > are just making yourself look like a fool.
>
> Why should experienced bicyclists have to "handle" bike lanes when they
> can already handle normal non-bike lane roads. Why do we have to adjust
> our riding for cry babies like you?
One basic reason YOU NEED BIKE LANES is that when you don't have them,
YOU ARE LEFT WITH NO LANES. THE CARS THINK (AND ACT) LIKE THEY OWN THE
LANES, all of them. And since you are at a little thing at the bottom
of the food chain, drivers can shout at you, throw things at you, and
even spit at you --or simply run you over. And UNDER THAT SORT OF
TERROR CYCLISTS MUST SURVIVE...
(same lady quoted above)
Mr. Irate Motorist, just how many lanes do you want?
A familiar sound. Behind me, "HONK HONK!" Sigh. Here we go again.
"HONK HONK HONK!!!" I maintain my position in the center of the lane
as it's too narrow to share with a car. I'm on Division, a one way
street, three lanes, very light traffic, but Mr. Irate Motorist is
****** off that I've taken one of three lanes. Most people just change
lanes to pass me, like they would any other slow-moving vehicle, but
Mr. Irate Motorist slows to my pace, window rolled down, half in my
lane, half in the next, beside me. "BLAH BLAH BLAH SHOULDN'T BE ON THE
ROAD BLAH BLAH BLAH SPEED LIMIT BLAH BLAH BLAH!!!" I can't understand
half of what he's saying, but I imagine it's what I've heard before.
He thinks I shouldn't be on the road since I can't maintain the speed
limit. Do people even understand anymore that the speed limit is
supposed to be the maximum speed allowed, not the minimum? I suppose
not, since the police don't ticket anyone unless they're going well
over the posted limit.
I yell over his words, "THERE'S A PASSING LANE! THERE'S A PASSING
LANE! THERE'S A PASSING LANE!" over and over, as clearly as I can, all
the way to Ann, where I turn right and continue my journey to work.
After I turn I glance back and see a police car on Division,
continuing past Ann. No flashing lights though. I would think the
police officer would have witnessed the motorist driving half in one
lane, half in the other for several blocks, keeping pace with me while
I was yelling. Didn't it occur to the officer that the motorist was
harassing me? If it did, police don't seem to think harassment of
cyclists is a problem.
My thoughts returned to Mr. Irate Motorist. What I had said to him
was, "There's a passing lane." What I should have said was, "You've
got two passing lanes! This road is three lanes wide! Just how many
lanes do you want? Quit harassing me, you dumbass!" Some motorists are
like grown up versions of possessive children who don't want to share
their toys. It isn't that they're able to play with all of their toys
themselves simultaneously; they just don't want anyone else to play
with anything. They want everything for themselves.
I have a hunch that if someone did a study they would find that the
motorists who harass cyclists, don't want them on "their" roads, argue
about maintaining speed limits, paying road taxes, and all the other
ridiculous things cyclists have all heard, are the same people who
were possessive children who didn't want to share toys or take turns
on playground equipment. It isn't about speed limits or road taxes.
It's about personality. One develops one's essential personality as a
young child. It's a core part of one's being. Interests and skills
will come and go throughout life, and beliefs may change, but
personality isn't going to change much.
I'm not a parent, and I realize there are different approaches to
parenting. I have no idea what works. How do you deal with a little
kid who wants to have all the toys? How do you get little Billy to get
it into his thick little head that it doesn't really matter that he
wants all the toys? Other kids want to play too. If he keeps all the
toys to himself, he's being a jerk. Is there some way to make him see
that?
If there is, that's what we need to do with grown up Bill. We need to
make him see that it really doesn't matter that he wants the whole
road to himself. Other people need to use it too. If he tries to keep
the whole road to himself, he's being a jerk.
http://www.riinsrants.info/bikes/howmany.htm
Lots