Collision avoidance..... was Cycling as transportation

"Jerry Rhodes" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Larry,

I'm sure that you know EXACTLY what I meant when I said "ASSUME that
you are invisible". I Did NOT say ACT like you are invisible. There
is a WORLD of difference there.

We have lost quite a few recumbent friends in the last two years or so
who were totally invisible to the people that hit them, most of them
in FL.

The agressive driver that sees you and desides to "give you a little
scare" is no problem whatsover compared to the elderly, or otherwise,
inattentive person that cannot see you no matter how assertive you are
in "taking the lane", so to speak.

I agree with you that we must act in a very pragmatic, rational way
when dealing with people of unkown skills who are operating heavy,
dangerous machinery.

As to my not having ridden on the road...maybe not compared to
you...but I have logged about 45,000 miles in the last 50 years with
NO accidents. I have had many close calls that I avoided because I
assumed correctly that I was INVISIBLE to the clod/clodette that
seemed to be intent on occupying my "rightful" place on the road.
This has happened to me on rural roads, crowded city streets, busy
highways, neighborhood streets and parking lots.

As a corollary to the above: My h'met is off those attentive "cagers"
that have reacted properly to a stupid move on my part when they were
INVISIBLE to me, thus saving my life and limb.

BTW Do you know who are the WORST offenders, Public School bus
drivers. I suppose their power to stop all traffic when loading and
unloading gives them a god complex. I was narrowly missed just this
morning. The big round mirror on the right front fender passed over
me as I was on my way to work on the GR. I know the driver and I will
discuss proper road etiquette with her at my first opportunity.

Rear view mirror, don't leave home without it.

Jerry Rhodes

Hells Bells! Another sane cyclist here on ARBR besides myself. For a moment
or two I thought I had alighted on to Fantasy Island what with all the nuts
and screwballs claiming that cycling is as safe as staying home in your bed.
But I love to argue the obvious with otherwise intelligent people who do not
seem to have any idea at all of what a statistic might mean. They are
hypnotized by a number, at which point they bow down and worship the fact
and call it evidence. The whole scenario is hilarious when we all know
instinctively that cycling on the roads with motor vehicles is dangerous.

--
Ed Dolan - Minnesota

Edward Dolan said:

... The whole scenario is hilarious when we all know
instinctively that cycling on the roads with motor vehicles is dangerous.

And we used to instinctively know that the sun revolved around the
earth, clay had a higher internal friction angle than sand, and other
beliefs from observation that have been proven to untrue.

--
Tom Sherman – Quad Cities (Illinois Side)