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)