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Is It O.K. to Kill Cyclists?
New York Times ^ | November 9, 2013 | Daniel Duane

Posted on 11/10/2013 6:57:21 PM PST by nickcarraway

EVERYBODY who knows me knows that I love cycling and that I’m also completely freaked out by it. I got into the sport for middle-aged reasons: fat; creaky knees; the delusional vanity of tight shorts. Registering for a triathlon, I took my first ride in decades. Wind in my hair, smile on my face, I decided instantly that I would bike everywhere like all those beautiful hipster kids on fixies. Within minutes, however, I watched an S.U.V. hit another cyclist, and then I got my own front wheel stuck in a streetcar track, sending me to the pavement.

I made it home alive and bought a stationary bike trainer and workout DVDs with the ex-pro Robbie Ventura guiding virtual rides on Wisconsin farm roads, so that I could sweat safely in my California basement. Then I called my buddy Russ, one of 13,500 daily bike commuters in Washington, D.C. Russ swore cycling was harmless but confessed to awakening recently in a Level 4 trauma center, having been hit by a car he could not remember. Still, Russ insisted I could avoid harm by assuming that every driver was “a mouth-breathing drug addict with a murderous hatred for cyclists.”

The anecdotes mounted: my wife’s childhood friend was cycling with Mom and Dad when a city truck killed her; two of my father’s law partners, maimed. I began noticing “cyclist killed” news articles, like one about Amelie Le Moullac, 24, pedaling inside a bike lane in San Francisco’s SOMA district when a truck turned right and killed her. In these articles, I found a recurring phrase: to quote from The San Francisco Chronicle story about Ms. Le Moullac, “The truck driver stayed at the scene and was not cited.”

(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Editorial; News/Current Events
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To: ClearCase_guy

Yup my sentiments exactly.

I don’t dislike cyclists, just those who aren’t polite and abuse our traffic ways (that were made for motor vehicles)!


141 posted on 11/10/2013 10:01:12 PM PST by JSDude1 (Defeat Hagan, elect a Constutional Conservative: Dr. Greg Brannon!)
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To: markman46
Taken outside my local Target:

No Bicycle Riding, right above a bicycle rack.

142 posted on 11/10/2013 10:02:05 PM PST by real saxophonist (Rock, paper, scissors, GUN. I win.)
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To: Secret Agent Man
Thoughtless cyclist aren't really the problem. Neither are idiots in cars. J@ck@sses of all sorts on the road are the problem.

J@ck@sses on this and other conservative forums that advocate violence are also a problem. Idiot cyclist deserve tickets or may even be responsible for their own demise but the public doesn't deserve childish suggestions of running others over.

Further, many of the posters on this thread cast a poor reflection on FR. This sort of nonsense is perfect for discrediting conservatives. Do you think there aren't leftist equivalents to DUfunnies?

143 posted on 11/10/2013 10:02:46 PM PST by Red Dog #1
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To: FredZarguna
Cyclists passing cars on the right in the same lane.

OK pal, no issue with most of your rants, but this one:

Just where would you have them pass you? Perhaps walking their bike and groveling at your vehicular superiority?

Have you ever ridden a bicycle on public roads? All the exercise haters screech about cyclists not staying in bike paths, having never tried riding in one.

If you had, you would have seen all the broken glass and fast food debris from car and truck drivers that pollute the "bike lane". For much of some roads, riding there is a ticket to flat tires.

Moving over to avoid glass is something that has to be done. Understand that the bike you approach is not a steamship and may have to undertake defensive maneuvers from road debris.

I have scars from a flat tire at speed from some @sshole's broken bottle. Don't tell me about staying in bike lanes.

144 posted on 11/10/2013 10:03:49 PM PST by doorgunner69
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To: nickcarraway

When does Caligula go bike riding?


145 posted on 11/10/2013 10:05:58 PM PST by Jemian (I do my best editing just after I hit the "post" button.)
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To: real saxophonist

I know someone that got an RUI. Really. Talk about hitting rock bottom.


146 posted on 11/10/2013 10:06:23 PM PST by Red Dog #1
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To: Darksheare
D, forgot to add you to “to” Bo's...pls see #143.
147 posted on 11/10/2013 10:08:26 PM PST by Red Dog #1
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To: Red Dog #1

Lol.


148 posted on 11/10/2013 10:11:12 PM PST by Darksheare (Try my coffee, first one's free..... Even robots will kill for it!)
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To: doorgunner69

Yep. I had a tire get cut so bad by glass I couldn’t fix it, so now I run Gatorskins on my road bike, and don’t care if they weigh a few grams more.


149 posted on 11/10/2013 10:12:25 PM PST by real saxophonist (Rock, paper, scissors, GUN. I win.)
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To: raybbr
There are many freepers who believe, truly believe, hitting cyclists would be okay.

I am one of them.

After all, I'd hit it.

150 posted on 11/10/2013 10:31:11 PM PST by Lazamataz (Early 2009 to 7/21/2013 - RIP my little girl Cathy. You were the best cat ever. You will be missed.)
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To: raybbr

I’m an avid cyclist, and frankly there are large swaths of this group that are so arrogant, so pathetically entitled to the road in their own minds at times, we could stand to lose some of them........


151 posted on 11/10/2013 10:34:55 PM PST by Lakeshark (Mr Reid, tear down this law!)
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To: FredZarguna
Just because you think you’re entitled to break the law doesn’t mean you are. Cyclists have to obey the vehicle code, and so do you.

Barack Obama.

152 posted on 11/10/2013 10:38:36 PM PST by Lazamataz (Early 2009 to 7/21/2013 - RIP my little girl Cathy. You were the best cat ever. You will be missed.)
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To: Red Dog #1

see my post 125


153 posted on 11/10/2013 10:46:47 PM PST by Secret Agent Man (Gone Galt; Not averse to Going Bronson.)
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To: Lazamataz
Obligatory "Cummings vs Bicycles" vid. Surprised I haven't seen it yet.
154 posted on 11/10/2013 10:53:51 PM PST by Cyber Liberty (We're At That Awkward Stage: It's too late to vote them out, too early to shoot the bastards.)
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To: doorgunner69
I ride 15 miles every day between Late March and early November. Whenever possible, I try to avoid roads. About a mile of my total commute is on streets.

Passing a vehicle on the right in the same lane is illegal and dangerous. When a car turning right at a traffic signal turns you into jelly because you've tried to sneak past him in the wrong lane it'll be too late to understand why. When a passenger throws her door open and you fly over the top of it, cracking your head on the sidewalk will be as well.

As for the stuff about the bike lane, you're hating on the wrong FReeper. I specifically take issue with several clowns on this thread who b!tch about cyclists not "staying in their lane." Legitimately, the whole travel lane belongs to the vehicle in it, with the exception that cyclists are required to stay as far to the right as safety permits. If there is debris in the bike lane, safety doesn't permit travel there, and cars who honk or harass cyclists who can't travel in the bike lane are breaking the law.

On the other hand, cyclists who ride side-by-side with following traffic are in violation of the vehicle code since one of them clearly is not "as far to the right as safely permissible."

155 posted on 11/10/2013 10:54:32 PM PST by FredZarguna (The sequel, thoroughly pointless, derivative, and boring was like all James Cameron "films.")
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To: real saxophonist

That’s legit.


156 posted on 11/10/2013 10:56:24 PM PST by FredZarguna (The sequel, thoroughly pointless, derivative, and boring was like all James Cameron "films.")
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To: Lazamataz
After all, I'd hit it.

I mean, they're asses are in the air, right? [Gals ... just the gals]

157 posted on 11/10/2013 10:58:25 PM PST by FredZarguna (The sequel, thoroughly pointless, derivative, and boring was like all James Cameron "films.")
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To: FredZarguna; Lazamataz

I hear tell it is fifty points per hipster if you scrape ‘em off with a mirror.
One hundred if you nail them mid “I did if before it was cool” statement.
/ obviously kidding for the nitpicky who can’t tell.


158 posted on 11/10/2013 11:07:27 PM PST by Darksheare (Try my coffee, first one's free..... Even robots will kill for it!)
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To: cripplecreek

You need that cyclist hunting license!

No, seriously. Bicycling on heavily motor trafficked routes is simply dangerous. They weren’t even designed for that. I wouldn’t object to being able to bike on sidewalks as long as pedestrians were respected.


159 posted on 11/10/2013 11:12:47 PM PST by HiTech RedNeck (The Lion of Judah will roar again if you give him a big hug and a cheer and mean it. See my page.)
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To: raybbr

“There are many freepers who believe, truly believe, hitting cyclists would be okay.”

Do you mean it isn’t ok?


160 posted on 11/10/2013 11:29:48 PM PST by Rannug
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