4 ms·

He makes some good points, but here's my take: I used to ride my bicycle to work every day and for general transportation for quite a while (I live in Israel),

by idop 9y ago

He makes some good points, but here's my take: I used to ride my bicycle to work every day and for general transportation for quite a while (I live in Israel), but I've basically given that up completely because I have to ride on the road, and I've had too many close encounters that it's just too much for me. I've had cars brush up against me, others ignore me completely when taking a left turn from the opposite direction forcing me to brake suddenly, and more. The worst was when I was riding on a two lane road, approaching an intersection where the right lane could either continue straight or take a right turn. I was going straight, and was just a few meters from the intersection when a female driver overtook me on the left lane and slowed down. I could see her looking at me in her mirror, and right when I was about to reach the intersection she suddenly turned sharply right. I had to brake hard and veer to the right, almost slamming into her car. She flashed an evil smile, and sped away. That was it for me. If drivers are trying to kill me as if it's a sport, I'm out. Bike lanes aren't better though. There's basically two types where I live: first are bike lanes right on the sidewalks. These have many people walking on them, oblivious or not caring that they're on the bike lanes. Motorcyclists also like to park on them. The second is even worse, where the bike lane is on the right edge of the road, but with parking to the left of it. People don't know how to park, so cars often block the lane, or back up into you while you're riding, or someone on the passenger side suddenly opens the door on you. Couples also like to walk in those lanes as if it's some romantic activity. Seriously, it happens a lot. Eh, I'll just walk.

azernik 9y ago
They have that second type of bike lane here in Oakland; the addition of some barriers at the beginning and end of a block has helped compliance a lot. It took about a year for drivers to get wise, but these days it's just the occasional delivery van standing in the lane.
- idop 9y ago
  They have some small rubber bumps or something to mark the boundary, but nobody cares or notices...
literallycancer 9y ago
All true, the only solution I've seen that would work for me are bike-only trails + bridges over major roads.
bsimpson 9y ago
"female driver" I suspect her gender had nothing to do with it.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- jacquesm 9y ago
  It's a statement of fact. I suspect you wouldn't have made your comment if he had written 'some guy cut me off'.
  - bsimpson 9y ago
    But it's superfluous. He (presumably) went out of his way to identify the gender of the driver when it has nothing to do with anything. You're right - I wouldn't have reacted to "some guy", because you're not calling attention to the person's gender. In fact, given the context, I wouldn't even presume to know the gender of "some guy." OP's use of "her" throughout the section makes it clear that she was female, and that's fine. But going out of his way to call out that it was a FEMALE driver reinforces stereotypes about women's competency, and that's not OK.
noobermin 9y ago
And I thought I have it bad. A large part of the issue with bikes interacting with cars has less to do with infrastructure and more to do with culture. You should shoot for driving culture that forces drivers to be more respectful and responsible. It sounds like I wouldn't want to bike in Israel by what it sounds like.
- idop 9y ago
  It goes both ways. The average bicyclist actually rides on the sidewalks, and pedestrians are often injured by bicyclists. This problem has grown considerably as electric bikes became very popular the past few years, and new traffic laws now ban riding on sidewalks completely, so bicyclists must ride on the road, or on the bike lane (if it exists). As I'm writing this it sounds like this should be a given, but it wasn't up until a few months ago, and many bicyclists still don't know or care about this law. I will ride on the sidewalk myself in certain situations if I find it safer than the road. Many electric bicyclists are very noticeably oblivious of traffic laws and their own mortality in general. They often enter intersections at a red light without even slowing down. They zig zag between the road, the sidewalk and crosswalks all the time. They take right turns at red lights (this is not allowed in Israel). They ride while using or talking on their smartphones. They ride in the middle of the road between two car lanes! I often look at them and think "where did they get the guts to do that?".
  - megablast 9y ago
    > The average bicyclist actually rides on the sidewalks, and pedestrians are often injured by bicyclists. Sure they are. While over a million people are killed by cars, your big concern is pedestrians "often" injured by bikes. The fact is that car culture is incredibly bad and dangerous for everyone. In 20 or 50 years, people will look back and think what idiots we were to let it get this far. They are a death track meters away from your house.
    - idop 9y ago
      Who said it was my "big concern"? I just gave an example of how this bad culture thing goes both ways and made no comparison about injury/death potential. Have you not noticed these replies started with a comment made by me about car culture?

by idop 9y ago

azernik 9y ago

They have that second type of bike lane here in Oakland; the addition of some barriers at the beginning and end of a block has helped compliance a lot. It took about a year for drivers to get wise, but these days it's just the occasional delivery van standing in the lane.

idop 9y ago
They have some small rubber bumps or something to mark the boundary, but nobody cares or notices...

literallycancer 9y ago

All true, the only solution I've seen that would work for me are bike-only trails + bridges over major roads.

bsimpson 9y ago

"female driver" I suspect her gender had nothing to do with it.

deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
jacquesm 9y ago
It's a statement of fact. I suspect you wouldn't have made your comment if he had written 'some guy cut me off'.
- bsimpson 9y ago
  But it's superfluous. He (presumably) went out of his way to identify the gender of the driver when it has nothing to do with anything. You're right - I wouldn't have reacted to "some guy", because you're not calling attention to the person's gender. In fact, given the context, I wouldn't even presume to know the gender of "some guy." OP's use of "her" throughout the section makes it clear that she was female, and that's fine. But going out of his way to call out that it was a FEMALE driver reinforces stereotypes about women's competency, and that's not OK.

noobermin 9y ago

And I thought I have it bad. A large part of the issue with bikes interacting with cars has less to do with infrastructure and more to do with culture. You should shoot for driving culture that forces drivers to be more respectful and responsible. It sounds like I wouldn't want to bike in Israel by what it sounds like.

idop 9y ago
It goes both ways. The average bicyclist actually rides on the sidewalks, and pedestrians are often injured by bicyclists. This problem has grown considerably as electric bikes became very popular the past few years, and new traffic laws now ban riding on sidewalks completely, so bicyclists must ride on the road, or on the bike lane (if it exists). As I'm writing this it sounds like this should be a given, but it wasn't up until a few months ago, and many bicyclists still don't know or care about this law. I will ride on the sidewalk myself in certain situations if I find it safer than the road. Many electric bicyclists are very noticeably oblivious of traffic laws and their own mortality in general. They often enter intersections at a red light without even slowing down. They zig zag between the road, the sidewalk and crosswalks all the time. They take right turns at red lights (this is not allowed in Israel). They ride while using or talking on their smartphones. They ride in the middle of the road between two car lanes! I often look at them and think "where did they get the guts to do that?".
- megablast 9y ago
  > The average bicyclist actually rides on the sidewalks, and pedestrians are often injured by bicyclists. Sure they are. While over a million people are killed by cars, your big concern is pedestrians "often" injured by bikes. The fact is that car culture is incredibly bad and dangerous for everyone. In 20 or 50 years, people will look back and think what idiots we were to let it get this far. They are a death track meters away from your house.
  - idop 9y ago
    Who said it was my "big concern"? I just gave an example of how this bad culture thing goes both ways and made no comparison about injury/death potential. Have you not noticed these replies started with a comment made by me about car culture?