Good read on Share the Road

[cinco]

Sorry if already posted. I briefly checked and didn't see it here.
This opinion piece sums up pretty well how I feel on the subject of sharing the road. All points have been brought up here before. I sometimes marvel at how we (on the Paceline) can have such varying perspectives on this matter. Though, I'm glad that we have this space to discuss. Peace.

http://www.pressdemocrat.com/sports/8508239-181/benefield-why-such-misplaced-hatred?sba=AAS&artslide=0

Andy in Houston.

[paredown]

Good read--and I have stopped reading the comments on any press article on a bike accident because of the comments by the mouth-breathers.

What I see a lot of now is a high degree of impatience--and the whip-around.

Anything impedes a driver's progress--the first reaction now seems to be whip around--into the oncoming lane, no problem. Here, with narrow country roads, it could be the mail truck, the garbage pickup guys, a mom with a baby carriage or a cyclist. It is no longer slow to see if it is safe--it's whip around and assume that everyone else--including oncoming cars will brake for you.

And when that turns out to be a bit of a fail--then the pedestrian or cyclist gets buzzed because the car has to move back into their lane--because it really was not safe to pass. I've been buzzed 2 out the last three rides by motorists passing on blind corners who were forced back over because of oncoming traffic. Good thing I'm steady on the bike...

I stopped the other day while driving--behind the garbage pickup guys--who were picking up from both sides of a country highway (non-union, and no longer forced to do one side at a time...). Not safe--so I waited because I saw the guy grab stuff on the opposite side of the road. Meanwhile the guy behind me had honked once, and then pulled out to pass me and the garbage truck just as the guy started back across the road.

Garbage guy nearly gets killed because a-hole motorist can't wait for another 45 seconds?

[smontanaro]

One thing I've noticed more of lately in Chicago (maybe trending in urban settings in general) is getting passed unsafely by Uber, Doordash, etc drivers. I understand the gig economy sucks in many respects, and that time is money, but damn, dude, I just want to get home safely for dinner (and the rest of my life).

[corky]

Every journey is a race here in the UK, ride the clutch to ensure the fastest acceleration at the lights, every speed limit sign is a target speed, spat at, sandwiches thrown at, cars travelling in opposite direction slow to wind the window and scream obscenities at cyclists, GPS has meant more people using country lanes as short cuts at racing speeds.....it’s a jungle

[bigbill]

Like mentioned above, a lot of what I see is drivers passing me around corners, double yellow line and all. A few weeks ago, an oncoming car was forced off the road by a car passing me over a double yellow but the driver forced off the road yelled at me. More and more reasons every day to have front and rear cameras. Or head off road.

[OtayBW]

I would like to see a signature required - if it isn't already - anytime a state driver's license is issued or renewed, that the operator is aware of and acknowledges the lawful rights of cyclists in that state. Might make it easier to prosecute drivers who think that “self entitled road hogging arrogant bicyclists” have no place on the road when involved in an incident.

[Red Tornado]

"When people think of those who ride bikes as just “cyclists” and classify them as an entity that annoys, frustrates, infuriates or worse, those people are stripping cyclists of their humanity. People who ride bikes are also mothers, brothers, daughters and friends. They are the doctor who mends your wounds or the person who bags your groceries. They are us."
And to wish harm on someone because you feel they have slowed you down on your journey is not a reasonable leap to make.
Particularly liked this portion of the article.

[Clean39T]

Every journey is a race here in the UK, ride the clutch to ensure the fastest acceleration at the lights, every speed limit sign is a target speed, spat at, sandwiches thrown at, cars travelling in opposite direction slow to wind the window and scream obscenities at cyclists, GPS has meant more people using country lanes as short cuts at racing speeds.....it’s a jungle

So true. As traffic gets worse in Portland, people are taking to the backroads and going double the speed limit to make up for the extra distance.

[pjbaz]

"When people think of those who ride bikes as just “cyclists” and classify them as an entity that annoys, frustrates, infuriates or worse, those people are stripping cyclists of their humanity. People who ride bikes are also mothers, brothers, daughters and friends. They are the doctor who mends your wounds or the person who bags your groceries. They are us."
And to wish harm on someone because you feel they have slowed you down on your journey is not a reasonable leap to make.
Particularly liked this portion of the article.

They are my high school friend, John, an elementary school principal who went back to the classroom to have a bigger impact on the kids ... struck and killed little more than a year ago.

[Clean39T]

They are my high school friend, John, an elementary school principal who went back to the classroom to have a bigger impact on the kids ... struck and killed little more than a year ago.

Sorry for your loss. And for their family and other friends' loss too.

[binxnyrwarrsoul]

I stopped the other day while driving--behind the garbage pickup guys--who were picking up from both sides of a country highway (non-union, and no longer forced to do one side at a time...). Not safe--so I waited because I saw the guy grab stuff on the opposite side of the road. Meanwhile the guy behind me had honked once, and then pulled out to pass me and the garbage truck just as the guy started back across the road.

Garbage guy nearly gets killed because a-hole motorist can't wait for another 45 seconds?

I see this just about every day, while working. I drive a truck in Brooklyn and Queens NY and frankly the day is going to come when I see one of these garbage truck guys get killed in front of me. I cannot count how many times I see a car in my side mirror peaking over the double yellow line because I'm not moving and what the hell is the hold up. Just today I had a red left turn arrow and a Mini (I'm in a 40 foot long Freightliner) was beeping incessantly, then impatiently comes around me only to wait at the light I'm waiting at. Maybe it's because I'm on the road a lot more than most but this aggressive, get out of my way, my nail appointment/golf appointment is more important than your life attitude is an epidemic and getting worse. I'm often happy I'm in a 20 ton vehicle.

[Red Tornado]

I see this just about every day, while working. I drive a truck in Brooklyn and Queens NY and frankly the day is going to come when I see one of these garbage truck guys get killed in front of me. I cannot count how many times I see a car in my side mirror peaking over the double yellow line because I'm not moving and what the hell is the hold up. Just today I had a red left turn arrow and a Mini (I'm in a 40 foot long Freightliner) was beeping incessantly, then impatiently comes around me only to wait at the light I'm waiting at. Maybe it's because I'm on the road a lot more than most but this aggressive, get out of my way, my nail appointment/golf appointment is more important than your life attitude is an epidemic and getting worse. I'm often happy I'm in a 20 ton vehicle.

I posted this in another thread, but seems to fit pretty well here as well...

A few reasons in no particular order for the car vs. bike dilemma:
-Distracted driving
-Entitled, impatient, "it's all about me" drivers who HAVE to get from point A to point B NOW (even though they don't)
-I feel as though society overall has started to become less polite, mannered, respectful, etc. over the last several years. This manifests itself in many different circumstances, including: having to wait that extra 6 seconds behind a bike, redneck in his diesel dually telling his friends "hey ya'll watch this" just because he can, and others.....

[R3awak3n]

I see this just about every day, while working. I drive a truck in Brooklyn and Queens NY and frankly the day is going to come when I see one of these garbage truck guys get killed in front of me. I cannot count how many times I see a car in my side mirror peaking over the double yellow line because I'm not moving and what the hell is the hold up. Just today I had a red left turn arrow and a Mini (I'm in a 40 foot long Freightliner) was beeping incessantly, then impatiently comes around me only to wait at the light I'm waiting at. Maybe it's because I'm on the road a lot more than most but this aggressive, get out of my way, my nail appointment/golf appointment is more important than your life attitude is an epidemic and getting worse. I'm often happy I'm in a 20 ton vehicle.

garbage trucks are also notoriously bad with cyclists in the city. I have multiple complains from cyclists about almost being run down by a garbage truck

[pjbaz]

Sorry for your loss. And for their family and other friends' loss too.

Thank you. He and I hadb't been in contact in like 20 years but I worked for his family (grandfather and father) when i was a kid and they were always incredibly gracious and generous to me. John was a few years younger but he and his sister (one year behind me) and I went to school together, and I drove the around when their dad couldn't pick grab them bc of work. Such a loss. Those kids lost a special person.