[trafficsafety] List Purpose and Members

I, too am becoming disillusioned with this list. The Cycling
Inferiority Cyclists are dominating it and spreading the propaganda of
the "us vs. them" mentality. Us being the downtrodden cyclists and them
being the evil motorists.

Two people wrote to me offlist about my statement to Jasun:
"If driving a small vehicle makes you feel inferior, that's your fault,
not society's."

One came from someone I know. One sender was anonymous--a nondescript
sort of e-mail address and no signature. Both writers said I should
have replied to Jasun offlist. One said my message wasn't useful and
was poor etiquette. Ironically, Jasun didn't seem to mind my statement
at all. By the way, I liked Jasun's response--I thought it was funny.

My statement was not meant to be hateful, spiteful, rude, or snippy, and
certainly not useless. Anyone who thought so should have given me the
benefit of the doubt, considered the possibility of misinterpretation,
and asked for rephrasing or elaboration.

So, here is some elaboration for anyone who misunderstood me. I am
simply trying to impress on everyone that bicyclists ought not to feel
inferior. Might does not make right. Our society does not operate that
way. (Maybe no society can, but I'll leave that to sociologists to
debate) Bicycles, cars, trucks, horse-drawn carts, farm tractors, etc.
are all legitimate road vehicles. The vehicle code was developed to
prevent collisions between any two vehicles and between a vehicle and a
pedestrian. It works because generally people are law-abiding and
because people don't like to bump into things, whether it be vehicles,
pedestrians, or telephone poles. Cyclists who cower at the edges of
roads don't do themselves or other cyclists any favors. They reinforce
the views of people who believe in cyclist inferiority.

On another note, from Brian Sept. 21:
"Things such as hazardous cyclists on sidewalks, or improvements to the
streets themselves, will certainly be up for discussion, but realize
that the focus is dangerous motorists and what we can do that will
reduce future fatalities."

From the list purpose:
"Fatalities of cyclists / pedestrians hit by motorists are increasing,
much of this due to careless and inattentive driving."

My response:
Oh! you mean only motor vehicle driving, not all careless and
inattentive driving. So, cyclists never drive carelessly, and all
car/bike crashes are the motorists' fault? And all this time, I thought
the focus was dangerous driving--by anyone, regardless of vehicle. Bike
crashes are so poorly reported that studies are not entirely reliable,
but many have concluded that about half of all bike crashes don't
involve motor vehicles and about half of the car/bike crashes are the
cyclist's fault.

This morning I heard about a cyclist who almost got hit. He was passing
a motorist on the right on the approach to a side street. The person
who told me about it called the motorist a fool. Although the cyclist
was in a bike lane and had the right of way, I call the cyclist a fool.
Right turns from left lanes are the worst of many dangerous features of
bike lanes. The possibility of being right hooked is the primary reason
I avoided bike laned streets for years when I moved to Portland. It
wasn't until I felt that I had acquired the extra skills needed to drive
in bike lanes that I began to use those roads. I still avoid them when
there is a nearby road with no bike lanes.

Although passing on the right by a cyclist in a bike lane and now
without a bike lane is legal, the only time it is safe to do it at speed
is when the cars are moving and there are no right-hand side streets or
driveways into which the motorist might turn. When the cars are
stopped, passing on the right must be done cautiously because of the
possibility of being doored by a passenger. I testified against the
bill that legalized same-lane passing on the right, but the "cyclists
deserve special privileges" group was more persuasive, and it passed.

It appears that many of the people on this list are not interested in
education or in better driving, but only in vengeance against motorists.

Kat Iverson,
Vehicular Cyclist, which means that I drive my bicycle according to the
rules of the road.

_________________________________________

The homepage for this list can be found at:
http://lists.riseup.net/www/info/trafficsafety

People may unsubscribe by sending mail to:
trafficsafety-unsubscribe@lists.riseup.net