Am I wrong to have an expectation of safety on the streets??
Am I wrong to have an expectation of safety when using a bicycle on the streets?
Or am I just unprepared to accept that other people are always trying to kill me and I should just get over it because it is reality and I should just accept that reality can be shitty.
The Cycle Fun Montreal medical team has studied this problem and prescribes to get out of the city and ride my bike through the beautiful and peaceful Québec countryside.
Finally the right answer.
posted by Cycle Fun Montreal @ 6:59 PM
7 comments
7 Comments:
As someone who just got hit by a car 3 days ago, and 2 again 2 months ago. Both times, it was the drivers' fault. I bike as if 90% of drivers can't see me and 10% are trying to kill me.
There are drivers who do take aim at cyclists, for sure. For the most part, though, it is stupidity on the part of the driver; the same stupidity that results in a fair few auto-vs-auto collisions.
Last month on Bélanger, I miraculously survived going through the windshield of a car that cut me off as if I wasn't there.
Tons of bad drivers out there.
Daily as I ride with my kids to school, I'm astounded at the number of fellow riders who flaunt an unhealthy disrespect for the rules of the road, as if they don't necessarily apply to 2wheeled types.
Tons of bad riders out there.
Possible solutions:
a)ban all cars("Them");
b)ban all bikes("Us");
c)reintroduce the concept of civism to Us and Them;
d)...
Nice blog.
Here in the states, we hold up Montreal as the example of what's possible for a healthier, bike-friendly city. Your car speeds, at least in the Plateau and Outremont neighborhoods, are much slower than similar neighborhoods in American cities. And your on-street bicycle infrastructure and bike path network is second to none in North America.
I hope you can figure out a way to make it safer, because we're looking to you!
Despite the anti-car assumptions of many commentators, most of the dangers we encounter are from pedestrians, runners and other clueless cyclists.
Note to some commentators: Defensive driving technique #1 is to not get into the situation where you are vulnerable, example avoid riding beside vehicles at intersections. We do this, but the ingenuity of other road/bike path users in endangering people around them seems infinite.
Cycle Fun Montreal said "most of the dangers we encounter are from pedestrians, runners and other clueless cyclists"
Are you serious???
How do you define "danger"?
How many cyclists have been killed by pedestrians, runners, and other cyclists?
How many cyclists have been killed by automobiles?
For sure a cyclist can be hurt by a pedestrian walking out without looking, by a pothole, by another cyclist, etc. But the laws of physics means that the speed and mass of an automobile makes them a much bigger danger.
Cycle Fun, what nonsense.
Of course there are clueless cyclists and pedestrians, but cars kill, either through crashes or pollution.
And "going out to the countryside to cycle" makes no sense in my life, using my trusty old Raleigh sprite for commuting, shopping and generally living in the city.
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