Post in Bike Fun

May 02 21:29 UTC

While I probably also agree about the "Idaho model" I find that the KSTP story
to be very accurate. I see the same thing almost daily, so I believe if
anything they were conservative in their treatment of bad bikers. The only
reason more are not hurt is the consideration of Minneapolis drivers and the
fear of prosecution for bumping them, even when it is there fault.

An example of which happened day before yesterday. I came to a stop before
turning left attheintersection at 33 Street and 22nd Avenue. Coming directly
towards me was a bike with a short, 30 to 40 year old, slightly pudgy, slightly
balding rider. That rider proceeded to run the stop sign then call me a f___ing
idiot because I was turning, had right of way and had to slam on the brakes to
keep from hitting him. He acted like he automatically had right of way by
privilege and did not need to bother with traffic laws. I off course jumped out
and yelled to come back you chicken s---t AH (slang for an anus). He of course
kept on riding. This was not even the 50th time such had happened over the last
few years.

Do car driversbreak traffic law, do they regularly roll stop signs, do they
sometimes inadequately yield for pedestrians in crosswalks? Of course they do!
Put per-capita not nearly as often as bike riders. There just seems to be some
kind of self righteous feeling of entitlement that some bike riders feel. And
that is the part that many people resent and that is what really creates
antipathy towards bike riders, almost all of who do NOT deserve it. Such goofs
are bad for bike riders as much as they are for anyone.

Also, that cowardly thing of yelling obscenities at people from a bike and then
riding away onthat bike is just plain stupid. Bike riders are almost totally
defenseless against a car, and creating the motivation for someoneto chase them
down in a car is simply stupid. Forty years ago it was car drivers being
downright stupid about bike riders, today the pendulum has swung the other way.

So I am in favor of that change in law both for bike riders as well asfor car
drivers. We do not need to waste petro-chemicals, or pollute the air, with cars
and trucks stopping when it is unnecessary. After all, the stop signs are to
control traffic in order to enhance traffic flow safely, so it makes sense to
have some little logic to it.

And 40% sounds close to half to me. Especially given the realative danger to
bike rider versus car driver in accidents.

Jim Graham,
Ventura Village- “Without conflict communication and novel synthesis of
information cannot take place. Conflict is the fertile soil in which creativity
grows.” - Toe

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