Originally Posted by Jose R
Chemtrails. HAARP.
People are stressed. Driving around in SUVs paying $50 for gas, paying $3,500 a month for a 1,000sqft McMansion on an interest only mortgage. Afraid of losing their jobs. Afraid of being blowed up in a false flag operation, er I mean terrorist bombing. Afraid of losing their home to hurricane/earthquake/eminent domain. Parents are worried about the draft. The illegal occupation in Iraq is causing great distress, here and abroad.
Since 1980, I think, volcanic/earthquake activity has shot up. More hurricanes than ususal, and earlier in the season.
We live in unsettled times. People are being driven to behave selfishly with no concern for others. Cyclists are in the direct line of fire. Especially since local governments and law enforcement don't take bike accidents seriously and have shown no interest in protecting the lives of cyclists.
When I want to give benefit of the doubt, I assume that a large portion of the population is lacking in spatio-reasoning skills. For example, I ride daily in Prospect Park, and pedestrians see me coming and don't yield the right of way---- in fact, they walk directly in my path, basically DARING ME to run them over. Or a mother neglectfully allows her kid(s) to block the path of a group of bikers. Or, the best one yet, a work group of kids REPEATEDLY blocks all lanes on the downhill--- you'd think after the first time they'd realize it was dangerous both for them and the bikers.
What's my point? Are there so many challenged people out there? NO
There's this unwarranted sense of entitlement that basically has people thinking 'You get out of my ****in way '
Easy enough to do when someone walks in front of you on a bike path
harder, however, when that (type of) person is driving a car.
On the one hand, we have the idiots opening their car doors without looking. And they're exactly using the excuse 'I didn't see HIM/HER' quite successfully---MIND BOGGELING.
On the other, we have idiots, with more than enough room, crowding bikers towards the parked cars---it's a game to see how close they can come.
And my personal favorite: the QUASI stop at the STOP SIGN;
don't stop at the sign but come out into the intersection and stop there----basically, you're telling everyone else (cars and bikes) BLOW ME!!!
1)Either stop and let me go, after all, I'M SPECIAL----**** the RIGHT of WAY
2) Go around me ---I'm SPECIAL
3) HIT ME ----you don't have the balls cause I'M SPECIAL
Any budget deficit is wiped away by merely TICKETING STOP SIGN abusers.
But what I find even more difficult to believe is that
so many bikers are riding BRAKELESS and HELMETLESS.
Why?