Advocacy & Safety - another pdx cyclist killed

How did the elderly or less able get around before motorized transport, a recent development? How did this fellows post offend you and your elderly kin? I think it's fabulous that they are still independent, after all if your response here is any indication they could be a bit worse off being cared for by someone without access to any relevent history and no ability to see where the current path we're on leads to.

You're actually talking as far back as the 1950's, when cities and towns were still set up differently, before urban sprawl set in. The crime rate in those same cities and towns was much lower, so the elderly and less able were not preyed upon as much.

The way I see it, the problem is not a specific subset of drivers, though inexperienced teens, dotty seniors, and drunks cause more than their fair share of accidents.

The largest problem is structural, such that the auto-centric nature of the roads leaves no provisions for cyclists. How many lives would be spared if there were bike-specific lanes on just the major thouroughfares? How many cyclists have been seriously hurt or killed by getting door prized? Conversely, what if curbside parking on main streets were phased out and government-run parking garages brought in?

Cagers and cyclists live an uneasy coexistence in part because of the ways roads are built and the way their usage is controlled. Of course cyclists are going to be in danger when they are squeezed between parked cars and vehicles ripping at 70kph onto a meter-wide strip of potholed road. Of course accidents and fatalities are going plummet if there are bike lanes.

Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be the political will to get this done. Sure, the Big Biz / Big Gov't tag team can spend untold billions on cluster bombs and college football stadiums because there's a market for that sort of thing. But how could they justify marking off 2 meters of pre-existing road in order to prevent people from getting run over? Grow up.

I guess the other big part of the problem boils down to personal responsibility and self-discipline. To state the obvious, a lot of accidents happen because both drivers and cyclists are completely irresponsible. The vast majority of cyclists I know refuse to use helmets and lights, run reds with impunity, etc. Most of the drivers I know drink / smoke and drive occasionally, gun yellows, and generally don't drive as though a car is a 2-ton hunk of metal and plastic.

Maybe we all need to do a little growing up.

As a general rule I believe that to be agood driver ypu need to be a good athlete.

<rant>
Dumb people = dumb drivers...
Under the infuence = stupid mofos whose licenses should be revoked...

It would be good if a madatory bicycle awareness portion is tacked on to the drivers test questions...I think that testing should be more elaborate than what it is nowadays... any high schooler with printed material can pass a preliminary driving test.. I say make it more tougher and quiz their analytical reasoning and put them in situations and test their responses...

I dont know how one would change the actual driving test to make it more watertight, but I am sure with more thought sane methods of testing can be found..

Cell phone use during driving is risky period... Proof, think about all those people on a cell phone in the left lane of a 3 lane highway running less than the speed limit.. Anecdotal evidence suggests that your faculties are hindered when talking on a cell phone. So go ahead put a lid on cell phone use while driving.. Other countries have done this and I am not sure if there are enough stats out there..</rant>

I hope I didn't offend anyone with the third post in this thread. It was total sarcasm, and I don't actually believe that all old people merely putz around in cars running people over on the way to Bingo.