Advocacy & Safety - What if everyone rode their bikes?

Everyone always cites Amsterdam as the epitomy of a cycling culture, the beauty of a city where regular people ride their bikes and our respected by the rest of the road users. Why can't it be like that here? I'm here to tell you that if everyone rode it wouldn't be like Amsterdam it would be like it is here at USC with everyone talking on their cell phone, riding on the sidewalk at speed, and going the wrong way in the road. No wonder so few students go on to continue riding when they graduate it's absolute chaos. Though it is always entertaining when a couple of inattentive cell-phone chatters plow into each other, but I feel sorry for the peds that have to deal with this daily assault. Does anyone think it would be utopia if more folks rode? Or do you think it would just be bad for the rest of us as these new users make up the rules as they go along.

It would be mass chaos. Most people who own bikes have never learned to ride safely in traffic. As Treespeed implied, the first victims would be the pedestrians, run down like dogs by the sidewal cyclists. The next victims would be other cyclists, head-onned by the urban guerillas riding on the wrong side of the street.

Of course this will never happen, as most bikes in America are ridden once or twice a year, if at all.

If the local government was smart, and theres quite a substantial amount of foot and bicycle traffic, then there would be a law prohibiting riding a bike on the sidewalk.

I disagree with the earlier posts. It's because bikes are non-mainstream in North America that cyclists are allowed to get away with abusive riding. If bike usage became mainstream, there would be a curbing of the lawlessness.

I disagree with the earlier posts. It's because bikes are non-mainstream in North America that cyclists are allowed to get away with abusive riding. If bike usage became mainstream, there would be a curbing of the lawlessness.
You're probably right, but I bet it would be a slow and rough transition.

You're probably right, but I bet it would be a slow and rough transition.

Bingo!

Imagine a local social or even racing club. Getting new riders is vital. But they have to come in a few at a time and they learn from more experienced riders. Hopefully in a nice way, but even if nasty they learn. But get in a huge bunch of new riders and they learn from eachother and it is chaos.

But get in a huge bunch of new riders and they learn from eachother and it is chaos.
+1

Ain't that the truth!

Ride any popular MUP on a sunny weekend day...multiply by about 100 and you might have a preview. :eek:

I'd probably consider moving into veloplanes!

It would be mass chaos. Most people who own bikes have never learned to ride safely in traffic. As Treespeed implied, the first victims would be the pedestrians, run down like dogs by the sidewal cyclists. The next victims would be other cyclists, head-onned by the urban guerillas riding on the wrong side of the street.

Of course this will never happen, as most bikes in America are ridden once or twice a year, if at all.


Exactly!

It would be mass chaos. Most people who own bikes have never learned to ride safely in traffic. As Treespeed implied, the first victims would be the pedestrians, run down like dogs by the sidewal cyclists. The next victims would be other cyclists, head-onned by the urban guerillas riding on the wrong side of the street.

Of course this will never happen, as most bikes in America are ridden once or twice a year, if at all.

Roody, You forgot to add the chaos in the hospitals from all the couch potatoes having heart attacks because they finally performed an activity that caused some cardio execise. Other than that, you pretty much hit it on the head.

I read that when gas (petrol) prices shot up in Sept that there was a surge in number of bike commuters in London. The inexperienced ones caused some problems at first, but they soon adjusted. It was just a matter of survival.

If the local government was smart, and theres quite a substantial amount of foot and bicycle traffic, then there would be a law prohibiting riding a bike on the sidewalk.

More than likely the government would find a way to ban cyclists from the roadways. After all, what are a popularly elected government gonna do when all those motorists start whining about increased bicycle traffic? Especially when, as mentioned by others, the general lack of skill most people have in riding a bike is taken into consideration. I'm not entirely sure that the increased numbers of cyclists would really provide any obstacle to prevent that from happening either, considering the number of debates I've seen here and on other cycling forums about whether or not a cyclist should have been on the road at any given time.

Incidentally, the vast majority of people who have actually been to the Netherlands report that it isn't necessarily the cycling nirvana that it's so often made out to be. This is actually why I'm hesitant about any moves to increase the popularity of cycling, unless it's accompanied by some kind of educational program which might alleviate some of the issues discussed above. If not, then I'll happily stick with what I have now.

You all have never been to Isla Vista? That's the way it's done! It's like a mini-Amsterdam. But don't expect anybody to follow any annoying traffic laws. Nah. Those are for cars!

I read that when gas (petrol) prices shot up in Sept that there was a surge in number of bike commuters in London. The inexperienced ones caused some problems at first, but they soon adjusted. It was just a matter of survival.

And how many of them are actually still commuting?

I disagree with the earlier posts. It's because bikes are non-mainstream in North America that cyclists are allowed to get away with abusive riding. If bike usage became mainstream, there would be a curbing of the lawlessness.

Including requiring registration and licenses, no doubt.

I read an interesting little piece of fiction last year, I think it was maybe Ragtime? It was set in NYC in the early days of cars, before they were even required to be licensed. The common criminals in the book got away in a car, and could not be tracked because there was no paperwork kept on cars yet. But I digress...

A few years ago I was working in the Netherlands for a month and a half and rented a bike the day I got off the plane for my entire stay. Despite my occasional rants about riding without a helmet I rode the entire time without a helmet and it wasn't because I thought I was safer there- no place I tried sold a decent one and I finally gave up. In fact, I was probably in way more danger- I was riding an unfamiliar bike, in an unfamiliar city, a couple of times after having visited a "cafe" having a couple of beers + *** and riding off with my wife sitting side saddle on the back rack. And we rode pretty much how everyone else rode over there, which has a looser relationship to the law than what many advocate for here. Europeans have a completely different relationship with risk than Americans do and they don't require their life to be so sanitized. Europe chased the puritans out of their countries in the 1600's and they ended up here and it's very reflected in our national psyche.

Including requiring registration and licenses, no doubt.

Registration will come as soon as it's economically viable. It's already been tried in a number of places, but the small number of cyclists makes it hard for the authorities to make any money from it. It's something else to consider when determining what the optimal number of cyclists actually is.

Perhaps when we reach the high levels of biking discussed here There will be enough of us to RECALL any politician who sides with the motorists. I've lived in a wide range of places and generally see that the more cyclists there are the more respect they get. Just generally, not an absolute.

More than likely the government would find a way to ban cyclists from the roadways.

That depends on the kind of government officials you are going to elect and the general political climate of an area. More conservative ones will probably ban it, more urban, liberal areas will encourage it.

That depends on the kind of government officials you are going to elect and the general political climate of an area. More conservative ones will probably ban it, more urban, liberal areas will encourage it.

Like I always say, people get the government they deserve.

And how many of them are actually still commuting?

Quite a few of them suprisingly enough: despite the temperatures here in winter I'm impressed with how many people I see commuting by bike.

The upsurge was probably due to the tube bombings as much as petrol prices.

I remember reading that in the 1970's "bike boom," when more Americans suddenly hit the road on bicycles, that the rate of bike crashes and related injuries and deaths spiked, supposedly due to the increase in newbie cyclists on the road.

There would be a website called carforums.net. The Winter Driving subforum would have newbies who wanted to commute but were discouraged by having to scrape the ice of windshields and push their cars out of snowdrifts.

The oldest thread in Commuting would be "How Was the Drive Today?"

A huge debate would be going on in Advocacy and Safety between "vehicular motorists" and a less formalized group who wanted segregated car facilities. Some would advocate that stop signs had been developed in the late 19th century for bicycles. The greater speed, acceleration, and accident protection provided by cars made it much safer to run the light, rather than stopping as bikes do.

The Bikefree subforum would be for people who had cars, but not bikes, and would center on how to get home from the car dealership after dropping off a car for repairs, as well as how to remain healthy despite driving to work. Some would claim that, as drivers, they were stigmatized as weak, cowardly, or too poor to avoid good bikes.

In other words, nothing would change.



Paul

If bike usage became mainstream, there would be a curbing of the lawlessness.

Doubtful. In DC,the law says you must obey the posted speed limit,signal when turning or changing lanes,yield to peds in crosswalks,and not talk on a cell phone while driving without a hands-free device. I see these laws broken every single day,multiple times. In the past year,I've seen maybe a half dozen people pulled over by police.

On the other hand,most of what causes people to drive the way they do is because they are disconnected/insulated from thier surroundings. If they didn't have a metal shell with bumpers and airbags,then maybe they would feel a little more mortal and act accordingly.

There would be a website called carforums.net. The Winter Driving subforum would have newbies who wanted to commute but were discouraged by having to scrape the ice of windshields and push their cars out of snowdrifts.

The oldest thread in Commuting would be "How Was the Drive Today?"

A huge debate would be going on in Advocacy and Safety between "vehicular motorists" and a less formalized group who wanted segregated car facilities. Some would advocate that stop signs had been developed in the late 19th century for bicycles. The greater speed, acceleration, and accident protection provided by cars made it much safer to run the light, rather than stopping as bikes do.

The Bikefree subforum would be for people who had cars, but not bikes, and would center on how to get home from the car dealership after dropping off a car for repairs, as well as how to remain healthy despite driving to work. Some would claim that, as drivers, they were stigmatized as weak, cowardly, or too poor to avoid good bikes.

In other words, nothing would change.



Paul
:lol: :lol:

I'd lose my right to store my bike in a closet at work.

As the number of commuters continues to grow, there will be more problems. But those will be good problems to have. For me it will be a pain to contend with the slow pokes all bunched together, and the increase in municipal tickets for cycling and cycle parking. I imagine it will be like Critical Mass or a big ride, where people bunch up, ignore or forget about lights, and one rider brings down otheres who are too close.

Everyone will whine about the increasing price of PowerBars, and complain that the Chinese are buying up all our supply.

Everyone will whine about the increasing price of PowerBars, and complain that the Chinese are buying up all our supply.

Ha, just think of what will happen to the price of bicycles!

What if everyone in small towns of say less than 50,000 people rode bikes? Imagine that scenerio. The geographic area is smaller and the community has more to gain. Since the focus of riding in Major metro areas is financed by TEA -21 money thousands of miles of rails to trails have been built and not increased utilitarian cycling. Throwing money away to build a utopia has not worked. Only one cyclist at at time will change our cities and towns. Don't worry about the next guy just get out and ride.

The world might look more like this...

http://pages.prodigy.net/rjmatter/gallery/Ciclovia-1.jpg

Or it might become like this...

http://image02.webshots.com/2/2/25/31/42322531ySzdDJ_ph.jpg