Advocacy & Safety - Bike Friendly Corvallis Oregon

A real head shaker.

Two kids enter the intersection on their bikes. Daylight. Marked Crosswalks. Walk sign.

Two cars - not one, but TWO - right hook the kids and pin them back on the curb, both almost hitting them.

Both driving Piuses, er, Priuses.

Don't let anyone tell you how wonderfully bike friendly Oregon is. There's a lot of us riding out here, but the drivers here stink. And, as noted above, it wasn't pickup trucks.

Man, I was so mad at those two cars...probably madder than I would have been on the bike.

Don't get mad. Get plate numbers.

Don't get mad. Get plate numbers.

That would be useless. The cops in OR are extremely anti-bike. In fact, locally the cops won't even take a report no matter how blatant the attack. As long as the victim is on a bike it is all good. For example, we have a vulnerable road user safe passing law. It requires motorists to give cyclists room to fall in the overtaking motorist's direction on roads with speed limits above 35 mph and no bike lane and mandates a citation in the event of collision. To date, there have been no citations written in spite of numerous collisions. I have been "buzzed" by my local sheriff's deputies scores of times in the four years this law has been in effect.

Regarding the horrific motorists in OR: it took me over a year to work up the nerve to ride regularly when I moved here. That may not seem like a big deal to many of you, but I have been a life-long cyclist with nearly half a million miles in the saddle. Other than FL, I have never seen motorists as unskilled, aggressive, selfish and stupid as the typical Oregonian. (I've never ridden in MA, MS or AL, so I understand that I may not actually be riding with the worst our country has on offer.)

B. Carfree is not exaggerating the worthlessness of our police at doing anything about wrecks where a cyclist is a victim. That's why I couldn't figure out why people were so upset about the light sentence in another thread, where the driver got 42 months prison for killing a cyclist. Here he would not have received a ticket.

I was briefly tempted to run over a cyclist in Corvallis a year ago, when I had to drive down to Peak Sports to get my Fargo. I was in the right lane signaling a right turn, when a guy on a bike filtered up to my right side. Yeah, he was going straight. Not in the cross walk, at least. I figured it would be in bad form to hit him, me with a new bike in the back and all, so I waited for him go go through. I wonder how often I'm that oblivious, and am only saved by other people paying attention.

... I have never seen motorists as unskilled, aggressive, selfish and stupid as the typical Oregonian. ...

Maybe if they forced them to pump their own gas, they'd become one with the vehicle and learn to drive. :)

It's funny to read this from an Oregonian -- based on the few times I've driven in Oregon (less than 10), I had gotten the impression that Oregonians were angry drivers, but I figured the sample size was small and that my recent experiences were colored by my own biases formed during my initial experiences.

Maybe if they forced them to pump their own gas, they'd become one with the vehicle and learn to drive. :)

It's funny to read this from an Oregonian -- based on the few times I've driven in Oregon (less than 10), I had gotten the impression that Oregonians were angry drivers, but I figured the sample size was small and that my recent experiences were colored by my own biases formed during my initial experiences.

Angry is a good way to put it, and I'm talking even in the outlying areas from Portland (the high number of militant cyclists in Portland explains some of the driver anger there....). But in general, drivers up here want to drive fast, aggressively, all the while texting or blabbing on the cell phone. While driving their environmentally friendly hybrid Piuses.

B.Carfree, I ride regularly in Alabama. Very courteous drivers, many clueless, but those same clueless ones almost act afraid of your bike, or the spandex-wearing-martial-arts-expert-stud in the saddle. Seriously, folks are very, very polite on outlying roads there, though there are many roads I would stay off of just because of heavy traffic and outdated design or maintenance.

Regarding the horrific motorists in OR: it took me over a year to work up the nerve to ride regularly when I moved here. That may not seem like a big deal to many of you, but I have been a life-long cyclist with nearly half a million miles in the saddle. Other than FL, I have never seen motorists as unskilled, aggressive, selfish and stupid as the typical Oregonian. (I've never ridden in MA, MS or AL, so I understand that I may not actually be riding with the worst our country has on offer.)I would add Washington DC to the list of very bad and rude drivers.

I'm totally in favor of more and more utilitarian and casual cyclists like you find around the OSU campus in Corvallis. All I can say though, is if you're driving, be extremely vigilant because there's a lot of opportunities to make mistakes - definitely even if cyclists are riding properly and legally, the way roads and intersections are designed, simple mistakes can turn really ugly.

And, when the drizzle starts, and it's dark, and the students are riding light-less and wearing black, you better be on your toes for sure.

Again, I'm totally in favor of more riders under any circumstances, and being extremely careful, slowing down and checking constantly is a small price to pay ... but you better do it in Corvallis (and Eugene!)

The percentage of idiot cyclists in Corvallis, and Portland (rarely drive in Eugene) is so high that once you are in town you had better beware. I love my GPS in my rig in Portland, so I can let her tell me when to turn and I can watch for cyclists and pads and not street signs.

But the percentage of idiot drivers in a town full of cyclists like Corvallis is amazing. You'd think drivers would be careful and slow down if for no other reason than legal self-defense.

Maybe if they forced them to pump their own gas, they'd become one with the vehicle and learn to drive. :)



They were driving Priuses. They'd only be pumping gas once every couple of weeks. Too short a learning curve there. :lol: