hipcheck5

Aimulator and Tulex, thanks for doing an excellent job proving the point I was making. Many drivers have an "us vs. them" mentality when it comes to cyclists...and just as many cyclists have the same attitude. Tulex will say anything to avoid admitting that you can come up with as many reasons why people can say cyclists shouldn't be on the road as you can say cars shouldn't. You can argue either side, using facts and logic. Aimulator immediately resorts to accusation that I am trying to convince everyone that cyclists are the problem and not cars. Both are the problem.

Tulex

We need to get Coco voted in, he would change the laws......

Or maybe not...

njkayaker

???

Distracted drivers are hazards to other drivers too. (And to pedestrians..) A phone isn't a necessary aspect of driving.

If you can indeed "turn this around" (and you can't), why is drunk driving illegal?

But it isn't a "us v. them" issue. Cell-phone usage increases risk for everybody! Plus cell-phone usage is not inherent to the purpose of roads.

===================

It's quite possible that CB radios have the same problem. I'd guess they weren't being used anywhere as frequently or in as many different places as cell phones are. Plus, there are now many, many more cell phones.

There was a recent study using truck drivers that showed texting/cell-phone usage was a serious distraction. (It was a fairly big deal in the news 3-6 months ago.)

Tulex

Man, you just don't get it. When a driver texting hits a cyclist, it is us vs them. Them usually wins. Everyone has the responsibility of looking out for themselves and for others. The point you are missing is that people in cars that are using their phones are not looking out for either. If you want to excuse that with some asinine argument, well have fun.

Cromulent

Remember when driving was fun? To me the problem is that the car is not so much a car anymore as it is a rolling office/social media hub/movie theater/dining room/naughty corner/angry, yelling place/animal husbandry center. Getting from one place to another stopped being the point a long time ago.

What people should do is pay attention to the one thing they should be paying attention to, which is driving.

DScott

Unfortunately, all this will do is piss off bus and train riders so much they'll all just start driving, increasing the number of idiots on the road. Don't worry, though, just keep using your ipod on rides. At least that way you won't hear them coming.

darkadious

i recently *could have* been killed or seriously injured by a distracted person on their phone.

i'm waiting about 30 feet from a red light on the side of the road waiting for the light to turn green (i start moving just before so i can get up to a decent speed once i'm through the intersection). it was already dark and my pbsf was flashing, there was no one at the intersection going the same way i was but i could see some headlights in the distance. there's a gas station on the upcoming corner to my right with a van half way pulled out into the street. i look to my left to make sure i can merge safely and notice this person creeping up on me very close, about 6-10 inches to my left when there was quite a bit more space for him to be in. the thought goes into my head thinking "this guy can't be this stupid, he CAN'T possibly try to pull into the gas station after the van (yeah the van was on the wrong side of the driveway)." as i'm at his passenger door 8 feet away from the van in the middle of the road i realize he really might be an idiot and i start to slow down. sure enough, he right hooks me and i did a bit of a whip skid on my road bike, involuntarily. i didn't want to try the front brake because i'm sure i would've endo'd and didn't want to risk a car running me over.

luckily i was practicing track standing that day and didn't lose my balance, but i still almost slammed on top of his trunk as he creeped very slowly into the gas station and looked into his rear view mirror. as soon as he pulled into the gas station he pulled out going the same way he was already going... i mad dogged him and he wouldn't even look at me. that's when i noticed he was completely staring at his phone.

****** bag.

Aimulator64

The point is that because cars are far more dangerous and popular, they should be the first step in making a change for safety on roads.

graphix

I dont think the that shutting down phones based on traveling speed is the right way to go about it. What about people taking the train or the bus? What if i don't always want to have battery draining GPS enabled?

I would widen bike lanes, make the white lines on the side of the the road mini rumble strips, seems like the best way to get someones attention who is drifting off the road. Stiffen fines for txt'ing and make sure they are enforced, although it doesn't help that half the cops i see in my area are on their cell phones :-\

Tulex

Ok, then put phone jammers in steering wheels. 5 foot radius.

Tulex

I'm so fricking tired of cell phones. It's just the latest form of rude these days. When I was a kid, we didn't have cell phones, and dammit, we liked it.

patentcad

I've been riding with tunes for over 100K miles. I hear all the cars coming. Trust me. Not that it really matters. But the earphones I use allow me to hear the music and the traffic just fine.

Velo Vol 

Funny, I was thinking about this just a couple days ago.

It seems to me it won't take much for auto makers to put something in the car which jams signals when the motor is running.


In the meantime all these jurisdictions which are strapped for cash should be ticketing drivers for cell phone use. One only need to park facing the oncoming traffic at a red light and you can see all the idiots yapping away on their phones. Fine them.

Aimulator64

You know, your signature is cooler than my bike. im jealous.

BillyD

+1

+2

+3

The cell traps would easily pay for themselves with plenty to spare. Hell, you can easily stand on the corner and witness 50% or more of drivers talking on the phone like it's alright, like it's legal. It's outrageous!

But this won't happen until your Mayors or Governors or Legislators start losing loved ones to this crime. Not until then will serious restrictions or enforcement be taken seriously, like with drinking & driving.

hipcheck5

Tulex and Aimulater, you guys just can't open your closedinds and see it isn't an "us vs. them" situation...and people like you two are the reason why many drivers hate cyclists.

hipcheck5

Njkayaker, others are making it an us vs. them issue. If you can't see this then you need to work on your Reading skills. The drunk driving comparison is a non-starter that means nothing to this discussion...and it is illegal to drink and ride as well.

DScott

Oh, I'm on your side on this. I'm convinced many people are addicted to their cell-phones, and the younger they start, the stronger the addiction.

But there are plenty of cyclists riding with their head up their ipods, and they piss me off almost as much as inattentive drivers when they wander all over the place.

And for the record, get off my lawn.

big john

It's an "us versus them" situation if the "us" is responsible, caring people, (motorists and cyclists), and the "them" is the idiots who endanger others with their stupidity.

Yes, their are cyclists who piss of drivers. This isn't that issue, this is an issue of people endangering others.

Aimulator64

It is not an us vs. them issue. There is no point in trying to say that cyclists are at just as much fault as drivers are. Cyclists wouldnt have to complain about drivers if they actually did their job properly. None of us are saying we are innocent of mistake, but what is trying to be said is that the biker today is invisible to the driver because of cell phones and distractions.. Very few bikers actually believe that the road should bow down to them. this is NOT an us vs them issue, this is a driver vs distraction issue. There would not be conflict between driver and biker if the drivers would follow traffic laws, just like bikers do. The distractions are dangerous to drivers, pedestrians, and bikers. People have been hit while WALKING. NONE of the bikers on here are trying to say that the roads should be ours, nor are we saying that cyclists dont do stupid things now and then. the issue is that cars, much more dangerous than bikes, are generally ignorant toward bikers because they are too busy being buried in their phones. Saying it is an Us vs Them issue is implying that bikers despise drivers. Bikers dont mind drivers at all, as long as they follow the rules and pay attention.

urbanknight

You sound like me when a student (sometimes the parent of a student) tells me that they "need" their cell phone.


All that would do is cause people to get even more distracted as they look down at their phone to try to figure out if their call got dropped.

urbanknight

I personally think that talking on the phone in a bus, train, or any other public place where others are confined is just plain rude. That's just my opinion, though, and it's not a matter of safety.

njkayaker

In the following, your "reading skills" are clearly lacking. While Tulex might be implying "cyclists", his complaint applies equally to being a driver or a pedestrian.

And you can't "turn that around" because the "right" of cell-phone usage, like the "right" to being drunk, is not inherent in the act or purpose of road usage.

Drunk driving certainly means something to this discussion because it is a similar form of incapacitation! Denying the "right" to use a cell-phone is not much different than denying the "right" to drive drunk.

=================

As far as I can tell, you brought up cyclist's right to the roads before either of these two did!

Heck, as far as I can tell, you were the first of anybody to point to an "us versus them" thing!

Nice!

motomurphy

Saw a guy talking on his cell and smoking while riding a motorcycle once, hope I never see him in an SUV.

The problem is people really don't think about what they're doing, not until something bad happens, https://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=378819.

waanfiride

ah you got me, I agree- that ticks me off too. Perhaps I should have said "throw it on her backseat so the car will catch on fire and she'll be off the road"