Originally Posted by
1989Pre
Give this guy the credit he deserves for totally over-estimating our adaptive
and receptive capabilities. He comes here asking for our help
No, I really don't think the OP did come here to ask for our help. The OP came here to accuse cyclists of endangering children's lives. It was subtle in the first post, which
did also contain other legitimate discussion points (raising when and how it is safe for a bus to pass a bicycle on a country road).
Originally Posted by
thetruth74
I drive a school bus and I have come on this forum ask cyclist who rides bikes on one lane roads ( esp country roads) to please pull off the road and stand on the side so school buses can pass you safely, so we do not have to put children in harms way by going into the opposite lane of traffic on the other side of the road to pass you. Please remember Buses are wider and do take up all the one side of a lane. Many of you I assume have children, so please, I am asking you do this for the children!
thank you, have a good blessed holiday and be safe
Now, I understand people come on a little strong on the internet, and don't stop to assess how their posts sound to others reading them. I'm willing to have a reasonable discussion with the OP and assume they're not actually meaning to accuse cyclists of endangering children. I'm also willing to not assume they're just a troll, but rather that they're inexperienced with the culture of the forum (but I also recognize that, this being the internet, people will read that, assume she's accusing us of endangering children, get their dander up, and respond accordingly).
However, when one of our members suggest that the bus driver simply obey the traffic laws and pass the bicyclist in the proscribed manner that they would use to pass any other vehicle, the OP responded with:
Originally Posted by
thetruth74
traffic could come out from any side street, you would ask a bus driver to put the lifes of children in danger so you can ride on the street, shame on you
To me, this is the proof the OP is a troll. This isn't a discussion with the OP, and the first post wasn't ill-considered hyperbole. It was intentional. The OP is here to say "if you don't agree with me, you're a child-endangerer."
Originally Posted by
1989Pre
and we stone-wall him.
Very immature.
That's how most people on the internet react to trolls. And yes, trolling is immature. So is troll-hunting. That's why a lot of forums give their mods instructions to moderate both behaviors (I actually don't know what the mod culture is like here, and if the mods are okay with this thread, that's fine by me).
However, I also agree with you and others that the best way to respond to this post is to react to it as if it were a legitimate initiation of a discussion of how bicycles and school buses interact on the road. That way, you get valuable discussion out of something that could have been disruptive. And a lot of people are going this route, so that's good.