Originally Posted by
trekker pete
I think that tailgating is an issue. Speeding, not so much, unless it is extremely excessive.
I think both of these pale in comparison to the real culprit......people driving with their heads up their arses.
PAY ATTENTION!!!!!!
I would like to say I am never guilty of DWHUMA, but, I am. And I believe most everyone here is at times. This is why I get annoyed by the take the lane zealots who say screw those cages.
I'd rather assume that cage pilots are going to do dumb things and do what I can to avoid becoming their victims.
It is a two sided problem. We need to be more aware while driving our 3000 lb battering rams and we need to do what we can as cyclists to avoid them when practicable.
We do have to share the road. And riding with the attitude of screw'em, I'm a vehicle too, isn't going to help when you are under their wheels.
Ride safe and assume that every cage you see is piloted by a moron, because a fair number are. If this means taking a longer route or one of those sissy MUPs on occasion, so be it.
When I take the lane "screw them" is really the last thing I'm thinking. I'm thinking that *I know* that the lane is too narrow to share but a motorist might not and try to squeeze past. When taking the lane I make it more obvious. If anything it leads to far less conflicts than more conflicts.
The last 5 bicyclists injured in my city were.........
-Drunk guy riding at night without lights who turned in front of a car
-sidewalk rider hit in crosswalk
-sidewalk rider hit in crosswalk
-sidewalk rider hit in crosswalk
-guy cowering to the far right in an 11 foot lane, was hit by a mirror, knocked from his bicycle and landed in the ditch.
Its the same thing all over the United States. To each his own but the law allows bicyclists to take the lane FOR A REASON. It was not pushed and passed by the "screw cagers" movement of 1957.
Trying to "stay out of the way" like sidewalk riders or the guys who fear taking an assertive position is the real danger.