mr_bill

The people running after "embarrassing" operator number one? Members of a Canadian cycling team.

-mr. bill

Shimagnolo

Classic example here a few years ago: RTD Driver Didn't Brake Before Running Over Cyclist - 7NEWS Denver TheDenverChannel.com

hohum

I really wish I knew why having passengers precludes using your brakes to avoid horribly disfiguring another human being. I hope he lost his CDL.

kickstart

Well, I guess if all it takes is for someone involved to own a bike, that covers just about everything, and I have nothing more to say.


BTW, labeling those operators as "embarrassing" is way too kind.

Shimagnolo

I tried to find out what happened to the driver. All I found was:
- Cited for careless driving.
- Resigned a week afterward.
- LinkedIn shows him working as a phone operator for a paging service since then.

Korina

Bummer.

vol

He had to stop immediately after causing the accident; maybe he thought that delay was better for the passengers than slowing down the bus.

mr_bill

Given they were still in their workout jerseys, I'm guessing unless Canadians have some sort of fetish they were just back from a ride.

I agree. And yet that's the label you chose.

-mr. bill

kickstart

I don't know, I'm viewing it on a phone and can't tell if the chairs have sweat on them or not, therefore its open to interpretation.

I don't think being embarrassed by professional drivers, motorcyclists, or cyclists behaving badly quantifies their behavior as merely embarrassing, their behavior should be judged on its own merits, not how it causes an observer to feel.

mr_bill

Yet you called on people to get off their bicycles, but not on the "embarrassing" operators to get out of their seats. Huh.

-mr. bill

kickstart

That's a misrepresentation, anyone who can't meet the basic requirements of operating a vehicle safely in challenging conditions shouldn't be operating a vehicle regardless of type.

mr_bill

This is a false equivalence of the perpetrator and the victim. Get it yet?

-mr. bill

kickstart

That's a given as the burden falls on the professional. That should be understood without saying.

If ones wallet is stolen from an unlocked car, and suggesting one shouldn't leave a wallet visible in an unlocked car isn't an absolution of the theif.

Saving Hawaii

The line from this that really sums it all up:

"Now RTD plans to meet with Downtown Denver Partnership and city officials to discuss whether cycling on the mall should be completely banned, given the busy nature of the popular pedestrian mall."

Uh-huh. Being as automobile traffic is a huge hazard to bicyclists and pedestrians at this popular pedestrian mall, we should ban bicyclists so they're not in danger of being hit by automobiles.

Welcome to 'murica.

mr_bill

Sorry. Say it. Say it often. Say it loudly.

Riding a bicycle is in *NO* *WAY* like leaving a wallet visible in an unlocked car.

You really have to get past blaming the victim.

-mr. bill

kickstart

But there is no cyclist victim in the two videos shown, only imaginary what if cyclists.

My imaginary cyclist that didn't exist in those two videos would would have the minimal awareness and ability to not be harmed in those events. I guess you just think less of the imaginary cyclist then I do.

mr_bill

I don't have to imagine. I have all too real compassion for the all too real victims of "embarrassing" operators.

-mr. bill

kickstart

I am angered and embarrassed by professional drivers, motorcyclists, and cyclists who are incompetent and irresponsible. For whatever reason you want to read into that, and make it a point of contention which is odd. Sorry if my emotional response to bad road users is unacceptable to you.

Other than that, my sole point is that random videos without cycling content does more harm than good as its basically fear mongering that propagates stereotypes. There are already too many people with an irrational fear of cycling, why fan that flame with speculation on non cycling incidents when in fact its a relatively safe activity.

vol

Did that video of truck turning actually incite fear in you? I ask because you are the only one who repetitively claims posting that video is fear mongering, while there is no sign of anyone else becoming fearful of cycling after seeing that video.

Fearlessness in cycling (or anything) should be based on knowledge, not ignorance. What you appear to suggest is, don't show any potential danger that may happen while cycling, because that would cause fear.

"More harm than good"? How do your dozen-or-so posts in this thread do more good than the OP?

ironwood

I think every cyclist should watch the video as it illustrates how the turning radius of long trailer truck decreases as it makes a right turn; and can hit any thing or person close to the corner. It isn't fear mongering. , but rather alerting cyclists to a potential danger. Cyclists have been killed this way.

I've been cycling for well over sixty years, and I have tried to avoid large vehicles as much as possible, but it wasn't until I saw a diagram in the Boson Globe in August, that I understood how a turning truck behaves in a tight turn. I'd bet that a fair number of truck drivers don't understand what happens in a turn.

kickstart

There is an endless supply of U-tube videos showing "potential threats" to cyclists such as those shown in this thread, and others that don't actually have cycling content, or are non events.
There are also many threads about those with an exaggerated fear of those "potential threats" whos fears are reinforced by these look-how-bad-these- car drivers, truckers, bus drivers, cops, texters, pedestrians, are videos.

Awareness and avoidance techniques of actual events a good thing, obsessive speculation about everything under the sun is not. I also feel the same about gleaned news stories where the poster doesn't have any actual connection to the event or location.

mr_bill

Full stop.

-mr. bill