Indianapolis attitude
 

From my local newspaper, which has a column of submitted comments, a few of which get published daily. I'm never sure of the method of selection, but this one seems appropriate each day as I ride to work and back. Perhaps it explains in part why I'm seeing far fewer cycling commuters this year, even during the summer months when usually there is an upswing.

"As a driver, I hate pedestrians, and as a pedestrian, I hate drivers, but no matter what the mode of transportation, I always hate bicyclists"

http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dl...ID=20108250301

I've had minimal problems with motorists this year in Indy. I see more southside commuters than I used to, but not a ton more. On the other hand, a ton more urban commuters/cyclists in the last few years.

There are jerks everywhere, and many of them drive cars.

I don't like cyclists when I'm driving either. ;)

Or more correctly, unless I find the bike itself interesting for some reason or another, I'd rather not be behind a cyclist. A consequence of mixing fast and slow moving traffic.

I noticed in Carmel they were rebuilding some of the round abouts due to the soccer Moms trying to kill each other with their high speed I own the road atitiudes, I think the problem with Indianapolis is that you can't get from home to the gorcery store with out getting on an Interstate.

Ya, pretty much every city is full of jerks like that.

All drivers must get out of the car and walk at least a little bit (from the kitchen to the garage, from the parking space to the office). Almost all pedestrians meet most of their transportation desires by driving. However, many cyclists do not drive at all. Worse yet, many of us see driving as immoral and unpatriotic. It is very easy to lose sight of our common humanity and divide into "us" and "them". It is pathetic that in the 21st century we are still acting like baboons fighting for resources that aren't even scarce.

I've ridden on the East and South sides of Indy a lot on city streets with no real problems. More problems with teens that are not willing to wait 50 feet to pass me. They honk and yell. But I've not been run off the road or hit. I'd rather be on the road with them then on the Monon dodging the double-stroller walking 2 dogs that is taking up the entire trail.

Being on the bike makes it obvious how bad people drive. Add to that my 16 y/o who is learning to drive, and I'm hypersensitive to it!

The Let It Out section of our crappy paper is a waste of ink. They need to be more responsible and NOT print that crap.

I agree. We are divided. What a shame. I'm not sure that (that being the attitude towards cyclists and/or pedestrians) will ever change.

I recently went to a function in KC called 'Road Diets' that was awesome. The speaker talked about taking 4 lane streets and blvds and re-striping them into 3 lanes with the 3rd lane down the middle being a turn lane. There was still enough space left over on each side of the road for on-street parking OR bicycle lanes. They shared lots of statistics about traffic volume, accident reductions, and bicycle safety. It was pretty cool.

Wilbur Bud, I think even if ALL cities had bicycle lanes and separate pedestrian walks, some people are still going to gripe.

Some people will NEVER stop complaining about bikes... not even if they have to resort to riding one.

Cars make people crazy.

Also . . . Red state. Nature of the beast.

Glad i live in muncie!

Muncie is only there when Ball State is in session, the rest of the time its a mirage.