Ekdog

Because if we keep it up, a mod is likely to come along and move this over to P&R. I love discussing politics, but it's not allowed here, so we need to be careful.

Dave Cutter

That makes no sense!!! You can't have been around in America in those years... and make a statement like that. I call BS.

Ekdog

Just how long ago do you think Vietnam was?

Edited to add: By the way, this is probably why they don't allow politics here, because someone like you comes along and calls someone a liar about something that is obviously still very painful--the mutilation of a family member--which, by the way, eventually led to his death.

We really need to get off of this topic.

Rowan

Errr... no. It was being used here in Tasmania in the early 2000s, if not the 1990s. That predates this guy by more than six years. It was a business for him, nothing more, nothing less.

Rowan

The real issue for me is that One Less Car is a mantra that has minimal if any impact on the decision-making processes of a driver.

I think the time and resources producing the stickers would be better spent by the cycling community on promoting stuff that helps keep cyclists on roads and interacting with drivers without harm coming to the riders. You know, the stickers that go on car windows and can be read by other drivers while they sit and wait in traffic?

I'll scan the stickers we picked up from the Bicycle Tasmania stand at the Sustainable Living Expo at the weekend, and post them later today. Just an example of what I mean.

surreal

Makes sense, vis-a-vis the prevailing rules....

Dave Cutter

Give me a break! Your entire effort here is to shut down this thread! How long ago do I THINK... Vietnam was. You can't even google the source of your error.

surreal

I think that, more than anything else, we're battling apathy and selfishness. Any attempts to educate, guilt-trip, or hassle ppl via stickers (each sticker will probably be construed as an attempt at one or more of these) will likely have little or no influence on the vast majority of ppl... at least in my neck of the woods.... Ppl don't know and don't care about cyclists b/c they don't want to know or care.

A sticker on a bumper, or a sticker on a bike--- neither will do much for the resolute driver. The best thing we can do is try to find ppl on the fence, and encourage them. As more ppl take to biking, more motorists will learn to accept it.

PS- I think that demonstrably nerdy nonsense like a "one less car" sticker would be a detriment to the cause. If I weren't currently a transportation cyclist, seeing such a sticker would make me less likely to convert--- I wouldn't want to be associated with that kinda malarkey.

Ekdog

The only error here, Mr. Cutter, is yours.

Artkansas 

I see no problem with Ekdog's statement. Sometimes, personal experience can't be Googled.

Now, back to the topic, for me one big issue is that bicycles have very little real estate for placing stickers where they are visible. I've only had one bike that really had a good place for a bumper sticker, that was a Raliegh 3 speed that I had in school. It had a good-sized parts bag that hung off the saddle and would take a nice sized bumper sticker. My current panniers are cloth, so they won't hold a sticker well.

Dave Cutter

Yeah right! That's how people got to Vietnam? They signed up for the draft? Really?

daihard 

Yeah, that's the only issue I have with those stickers.

I like seeing the "One Less Car" stickers (except that I'd prefer "One Fewer Car"). I see that others such as Rowan don't like it. I obviously won't be able to convince him otherwise. Likewise, he's not going to change my mind on this.

gerv 

I don't see this as a big issue. If you like stickers, go for it. If you don't, don't go for it... but please don't diss people who do.

There are a lot of ways to express your opinions. Stickers is one. [Would someone correct my English? This doesn't sound right]

Rowan

I'll pop these in here as promised.

The intention with the yellow one is for it to appear on motor vehicles. Of course, it would have more impact if governments follow through with legislation making the distance law. It would appear so much better with IT'S THE LAW!

With the second one, the "look for bikes" part peels off and is intended to go on the rear vision mirrors of cars. It probably would have less impact than the other, because only the driver of that vehicle would see it... and likely the driver would be a cyclist anyway.

Maybe going around the stadium car park at the Lakers game and putting them on the driver's side exterior mirror would have more impact. But then, there would be some car owners complaining about vandalism, I suppose.

daihard 

+100.

You could probably say, "Placing stickers on your bike is one." Now, I'm good at writing grammatically correct sentences, but that doesn't mean I can write sentences that sound natural to the native English speakers...

Ekdog

I normally use "fewer" for countable nouns and "less" for uncountable, but when we're talking about only one countable substantive, it's not so clear which is better.

https://www.thatdanny.com/2008/11/20/...nitive-answer/

https://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/gramm...marlogs385.htm

I-Like-To-Bike

Ya think?

Roody

That is exactly what happened. It was called registering for the draft. You had to register on your 18th birthday, or face prison time. Many guys refused to register. They were called draft resisters.

Google it.

Dave Cutter

Google it?.... I lived it! (UNlike the poster). They weren't called "draft resisters" they were called felons. They could not get jobs, attend schools, get married, receive medical treatment or anything else. They lived in violation of the law in other country's that supported their actions... Or the went to prison with the other criminals. You're romancing of history... is a rewrite... not the way it happened. A sick thing to do during veterans day!

Some years later Jimmy Carter offered them a chance to repatriate via a pardon. That offer was more ceremonial than anything else as fewer than 1000 resisters eventually returned to America. Many of those still had prison terms to serve do to the other crimes they committed.

No American ever "signed up for the draft" as the post had claimed! Draft boards were highly regulated and continued for many many years both before and after the Asian conflict. During the years of the Vietnam conflict in addition to the controls of local and state regulated draft boards... America had a draft lottery. I can't believe you guys are making crap up without even the benefit of research. Ether that.... or you just really suck at Web Searches. Apparently... nether of you "remember" the events you are saying you "remember".

Roody

We remember it differently, and I'll leave it at that. It was a difficult time for our country, and feelings about it are obviously still strong. This is definitely not the place to discuss events that happened almost 50 years ago. I hope you can understand this and return to the topic of bikes, carfree living, and the oddly controversial "one less car" bumper sticker.

Dave Cutter

Which part of felon is it you remember different? Without the "romance rewrite" [that came years later].... most "resistors" could not register because they were already felons in flight. My memory is correct... your defending an "idea" of history... that is NOT based on fact.

Yeah... difficult then... unlike today where socialists and patriots get along great! Telling lies about ME... and mine... on-line or off is now and will forever be WRONG! There is NO good place for lies! Even half a century later. I am correcting the crap... I didn't post it!

CbadRider

+1000. This thread has gone way off topic and will now be closed.

Just a reminder to please keep the political stuff in the P&R forum.