I'm a pacifist, ideally speaking, but I'll fight if I have to (or am drunk).
I try to exemplify the Buddhist ideals in which I strongly believe, but I'm a hot-head a lot of the time. Getting better, though.

I doubt this is unusual.


Contradiction is part of life, for most people. Very few can actually say they are 100% consistent all the time.
Some might call them hypocrites, but I say that an honest effort negates that label.

Bike lanes are bike ghettos and, much like the people that park in them, should be ignored.
Take the lane or get out of the street.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONS2ptAR4mo

reminds me of https://www.yousuckatparking.com/ similar to another site already posted.

the problem is that there are no real bike laws, nothing written with our best interests in mind, with our unique capabilities, disadvantages and general unique situation in mind. we're supposed to abide by "car laws", but not being cars...that's just dumb. the laws don't apply to us (that is, in the real world, they have no connection to our safety and ability to keep moving), they're just enforced on us now and again.

I don't want seperated bike lanes. It'll replace cars with people going slow as **** on their beach cruisers.

where were the bike lanes when i went to italy? guess i missed out on em

Agreed. traffic laws are very specificly designed to keep *cars* moving and prevent *car* collisions. cars have higher speeds and lower reaction times with more limited visibility to deal with, so it makes sense to formalize a traffic environment for them. how many people are injured in a year because a cyclist passed through a red light? how many because a car did?

The more I think about it, the more I believe that riding a bike itself is an act of rebellion. its certainly not encouraged by any large corporation or political group with lobbying power, so there's probably never gonna be any strong bicycle friendly legislation. the double punch is that riding a bike decreases the use of oil, and we all know that's highly discouraged. the general consensus seems to be that goverments allow it, but with a "well, you're on your own, and as long as you stay out of the way" attitude. they certainly aren't going out of their way to try and create a safe environment for bikes like they do for cars, and there are a good amount of stories here and other places about hit-and-runs that never get prosecuted, so enforcing the law on the behalf of bicyclists seems to be a pretty low priority too. most drivers see cyclists as a nusiance. a lot of the time obeying the letter of the law on a bike even can create a more hazerdous situation for a cyclist. is it worth being able to live on the principle that you are following the rules of traffic when they just don't make sense for your application?

^actually Sun Microsystems encourages employees to ride their bike to work. The one nearby here brings in a bike shop and pays for tune-ups and repairs.

this will make these people even more belligerent

great, now all i need is a strap mounted dispenser.

I ride and drive in Philly and ride and park in bike lanes. When I'm riding I am filled with a brief flash of righteous indignation when I see a cab blocking the bike lane but hey, Share the road. When I need to unload something, I park on the right and block the bike lane, put my flashers on and try to be quick.

I totally laughed when I saw those stickers keeping the trunk shut, but how mean do you have to be to ruin someones paintjob - unless these are the static cling stickers - probably not. If some ped stickered my bike everytime it was locked up to a hand railing or trash can, that would suck.

After watching that NY video, I'm amazed at the chaos. Maybe the narrow streets of philly work in our favor?! I bet most drivers won't stop on a street if their car sticks out halfway into one of two car lanes. How do you ever make turns to the opposite side of the road if you're sequestered in a divided bike lane on one side? In Philly, you have to take the lane to take a left, so if a car is blocking the bike lane it's that same situation - you signal and take the other lane. Predictable situations are safer. What do you y-all think?

Awesome, so when a driver gets one of these pain in the ass stickers on their car, they're going to be super nice to a cyclist next time they see them? Awesome!!

Ah, my sarcasm meter just exploded...

Ditto. Though in Atlanta on a Sunday around the brunch places you quickly run out of spit.


I don't even like bike lanes, but it's just the principle of it.

I see what you're saying, but I'm talking about the light running, lane cutting, riding on sidewalks. There are general rules of the road that most cyclists (at least here in NYC) totally disregard. And some of these are general rules that don't make a difference whether a cyclist or car driver.

Running lights -- car, bike, motorcycle, skateboard, rollerblader, scooter and even pedestrian IS dangerous, but it happens all the time.

Don't get me wrong, I'd like to see cars parked in bike lanes get tickets, but stickers? These stickers are like saying bikers follow all the rules and cars should too.

thats good to hear, but I dont think Sun Microsystems has a lot of influence in energy and transportation policy which was more where I was going with that. and even if they did, a lot of places will give lip service to biking cause it's good PR when they really couldn't care less.

I think most of my coworkers still think I'm some kind of whack job for commuting on a bike and one guy regularly goes off about "bike nazis" who insist they have a god-given right to take the lane even when there's room for a car to get by. Just shows you can't win either way. obey the law or don't, someone will find a reason to complain.

What you fail to understand is that hcr and his ilk think that bikes should be allowed to blow through lights without stopping and do whatever the **** they want since traffic laws don't make sense when you are on a bike (ie it's faster to ignore them).

i still want to see your face...