Groan. Ride of Silence: The People Speak
After Andrea Kelly’s article on the Ride of Silence, we find this:
Road runner : Bike ride goal: awareness of need to share the road
Bicyclists die on Tucson streets and throughout the country each year. Other than small memorials alongside roadways, or news stories about the fatal crashes, we don’t hear much about the lives ended and the remaining lives affected.1. Comment by Mike W. (ranch) — May 18,2009 @ 5:49AM
I agree….some of these bicyclists need to start “sharing the road” with the rest of us…
2. Comment by Ken Z. (kenwen) — May 18,2009 @ 6:52AM
I live in Oro Valley and agree with #1. Bike riders can create a real danger on certain roads, especially when they are crowding the left side of the bike lanes, or riding in the middle of the road ignoring cars.
3. Comment by Dan R. (1368) — May 18,2009 @ 7:30AM
In the University area cyclists ignore stop signs and one-way signs.
TPD or the rent-a-cops at the UA should spend some time around the intersection of University and 4th ave. They could fill those “safety” coffers without spending money on radar or photo detection.
They could also spend some time at the corner of Speedway and Mountain in the evening to see just how many of these “cyclists” have reflectors and lights.
The city could solve its budget problem if it would ticket the cyclists who flaunt the fact that they ignore the “rules of the road.”
I am more concerned for the unnecessary stress that so many of these cyclists cause auto drivers because of their defiant use of the city streets, than I am about the pedaling scofflaws.
4. Comment by David D. (Anon1874589) — May 18,2009 @ 7:33AM
Get the tacks ready.
5. Comment by paul c. (AZson) — May 18,2009 @ 7:36AM
This is fine as long as they stay off the road or in their bike lanes, if they don’t, well what happens is their fault.
If you stick a mouse in with elephants there is usually a bad ending for the mouse.6. Comment by Thomas B. (Tmax) — May 18,2009 @ 7:38AM
Thank you all, for your heartfelt concern.
7. Comment by SC H. (skyflyer) — May 18,2009 @ 7:41AM
#5 what are you talking about? Cyclists are allowed on the roads!
7. Comment by SC H. (skyflyer)
Yes they are allowed but if you put a 3000lb car against a 50lb bike, who do you think will get the bad end of the deal?
I driver can not always see them and if there is an accidnet I feel sorry for the driver.
I’ve seen some ride at night with out so much as a light and if it wasn’t for the reflectors on their peddles you couldn’t see them.
They are allowed on the road, but they shouldn’t be.I had a coworker, yes she was fallowing the car in front of her to close but, when it swerved to miss a bicyclist she hit him with her mirror. Again an accident that would have not happened if they had not been on a road with out a bike lane. Is the same as someone who chooses to walk on the side of a road, what happens it their fault.
–Erik Ryberg
May 18th, 2009 at 10:20 am
Scary stuff as usual, Erik.
That last one really gets me. The person isn’t capable of putting together coherent sentences, so it’s hard to imagine him/her operating a motor vehicle. The incompetence combined with the carhead perspective (“they are allowed on the road, but they shouldn’t be”) is a serious danger.
May 18th, 2009 at 11:18 am
Sometimes I wonder if the cops’
non-enforcement of wrong way
riding and no-lights-at-night
and flagrant stop sign running
isn’t a ploy to work public
sentiment against cyclist.
These things irk me as a cyclist
and the BAC has spoken its same
concern to enforcement only to
land on deaf ears. Maybe the official
policy is to ticket these things, but
out on the street they are given
the ‘by’ too often not to be seen
as deliberate.
BTW..saw our two cycle celebrities,
Ignacio & Daniella, at the theater
last night in the cycling promo. Stars
are born….wonder how many takes it
took.
May 18th, 2009 at 2:51 pm
So I’m riding home Friday down Broadway. Just past Venice, a car passes me with the right side tires on the white line, then proceeds half way into the bike lane and continues down Broadway. Yes, it’s a black & white. Clearly the cops aren’t concerned about a 3′ passing distance or respecting a bike lane, so why would the motoring public?
May 19th, 2009 at 8:23 am
Point taken Rex, but I gotta ask… why risk your life on Broadway in the first place when just a few blocks south is the almost deserted and just as quick Arroyo Chico bike route? Yeah, I know we have a right to play chicken with the idiots and cell-yackers on Broadway, just like we have the right to hit ourselves in the head repeatedly with a brick – I just don’t get why, when this town is so full of more mellow alternatives.
May 19th, 2009 at 10:17 am
Scott, Arroyo Chico is NOT as fast as Broadway IF you stop for the stop signs, plus the road surface on AC is pretty bumpy (I have to go slower to keep stuff from falling off).
May 19th, 2009 at 10:26 am
I love how No. 2 suggests that bicyclists have no expectation of safety even if they remain in the bike lane.
May 19th, 2009 at 11:09 am
Scott, I understand what you’re saying, however, I live at Pima and Swan. Taking Arroyo Chico is out of my way and adds significant time to my commute. I agree that it’s safer and quieter, but I also feel that by ceding my right to ride Broadway, it’s another win for the carheads. Then we have to ask if all cyclists should stop using Broadway and the other arterial streets and limit ourselves to side streets. I try to minimize the risk to myself by following traffic laws-yes, I even stop at red lights-I just don’t think it’s to much to ask for some space on the roadway.
May 19th, 2009 at 12:00 pm
Exactly, Rex!
That’s parity. When we are using
our bikes just as we would a car,
we can choose the road and we deserve
the space. We can choose a lesser
traveled road or multi-use trail if
we want to avoid cars and they can
take the interstate if they want to
avoid bikes.
This is a great video:
http://vimeo.com/1910758
the green wave…as opposed to
Broadway’s red wave.
May 19th, 2009 at 12:23 pm
Remember the context. This is the comment section from the Arizona Daily Star. You should just consider yourself lucky that the commenters didn’t link bike riding to ‘illegal aliens’ coming to the US to fill the roads with bikes which are the Spawn of Satan(tm).
The last comment really gets me too. This person talks about people who walk in the street. There are many places in Tucson where there are NO sidewalks and people MUST walk in the street. Tucson Blvd just south of Glenn – the other day I had to share the bike lane with a person in a wheelchair going the wrong way. But I looked and there was no other way for this guy to travel.
Why is there a seemingly god-given right to drive everywhere, when bikes and pedestrians don’t have the same rights. Is carheadedness next to godliness?
May 19th, 2009 at 1:14 pm
With the Blog Master’s indulgence….
this video has brought to mind an
idea I have not seen expressed here,
yet.
What single thing, just one, would make
Tucson a platinum level experience for
cyclists? There are many needs, no doubt.
The League of American Whatevers has many
criteria for meeting the standard generally
throughout the country. And Davis (CA) did
this and Portland did that to get it, but
what would meet the need of TUCSON riders.
Something that would make them all say, “Wow,
this is really nice!”
I don’t mean to include the finishing of the
gold level stuff that has been started by the
tireless efforts of those who deserve endless
accolades….truly. (Thoses things are really nice)
I saw something in the video that would serve
Tucson riders really well in more ways than one.
I liked the fact that the bike lanes (shoulders)
in Copenhagen had their own surfacing. We have
many great bike lanes in wonderful condition,
especially the recent ones and they get better
with each improvement. But if they are not that,
then they are torturous. The ‘whump-whumps’..those
rhythmic cracks that make you want to get off
the bike and walk. And the dangerous in-line breaks
that can grab and throw a thin tire. Those are
dangerous and require extraordinary attention.
The potholes and breakage between asphalt and concrete
of the curbs. It’s a shame we have to wait for the
whole road to go to shit before we have a safe
surface…it is more critical for bikes than cars.
I’ll go anywhere with traffic, but I’ll avoid a route
with too much poor surface. Just 2-3 inches of chip-
seal would do. It has made a big difference to some
of the residential streets and would make me say,
“Wow, this is really nice.”