LexRides

[mcrib]

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/08/nyregion/thecity/08bike.html?pagewanted=1

my favorite part

"There are still detractors; Fox News aired a report a few months ago blaming the new bike lane on Grand Street for not only clogging up car traffic in Lower Manhattan but — potentially! — putting pedestrians’ lives in danger. Less reported was the story of the biker who was — actually! — killed by a truck driver in a hit-and-run in October. But despite such criticism, people are gradually losing the car-centric view of Manhattan and are sensing that the streets are for more than automobiles."
_________________
Albert Einstein trembled when he found out time was water. Seeping through the rafters to put out this burning world.

[illride]

this is my favorite part:
NO. 1: How about we stop at major intersections? Especially where there are school crossing guards, or disabled people crossing, or a lot of people during the morning or evening rush. (I have the law with me on this one.) At minor intersections, on far-from-traffic intersections, let’s at least stop and go.

NO. 2: How about we ride with traffic as opposed to the wrong way on a one-way street? I know the idea of being told which way to go drives many bikers bonkers. That stuff is for cars, they say. I consider one-way streets anathema — they make for faster car traffic and more difficult crossings. But whenever I see something bad happen to a biker, it’s when the biker is riding the wrong way on a one-way street.

There will be caveats. Perhaps your wife is about to go into labor and you take her to the hospital on your bike; then, yes, sure, go the wrong way in the one-way bike lane. We can handle caveats. We are bikers.

NO. 3: How about we stay off the sidewalks? Why are bikers so incensed when the police hand out tickets for this? I’m only guessing, but each sidewalk biker must believe that he or she, out of all New York bikers, is the exception, the one careful biker, which is a very car way of thinking.

NO. 4: How about we signal? Again, I hear the laughter, but the bike gods gave us hands to ring bells and to signal turns. Think of the possible complications: Many of the bikers behind you are wearing headphones, and the family in the minivan has a Disney DVD playing so loudly that it’s rattling your 30-pound Kryptonite chain. Let them know what you are thinking so that you can go on breathing as well as thinking.

-----------------------------

people really need to respect the traffic laws and the people/things around them.

I think some tend to think that because we are on a bike, we are apart of this elite force that is exempt from any rules. This really gives a bad name for bikers in general.

Just the other day I was slowing at a red light on euclid and rose when a girl blew by me on my left. I could see the absolute disgust on pedestrians faces and one guy even shouted "RED LIGHT". It just made me frown.

I'm not saying that I have not run red lights and I occasionally do. But to so so on a decently busy intersection during a time of day with heavy auto and pedestrian traffic is shitty.

we need to keep some good heads about us.

[taylor]

I'm 100% behind you on that. there are always good and legitimate exceptions to the (usually asinine) rules. but if nothing else, it's about staying safe and being right (just in case something happens, you never want to be the one who fucked up) - which, more often than not, means you should follow the rules.

[ihearthuckabees]

Great article, thanks for sharing.

[Octopod]

that's the most uninteresting load of crap i've ever read.
_________________
All you haters die slow

[mcrib]

you are an uninteresting load of crap. see you tomorrow.
_________________
Albert Einstein trembled when he found out time was water. Seeping through the rafters to put out this burning world.

[mofokuban]

Rules, when followed, help everyone. If bikers want more respect, we should follow the rules. Then we can actually have proof that the other people were in the wrong.