GatewayRedbirds.com

People are a holes. People in cars ramp that up several notches. Carcissists who get aggressive with bikes. Carcissists would don’t give a [expletive] that the pedestrian has the legal right of way. Carcissists who block access to my street. Carcissists who speed up to prevent cars from merging. Contrary to what libertarians will tell you, we are a social species living in a community and life would be so much better if we acted that way.

I assume based on work you see the worst results of this.

In like 70 years when like 80% of the country lives in massive cities we won't have cars, so you great-great-grandkinds probably won't have to worry about it.

33anda3rd wrote:I assume based on work you see the worst results of this.

In like 70 years when like 80% of the country lives in massive cities we won't have cars, so you great-great-grandkinds probably won't have to worry about it.

I do. But i also drive in it. Plus St Louis seems to be particularly lawless so drivers don't even bother to stop to let the fire truck back.


Plus the near road rage incident this morning.

This is a good rant. I've often wondered why presumably kind, peaceable people act like psychopaths once they're in cars. Particularly towards pedestrians or bikers. Then I think about how I feel when driving, and how sometimes I get angry and try to be better.

I agree with this. People act like letting someone merge or letting a pedestrian cross is such an inconvenience.

I will also add that I am ready to bounce one of the idiots on the motorized scooters as far as I can off of my bumper without much remorse. Those things are a nuisance.

Letting someone merge is a no-brainer. Allowing a pedestrian to cross is a no-brainer.

I don't know how many times I've almost hit a bicyclist, but the percent of times that it's been the bicyclist's fault is 100. And the percent that it's the fault of the bicyclist for breaking the law--running a stop sign, running a red light, flying around the corner to go the wrong way down a one-way street--is also 100. I was coming to an intersection a couple weeks ago and stopped b/c I knew the bicyclist who was coming to a stop sign wasn't going to stop. He flew through the stop sign and flipped me off as he did. For letting him go.

Good rant. Except bicyclists.

Vice :Cyclist Deaths Are Exploding Because U.S. Cities Are Car-Friendly Death Traps

Bike-related fatalities are up 25 percent across the U.S. since 2010.


safests and unsafest cities for cyclists
And WTH Iowa?!

10 Most Dangerous Cities

LOS ANGELES, California
NEW YORK CITY, New York
WEBSTER CITY, Iowa
JAMESTOWN, North Dakota
FARGO, North Dakota
HOUSTON, Texas
WATERLOO, Iowa
SIOUX CITY, Iowa
JOHNSTON, Iowa
DES MOINES, Iowa

I think St. Louis doesn't make the list because you there aren't many people attempting a bike commute -due to feasibility issues.

The fact of these deaths is an admittedly gauche but also fairly practical and real: "accidents happen." If you're in a car-on-car crash you have steel and a seat belt and an airbag to protect you. Your car by law needs the airbag and you by law need to have the seatbelt on. If you're on a bike it's just you and the pavement. Bicyclists need to be extra cautious, because if they are in an accident with a car they're going to come out on the worse end every time. Thus, they really should be the most defensive drivers on the road. Often they are the most aggressive. If I hit and injured or heaven forbid killed a bicyclist I'd be devastated, and I think cyclists see motorists as the opposite: that motorists are out to run cyclists off the road.