Mike Nelson wrote:
Mike's right. I only drive my car now, gave up my bicycle once I started driving bus and realized that it was so hard to see the bicycles, particularly if they were directly behind the bus. It does not change the fact that everyone out there sharing the pavement does have to cooperate to make it home without broken bones, scrapes, or head injuries.First let me say I'm not picking on Wizard. I just think her view of this subject is obviously one seen from only one side, the side behind the wheel of an automobile. I've been on both sides of (and halfway through) the windshield.
The most important thing I learned driving bus is that people set up expectations when they move around. I expect bikes to be in the bike lane so I'm watching out for them there. This morning at 8 am, a guy was riding east on 35th St., weaving in and out among the cars, behaving quite erratically. He had the proper gear, he had lights, he had a helmet, but he was cycling like a right noodnik at Second Av. and 35th St. He was on the right side of the street where more than half the cars were going to turn right onto the freeway, he was going the wrong way, and the bike lane was on the other side of the street. If I had hit him, it would have been my fault. I don't want to hit anyone--or anything.
WM: I know this to be true. My housemates, all bike riders, (two don't even know how to drive a car) come home quaking from gangs of people trying to pull them off the bikes.MN: Stopping for a red light or stop sign could get you killed in my neighborhood, or if you're lucky, just beaten and robbed. So could having any kind of lights on. I've taken enough and seen enough abuse to know this is a fact.
I absolutely will not use the bike lane on Hennepin. It is a nightmare.
WM: I absolutely don't use Hennepin Av. in a car--it's a nightmare.
WM: This is truly sad, since bus drivers (at least at MCTC) are trained to be on the lookout for bikes and to remember that, outweighing the bikes by about 50,000 plus pounds, they need to give the bikers the leeway to make mistakes without forfeiting their lives. My suggestion is to get the bus number and the time and call in on them. There will be consequences for the drivers--loss of a day's pay does bring one round pretty quick.Don't even get me started about bullying by bus drivers.
MN:One could say exactly the same thing about auto traffic beingWM: No lie! Between cell phones, conversations in the car, waving to friends (I am so guilty of this), putting on makeup, reading the paper at stop lights, fiddling with the radio or CDs, driving like a maniac only to be stopped at the next light, etc., etc., etc. car and truck drivers are a menace.
erratic,
WizardMarks, Central ________________________________
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