----- Original Message -----
From: "David Mann"
Subject: Re: VeryOT: no anti-bike bias here at all, oh no, absolutely, not
On May 23, 2010, at 3:30 AM, William Robb wrote:
There is no justification for refusing to share the road, but that is a
two way street, so to speak. A cyclist who is operating his vehicle in
such a way as to be a danger to others deserves some consequences.
A danger to others? Who exactly would that be?
Anyone else on the road. Avoiding an idiot on a bike may well put an
innocent pedestrian into the path of a vehicle, or may cause me to take out
another cyclist.
For myself, if I have to make the choice of going up on a sidewalk or
crashing into a building to avoid an adult cyclist who is being an ass,
I'll take the path that does the least damage to my vehicle and puts
someone other than me clearly at fault.
And you may end up in all sorts of shit if they find out you deliberately
chose that course of action. Damaging some property isn't in the same
league as maiming or killing someone. I can understand if your choice is
between running down one person or a whole family though.
I have a right to self preservation. Since motor vehicle collisions are
unpredictable, smashing into a parked car at speed may well cause me injury.
You put yourself in a situation where I have to choose between potentially
hurting myself and definitely hurting you, and you are going to get hurt.
If you don't like it, then obey the rules of the road. It's a pretty simple
concept to follow.
I'm not out there hunting bike riders, I'm just expecting them to drive
their vehicles in a safe and sane manner and obey the rules. If they aren't
going to do that, they are going to be someone's hood ornament eventually.
I do cut young children a lot of slack, but about the time they hit
puberty I figure they should be showing some sense.
If that means playing Whack-A-Mole with an idiot who wants to be a
fatality, then I'm not going to argue with the dork.
If I run into a parked car to avoid a cyclist, I'm the one who has run
into a parked car, and I'll also be the one who get's nicked for doing
it, since the cyclist is unlikely to wait around to admit fault.
It's easier on my insurance that way.
You'd kill someone to avoid a bit of hassle? What the fuck kind of
misguided ethics do you live by? Would you then return your vehicle to
the dealer for a refund?
No, I'd return my vehicle to the dealer to have the grill replaced.
Our police are taking it pretty seriously though. A few weeks ago a
cyclist ran a stop sign and got knocked over by a truck. The police made
the effort to go to the hospital and ticket him for failing to stop, and
I believe operating a vehicle without due care and attention.
He obviously deserved it for being stupid... even though the ticket was
probably the least of his worries.
Down here the law is that if you could have stopped but chose not to, you
bear responsibility. This applies regardless of how stupidly the person
you hit was behaving. If you think about that for a few seconds you'll
realise it makes sense in the context of road safety.
If it's just a matter of stopping, then fine. If it's a matter of choosing
what I am going to hit, I'll hit whatever is going to cause me the least
harm. If that is a fool on a bicycle who is creating havoc on the street,
well, he should have thought things through a little more carefully.
Why should I take a head on with a bus because a moron cyclist ran a stop,
failed to yield or swerved into my path? You want me to respect your right
to the road, then you need to show me the same respect and operate your
vehicle properly. At the end of the day, a bike colliding with a motor
vehicle is going to hurt the cyclist more than the car driver, so it behoves
the cyclist to obey the rules and not presume that he has carte blanche to
pretend that he owns the road and everyone else can bloody well drive into
the ditch.
William Robb
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