From nweise@u.washington.edu Thu Feb 6 21:10:48 2003 Received: from mxu4.u.washington.edu (mxu4.u.washington.edu [140.142.33.8]) by lists.u.washington.edu (8.12.1+UW01.12/8.12.1+UW02.12) with ESMTP id h175AlCK082042 for ; Thu, 6 Feb 2003 21:10:47 -0800 Received: from mxout2.cac.washington.edu (mxout2.cac.washington.edu [140.142.33.4]) by mxu4.u.washington.edu (8.12.1+UW01.12/8.12.1+UW02.12) with ESMTP id h175AkM6006960 (version=TLSv1/SSLv3 cipher=EDH-RSA-DES-CBC3-SHA bits=168 verify=NO); Thu, 6 Feb 2003 21:10:46 -0800 Received: from hymn11.u.washington.edu (hymn11.u.washington.edu [140.142.15.150]) by mxout2.cac.washington.edu (8.12.1+UW01.12/8.12.1+UW02.12) with ESMTP id h175AjGD015710; Thu, 6 Feb 2003 21:10:45 -0800 Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by hymn11.u.washington.edu (8.12.1+UW01.12/8.12.1+UW02.12) with ESMTP id h175AjxG030061; Thu, 6 Feb 2003 21:10:45 -0800 Date: Thu, 6 Feb 2003 21:10:45 -0800 (PST) From: "Nicholas A. Weise" To: douglas james schmitt cc: E P , Subject: Re: UWPD cracks down on bicyclists In-Reply-To: Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII Yes we should follow the rules of the road but the problem is, that isn't safe for us. Running a light is one thing, but motorists drive so erratically when they are around bikers because they think we can't just hold our line and cruise like a car. All too often it is neccessary to go from the sidewalk to the street, and back again so that we, for example, don't get run over while going slowly up a steep grade; I don't feel safe when cars are going 20mph faster than I am. I feel safe when I am cruising at about the same speed as them. And when I do cruise at the same speed in traffic, frequently drivers will feel the urge to gun it and pass, even when they have nothing to gain. It is a cyclical propagation of discontent between bikers and motorists; much like racial conflict. Members of racial majorities tend to subconsciously assume that a person of a given minority will behave in a certain way, and then the individual of the majority will behave differently towards the minority. This only causes the minority to respond differently, frequently in a negative manner, fitting the given racial stereotype, and so the cycle continues. Since motorists automatically expect us to behave foolishly on a bike, they drive more agressively and are unable to simply 'cruise along' as usual. This then forces us to change our behavior to adapt to erratic behavior of motorists. I don't want to give an inch to these righteous campus rent-a-cops. They need to get a clue and identify real problems. Just last week on campus a guy almost clipped my shoulder because he felt the need to pass me while I was riding on the street just east of the hub; and I was going the speed limit on my bike. He could have killed me just so he could stop at the same stop sign where I stopped right behind him not 200 feet down the road. They should be cracking down on all the motorists. Or if they want something productive to do, have them crack down on certain forms of illicit drug use that fund murderous rebels in columbia. That would save lives. I agree Doug that we should do all we can to make people like bicyclists. But forcing us to walk our bikes across campus when we can just as easily get to class with a finger on our brake levers, without hurting anyone, seems very heavy handed. I am not content to be singled out and bullied. sorry if it seems like I am unloading here. this is just a touchy topic for me. probably because I have to deal with it for 15-20 hours a week in order to get faster. It shouldn't be an additional stressor to deal with. I just wanna ride. peace Nick On Thu, 6 Feb 2003, douglas james schmitt wrote: > I wouldn`t say a load of BS. I`ve seen way too many bikers doing stupid > stuff and that only gives us all a bad name. I just figure we aren`t > racing when we`re on the road so a light or two is only a few minutes of > the day. If you remember the recent commentary by Ken Schram, I think that > is what most motorists think of us anyway so I think we should all do our > best to follow the "rules of the road." That`s just my thought though. > > Doug > > On Thu, 6 Feb 2003, E P wrote: > > > What a load of BS! Why don't the police finish > > cracking down on all the many cars that violate "rules > > of the road" before they turn their heavy hand on us?! > > I sure hope you fought that ticket because that's a > > buncha crap. > > -Erik P > > > > --- sean michael kelly > > wrote: > > > http://thedaily.washington.edu > > > > > > You have probably all seen the article in the Daily > > > (link above). Be > > > aware that we can get fined for traffic violations, > > > I got a ticket for > > > running a red light once on my bike. > > > > > > > > > __________________________________________________ > > Do you Yahoo!? > > Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now. > > http://mailplus.yahoo.com > > > > .