Saw an intelligent bicyclist today

On Feb 27, 11:21 am, N8N > wrote:
> On Feb 27, 10:58 am, wrote:
>
> > If you have trouble seeing ordinary (non-orange) cyclists or
> > pedestrians in plenty of time, you're not driving responsibly. Try
> > slowing down and paying more attention.
>
> Yes, all of the cyclists in my area are responsible and never, ever do
> stuff like riding after dark without lights and wearing dark and/or
> non-reflective clothing. (snort)

Cyclists should use lights and reflectors at night. Those laws should
be respected.
But clothing that suits _your_ fancy is not a legal requirement, and
should not be.

> If it didn't seem like the vast majority of cyclists that I see had
> death wishes ... you might have a point, but my general impression
> of them is that they are serious hazards to themselves and others, and
> I wish that police would take more notice of this and start enforcing
> the rules of the road.

I wish police would enforce _all_ rules of the road, including against
motorists who speed through neighborhoods, roll stop signs, run red
lights, fail to yield to pedestrians, and all the rest. Yes, they
should ticket cyclists - but it's a far lower priority for good
reason.

For example, regarding stop signs: I live across the street from
one. Fewer than half the drivers bother to stop. The majority roll
right through. The potential harm from a motorist doing that is
hundreds of times worse than that from a cyclist.

Regarding "serious hazards to themselves and others," feel free to
post documentation of the terrible carnage caused by bicyclists. We
know there are roughly 40,000 people killed by motorists each year in
America. How many are killed by bicyclists? Post the number, please.

How many cyclists kill themselves by their mistakes? Only about 700
American cyclists die per year, total. That's a tiny number compared
to most other causes of death. The per-hour risk is also low. And at
least half those fatalities are caused by motorist mistakes, not
cyclist mistakes.

- Frank Krygowski