You were riding during rush hour. Why were you riding then? There are way too many cars on the road. If you were commuting, you should have contact...

McSweeney’s bringing some hard truths with this one. We could all be doing better.

You forgot to go back in time and tell people that subsidizing the oil industry might be a bad idea.
When the oil and auto industries teamed up to bend public policy to their will, making a system of roads and parking lots that now function as a continuous subsidy and magnificent symbol of the normalization of injury and pollution, you had a lot of options. You could have objected. You could have shifted public opinion. Instead, you weren’t even born yet. And, rather than go back in time, all you’ve been doing is riding to get groceries and occasionally saying, “Please stop killing us.” On the effort scale? 1/10.

    •  UID_Zero   ( @UID_Zero@infosec.pub ) English
      3•1 year ago

      Wild. I don’t live where there are too many bikers, and I see bikes blow through red lights and stop signs frequently. I’ve had bikes fly past me through intersections while I was stopped at a red light on my bike.

      I also haven’t gone a day without seeing cars doing dumber shit. Cars are definitely more consistently stupid, but there’s plenty to go around for everyone.

        •  UID_Zero   ( @UID_Zero@infosec.pub ) English
          1•1 year ago

          Fair point. But even in that case, they should stop before proceeding. Most bikes I see run lights don’t bother stopping, and it looks like they barely slow down if they can avoid it.

          •  WalrusDragonOnABike   ( @WalrusDragonOnABike@kbin.social ) 
            1•1 year ago

            Fair. Depending on the field of view and traffic conditions, stopping may be more dangerous though. But definitely have seen people pull some ridiculous running on red lights before (mostly cars), so I do not doubt that people have seen cyclists doing things they should not. I just know that people get mad even when cyclists do the safest option because either they don’t understand the risks involved or they just don’t like cyclists existing at all.

    •  Carter   ( @Carter@feddit.uk ) English
      2•1 year ago

      I think I’m the only cyclist that does stop at red lights. Everyone else goes through at full speed or goes flying up onto the pavement and forces all the pedestrians to get out their way.

    •  Aesthesiaphilia   ( @Aesthesiaphilia@kbin.social ) 
      1•1 year ago

      Personally:

      I live in the SF Bay Area, home of (imo) the 2nd worst drivers in the US (after Dallas-Ft Worth).

      There’s also loads of cyclists. We have a lot of cyclist infrastructure (though not nearly enough).

      Guess what, the ones doing the cycling are the same people as the ones doing the driving.

      Bad driver in 4 wheels = bad driver in 2 wheels.

    •  cobra89   ( @cobra89@beehaw.org ) 
      1•1 year ago

      Cities. I used to commute to work by bike every day and I would routinely see other cyclists fly through intersections without so much as looking let alone stopping. Both stop signs and traffic lights.

      That said the Idaho/Oregon stop (making sure there is no conflicting traffic, and then proceeding through a stop sign without stopping, which is legal in Idaho/Oregon.) is much safer and more efficient for cyclists. But obviously you still need to make sure the intersection is clear before doing so and you can’t just blindly fly though.