Jump to content
Join the Unexplained Mysteries community today! It's free and setting up an account only takes a moment.
- Sign In or Create Account -

Bicycles are bad for the environment


Keel M.

Recommended Posts

... and then the usual crowd of professional whingers in the local paper invariably whinge about Cyclists on the Pavement, Mowing down Pensioners. I bet there's nothing cyclists would like better than not to have to use "proper" roads among all the moronic Motorists who all think they're Clarkson.

It's actually the motorists who are having to put up with moronic cyclists who think that things such as red traffic lights don't apply to them.

Cyclists should not be using proper roads or pavements. They should be banned from both of those places and be allowed only to ride their cycles on designated paths in the countryside and in parks. Cyclists are a danger and a menace on the roads and they should no longer be tolerated.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

It's actually the motorists who are having to put up with moronic cyclists who think that things such as red traffic lights don't apply to them.

Cyclists should not be using proper roads or pavements. They should be banned from both of those places and be allowed only to ride their cycles on designated paths in the countryside and in parks. Cyclists are a danger and a menace on the roads and they should no longer be tolerated.

How did I guess that you would be a cyclist hater :w00t:

Br Cornelius

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Cyclists are a menace on the road and think the rules of the highways don't apply to them. They should be banned from using proper roads and be allowed only to use their cycles on things like cycle tracks in the country or parks.

Cyclists are what you say: they do not follow the rules of the road and are surprised when they discover they have to come up with the money to pay damages to the vehicle they hit when they ran the stop sign (Happens around here a lot.).

The rules-of-the-road problem could be solved by requiring a license to ride a bicycle on the street (Children under ten or twelve would be allowed to use the sidewalks.). As it is, bicyclists can be cited for moving violations, but the police rarely enforce the law. Better law enforcement is part of the picture.

BUT: Bicycles were using the roads before cars were invented. That gives them a prior right to roads that already existed when cars first used them (The horse predates the bicyle and thus has a prior right over both bicycles and cars.). In America, we started paving roads due to pressure from the League of American Wheelmen (bicyclists).

Bicycles can be excluded from new highways built just for the automobile (like the Interstate System) because they do not have a prior right on those. Also, there is a procedure for excluding bicycles when an alternate trail is available. Otherwise, you will have to build them a trail.

The problems are saluble, if we really want to solve them.

Doug

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In Vietnam the only people you see on bicycles are children, monks, and the extremely poor. There is a face issue so I fear environmental interest will lose to motorbikes and ultimately to cars.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So , yes this guy is a total dolt. No question.

However, we have an ongoing issue in Washington regarding cyclists... it's so bad a problem some people like to call Seattle's current mayor (McGinn) Mayor McSchwinn. He keeps trying to take roads, closing off streets, raising vehicle taxes, all in favor of bikes. It's his pet thing. Of course he fails to understand that this is a huge city built on hills, some so high the sidewalks have toe holds in them, and that the two major population areas are separated by a giant lake, and not too mention the constant inclement weather here. If this were a flat city like Phoenix or even Shanghai, I'd say go for it McSchwinn.... but it ain't.... this city needs rapid transit which we DO NOT have.

Oh and this ding dong that made that ludicrist statement is the R representitive from Kalama... I think the population of Kalama is about 14. It's down near the Oregon border in the south western part of the state. It's roughly the area where DB Cooper made his infamous jump. LOL

Edited by MissMelsWell
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The local council decided to install cycle lanes throughout the town. There has been no modification to the roads other than to paint cycle lanes on them. the trouble is that the roads are only just big enough for two cars to pass so adding a cycle lane to these roads means they will be totally ignored (because they are just impractical) and cyclists would be insane to believe that they offered them any protection against cars.

Its going to turn into a very costly waste of time which is going to give both the council and cyclists a bad name.

For cycle lanes to be useful to both cyclists and road users they need to be dedicated and segregated so that cyclists can use them with confidence - otherwise the only safe place for a cyclist in most towns is on the footpaths. The mortality rates of cyclists sharing roads clearly indicate that Car users cannot be trusted.

Br Cornelius

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, given a disagreement between a car and a bicycle, the car is going to win, no matter who is right.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, given a disagreement between a car and a bicycle, the car is going to win, no matter who is right.

So they should never have to be made to share the same space. All this cosmetic pretending to be bike friendly is just plain dangerous.

Br Cornelius

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The situation in HCMC is plain insane. The middle lane is for cars, the right lane for motorbikes and bicycles. This means that a car trying to turn right has to make its way through a stream of bicycles.

The main boulevards have a central area for cars, then grass and trees, then some more lanes for motorbikes and bicycles and then a sidewalk.

Narrower streets often ban cars but where they are allowed, well keep your eyes open. The liability rule in Vietnam is simple -- whoever is biggest is at fault, and come up with some money within an hour or so or off to jail (if there are injuries).

Just about a year ago, to great resistance, the government started enforcing helmet rules. Now they are accepted (it doesn't take cracking your head more than once to bring you around). Now they are trying to do the same with seat belts in cars.

My understanding is that the plan is to ban motorbikes in the big cities and force everyone who can't affort a car (almost everyone) onto busses. The busses have been vastly improved, but please?!? In the country the big highways are becoming more and more restricted to just cars.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The situation in HCMC is plain insane. The middle lane is for cars, the right lane for motorbikes and bicycles. This means that a car trying to turn right has to make its way through a stream of bicycles.

The main boulevards have a central area for cars, then grass and trees, then some more lanes for motorbikes and bicycles and then a sidewalk.

Narrower streets often ban cars but where they are allowed, well keep your eyes open. The liability rule in Vietnam is simple -- whoever is biggest is at fault, and come up with some money within an hour or so or off to jail (if there are injuries).

Just about a year ago, to great resistance, the government started enforcing helmet rules. Now they are accepted (it doesn't take cracking your head more than once to bring you around). Now they are trying to do the same with seat belts in cars.

My understanding is that the plan is to ban motorbikes in the big cities and force everyone who can't affort a car (almost everyone) onto busses. The busses have been vastly improved, but please?!? In the country the big highways are becoming more and more restricted to just cars.

Madness like this can only continue until the oil price doubles again.

Br Cornelius

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.