'Ride For Your Life' Photos - Nov 19, 2022 ride from Bethesda to the CapitolSubmitted by monkeyuprising t3_z1wi6m in washingtondc
aoc_desantis_2024 t1_ixd8hc2 wrote
Reply to comment by Nilay431 in 'Ride For Your Life' Photos - Nov 19, 2022 ride from Bethesda to the Capitol by monkeyuprising
Cyclists are stupid aggressive towards everyone else.
Nilay431 t1_ixd8xmh wrote
Until we have ghost car memorials because drivers are dying when cyclists crash in to them, I am ok with the guy on a 15lbs of metal being aggressive.
MrDickford t1_ixec4uv wrote
This is such a weird argument. It doesn’t have to be either-or, we can say that aggressive and reckless drivers are a problem in DC and also that bikers frequently act entitled to do whatever they please.
But whenever someone argues the latter, bike advocates show up in droves to explain that it’s ok for bikers to be jerks because cars pose a danger to bikers.
bageloclock t1_ixfaj5h wrote
No. There is not a both sides argument here. One person drives a multi-ton death trap while the other is on a bike. When you’re operating the multi-ton death trap, it’s on YOU to exert extra caution.
MrDickford t1_ixfev7f wrote
Yeah thanks that’s an excellent example of exactly the sort of absurd behavior that I complained about in my post.
bageloclock t1_ixhwf38 wrote
I’m not even erasing the notion that there are bad cyclists out there but car drivers and vehicles have an insanely outsized impact if they are the reckless ones. How can you see these things as 1:1?
MrDickford t1_ixi2nbc wrote
I don’t think I ever implied they were 1:1. Aggressive drivers are obviously a much bigger problem than aggressive bikers. But you can’t mention aggressive and/or entitled bikers without someone from the biker community showing up to retort that cars are more dangerous to bikers, which implies either than only one of those things can be true, or that it’s ok for bikers to do whatever they want because cars are dangerous.
aoc_desantis_2024 t1_ixd9c3d wrote
About 5 cyclists die in DC every year. That is tragic. But the same people so concerned about that seem to not care at all that homicides have nearly tripled to 200 per year. But you know 5 dead rich white folks matter a lot more than 200 people of color.
SgtPeppy t1_ixdlike wrote
> But the same people so concerned about that seem to not care at all that homicides have nearly tripled to 200 per year
Literally how the fuck do you know? Most people in DC are very concerned about this - why wouldn't cyclists be? You know it's possible to care about more than one thing at a time?
It's also a complex, multifaceted issue - crime is rising everywhere and despite what politicians and most people will tell you, the a lot of the mechanisms behind it are poorly understood (or we just lack the political will to address it, as with gun control)
It's a complete apples and oranges comparison. You're looking for reasons to be outraged at cyclists. It's pathetic.
aoc_desantis_2024 t1_ixdm5yw wrote
OK what are the ideas to lower gun violence then?
SgtPeppy t1_ixdmm3j wrote
Why should I entertain you attempting to pivot the conversation? Don't change the subject because you're losing.
ottereatingpopsicles t1_ixdm7ti wrote
I mean I think people do care about homicide deaths as much or more than biking deaths, but the policies to keep bikers alive (build protected bike lanes, require side guards on trucks so bikers and pedestrians get pushed out of the way, actual criminal consequences for truck drivers that kill people) are much clearer than how to decrease gun violence. Violence prevention is a much trickier issue to address while we already know how to protect bikers and pedestrians more effectively. Drivers just don’t like to drive a safe speed and be forced to share the road with other users or lose the taxpayer-sponsored parking spaces
CatoTheDumber t1_ixewkc6 wrote
This dude here trying to argue by starting a completely different conversation.
distraughtdrunk t1_ixdc7fn wrote
ngl, i wonder how many injuries/deaths are caused by aggressive cycling or the cyclists breaking the law.
ofc, this doesn't count the drivers who are weirdly aggressive too, but it seems all too easy to lay all the blame on big bad drivers without examing what cyclists are doing as well (such as blowing through stop lights, texting/cycling, swerving into traffic unexpectedly).
edit: when i say injuries/ deaths are caused by aggressive cycling, i mean a cyclist places themselves (unintentionally or otherwise) in a position where they get hurt/killed.
ertri t1_ixdefef wrote
Usually 1-3 people die, nationally, after being hit by a bike each year. That's obviously not 0, but... not bad.
Having been hit by people on bikes a few times - I'll take my chances with a 20ish lbs metal frame where the rider is likely to be worse off than whatever they hit v. a 4000 lbs tank
aoc_desantis_2024 t1_ixdkqiq wrote
The problem is rarely that a bike is hitting someone and killing them. Its that they drive illegally and cause cars to swerve, or pedestrians to jump out of the way (sometimes into something else), etc....
There is ZERO enforcement of bike laws. You can ride through U St drunk as a skunk through red lights and the police will do nothing. In fact I see it all the time.
ertri t1_ixfmnqk wrote
Again, the consequences of biking dangerously are much lower!
I literally do not care about cars being inconvenienced. They can slow down and stay back, I truly do not care.
Pedestrians, yeah, that should be enforced. I'll start with MPD doing literally anything to enforce any traffic laws in general, bikes can be first I don't care.
distraughtdrunk t1_ixdfxek wrote
i'm not saying you're wrong, but that doesn't actually speak to the question i asked.
edit: i reread my post and thought it sounded ambiguous so i edited it
veloharris t1_ixe3h9r wrote
People are stupid aggressive. Cyclists are not some separate species. Assholes drive cars and some ride bikes.
throws_rocks_at_cars t1_ixed1ut wrote
Observably false
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