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  #61  
Old October 18th 19, 10:02 PM posted to rec.bicycles.tech
Tom Kunich[_5_]
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Posts: 1,231
Default ride faster!

On Friday, October 18, 2019 at 9:00:17 AM UTC-7, Andre Jute wrote:
On Friday, October 18, 2019 at 3:54:14 PM UTC+1, Tom Kunich wrote:

To change the thrust of the thread slightly:

Here it is 13.


I'd be happier to let 13 year-old's ride on the street, especially if there were riding lessons in schools. But I should add that have several schools within a (very large) block of us, and I never see even a single student on a bike. So, no lessons in schools because they just don't see the need. When I was schoolboy, we had lessons in road safety.

And dismounting to cross a street is pretty much universally ignored.


Not overly worried. On my bike near my house, I use a pedestrian crossing to stop fast-moving traffic coming into town on a main feeder road down the rest of the county. Ironically, I come round the corner of the courthouse to do it... I don't get off either, I just ride across the pedestrian crossing and onto a path through a park. There are always police at the courthouse and I've never seen as much as a frown for the pedestrian crossing trick.

Andre Jute
Not everyone has the style to be a scofflaw


On of our local bicycle activists had a couple of 7 year old twin girls that ride absolutely perfectly in traffic. They also would disappear up the hard climbs leaving us all behind on ten ton wonder bikes. So I don't think that age has much to do with it as much as training
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  #62  
Old October 18th 19, 10:36 PM posted to rec.bicycles.tech
Andre Jute[_2_]
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Posts: 10,422
Default ride faster!

On Friday, October 18, 2019 at 10:02:54 PM UTC+1, Tom Kunich wrote:
On Friday, October 18, 2019 at 9:00:17 AM UTC-7, Andre Jute wrote:
On Friday, October 18, 2019 at 3:54:14 PM UTC+1, Tom Kunich wrote:

To change the thrust of the thread slightly:

Here it is 13.


I'd be happier to let 13 year-old's ride on the street, especially if there were riding lessons in schools. But I should add that have several schools within a (very large) block of us, and I never see even a single student on a bike. So, no lessons in schools because they just don't see the need. When I was schoolboy, we had lessons in road safety.

And dismounting to cross a street is pretty much universally ignored.


Not overly worried. On my bike near my house, I use a pedestrian crossing to stop fast-moving traffic coming into town on a main feeder road down the rest of the county. Ironically, I come round the corner of the courthouse to do it... I don't get off either, I just ride across the pedestrian crossing and onto a path through a park. There are always police at the courthouse and I've never seen as much as a frown for the pedestrian crossing trick.

Andre Jute
Not everyone has the style to be a scofflaw


On of our local bicycle activists had a couple of 7 year old twin girls that ride absolutely perfectly in traffic. They also would disappear up the hard climbs leaving us all behind on ten ton wonder bikes. So I don't think that age has much to do with it as much as training


Yes, the key is the activist parent teaching them. -- AJ

  #63  
Old October 18th 19, 11:07 PM posted to rec.bicycles.tech
Frank Krygowski[_4_]
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Posts: 10,538
Default ride faster!

On 10/18/2019 4:48 PM, Sir Ridesalot wrote:
On Friday, 18 October 2019 16:17:37 UTC-4, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 10/18/2019 3:14 PM, Sir Ridesalot wrote:
On Friday, 18 October 2019 11:34:47 UTC-4, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 10/18/2019 10:54 AM, Tom Kunich wrote:
On Friday, October 18, 2019 at 12:27:32 AM UTC-7, Rolf Mantel wrote:
Am 18.10.2019 um 01:21 schrieb Tom Kunich:
I'd be interest to hear where you got your information "that riding on a sidewalk is 3 times as dangerous as riding on the road".

If the sidewalk if that dangerous why do you suppose the law says that anyone 13 and younger can ride on the sidewalk?

Actually, it doesn't. German lay says anybody under the age of 8 must
use the sidewalk, children under the age of 10 and parents accompanying
children under the age of 8 may use the sidewalk.
Anybody using the sidewalk must dismount at each junction and cross the
road as a pedestrian.

Ensuring cyclists on sidewalks never have priority over others minimizes
the collisions between cyclists and turning vehicles because turning
vehicles can't violate the cyclists' priority ;-)

Here it is 13. And dismounting to cross a street is pretty much universally ignored. But that wasn't the case in that video - that was a truck driver crossing a sidewalk from a driveway exit from a gas station. Something entirely different and one in which any and all sidewalk users have right-of-way. The real kicker was the Truck ignored the accident making it a hit and run unless he pulled over immediately.

FWIW, other sources said the trucker never saw the cyclist and didn't
realize he'd hit anyone. When others stopped him, he didn't flee. He
stayed and cooperated.

I think it's entirely possible his story is true. See
https://grist.org/living/this-video-...low-your-mind/

and
http://commuteorlando.com/wordpress/...-about-trucks/

Riding on sidewalks is, on average, much more dangerous than riding on
streets. Riding contra-flow on sidewalks is even more dangerous. That
doesn't mean that nobody should ever ride on a sidewalk. But it means
one needs to be very aware of the hazards.

And one needs to be very aware of the blind spots of large vehicles.


--
- Frank Krygowski

Nice video from the UNITED KINGDOM. I like this part of the article: " you’ve gotta feel a little bit sorry for the truck driver in this scenario, too. She or he is basically steering the Titanic, probably doing so on insufficient sleep, and trying to do her best with subpar mirrors." Perhaps those lorries should be equipped with better mirrors if the ones they have are known to be sub-par?


We have a friend who's been a long-haul trucker for years. She's
actually quite an interesting person: Brilliant at math with degrees to
prove it, worked for IBM till she tired of the boredom, but also moved
to France to study philosophy before taking up trucking, which she
loves. She worked for a while in a bike shop, and she took a cycling
class from me and carries a folding bike in her rig.

She's confirmed that there are huge blind spots around big rigs, and
that there's no way a trucker can see close all around the vehicle. She
said she's most nervous at truck stops, because she could check
diligently all around yet have someone walk into a blind spot as she
began moving. But she also worries about running over an ignorant
cyclist. (That's how quite a few women cyclists died in London -
sneaking up on the curb side of a truck that was turning.)

Maybe this will soon get better. There are cars now with 360 degree
cameras. I imagine the next generation of trucks will have similar
technology. But the trailers will still be a risk.


--
- Frank Krygowski


My cousin drives long-haul 18-wheelers and he says he has real problems with AUTOMOBILES in roundabouts because the rig needs both lanes to negotiate the tight circle. He says that far too many times a motorist tries to cut inside him when he's in the roundabout but he can't see the motorist due to the angle of his tractor part of the rig. He says he's nearly run a car over with the trailer many times.

But why anyone would ride a bicycle in front of a big rig like the bicyclist did in the link at the start of this thread is beyond me. It's only common sense not to. Then again, as the adage goes, "If Common Sense is so common, why do we see so little of it these days".


+1

--
- Frank Krygowski
  #64  
Old October 18th 19, 11:58 PM posted to rec.bicycles.tech
jOHN b.
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 2,421
Default ride faster!

On Fri, 18 Oct 2019 07:24:29 -0700 (PDT), jbeattie
wrote:

On Friday, October 18, 2019 at 6:51:29 AM UTC-7, Radey Shouman wrote:
jbeattie writes:

On Thursday, October 17, 2019 at 4:35:36 PM UTC-7, Tom Kunich wrote:
On Thursday, October 17, 2019 at 9:53:33 AM UTC-7, jbeattie wrote:
On Thursday, October 17, 2019 at 7:32:53 AM UTC-7, duane wrote:
On 17/10/2019 10:24 a.m., Andre Jute wrote:
On Thursday, October 17, 2019 at 7:49:01 AM UTC+1, Rolf Mantel wrote:

The alternate is not to cycle on the sidewalk in the first place, when
it is known that riding on a sidewalk is 3 times as dangerous as riding
on the road ;-)

I generally agree. But it strikes me that someone who rides on
the pavement all the time, or any time it is permitted, is
probably also a gutter bunny, and that truck driver would have
collected him either way.

I'd be interest to hear where you got your information "that
riding on a sidewalk is 3 times as dangerous as riding on the
road".


Seems to me that this would depend a lot on the road and the sidewalk.
We had a couple people killed in Montreal going through an underpass and
being rear ended by trucks. You'd have to see the setup. Steep
underpass. Dark. Narrow. Truck didn't see the cyclists etc. There
are sidewalks there and the city decided to allow cyclists to use them.

Before the danger danger brigade gets fired up, this is a one off. I
wouldn't recommend using sidewalks generally.

Andre Jute
Aggressive Passive Safety: Bicyclists should avoid tangling
with mechanical contrivances bigger than they are.


And oddly, modified sidewalks are deemed the safest type of
bicycle
facility. https://bikeportland.org/2017/02/14/...lwaukie-217696
The previous on-street bike lane was far safer. You didn't get
cars lunging over limit lines into "bike crossings," i.e. cross
walks, and you didn't have to stop every fifty yards or less for
cross-streets and driveways. You just rode along with the cars --
straight shot. But now we have an awesome facility where you get
to dodge cars and pedestrians. Oh joy. I'd go on about the
f****** nightmare ride into work this morning in a bike facility,
but I've got things to do. I'm turning into that crazy old
Tourette's guy yelling at cars, bikes and pedestrians. One day
I'll wake up and be TK -- or a cockroach, one or the other.

-- Jay Beattie.

I just got an email this time from some back-east recruiter and
another from LinkIn about that NASA position. They said it is newly
started "Small Satellite Maintenance" department. Since they sure as
hell aren't bringing them down and repairing them I can only assume
that it is firmware updates. So, since you're the local expert -
have you heard of the Small Satellite Maintenance Department of
NASA?

I had pad kee mao from the Thai cart today. It was super-good, and I
get free Thai tea because I work downtown. It's really too sweet, but
the lady in the cart is willing to ratchet back the sugar and make it
just right. Have you ever heard of pad kee mao?

I probably eat more Thai food than John B, but tomorrow, I'm going to
the Korean BBQ cart next door. Or maybe I'll get a sandwich.


Go for the banh mi, Charlie makes a mean sandwich.


We have banh mi carts downtown -- I just have to find them. A bunch of the carts dispersed after a cart pod was displaced by a luxury hotel project. That really ****ed off the locals. We also lost the "Frying Scotsman" -- great street fish and chips. He moved his truck to Beaverton -- gads, the burbs. I live pretty close to a high school with a little cart pod: more pad kee mao! https://tinyurl.com/yxv594rp The Thai people are trying to conquer us with noodle dishes. Its some sort of reverse colonialism. We need to fight back with Colonel Sanders franchises in Bangkok. John B, its up to you!

-- Jay Beattie.

-- Jay Beattie


The Colonel is doing all right. Now as well as the Golden Arches but
all right. After all fried chicken is not a strange and exotic food in
Thailand :-)
--
cheers,

John B.

  #65  
Old October 19th 19, 12:39 AM posted to rec.bicycles.tech
jOHN b.
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 2,421
Default ride faster!

On Fri, 18 Oct 2019 07:24:29 -0700 (PDT), jbeattie
wrote:

On Friday, October 18, 2019 at 6:51:29 AM UTC-7, Radey Shouman wrote:
jbeattie writes:

On Thursday, October 17, 2019 at 4:35:36 PM UTC-7, Tom Kunich wrote:
On Thursday, October 17, 2019 at 9:53:33 AM UTC-7, jbeattie wrote:
On Thursday, October 17, 2019 at 7:32:53 AM UTC-7, duane wrote:
On 17/10/2019 10:24 a.m., Andre Jute wrote:
On Thursday, October 17, 2019 at 7:49:01 AM UTC+1, Rolf Mantel wrote:

The alternate is not to cycle on the sidewalk in the first place, when
it is known that riding on a sidewalk is 3 times as dangerous as riding
on the road ;-)

I generally agree. But it strikes me that someone who rides on
the pavement all the time, or any time it is permitted, is
probably also a gutter bunny, and that truck driver would have
collected him either way.

I'd be interest to hear where you got your information "that
riding on a sidewalk is 3 times as dangerous as riding on the
road".


Seems to me that this would depend a lot on the road and the sidewalk.
We had a couple people killed in Montreal going through an underpass and
being rear ended by trucks. You'd have to see the setup. Steep
underpass. Dark. Narrow. Truck didn't see the cyclists etc. There
are sidewalks there and the city decided to allow cyclists to use them.

Before the danger danger brigade gets fired up, this is a one off. I
wouldn't recommend using sidewalks generally.

Andre Jute
Aggressive Passive Safety: Bicyclists should avoid tangling
with mechanical contrivances bigger than they are.


And oddly, modified sidewalks are deemed the safest type of
bicycle
facility. https://bikeportland.org/2017/02/14/...lwaukie-217696
The previous on-street bike lane was far safer. You didn't get
cars lunging over limit lines into "bike crossings," i.e. cross
walks, and you didn't have to stop every fifty yards or less for
cross-streets and driveways. You just rode along with the cars --
straight shot. But now we have an awesome facility where you get
to dodge cars and pedestrians. Oh joy. I'd go on about the
f****** nightmare ride into work this morning in a bike facility,
but I've got things to do. I'm turning into that crazy old
Tourette's guy yelling at cars, bikes and pedestrians. One day
I'll wake up and be TK -- or a cockroach, one or the other.

-- Jay Beattie.

I just got an email this time from some back-east recruiter and
another from LinkIn about that NASA position. They said it is newly
started "Small Satellite Maintenance" department. Since they sure as
hell aren't bringing them down and repairing them I can only assume
that it is firmware updates. So, since you're the local expert -
have you heard of the Small Satellite Maintenance Department of
NASA?

I had pad kee mao from the Thai cart today. It was super-good, and I
get free Thai tea because I work downtown. It's really too sweet, but
the lady in the cart is willing to ratchet back the sugar and make it
just right. Have you ever heard of pad kee mao?

I probably eat more Thai food than John B, but tomorrow, I'm going to
the Korean BBQ cart next door. Or maybe I'll get a sandwich.


Go for the banh mi, Charlie makes a mean sandwich.


We have banh mi carts downtown -- I just have to find them. A bunch of the carts dispersed after a cart pod was displaced by a luxury hotel project. That really ****ed off the locals. We also lost the "Frying Scotsman" -- great street fish and chips. He moved his truck to Beaverton -- gads, the burbs. I live pretty close to a high school with a little cart pod: more pad kee mao! https://tinyurl.com/yxv594rp The Thai people are trying to conquer us with noodle dishes. Its some sort of reverse colonialism. We need to fight back with Colonel Sanders franchises in Bangkok. John B, its up to you!

-- Jay Beattie.


No question, you foreigners talk funny.

When you say "banh mi" are talking about "ba mee" which is Chinese and
is a type of noodle. Not cooked noodles, just noodles :-O) They are
dried noodles, not wet noodles, and you buy them in a box and than
cook them with something to get a little flavor. Like Ba mee phad phak
- stir fried noodles with mixed veggies, or even ba mee haeng which is
cooked noodles served without the soup stock. Haeng meaning "dry".

The current price for a bowl of ba mee haeng, on the street, is about
40 baht - $1.30. In the Food Court at a big Shopping Center it is 130
baht - $4.30, my wife tells me.
--
cheers,

John B.

  #66  
Old October 19th 19, 12:46 AM posted to rec.bicycles.tech
jOHN b.
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 2,421
Default ride faster!

On Fri, 18 Oct 2019 16:36:16 +0000 (UTC), David Scheidt
wrote:

Frank Krygowski wrote:
:On 10/18/2019 10:54 AM, Tom Kunich wrote:
: On Friday, October 18, 2019 at 12:27:32 AM UTC-7, Rolf Mantel wrote:
: Am 18.10.2019 um 01:21 schrieb Tom Kunich:
: I'd be interest to hear where you got your information "that riding on a sidewalk is 3 times as dangerous as riding on the road".
:
: If the sidewalk if that dangerous why do you suppose the law says that anyone 13 and younger can ride on the sidewalk?
:
: Actually, it doesn't. German lay says anybody under the age of 8 must
: use the sidewalk, children under the age of 10 and parents accompanying
: children under the age of 8 may use the sidewalk.
: Anybody using the sidewalk must dismount at each junction and cross the
: road as a pedestrian.
:
: Ensuring cyclists on sidewalks never have priority over others minimizes
: the collisions between cyclists and turning vehicles because turning
: vehicles can't violate the cyclists' priority ;-)
:
: Here it is 13. And dismounting to cross a street is pretty much universally ignored. But that wasn't the case in that video - that was a truck driver crossing a sidewalk from a driveway exit from a gas station. Something entirely different and one in which any and all sidewalk users have right-of-way. The real kicker was the Truck ignored the accident making it a hit and run unless he pulled over immediately.

:FWIW, other sources said the trucker never saw the cyclist and didn't
:realize he'd hit anyone. When others stopped him, he didn't flee. He
:stayed and cooperated.

Which makes his clear and blantant disregad for traffic laws even more
galling. He was required to stop twice, once before crossing the
sidewalk, and again before entering the street. Also, being unaware
of the accident is not a defense in illinois.


Y'all keep talking about what is supposed to be, but "accidents"
aren't caused by what's supposed to be. They are caused by what
actually happened.
--
cheers,

John B.

  #67  
Old October 19th 19, 01:15 AM posted to rec.bicycles.tech
jOHN b.
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 2,421
Default ride faster!

On Fri, 18 Oct 2019 16:17:34 -0400, Frank Krygowski
wrote:

On 10/18/2019 3:14 PM, Sir Ridesalot wrote:
On Friday, 18 October 2019 11:34:47 UTC-4, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 10/18/2019 10:54 AM, Tom Kunich wrote:
On Friday, October 18, 2019 at 12:27:32 AM UTC-7, Rolf Mantel wrote:
Am 18.10.2019 um 01:21 schrieb Tom Kunich:
I'd be interest to hear where you got your information "that riding on a sidewalk is 3 times as dangerous as riding on the road".

If the sidewalk if that dangerous why do you suppose the law says that anyone 13 and younger can ride on the sidewalk?

Actually, it doesn't. German lay says anybody under the age of 8 must
use the sidewalk, children under the age of 10 and parents accompanying
children under the age of 8 may use the sidewalk.
Anybody using the sidewalk must dismount at each junction and cross the
road as a pedestrian.

Ensuring cyclists on sidewalks never have priority over others minimizes
the collisions between cyclists and turning vehicles because turning
vehicles can't violate the cyclists' priority ;-)

Here it is 13. And dismounting to cross a street is pretty much universally ignored. But that wasn't the case in that video - that was a truck driver crossing a sidewalk from a driveway exit from a gas station. Something entirely different and one in which any and all sidewalk users have right-of-way. The real kicker was the Truck ignored the accident making it a hit and run unless he pulled over immediately.

FWIW, other sources said the trucker never saw the cyclist and didn't
realize he'd hit anyone. When others stopped him, he didn't flee. He
stayed and cooperated.

I think it's entirely possible his story is true. See
https://grist.org/living/this-video-...low-your-mind/

and
http://commuteorlando.com/wordpress/...-about-trucks/

Riding on sidewalks is, on average, much more dangerous than riding on
streets. Riding contra-flow on sidewalks is even more dangerous. That
doesn't mean that nobody should ever ride on a sidewalk. But it means
one needs to be very aware of the hazards.

And one needs to be very aware of the blind spots of large vehicles.


--
- Frank Krygowski


Nice video from the UNITED KINGDOM. I like this part of the article: " you’ve gotta feel a little bit sorry for the truck driver in this scenario, too. She or he is basically steering the Titanic, probably doing so on insufficient sleep, and trying to do her best with subpar mirrors." Perhaps those lorries should be equipped with better mirrors if the ones they have are known to be sub-par?


We have a friend who's been a long-haul trucker for years. She's
actually quite an interesting person: Brilliant at math with degrees to
prove it, worked for IBM till she tired of the boredom, but also moved
to France to study philosophy before taking up trucking, which she
loves. She worked for a while in a bike shop, and she took a cycling
class from me and carries a folding bike in her rig.

She's confirmed that there are huge blind spots around big rigs, and
that there's no way a trucker can see close all around the vehicle. She
said she's most nervous at truck stops, because she could check
diligently all around yet have someone walk into a blind spot as she
began moving. But she also worries about running over an ignorant
cyclist. (That's how quite a few women cyclists died in London -
sneaking up on the curb side of a truck that was turning.)

Maybe this will soon get better. There are cars now with 360 degree
cameras. I imagine the next generation of trucks will have similar
technology. But the trailers will still be a risk.


I think I will continue using my method. "Don't get in the way of big
trucks", which means that you take the responsibility on your
shoulders to keep out of their way rather than depend on them not to
hit you.
--
cheers,

John B.

  #68  
Old October 19th 19, 01:17 AM posted to rec.bicycles.tech
Sir Ridesalot
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 5,270
Default ride faster!

On Wednesday, 16 October 2019 16:20:38 UTC-4, AMuzi wrote:
https://nypost.com/video/cyclist-t-b...y-to-be-alive/

Had he been just a bit slower, he would have been killed.
--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org/
Open every day since 1 April, 1971


Just watched the video again in slow motion and stop frames. If the bicyclist had 1. kept his hand on the handlebar and continued pedaling he would have been missed by t he truck. You can see that when he outs his hand towards the truck that he turns his front wheel towards to truck too and a bit later he has his right foot on the ground. A bit of a sprint would have been far better evasive action. He's really lucky that he didn't go under a wheel.

Cheers
  #69  
Old October 19th 19, 01:20 AM posted to rec.bicycles.tech
jOHN b.
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 2,421
Default ride faster!

On Fri, 18 Oct 2019 14:02:52 -0700 (PDT), Tom Kunich
wrote:

On Friday, October 18, 2019 at 9:00:17 AM UTC-7, Andre Jute wrote:
On Friday, October 18, 2019 at 3:54:14 PM UTC+1, Tom Kunich wrote:

To change the thrust of the thread slightly:

Here it is 13.


I'd be happier to let 13 year-old's ride on the street, especially if there were riding lessons in schools. But I should add that have several schools within a (very large) block of us, and I never see even a single student on a bike. So, no lessons in schools because they just don't see the need. When I was schoolboy, we had lessons in road safety.

And dismounting to cross a street is pretty much universally ignored.


Not overly worried. On my bike near my house, I use a pedestrian crossing to stop fast-moving traffic coming into town on a main feeder road down the rest of the county. Ironically, I come round the corner of the courthouse to do it... I don't get off either, I just ride across the pedestrian crossing and onto a path through a park. There are always police at the courthouse and I've never seen as much as a frown for the pedestrian crossing trick.

Andre Jute
Not everyone has the style to be a scofflaw


On of our local bicycle activists had a couple of 7 year old twin girls that ride absolutely perfectly in traffic. They also would disappear up the hard climbs leaving us all behind on ten ton wonder bikes. So I don't think that age has much to do with it as much as training


Size, Tom, Size. The smaller a creature is the stronger it is in
relation to its size. An ant can carry double it's own weight for
miles, in ant terms. But can you?
--
cheers,

John B.

  #70  
Old October 19th 19, 01:35 AM posted to rec.bicycles.tech
Sir Ridesalot
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 5,270
Default ride faster!

On Friday, 18 October 2019 20:15:20 UTC-4, John B. wrote:
On Fri, 18 Oct 2019 16:17:34 -0400, Frank Krygowski
wrote:

On 10/18/2019 3:14 PM, Sir Ridesalot wrote:
On Friday, 18 October 2019 11:34:47 UTC-4, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 10/18/2019 10:54 AM, Tom Kunich wrote:
On Friday, October 18, 2019 at 12:27:32 AM UTC-7, Rolf Mantel wrote:
Am 18.10.2019 um 01:21 schrieb Tom Kunich:
I'd be interest to hear where you got your information "that riding on a sidewalk is 3 times as dangerous as riding on the road".

If the sidewalk if that dangerous why do you suppose the law says that anyone 13 and younger can ride on the sidewalk?

Actually, it doesn't. German lay says anybody under the age of 8 must
use the sidewalk, children under the age of 10 and parents accompanying
children under the age of 8 may use the sidewalk.
Anybody using the sidewalk must dismount at each junction and cross the
road as a pedestrian.

Ensuring cyclists on sidewalks never have priority over others minimizes
the collisions between cyclists and turning vehicles because turning
vehicles can't violate the cyclists' priority ;-)

Here it is 13. And dismounting to cross a street is pretty much universally ignored. But that wasn't the case in that video - that was a truck driver crossing a sidewalk from a driveway exit from a gas station. Something entirely different and one in which any and all sidewalk users have right-of-way. The real kicker was the Truck ignored the accident making it a hit and run unless he pulled over immediately.

FWIW, other sources said the trucker never saw the cyclist and didn't
realize he'd hit anyone. When others stopped him, he didn't flee. He
stayed and cooperated.

I think it's entirely possible his story is true. See
https://grist.org/living/this-video-...low-your-mind/

and
http://commuteorlando.com/wordpress/...-about-trucks/

Riding on sidewalks is, on average, much more dangerous than riding on
streets. Riding contra-flow on sidewalks is even more dangerous. That
doesn't mean that nobody should ever ride on a sidewalk. But it means
one needs to be very aware of the hazards.

And one needs to be very aware of the blind spots of large vehicles.


--
- Frank Krygowski

Nice video from the UNITED KINGDOM. I like this part of the article: " you’ve gotta feel a little bit sorry for the truck driver in this scenario, too. She or he is basically steering the Titanic, probably doing so on insufficient sleep, and trying to do her best with subpar mirrors." Perhaps those lorries should be equipped with better mirrors if the ones they have are known to be sub-par?


We have a friend who's been a long-haul trucker for years. She's
actually quite an interesting person: Brilliant at math with degrees to
prove it, worked for IBM till she tired of the boredom, but also moved
to France to study philosophy before taking up trucking, which she
loves. She worked for a while in a bike shop, and she took a cycling
class from me and carries a folding bike in her rig.

She's confirmed that there are huge blind spots around big rigs, and
that there's no way a trucker can see close all around the vehicle. She
said she's most nervous at truck stops, because she could check
diligently all around yet have someone walk into a blind spot as she
began moving. But she also worries about running over an ignorant
cyclist. (That's how quite a few women cyclists died in London -
sneaking up on the curb side of a truck that was turning.)

Maybe this will soon get better. There are cars now with 360 degree
cameras. I imagine the next generation of trucks will have similar
technology. But the trailers will still be a risk.


I think I will continue using my method. "Don't get in the way of big
trucks", which means that you take the responsibility on your
shoulders to keep out of their way rather than depend on them not to
hit you.
--
cheers,

John B.


I once bailed on the approach to a narrow bridge a few years ago. I did it because the third 18-wheeler behind me had it's wheels over the fog line and none of the three trucks was showing any signs of slowing down. Figure that if push comes to shove that any 18-wheeler will win over any bicycle. Funny thing was that someone on this group told me that I shouldn't be riding on the road if I was such a scardy cat. See the image if it shows. Once on that bridge the lane is very narrow and there is absolutely no place for a bicycle to move to in order to avoid an overtaking vehicle.



They've since added a sign telling bicyclists and motor vehicles to travel in single file and they've also added a curb as you approach that bridge. That curb would make bailing a lot harder than it was when it was a soft shoulder.

If an 18-wheeler wants to challenge me I'll yield to it. Even Geritol won't relieve that run-down feeling. LOL

Cheers
 




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