Dangerous bike lane obstructions in Redwood City

Tom Sherman wrote:

Ever drive in Chicago?

I have. I was in the Navy and I was the "duty driver" so I drove on duty
days. Didn't matter what country we were in, left or right hand drive, I
drove and I was licensed to drive buses and trucks in the US, too.

People told me how awful it was to drive in Boston and Chitown. Hah! My
Orlando skills stood me in good stead there. People kept complaining
about how AWFUL traffic was and I would just shrug. That's why I avoid
where the tourists drive around here. Too dangerous.

Eric Vey wrote:
Tom Sherman wrote:
Eric Vey wrote:

Continuing my reading of recent cases concerning vehicular homicide,
I see that there has been a bit of a recent shift. Juries in the more
populous counties are happy to convict (unlike what we have been told).

Prosecutors have been more likely to prosecute than in many a year.
Judges, on the other hand, are more likely to see crashes as careless
rather than reckless, but Prosecutors have been taking those cases up
on appeal and, once again, in more populous areas, have been winning
their appeals. This would not have happened even five years ago.

Still, it can take up to a year before charges are brought. On
Friday, I asked about a crash that happened in October. "What case
number?" they asked me. I gave them a quick description and they said
that there was no case because no one had been arrested and no
charges had been filed. I filed a formal inquiry as to what is going
on because this one is a slam-dunk conviction.

It is pretty sad when a concerned citizen like me is the only one
that can get things going.

Well, it is reported that the tactic of pressuring DA's to prosecute
at fault automobile drivers worked for motorcycle organizations [1],
so it appears that bicyclists need to adopt the same tactic.

[1] At least the 99%ers.


People keep telling me to "let the professionals do their job." Well, it
ain't working.

Is the DA an elected official, and does not he/she have a duty to listen
to his/her constituents?

--
Tom Sherman - Holstein-Friesland Bovinia
"And never forget, life ultimately makes failures of all people."
- A. Derleth

Tom Sherman wrote:
Eric Vey wrote:
Tom Sherman wrote:
Eric Vey wrote:

Continuing my reading of recent cases concerning vehicular homicide,
I see that there has been a bit of a recent shift. Juries in the
more populous counties are happy to convict (unlike what we have
been told).

Prosecutors have been more likely to prosecute than in many a year.
Judges, on the other hand, are more likely to see crashes as
careless rather than reckless, but Prosecutors have been taking
those cases up on appeal and, once again, in more populous areas,
have been winning their appeals. This would not have happened even
five years ago.

Still, it can take up to a year before charges are brought. On
Friday, I asked about a crash that happened in October. "What case
number?" they asked me. I gave them a quick description and they
said that there was no case because no one had been arrested and no
charges had been filed. I filed a formal inquiry as to what is going
on because this one is a slam-dunk conviction.

It is pretty sad when a concerned citizen like me is the only one
that can get things going.

Well, it is reported that the tactic of pressuring DA's to prosecute
at fault automobile drivers worked for motorcycle organizations [1],
so it appears that bicyclists need to adopt the same tactic.

[1] At least the 99%ers.


People keep telling me to "let the professionals do their job." Well,
it ain't working.

Is the DA an elected official, and does not he/she have a duty to listen
to his/her constituents?


(sigh) So it is said. Truly though, as of two years ago, it isn't the
DA, but the elected judges that are at fault. They have a higher bar as
to "willful and wanton disregard" than the public seated as a as jury does.

The good news is that the district court of appeals is signaling to the
local judges that they can slack up a bit. I dunno if the local
judges are listening, though.

Tom Sherman writes:

Bill Zaumen wrote:
vey writes:

Bill Z. wrote:
vey writes:

http://www.wftv.com/news/6791504/detail.html
And if you include data about how far into the red phase the light
running went, you'll find that it is just a few seconds in most cases.

I have been on my bike waiting patiently for a light to change with
one foot on the curb, only to hear a car approach from the
rear. Didn't even slow down as it sailed through the intersection. Do
you think I am making this up?
Nope, but I think Tom is making up the part about it being a "big
car versus small car/bicycle" thing.

I think Zaumen is making things up now. I was comparing the relative
relationship of cyclists and buses to passenger motor vehicles. That
comparison is valid in any place where there is a curb lane marked for
"Bicycles and Buses Only".

Actually, you were merely babbling incoherently.
snip


Bill, we people tell me that they want to be safe from the Hondas,
what exactly do you think they mean?
That either you are making it all up or they don't want to admit
to making a dumb decision when they bought their gas guzzler.
I've yet to hear someone say "I bought an SUV to be safe from
Hondas". They may think they'll be safer in a crash if they are
in something that looks like a tank, but that doesn't mean they
want to use the vehicle as a battering ram.

No, because they know that cyclists will get out of their way (unless
the cyclist has a death wish). Wanting to hit cyclists is a totally
different matter than just wanting to intimidate them with mass.

No, you really don't have a clue.

--
My real name backwards: nemuaZ lliB

Tom Sherman writes:

Bill Zaumen wrote:
Tom Sherman writes:
You can't be serious....

Time to join the real world. People drive that way all the time,
especially in the larger cities.
Given how much you make up, I'm not going to take your pronouncements
seriously.

What have I made up?

Just about everything you posted.

Come here and drive in the 'hood, and see how you do. Hint: NEVER,
EVER MAKE EYE CONTACT WITH ANOTHER DRIVER.

How stupid can you be?

--
My real name backwards: nemuaZ lliB

Tom Sherman writes:

Bill Zaumen wrote:
Tom Sherman writes:

Bill Zaumen wrote:
Tom Sherman writes:

Bill Zaumen wrote:
Tom Sherman writes:

On the other hand, mess with the bus, and the consequences are dire
and immediate.
See what happens if that excuse is run by one's insurance company, or
a judge and jury if there is a fatality.

Dead cyclists have a hard time telling their side of the story, no?
Accidents can have witnesses.

And juries that are usually cagers and seldom cyclists. Same for the police.
Conspiracy theory.

Reality, based on juries being somewhat representative of the
population as a whole.
Conspiracy theory.
snip

Wrong again - about the logical interpretation as buses do get into
accidents with other vehicles and drivers have been known to cut off
much larger vehicles. Usually it is not malice but inattentiveness.

Drive in a city much, Bill? Five to ten incidents per hour of people
deliberately violating others right-of-way because they think they can
get away with it is common.
Is that your way of deflecting attention from the fact that you make
your thing about buses up? You claimed people did not violate a
bus' right of way because it was so much bigger. I pointed out that
at they do things like cutting off buses, mostly due to inattentiveness
(it's not like they think they'll come out OK in an accident, so
inattentiveness is the most reaonable explanation).

Does honking the horn and "flipping the bird" at the cyclist also come
from inattentiveness after cutting off the cyclist?

Do motorists deliberately play chicken with the bus, considering the
consequences?

Time for Bill Zaumen to get out in the real world.

Time for you to get a sense of reality, and for you to stop trying to
change the subject to weasel out of an untennable position.

--
My real name backwards: nemuaZ lliB

writes:

On Feb 3, 10:59 pm, (Bill Z.) wrote:


My spin detector just went off. What *really* happened at this
meeting?

You need a new spin detector. What happened was exactly what I
described.

I've seen you post so much spin that I really don't believe anything
you say.


--
My real name backwards: nemuaZ lliB

Tom Sherman writes:

Bill Zaumen wrote:
Tom Sherman writes:

Bill Zaumen wrote:
Tom Sherman writes:

Bill Zaumen wrote:
Tom Sherman writes:

Most places I have been in the US, tickets are hardly ever issued for
anything besides speeding and DUI, and the speed limits are clearly
posted. Not much is required in knowing the "rules of the road".
Your statement that "tickets are hardly ever issued for anything
besides speeding and DUI" is shear nonsense. Download
http://www.hsmv.state.fl.us/reports/fiveyearviolations.pdf (just did
a google search and that was the first one I found from an official
government source). DUI is small and speeding accounts for under 1/2
of non-criminal moving violations. For 2003, there were 1,155,218
citations for exceeding the posted speed limit versus 2,398,031
non-criminal moving violations. There were 531,230 criminal
moving violations (of which DUI represented a mere 65,113 case).

How many of the other violations were in conjunction with a speeding
stop? How many of the "other non-moving" violations were plea deals
for speeding (a common practice)? How many were stops for DWB? Is
Florida representative of the country as a whole? The raw numbers do
not tell the whole story.
Look, you just made a fool of yourself by stating that "tickets are
hardly ever issued for anything besides speeding and DUI", and I did
a quick google search and found one set of state data that shows you
simply made your "fact" up. Now you are just trying to ask more
"questions" in an attempt to weasle out of it by throwing out a lot
of BS.

I see that there are no answers to my questions.

They were stupid queestions. Come up with something serious. It was
obvious that you were simply making things up.


The vast majority of people simply write a check and mail in the fine,
maybe with some grumbling. Very few go to court. If you don't go to
talk and interact with a DA, there is not going to be any "plea deal".

Citation?

Good grief. Ask 10 people at your office. "Citation" as a response
to what should be common knowledge is just a rhetorical ploy used when
some usenet clown gets caught making things up.

There's really no point in having a "discussion" with you if you
continually get all the facts wrong.

Which facts?
The ones you get wrong, which seems to be most of them. I gave
sveral examples above.

Where?

Read the goddamn post.

---
My real name backwards: nemuaZ lliB

Tom Sherman writes:

Bill Zaumen wrote:
Tom Sherman writes:


Ever drive in Chicago?
Why? I've never been there (aside from the airport, which is the
pits).

Drive in Chicagoland, and you will find out what aggressive drivers
are like.

Given how factually challenged everything else you posted is, why
should I believe you?

--
My real name backwards: nemuaZ lliB

Bill Zaumen wrote:
Tom Sherman writes:

Bill Zaumen wrote:
Tom Sherman writes:
You can't be serious....

Time to join the real world. People drive that way all the time,
especially in the larger cities.
Given how much you make up, I'm not going to take your pronouncements
seriously.

What have I made up?

Just about everything you posted.

Come here and drive in the 'hood, and see how you do. Hint: NEVER,
EVER MAKE EYE CONTACT WITH ANOTHER DRIVER.

How stupid can you be?

OK, come to the 'hood and get capped by a gangbanger. This ain't Silly
Cone Valley. Its your funeral (literally), not mine.

--
Tom Sherman - Holstein-Friesland Bovinia
"And never forget, life ultimately makes failures of all people."
- A. Derleth