What American Cities are Missing: Bikes by the Thousands

"Bolwerk" wrote in message
...
George Conklin wrote:
"Bolwerk" wrote in message
...
Amy Blankenship wrote:
"George Conklin" wrote in message
link.net...
Pushing the labor laws back to those of the third world is not a
viable
goal. Such work is abusive, and if you pull the pedicab yourself,
then
you
are abusing yourself.
I guess any work that involves physical exertion is "abusive." Like,
say, construction, carpentry...um, farming?

George believes that everyone in the US should be free...
to do things George approves of.
I'm starting to wonder if George knows what George approves of.

Pushing third world abuses into the USA is no victory for anyone but this
fool.

You have a funny notion of what "third world abuse" is. I would think it
amounts more to something like working your fingers raw in a sweat shop
for 17 hours a day, seven days a week.

I don't know for sure, but if I was to venture a guess, I'd say pedicab
operation is probably better pay than burger flipping, and healthier.

Except it is not healthy. It is abusive of the body. It wears out the
body in about 5 years. That is why pedicabs are being banned by those who
know what is going on in nations where they have them.

wrote in message
.net...
I'm wondering at what point George thinks bicycling with cargo becomes
abuse.

When I go bicycle touring with 50 lbs of gear in panniers, is that
"third world abuse"?

When I go shopping with a trailer and ride home with 200 lbs of
household supplies, is that "third world abuse"?

When I load my kids up for a ride on our tandem/trailer combo, and lug
around 100+ lbs of passengers for the fun of it, is that is that "third
world abuse"?

Or is it only "third world abuse" if I were to carry passengers for
$10/hour plus tips, with benefits, subject to OSHA regulations, while
covered by unemployment and workers' compensation insurance?

Pedicabs are being discouraged and banned because those who do that kind
of work basically wear themselves out in about 5 years. It is highly
abusive. Going to the store every now and then is not the same thing, but
as you know, exercise freaks end up with bad knees, bad feet, arthritis and
artifical joints. You will too.

"Dane Buson" wrote in message
...
In every other 1st world nation it is much much more expensive and
difficult to get a license. If someone can't drive a vehicle safely,
they shouldn't be driving. I have very little sympathy for someone
being dependent on an automobile and not driving it responsibly.

Most, if not all, states have various laws that allow for revocation of a
license under various conditions. However, there is no periodic testing and
it's based on various crimes one commits, like reckless driving or DWI, and
typically one gets the license back automatically after a period of time.
In a sense, it's left to the insurance companies -- if someone will insure
you, after considering your driving record, you're assumed to be competent.
This could definitely be improved.

Still, revoking licenses doesn't do much good. Something like 25% of
drivers here are unlicensed, and they're only caught if they happen to
commit some other crime like speeding. This is, unfortunately, the primary
way that illegal aliens are caught he they get stopped for speeding (or
get in an accident and are too injured to run), arrested because they don't
have a license, and deported if INS can prove they aren't in the country
legally. OTOH, if someone is a decent driver, they can go for years without
a license and nobody will ever know. As a response, the cops now pull
people over who _aren't_ speeding, claiming that's a sign of DWI. The logic
of assuming people who _aren't_ committing a crime are criminals is amazing.

S

--
Stephen Sprunk "Those people who think they know everything
CCIE #3723 are a great annoyance to those of us who do."
K5SSS --Isaac Asimov


--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

"Dane Buson" wrote in message
...
In rec.bicycles.misc Bolwerk wrote:
Dane Buson wrote:

Personally, I'd like it if it required a little more than fogging a
mirror and $25 to obtain and keep a license.

I think if most drivers ponder it for a moment, they might agree with
me. Wouldn't it be nice if the least capable of the drivers simply
weren't on the road?

It'd be great, but it's not really practical, sadly. The worst part is
that the incompetents tend to live in places most dependent on the
automobile.

In every other 1st world nation it is much much more expensive and
difficult to get a license. If someone can't drive a vehicle safely,
they shouldn't be driving. I have very little sympathy for someone
being dependent on an automobile and not driving it responsibly.

In every other first world nation, it is feasible to live without owning a
car.

"george conklin" wrote in message
link.net...

"Bolwerk" wrote in message
...
George Conklin wrote:
"Bolwerk" wrote in message
...
Amy Blankenship wrote:

I don't know for sure, but if I was to venture a guess, I'd say pedicab
operation is probably better pay than burger flipping, and healthier.

Except it is not healthy. It is abusive of the body. It wears out the
body in about 5 years. That is why pedicabs are being banned by those who
know what is going on in nations where they have them.

Let's ban all professional sports, then, and anything else where anyone is
doing anything strenuous. Let's let everyone die from heart disease
instead.

In rec.bicycles.misc Amy Blankenship wrote:
"Dane Buson" wrote in message
In rec.bicycles.misc Bolwerk wrote:

It'd be great, but it's not really practical, sadly. The worst part is
that the incompetents tend to live in places most dependent on the
automobile.

In every other 1st world nation it is much much more expensive and
difficult to get a license. If someone can't drive a vehicle safely,
they shouldn't be driving. I have very little sympathy for someone
being dependent on an automobile and not driving it responsibly.

In every other first world nation, it is feasible to live without owning a
car.

How much of that is cause and how much of that is effect? I rather
think that if people find it harder to have a license, we'll see more
people arranging their lives to live without cars.

Will it be a burden for some people to lose their licenses? Yes,
absolutely. On the other hand, boo-****ing-hoo. Lets talk about the
inconvenience of being dead from negligent drivers.

We see lots of examples of people getting slaps of the wrist ($500 fines
for example) after they kill people with their car.

Example - post #5 in this thread:

http://tinyurl.com/3dz7g9

http://groups.google.com/group/alt.r...se_frm/thread/
2c2a923b6af6f6b9/64b1f912e25a5a4a?lnk=st&q=rec.bicycles.misc+mother +kill&rnum
=46#64b1f912e25a5a4a

--
Dane Buson -
When the speaker and he to whom he is speaking do not understand, that is
metaphysics.
-- Voltaire

"Dane Buson" wrote in message
...
In rec.bicycles.misc Amy Blankenship
wrote:
"Dane Buson" wrote in message
In rec.bicycles.misc Bolwerk wrote:

It'd be great, but it's not really practical, sadly. The worst part is
that the incompetents tend to live in places most dependent on the
automobile.

In every other 1st world nation it is much much more expensive and
difficult to get a license. If someone can't drive a vehicle safely,
they shouldn't be driving. I have very little sympathy for someone
being dependent on an automobile and not driving it responsibly.

In every other first world nation, it is feasible to live without owning
a
car.

How much of that is cause and how much of that is effect? I rather
think that if people find it harder to have a license, we'll see more
people arranging their lives to live without cars.

I doubt it. We'd have to start changing the way we build things. I would
have to plant a much bigger garden and be way more serious about it than I
am if I wanted to survive without a car. Many people I know would probably
starve if they did not have one.

On May 31, 12:22 pm, wrote:
what abt a quickfolding bikelike this?

http://www.bikefriday.com/tikit

I ordered a Tikit from Bike Friday 3 months ago. Got it about 2 weeks
ago. Massive backlog from initial rush for it. It was made available
to public in Feb.

I got it so that I could carry it onto the bus, using a bus-and-bike
approach to get to/from my day job, thus allowing my family to reduce
from 2 to 1 cars.

I have not ridden it yet because I learned that it is NOT custom built
and I am awaiting a custom-made (by Bike Friday) longer-than-stock
handlebar stem, in the hope that it will solve my particular need (I
get neck pain if I ride bent forward). If the new stem solves that
problem, I plan to try it out including taking on bus.

Alas, I learned that my pitiful bus system refuses big carryon stuff
when the bus is SRO. Not just folding bikes, but also strollers etc.
Thsi will hamper the utility of the Tikit for my persona needs.

Gotta say though, it beats the five other brands of folders that I've
personally test driven, when it comes to easy of folding. The You
Tube video of the Tikit folding is the real deal.

"Amy Blankenship" wrote in message
...

"Dane Buson" wrote in message
...
In rec.bicycles.misc Amy Blankenship
wrote:
"Dane Buson" wrote in message
In rec.bicycles.misc Bolwerk wrote:

It'd be great, but it's not really practical, sadly. The worst part
is
that the incompetents tend to live in places most dependent on the
automobile.

In every other 1st world nation it is much much more expensive and
difficult to get a license. If someone can't drive a vehicle safely,
they shouldn't be driving. I have very little sympathy for someone
being dependent on an automobile and not driving it responsibly.

In every other first world nation, it is feasible to live without owning
a
car.

How much of that is cause and how much of that is effect? I rather
think that if people find it harder to have a license, we'll see more
people arranging their lives to live without cars.

I doubt it. We'd have to start changing the way we build things. I would
have to plant a much bigger garden and be way more serious about it than I
am if I wanted to survive without a car. Many people I know would
probably starve if they did not have one.

I live in Allston, MA. I could survive without a car if I wanted to, but I
honestly like my car and I like driving.

"Amy Blankenship" wrote in message
news:2YE7i.9346$dy1.323@bigfe9...

In every other first world nation, it is feasible to live without owning a
car.

It's feasible here too, it just makes you uncool. Personally, I love my car.