Risk Homeostasis - Drivers and Cyclists

Tom Sherman writes:


It is amazing how many people in the US do not enjoy driving, but yet
refuse to consider any other alternative.

That's no surprise---they want a metal case to help protect them from
all the bad drivers out there.

Last night, I came uncomfortably close to being creamed while legally
crossing a street (in a crosswalk with the pedestrian light in my
favor.) After I had crossed two traffic lanes, a driver made a high
speed left turn, showed no indication of slowing down, and I had to
run out of the way to avoid being hit. He didn't bother to slow down
in spite of the rain, nor did he care that the intersection in
question gets lots of pedestrian traffic.

The unfortunately truth is that we live in country where life is
cheap. It doesn't matter whether you are walking or cycling. Some
drivers---too many, actually---basically don't care if they hurt
someone.

Bill

--
My real name backwards: nemuaZ lliB

"Tom Sherman" wrote in message
...

john riley wrote:

Drivers don't just kill cyclists and pedestrians; they kill other
drivers as well.

Thanks to at least 50 years of car-centric infrastructure building, we
have now arrived at a place where lots of N Ams. spend a lot of time
in their car every day. Given the amount of time they spend driving,
it would be difficult to give the task the required attention, even if
they were so inclined. Which they are not. They resent the time they
have to spend in the car, so they try to use it for other purposes...

It is amazing how many people in the US do not enjoy driving, but yet
refuse to consider any other alternative.

Not amazing when that's the only way they can get tho work and have no
alternative, I remember a friend of mine in LA who had to drive 2 hours to
work and 2.5 hours back every day. Then his employer when under and he found
another job less than 2 miles from home. The poor guy didn't know what to do
with that extra 4.5 hours a day

"H" wrote in message
...
Tom Sherman wrote in
:


It is amazing how many people in the US do not enjoy driving, but yet
refuse to consider any other alternative.

I've had a similar thought, particularly while waiting to cross busy
intersections on my way home. I mean, it's a little much to expect someone
to be happy about driving a rusted out junker with shot rings and springs
(and yet, sometimes they are), but I've been a little taken aback by the
facial expressions of two drivers in particular. One in an Audi TT and
another in a Z Beamer (sensibly sized Euro cars, but not sensible cars at
all, eh :-) . Painfully sour. I had to look away. The irony of course
is
that they presumably bought these cars at least in part to increase their
happiness.

H

The question is: Is there anyone on this news group, who is not a known
liar, who has actually purchased an Audi TT or Z Beamer for the full
$40000.00 price?

"Kevan Smith" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 02 Dec 2003 01:00:00 GMT, "Mark Leuck" from
Comcast Online wrote:

The minimum wage was never created for people to live on, it was created
to
simply be a minimum wage ...

And companies would make every job minimum wage or less to increase profit
if
they could get away with it. That's why unions are so important. One
person
can't fight a company over wages, but lots of people together can.

I never cared for unions, the biggest problem is was I could work (and did)
as hard as I wanted to yet the person next to me did little, called in sick
much of the time and STILL made as much as I did. It is much like socialism
in that in theory it should work but in reality it doesn't. The hard worker
will end up defaulting to reducing work because no incentive exists to work
harder.

I'll do the same, in fact, ill do it for the last 6 months i've bought
gas too. hmm, empty envelope....

On Mon, 1 Dec 2003 09:38:02 -0800, "Raoul Duke"
wrote:


"Tom Sherman" wrote in message
...

The first thing we (in the US) need is a gas tax in the $4-5/gal. range,
both to pay for the true cost of petroleum consumption, and to provide
an economic incentive for people to drive reasonably sized motor
vehicles.

Great idea. So why don't you start and set the example for the rest of us.
Every time you buy a gallon of gas you should send the government $4.

Dave

"Kevan Smith" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 02 Dec 2003 05:30:13 GMT, "Mark Leuck" from
Comcast Online wrote:

"Kevan Smith" wrote in message
.. .
On Tue, 02 Dec 2003 01:00:00 GMT, "Mark Leuck"
from
Comcast Online wrote:

The minimum wage was never created for people to live on, it was
created
to
simply be a minimum wage ...

And companies would make every job minimum wage or less to increase
profit
if
they could get away with it. That's why unions are so important. One
person
can't fight a company over wages, but lots of people together can.

I never cared for unions, the biggest problem is was I could work (and
did)
as hard as I wanted to yet the person next to me did little, called in
sick
much of the time and STILL made as much as I did.

Yeah? Where and when did that happen? I think you're telling a fib.

UPS, Mesquite Texas, 1988 to 1989, think what you want

"Tom Sherman" skrev...
It is amazing how many people in the US do not enjoy driving, but yet
refuse to consider any other alternative.

They don't look too happy here either. Especially not at 4 pm or so
when the workday is over and they all sit one in each wheeled contraption
in a big queue moving at a snails pace. But it brings a smile to my face as I
go by them on my recumbent. (Thank God for bikepaths. ;-) )

Mikael of Copenhagen

Mark Leuck wrote:

"Tom Sherman" wrote in message
...

Tom Thompson wrote:
...
Hear that giant sucking sound?? How competitive would we be with
offshore
wage scales then? It's a global economy, like it or not.

Applying punitive tariffs to imports from countries with substandard
wages, working conditions, environmental laws and human rights would be
a relatively simple matter and would stop the race to the bottom that is
harming workers everywhere.

Tom Sherman - Planet Earth

Applying punitive tariffs tends to lead to tariff wars which is one of the
reasons Bush ended the steel tariffs today. In the end nobody wins

Currently manufacturing jobs are being moved from the US to countries
with near slave labor conditions (e.g. mainland China). The service
sector replacement jobs do not pay a living wage compared to the lost
industrial jobs. In the current race to the bottom, only the 1% of the
population that controls most of the capital in the country wins.

Tom Sherman - Planet Earth

"There is enough in the world for everyone's need; there is not enough
for everyone's greed." - Mohandas Gandhi

Mark Leuck wrote:

fewer people own cars.

Not necessairly a bad thing; however, 72% of UK households had access to a
car or van according to the 2001 census

As far as sensibly sized motor vehicles, with the exception of
the Mini, vehicles in Europe don't seem to be any smaller or larger
than ours here in the US.

Sorry, but this can only be decribed as Clearly ********. There are few
vehicles used for private transportation comparable in size with the
standard US pickup or SUV, and note that which full-size pickups dominate
the US market, the best selling cars in Europe are the size of the Ford
Focus or VW Golf.

--

Dave Larrington - http://www.legslarry.beerdrinkers.co.uk/
================================================== =========
Editor - British Human Power Club Newsletter
http://www.bhpc.org.uk/
================================================== =========

Tongue firmly in cheek, Mark Leuck wrote:

The question is: Is there anyone on this news group, who is not a
known liar, who has actually purchased an Audi TT or Z Beamer for the
full $40000.00 price?

I haven't, and not just coz it's not easy to transport a Baron in either of
the above, but the other three members of my small group of toilers in the
Nut Mines have an Audi TT, a Honda S2000 and a Toyota MR2...

--

Dave Larrington - http://www.legslarry.beerdrinkers.co.uk/
================================================== =========
Editor - British Human Power Club Newsletter
http://www.bhpc.org.uk/
================================================== =========