'LA Cucaracha's green parking garage

[RandomTroll]

'LA Cucaracha's green parking garage (a cartoon) http://assets.amuniversal.com/7dcf43a02fd80135ce5d005056a9545d

[BillRussell]

great idea!!

[db4690]

I saw that one in the Los Angeles times today

I'd rather keep my car, thank you very much

Motorists here are quite inattentive, and I don't think it would be safe for me to ride a bicycle here

[RandomTroll]

Motorists here are quite inattentive, and I don't think it would be safe for me to ride a bicycle here

I lived in Pasadena, Long Beach, LA, and Santa Monica for 26 years. I rode my bicycle everywhere (I didn't own a car until I moved out), including from Santa Monica to Pasadena (28 miles) monthly, occasionally to Claremont (50 miles), up the Angeles Crest to Big Bear - all over. I bicycled to work every day. I never came close to having an accident, not even the time I fell in the rain on oblique train tracks. I had a Thomas Brothers and picked lightly-trafficked routes, crossed busy streets where there was a traffic light. DC and Albuquerque were more dangerous.

[db4690]

Fine, so you didn't have an accident. I'm happy for you

But it doesn't change the fact that many drivers are inattentive. I see so many drivers every day who are COMPLETELY unaware of things around them, and they are an accident waiting to happen.

Were I traveling directly next to them, I'd much rather be in a car, versus riding a bicycle

[circuitsmith]

A bit of "Mad Magazine" influence in that cartoon.

[insightful]

Typical inane eco-nonsense, but not bad if it's satire on eco-nonsense.

;-]

[Whitey]

Motorists here are quite inattentive, and I don't think it would be safe for me to ride a bicycle here

You'd be surprised how wearing a bright orange vest and a helmet, making it easier for drivers to see you, can improve your safety. Wearing bright clothing says, "I take my safety seriously, and I'd appreciate it if you'd do the same."

[Rod_Knox]

The SUV vs Bike in this video is troubling

Video shows cyclist injured in Middle Tennessee hit-and-run

as are many of the comments.

There have been several hit and run deaths on the Natchez Trace Parkway and there seems to be an "US against THEM" conflict raging.

[missileman]

I found a used bicycle at a yard sale a couple of blocks from my home. It was perfect for my little great niece who has been wanting one. I bought it at a bargain price and I rode it away. When I got home.....every muscle in my body was screaming at me. I gave up bicycles about 50 years ago when I discovered the joys of a Cushman motor scooter. A small use of a leg muscle to start it and a slight use of a wrist muscle to twist the throttle and off I would go. I don't miss bicycles one whit but I do miss the Cushman scooters. I tried to buy one but they are just about worth their weight in gold these days.

[shadowfax]

Both parties in that video deserve to be beaten. You can't run over bicyclists, even if they are being raging jerks by blocking traffic instead of riding all the way to the right like reasonably non-narcissistic humans would do.

[TwinTurbo]

“I did not see the gentleman that I hit. He just kind of came from nowhere. I didn’t know I hit him,” he said.

He came out of nowhere?!? This is the most ridiculous excuse yet. Anyone watching that video knows the truth. These kind of lame excuses may have worked back in the day before cameras could catch you red-handed but not anymore. And if you really did not know you hit him, then you should have your license taken away for life, you're a danger to everyone when you're oblivious to your surroundings and striking objects with your vehicle without realizing it.

[Rod_Knox]

Both parties in that video deserve to be beaten. You can't run over bicyclists, even if they are being raging jerks by blocking traffic instead of riding all the way to the right like reasonably non-narcissistic humans would do.

The Biker vs motorist conflict has escalated in recent years here and elsewhere it seems. Just a few miles from me on that same Parkway an motorist annoyed at being delayed by a biker passed the offending biker then stopped to block him and then confronted him, knocked him off his bike and repeatedly kicked him. The biker was seriously injured. That incident followed several hit and run deaths of bikers and the Parkway manage posted signs all along the narrow roadway that bikes have the right to the entire lane and cars must change lanes to pass them. Bikers have found that hugging the shoulder gets them brushed into the ditch by annoyed drivers so they take the entire lane forcing motorists to only pass when there is adequate room to do so.

[Rod_Knox]

I found this website that encourages bikers on the Parkway

Bicycling the Natchez Trace Parkway - NatchezTraceTravel.com

[shadowfax]

Bikers have found that hugging the shoulder gets them brushed into the ditch by annoyed drivers so they take the entire lane forcing motorists to only pass when there is adequate room to do so.

This strikes me as analogous to being annoyed at getting bitten by mosquitoes when there's a hole in the screen, so to solve it you go outside to be eaten by a grizzly bear.

Further irritating the drivers is not going to make the situation better, and quite frankly there are some roadways which are stupid choices to ride on, and a curvy, hilly 2 lane highway with no passing zones and no appreciable shoulder is a prime example of that category.

[Rod_Knox]

Putting the offending drivers in jail and fining them significantly will discourage all but the most asinine. The SUV driver in the video above will likely lose his lucrative(?) position and find himself in a poor light among friends and family. His "lawyered up" reply indicates he was totally surprised to be caught so red handed.

One driver who fatally struck a biker on the Parkway in Mississippi died in prison while serving a 10 year sentence for hit and run manslaughter on the Parkway.

http://www.calhouncountyjournal.com/18648/

The judge refused to hear an appeal based on a witness who stated the deceased biker had refused to move to the side of the roadway half an hour prior to the motorist striking him.

[db4690]

I've encountered many motorists who are so out of it . . . because they're on the phone, texting, listening to music, yelling at their kids, etc. . . . that they would fail to see ANY person on a bicycle, no matter what the were wearing

Sure, it'll be their fault

But that's cold consolation, if you're physically messed up