Re: Montana: "Let's make stupidity mandatory!"

Am Wed, 15 Jan 2025 07:30:41 +0700 schrieb John B.
<slocombjb@gmail.com>:

On Tue, 14 Jan 2025 16:47:22 -0700, NFN Smith <worldoff9908@gmail.com>
wrote:
>

Frank Krygowski wrote:

On 1/13/2025 5:44 PM, NFN Smith wrote:

Roger Merriman wrote:

Frank Krygowski <frkrygow@sbcglobal.net> wrote:

Some Montana legislators are wanting to make wrong-way riding
mandatory.

>

For non-riders (or novice riders), especially if they've been trained
to always *walk* facing traffic, there is frequently a fear of the
speed of vehicles approaching from the rear (and not visible) even if
the speed differential is far less than facing traffic.
>
For the purposes of public policy, this is an ongoing tension that
probably never be resolved, the difference between the bicycle being
regarded as a pedestrian and the bicycle regarded as a vehicle, and
for the latter, where despite the speed differential with motor
vehicles, the bike should have all the rights and responsibilities as
a motorist.

>
On reflection, something else that I could have mentioned is that in
this circumstance (especially Montana) is the common idea that roads are
for cars, and that anything that impedes that is considered to be evil,
and must be removed.  In other words, "you're in the way, get off my
road!".  I've seen aggressive motorists that go so far as to assert this
claim with "I pay taxes" (e.g. motor fuel).
>
One other effect of this that I've seen is that when I'm on my bike,
it's worth being cautious around cars that have a lot of stickers on the
back.  It's not just the obvious ones that indicate that the motorist
may be hostile to cyclists, but multiple stickers (regardless of
content) may be an indicator of "turf marking" and where the drive is
proportionally less friendly to having a cyclist too close to their
vehicle.  And sometimes, the implied aggressive behavior is little more
than mere bullying.
>
Smith

>
One thing that it is important to remember is that in a conflict
between a bicycle and a auto the auto nearly always wins :-(

That is a misconception. Cycling is not particularly dangerous, not even
in the vicinity of motorists who believe they have an exclusive right to
the road. 

In terms of the risk of dying prematurely, cyclists in Germany at least
win by a wide margin.  If they don't die of cancer in old age, people in
this country typically die as a result of a disease caused by a lack of
exercise: obesity, diabetes, heart attacks, cardiovascular diseases of
all kinds.  There is hardly anything that protects against this as well
as intensive and frequent cycling. Compared to the number of deaths we
are talking about here, the deaths of cyclists are negligible.   I can
provide figures for Germany if required, and I'm sure Frank has some for
the USA too.

There is even a poem, dating from the early 1900's:
>
   Here lies the body Of William Jay,
   Who died maintaining His right of way.
   He was in the right As he sped along,
   But he's just as dead As if he'd been wrong.

Who wrote that, a supporter of slavery?


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