Cars are fucking horrible. Humanity can and should do better. We have objective proof this is true in Amsterdam where 38% of all traffic is by bicycle and in Spain where the pro teams ride because the traffic their respects those on bikes in the community.
The number of fatalities caused by bikes or even that involve a bike at all—and not a car—is less than 1%. Yet somehow America is completely okay with 23x more deaths than on 9/11 every fucking year because of cars. The car industry has completely duped us all into thinking cars are the only option there is. Ever since the car people lied and created “jay walking” as a marketing campaign to make it the “jay’s” fault for doing the walking in the street and not the car’s the auto industry has been fucking over and murdering Americans and blaming it on the people being man-slaughtered.
The only up side of this is that the percentage of cyclists dying on the road is much less than those dying in cars. We just hear about the cyclists dying more because it is still newsworthy somehow, for which we should probably be grateful. The news channels are tired of yet another death to report in a car accident. They certain do ‘cuz news, but with far less fanfare.
And the record of car deaths is going down over time, thank God, mostly because of improvements to the cars and not the roads, however. And as long as the American government continues to subsidize anything that is not a “car” (all SUVs, trucks, etc.) by making them exempt from any kind of regulation since they are “working” vehicles, we’ll continue to see Freds and Karens man-slaughtering people on the road, in a car or otherwise.
I had to look up the numbers because I fucking hate that I have to be so terrified even on a suburban street. In fact, the only safe street is one on which those Freds and Karens live—or more importantly—where their children live. Those hypocritical assholes are all about “drive like your kids live here” and posting nasty photos of plates of vehicles going over 25 when it is in their backyard. But when someone gets in their way on a road to go to work or pick those same kids up from school on a road with a “share the road” sign they don’t give a shit about the speed they are driving, or even for fundamental traffic laws, or common courtesy, or paying attention to the road and not their fucking phones. I know because I see it almost every time I ride on a school day. The more private and conservative the school the worse they are.
And before you go saying I’m imagining things, I’m not. In fact, I am going to prove it by regularly posting GoPro video of the worst offenders. I’m going to rig my front and back of the bike to capture my entire ride in high-quality, stabilized video. Then I’m going to post their fucking license plates to a web site. It’s all public information.
The solution to the problem of being able to ride a bicycle—or even just go for a run or walk—is actually somewhat simple and effective. Ride in their front yards (not literally) where 25 mph is a great speed and speed bumps don’t phase cyclists at all. I hate the suburbs with a passion but riding in them is the only safe place. Even big empty farm roads aren’t safe from that one truck that thinks he can own the entire road since no one is on it or the farmer in an hurry doing 20 mph over the speed limit with horses in his trailer going over the shoulder.
Another solution is to ride on the trails that are “designed” for cyclists. People hate cyclists on these trails but it doesn’t matter. The idiots who did the urban planning and mixed cycling and foot traffic fucked this up, not me. At least in this case the people who don’t want be biking are similar to the people on bikes on “share the road” streets. They might have a right to be there but who gives a fuck if they get in my way. I’ll just honk my horn expressing my anger that they are there at all. I don’t give a shit if it is their right, or the law, or whatever. ;) (Okay, I don’t really think that.) The point is they fear for their lives because someone on a bike might sneak up on them going way faster than they should and hitting them, or their child, or their pet, just like those people on bikes fear for their lives from the idiots in trucks and rice-rockets doing the same careless, selfish thing and blaming the people on the bike for their own fucking idiocy.
This whole thing has reminded me why messenger cyclists who just say “fuck the whole system” do what they do. Society doesn’t give a fuck about them, so they decide not to give a fuck about the system and do whatever they please, “urban outlaws” they call themselves. It’s not the right way to go about it but I understand the emotion. When the only way to ride a bike safely in the town you live in is to do it indoors on a trainer with no rear wheel staring at a cartoon recreation of some fantasy outdoor scene I can understand that frustration.
I’m just so tired of the shittiest people in the world forcing themselves on the rest of us with no desire for the considerations of anyone but themselves. (I think I need to watch Deadpool again. It might help.)
Yep. I’m going to die on a bicycle, no matter what I do to prevent it. I’ve always known I would. I might have a better chance if we moved out of America but that doesn’t seem to be an option. So I’ll continue to piss off suburbanites and dog-walkers going far too fast for the streets and trails that I’m lawfully allowed by ride on. Better them than someone with several tons of steel that can run me over and claim it was an “accident” (like all the people who murdered people on bikes this year and got away with it).