tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5666195730630249633.post8927147561976083276..comments2024-03-17T20:47:31.628-07:00Comments on Salem Breakfast on Bikes: Speed, not Dark, Kills: The Danger in the Streets isn't so MysteriousSalem Breakfast on Bikeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15618055627843335993noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5666195730630249633.post-19193185926185309012012-11-04T00:15:25.788-07:002012-11-04T00:15:25.788-07:00Doug, you might remember the old book from the 60s...Doug, you might remember the old book from the 60s, "How to Keep Your VW Alive FOREVER" -- in the introduction to the chapter on brakes, he said "You should drive like you don't have them, or that you are strapped to your own front bumper."<br /><br />I know that there has been a lot of argument about bicycle licenses and fees, but I think it's time we adopted a system whereby any young person of 12 or older can take a bicycling/road user class and get a bike license, and only those who take such a class and pass it may take the driver's exam before age 18. The biking/road user class would be all about staying alive on the road, dealing with road hazards, route selection, "get home" maintenance skills, etc. and include a practical exam, which can be completed in a group ride.<br /><br />Part of the danger on the roads today is that fewer and fewer people themselves have ever experienced the roads except in cars, and they don't know or care about anyone who has. If we create a real incentive, even given our carburban mindset, for kids to learn to bike safely and well, more will know how the world looks on a bike, and drive better.Walkerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12731260619465817652noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5666195730630249633.post-45523428351784846292012-11-03T20:52:52.596-07:002012-11-03T20:52:52.596-07:00I was really struck by the silliness of this artic...I was really struck by the silliness of this article in the S-J. Reading the "facts" and the data suggested to me that the major problem was vehicular speed, pure and simple. I'm not the most anti-car guy going, but this article was so delusional, it made me rather hot under the collar (pun intended, if you get it).<br /><br />The metaphor so many people live with today is that the normal way to move one's body is via some sort of motorized vehicle...a car, a truck, a motorcycle, a plane, and a power chair (eventually). The ideal, though, is always speed. Any one or anything that dares to get in the way somehow is just "begging" to get knocked down and or killed. <br /><br />It has, apparently, come to the point that all of us non-motorists have an obligation to wear reflectors, lights, and work really hard to be extra-visible so that people who are going far too fast to control their cars can continue doing so. If we fail to do this, it is our own fault and we deserve our punishment.<br /><br />In some other countries, however, where people and not machines matter the most, the law has a preference for pedestrians and cyclists, making the automobile the default responsible party for accidents--given that they are the ones with the greater killing potential.<br /><br />Given the quality of driving in Salem, I would think the S-J would have much more journalistic integrity if it began a critical review of Salem's driving and health culture, rather than just blaming the victims of pedestrian-auto accidents. Are there pedestrians who do stupid, irresponsible things? Sure. But, who has the greater chance of ending up dead in these situations: motorists or pedestrians/cyclists? <br /><br />Oh, I forgot: In Salem, if you are not in a car, you deserve whatever you get.B+https://www.blogger.com/profile/18353381870331760316noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5666195730630249633.post-77151306255422220092012-11-03T16:15:54.840-07:002012-11-03T16:15:54.840-07:00I recently heard that the most effective and econo...I recently heard that the most effective and economical thing we could do to improve road safety would be to position a dagger in the center of the steering wheel pointed toward the driver's chest.Doug's Transportation Ramblingshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17260778462957240455noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5666195730630249633.post-42037749615616898252012-11-03T11:37:32.428-07:002012-11-03T11:37:32.428-07:00Thanks!
But oh, boy, there's so much more to ...Thanks!<br /><br />But oh, boy, there's so much more to say.<br /><br />Forgot about this: In an <a href="http://breakfastonbikes.blogspot.com/2011/09/statesman-says-driving-is-dangerous-so.html%22" rel="nofollow">editorial a year ago</a>, the <i>Statesman</i> wrote that: <br /><br />"<b>driving is the most dangerous task that most people will ever handle. It deserves and requires every ounce of our concentration.</b>"<br /><br />If doing something is dangerous, then doing <i>less</i> of it will reduce risk and harm far more than doing the same amount and trying to do it more carefully.<br /><br />And instead of telling the story that bicycling and walking are safe and healthy choices - the more people who walk and bike, and the less who drive, the safer are our roads. Instead of promoting more walking, we talk about the scary monsters in the dark.<br /><br />Also!<br /><br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deferent_and_epicycle" rel="nofollow">Epicycles</a>. <br /><br />The whole google auto-pilot car thing. Let's make driving more complicated, engineer more forgiveness into the cars - but ratchet up the spectacularness of a failure when the new, more complicated system fails, as it surely will.Salem Breakfast on Bikeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15618055627843335993noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5666195730630249633.post-51599619170534111322012-11-03T09:57:59.066-07:002012-11-03T09:57:59.066-07:00Kudos to you for another really fine post. This b...Kudos to you for another really fine post. This blog seems to have taken a real big jump up the last year or two, with evidence of a lot of hard work and thought. Salem is lucky to have you on the job. In a just world, you would be getting one of those awards the city likes to hand out, butch course they tend to go to those who push the consensus trance opinions (cars are unquestionably wonderful, cars have no costs, everyone drives, homicide is OK if you're driving a car when you do it . . . )Walkerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12731260619465817652noreply@blogger.com