• AnomalousBit@programming.dev
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    5 months ago

    The explanations provided in this article are the same stupid fucking reasons it’s next to impossible and dangerous to ride a bike in America.

    No, a bike is not a car and it should not be treated like one.

    No, no one I know wants to hop on a bike and share the same lane as a semi truck or teenager in a lifted truck texting on a phone.

    Having a bike lane (preferably separate from the main road) where there is at least some breathing room is the only way most people would even consider it. God forbid you should fall off or crash, you don’t risk losing your life over something that would otherwise be a scraped knee.

    GTFO with your bikes are cars bull shit.

    • Tangentism@lemmy.ml
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      5 months ago

      It’s going to take several generations to remove the shit stain of “vehicular cycling” that John Forester has left behind

    • FireRetardant@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      If you wouldn’t trust your child to safely bike the lane, the lane is unsafe for any cyclist is how I like to look at it.

    • delirious_owl@discuss.online
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      5 months ago

      Yes, a bike is a car and should be treated like one. I’m tired of assholes like you yelling ‘get off the road’ or telling me to endanger pedestrians by riding in the sidewalk or mixed use trail or the door lane or the bicycle gutter.

      What we need is normal roads with barriers blocking off cars from entering.

      Bikes are cars. Treat us like them.

      • Cort@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        What we need is normal roads with barriers blocking off cars from entering.

        Bikes are cars.

        So pedestrians only on these roads? Like a sidewalk?

        Or are you saying bikes should be treated JUST like cars, except better, with routes that exclude cars?

        It sounds like what you want is separated, protected, raised bicycle lanes.

        And I’m no fan of rising on the sidewalks, but cycling is literally one of the uses for a mixed use trail.

        • biddy@feddit.nl
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          5 months ago

          delirious_owl is being pretty inflammatory but they make a good point.

          All too often a supposed “bike lane” is just built to a worse standard than parallel car lanes. It will have a worse road surface, sharp bends, confusing and long routing, less priority at intersections and traffic lights. Car lanes are the default and bike lanes are squeezed in as an afterthought.

          This needs to change, bike lanes should be built to the same or higher standard as roads(although typically bike lanes can be much narrower). Multi lane bike motorways need to be buldozed through neighborhoods. An easy way to do this is just take part or all of an existing road and make it bike only.

          • FireRetardant@lemmy.world
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            5 months ago

            Please no more bulldozing neighbourhoods. Bike lanes would be far easier to accomodate in a neighbourhood than a 6+ lane freeway was.

        • delirious_owl@discuss.online
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          5 months ago

          What I’m saying is that in the eyes of the law, bicycles are the same as cars. Bikes belong on roads that are built for vehicular traffic.

          I don’t want a different type of narrow trail that’s raised and windy with roots and trash. I want to use roads that are built to spec for cars. Fortunately, we already have plenty of them. The only problem is that cars are using them too.

          If you want to make the road safer for bicycles, then ban vehicles with motors from half the roads. Like NYC and Berkeley have done.

          If you don’t want to ban cars, then paint a big green stripe down the middle of the furthest right lane with a picture of a bicycle to make it clear to cars that that is the lane for bicycles and cars should pass bicycles in the passing lane. Like what Oakland has done.

      • Bartsbigbugbag@lemmy.ml
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        5 months ago

        They ride thousands of electric scooters on the sidewalks in China daily and rarely does anyone ever get hurt. Maybe you just suck ass at riding.