• 0 Posts
  • 37 Comments
Joined 2 years ago
cake
Cake day: July 15th, 2023

help-circle
  • Your take a wild…

    People don’t film in their cars because they have room mates, are trying to side hustle, and it’s 100 F outside, no they simply have carnivorous car brain… Wild…

    Making a video in a restaurant can make others feel weird, one complaint from one Karen and now your video and meal is over, plus you could be banned. So now you wrecked your meal and video. Why risk it? Why deal with the background noise? Why not be somewhere you can be more animated and expressive in your review? I mean it seems very logical to film in the car…









  • It was sarcasm… you’re comparing regular traffic rules during regular traffic to a large protest, and expecting that everyone will be following the same rules. It’s just not reality.

    You’re really close to what I’m saying. Cars don’t do this. That was what I said. Many people, yourself included said cars do this. They don’t. You can say it was sarcasm now but this didn’t’ seem sarcastic as it was your response to saying cars don’t drive through red lights like the bikes are.

    Cyclists and pedestrians are unfairly expected to act like multi-ton vehicles. They are not, and should not, have the same rules.

    They don’t have the same rules. There are tons of rules that apply only to vehicles and plenty of laws that apply only to bikes or people. I don’t know here you’re getting this concept from unless this is more sarcasm.

    Pedestrians shouldn’t be forced to cross roads only at crosswalks. “Jaywalking” is some BS nonsense made up to make pedestrians look like the bad guys.

    So cop cars, ambulances, rural areas without public transportation, they should just let people do whatever, no rules? Walk right into the road as cars do by?

    People don’t need the same rules as heavy machinery travelling at 10-20x their speed.

    They don’t… Cars don’t use cross walks to cross the road. Where are you getting this concept from? Do you use a turning single when walking? How often do you get your bike inspected for road worthiness to make sure a wheel doesn’t come off and cause an accident? Cars can’t drive on the sidewalk, I see bikes doing this… This is so baseless and wild. You’re just literally making things up.

    There are studies showing that when cyclists “break the rules”, it’s often for safety. Motorists do not, and cannot, make the same excuse.

    I’d like to see these studies. A car can break the law by swerving into an empty oncoming lane to avoid hitting a person that jumping into the road. That is a VERY valid excuse to break the rules. Why are you ignoring basic reality?

    Discrimination. Cyclists and pedestrians should not be forced to go somewhere else, because of cars.

    So bikes should be allowed on the freeways and criss-cross up and down the highway? People should be able to just walk down the middle of the highway? Do you live in reality man?

    On the flip side, if a motorist sees thousands of cyclists taking up the street, they should detour someplace else. It’s only fair. /s

    The road was made to be used by both, not just one. But we should share? So you think cars should be able to drive on bike paths too right? Otherwise it would be “discrimination.”

    Roads are built for cars to use first, especially some highways. Sorry if that upsets you but it’s reality. This idea that bikes should be allowed to just crowd a freeway or drive wherever they want without any rules and impede people, businesses, and emergency services is delusional.

    Then I asked:

    So the only way to show people that bikers exist is by massively disrupting traffic and causing safety issues?"

    And you said:

    Yes.

    You’re either a troll or you don’t live in reality. I’m done trying to talk to someone who has no problem being so extremely dishonest and delusional. If you really, truly think that the only way to show someone that biker safety issues exist is by causing massive disruption to people, businesses, and emergency services while putting lives at risk there’s no convo to be had.

    I didn’t even bother reading the rest of your comment. You don’t live in reality. You think people and cars have the same laws to follow? You think there is never a valid reason for a car to break traffic law, even to save a life? You think the only way to let people know there are bike safety issues is by putting lives in danger and disrupting emergency services?

    No, you are wrong and you a delisional. Or a troll. So hard to tell these days.


  • Yes, it’s a protest. Just like with protests involving pedestrians, the streets get filled and people “ignore the rules”.

    Then why did you bring up the Pride parade? You said: “I’ve seen cars in large groups going through red lights and driving the wrong way during similar events. In fact, just this past weekend, I saw numerous cars going through red lights at a local Pride Parade.” That is a permitted event. Driving the wrong way can be permitted by a, ya know, permit. Bringing this up then saying “of course their breaking the rules” only proves my point. Bikes are doing this, cars do not unless it is done legally with a permit. And you saying “ya I know” means you knew that but presented it anyway. That’s extremely dishonest.

    If you set up automated speed cameras, red light cameras, DUI checkpoints, and school zone blitzes, suddenly you realize that it’s more than just a few drivers behaving badly. And that’s during normal traffic, not during a protest.

    And I’m sure you’d find the same with biking. Many bikers break laws about where to cross or how to handle intersections and are just ignored all the time.

    It gets a large number of cyclists together, making riding safer than as individuals. It also gets people who were too afraid to cycle around traffic a safe space to ride.

    Do these people not know about side streets or bike paths or anything else? There are places to bike outside of traffic. If anything this is making it worse because you’re not just driving around traffic, you’re driving into it and trying to control it. This is a weak reason to but people in danger.

    The visual of a large group brings attention to the needs of cyclists. “Nobody rides a bike” NIMBYs take note when these events happen.

    So the only way to show people that bikers exist is by massively disrupting traffic and causing safety issues? Yah, it brings attention to them, but not the good kind.

    It puts pressures on municipal governments to take notice of the demand for safer cycling infrastructure. Some would argue that Critical Mass events are what sped up the development of cycling infrastructure around the world.

    Or it shows the government that bikers don’t listen to traffic laws and do whatever they want. This doesn’t make the government do anything except maybe arrest some bikers for breaking the law.

    See, this has been going on for 35 years and the only thing you can point at is maybe it might have possible sped up some cycling infrastructure. Maybe. Yah, that’s not a lot of progress for 35 years of this nonsense. There are much more effective ways.

    As with other protests, this is normal. And those traffic rules… are only there because cars make public spaces unsafe. People don’t need traffic rules.

    This is just wild… People need traffic rules. Have you ever been in a large crowded city? Do you know all the foot TRAFFIC rules? There is literally a section of code on just this. And yes, cars exist, but what do you propose to avoid needing these rules, have no cars at all? That’s absurd. Look at rural areas and tell me how that works.

    On the flip side, would you prefer that every single cyclist in that group STOP at every single red light and stop sign? I’m a massive fan of that type of malicious compliance, so I’d be OK with that, too.

    No, I would prefer they don’t disrupt an entire city for some performance that has gone on for 35 years with nothing to show for it. It’s just an excuse to protest and “stick it to the drivers.”

    When I see protests, even when I don’t know the motivations or goals, I still respect and value the right to protest.

    Ok, now imagine you are late to pick up a family member from the hospital, or you’re going to miss an interview, or a million other things. With a little empathy, you can quickly realize how this would cause issues for people, all for what? I can respect the goals, but I don’t respect the way they have chosen to reach those goals.

    And if someone “hates cyclists” because of a protest like Critical Mass, they probably hate black people, gays, Palestinians, workers, the disabled, unions, First Nations, environmentalists, animal rights, and other groups of people who deserve to be heard and seen through public protests.

    Jesus, you just went nuclear there huh? If someone hates cyclists for doing something like this they must be a bigot and racist? Tell me more about how you’re willing to empathize with the other side to reach a conclusion, FFS. You’ve decided that drivers are the enemy and so now they suddenly don’t matter at all. You can just assume they’re racist, sexist, anti-worker, hate animals, etc all from not liking bikers from this protest. Wow.

    Maybe stop being so emotional and think for a moment. You can be pro-animal rights and think that what an animal rights group does is wrong. Are you really incapable of understanding that basic concept? Or can I just do anything under the banner of “cyclists’ rights” and call you a racist if you disagree with my actions?

    Come on, what is this nonsense?


  • You’re right. I was trying to talk about this specific incident originally and the other commenter kept trying to pivot or change the topic. I was talking about this behavior that is so far outside the norm. The person who replied to me tried to act like cars do this too, but then started talking about all the other things cars do.

    But to be clear, I bike very often. And while doing so I do see plenty of bikers break the laws and act unsafe in ways that can cause accidents. Do I see bad bikers as often as I see bad drivers? Hell no. But they do exist, and in this community the stance is often all drivers are evil no matter what and bikers are always right. We can see this with the justification of this protest. It doesn’t help us get where we want to be. That’s my point.


  • I cited Critical Mass and documentation about it in my response a lot. I think you might have a lot to learn about the movement based on your reply.

    In that context, YES, I’ve seen cars in large groups going through red lights and driving the wrong way during similar events. In fact, just this past weekend, I saw numerous cars going through red lights at a local Pride Parade 😘

    At a parade? One that has permits and works with the city? Yah… lol. Looking into criticall mass is says “These events are spontaneous and unpermitted.” Do you know the difference between a permitted event and one that’s not? Traffic can be re routed, cops can be places to manage traffic. This is not that. On CM it says “The routes of some rides are decided spontaneously by whoever is currently at the front of the ride.” That means anyone can do whatever, causing massive issues with traffic and safety. What a false equivalency.

    Looking further into it, they give the reason: The disorganized nature of the event allows it to largely escape clampdown by authorities who may view the rides as forms of parades or organized protest.

    So they know it’s dangerous and doesn’t have the permits needed to make it safe, which is why parades and such need them, but they see that as a pro. They basically take to the streets to break the law en masse and inconvenience everyone, including emergency services and they think this will make more people want to support bikers?

    If you take a survey of stop signs, you’ll find that the majority of motorists do NOT stop at those signs. Hundreds of cars per intersection per day.

    This is either being dishonest or not understanding what I said. I’m not talking about an aggregate across the country, I’m talking about dozens doing it at once in such a way that it creates a wall that can cause an accident.

    Cops will only “do something” if they can catch someone.

    Lol, so cops should just mail tickets to people randomly? You have to catch someone committing a crime to charge them with it. That’s how the law works…

    I see plenty of bikers breaking traffic laws too, every week when I ride. None of them get tickets either. Doing the things they do like going across a cross walk when they don’t have the right away, could cause an accident. But you conveniently ignore that and the laws they break.

    I think you’d be surprised to learn about the history (and purpose) of Critical Mass, because it’s not “for no reason”. It’s quite literally a form of direct action to promote cycling safety and activism.

    Not surprised. You can do something for a long time for no reason. CM started in the 1990s. If it’s not pointless, please show me the changes it has pushed or championed. I would love to know all the good work that came from CM aside from performative protesting.

    And the fact that they are riding in a large group makes them safer.

    Yah, so they can safely ignore all traffic rules and literally break laws to put on this show. Laws meant to keep people safe. You realize that right?

    Also they are literally breaking off to try to control traffic.

    From CM: In the Critical Mass practice of “corking”, a rider breaks away from the group to block the side streets of an intersection as the mass crosses. This prevents traffic travelling through the intersection on a green signal and allows the riders to ride through red lights. This both contains cross-traffic while the mass passes and protects the mass from splitting or from drivers who might attempt to pass through the mass.

    They are not only unsafely trying to control traffic, they are causing mass congestion, again for no reason but some parade of bikers they decided to do without proper permits. This is such a “look at me, I’m the main character” movement.

    These events happen all around the world, and are widely celebrated as powerful social movements.

    Powerful? Sure, but powerful isn’t always positive. I mean take a step back and look at this from a normal persons point of view, someone who is not an avid cyclist. This doesn’t make me think they need more safety or protection; this makes me think they are reckless and a nuisance. This does nothing but make drivers hate bikers more, this doesn’t change minds, at all.


  • I’ve witnessed cars driving in the wrong lanes (headed towards me) as they recklessly pass drivers.

    Cool, as they pass drivers. Did you see them drive en masse the wrong way through red lights? Come on, you know you haven’t. You know how dangerous it is. Even if it were people walking, it would be dangerous; this isn’t safe. This is so dishonest.

    Are there bad drivers, yes. But no where, in any city, are drivers doing what these bikers did. Taking up the entire road to drive the wrong way as dozens of them go through red lights.

    If you think these are rare occurrences, you likely don’t live anywhere near cars. This shit happens all the time, everywhere.

    No, no it doesn’t. And this is why bikers are often ridiculed by people. I want safer roads, but I don’t claim that cars drive both ways on the road and through red lights by the dozens.

    This shit happens all the time everywhere? Really. Everywhere, cars are just all going the same direction, ignoring every traffic law en masse with no cops doing anything? This is so dishonest, again. There are so many good points and ways to fight for more biker safety, creating false narratives isn’t one of them.

    I’ve witnessed a teen getting hit by a car while she used a crosswalk in front of her school.

    How is this relevant to the point at all? This feels more like ranting that discussing the topic on hand. How these bikers are breaking traffic laws in ways cars do not, and in doing so are putting themselves and others in danger for 0 gain. This feels like an “own the libs” thing for bikers where making drivers get upset is the only point. Which a lot of people seem excited about in this thread, further proving that point.

    And I won’t even bring up aggressive drivers who are hostile towards cyclists and use their cars as weapons.

    Good because it’s not relevant. I’m saying cars don’t drive like these bikers do. They are acting extremely unsafe for no reason. This doesn’t help gain any support or change anyone mind. If anything it makes people hate us bikers more.

    I’ve witnessed a teen getting hit by a car while she used a crosswalk in front of her school.



  • was that so hard?

    No, it’s not hard to spoon feed someone information but I didn’t think I had to. Fuck, everyone is just the give it to me now, I don’t want to have to look into anything. People just take photos at face value and make judgment calls without even the most topical vetting. God this is depressing.

    close; it proves it DID happen, which necesarily implies it DOES happen. You are right to object that a single genuine datapoint (or as you like to spin it, “anecdote”) cannot say anything about frequency, but I really have to steelman what you are saying to get there.

    Close, it proves it did happen, which only proves it did happen once, that’s it. It does not, in any way at all, ever, by any form of logic mean it still DOES happen. You can infer that, but that is not what it proves, at all.

    A single data point by itself can easily be classified as an anomaly, meaning not normal. Without context you can’t determine if it’s the rule or the exception, only that it happened once. It could be a 1 trillion to 1 chance and it just happened to be that picture. We have no idea, it means nothing. Trying to act like it does is nothing short of using an unreliable data point (anecdote) to push a narrative.



  • It’s wild that you can claim to know exactly what I would do. A smart man would know better than to make such strong assumptions about someone’s character.

    Your logic doesn’t hold up because this isn’t a struggle for justice. This is people driving head on into traffic through a red light. What are they accomplishing with this, what justice are they championing? Being able to ignore all traffic laws and put themselves in danger by doing so?

    By your warped world view I can do anything I want and say it’s for a cause, and if you disagree you only want unjust peace. This is a blanket dumb stance you can take to literally justify anything. You can say ICE deporting everyone is right, and anyone saying it isn’t only wants the unjust peace of illegals being here. No nuance. That’s a dumb ass stance but your logic supports it.

    This is paper thin logic hanging onto a concept you don’t fully understand.