Invisible Helmet Deploys Like an Airbag on Impact

Qinsp said:
PS - With no exaggeration, I've put 250,000 miles on motorcycles.

Motorcycles are safe. Car drivers aren't.
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Motorcycles are safe right up until you hit something or something hits you and you die.
 
TheOrangeJuicer said:
I love these discussions!

I agree with the guy above me though. Just because you have a nice bike and spandex doesn't mean you're the only thing that matters. I have a car that will destroy your existence if you or I fuck up. I always yield to pedestrians, and bike riders even though sometimes they are douche bags. I don't want to kill anyone, but sometimes it really seems like they want to get hit. I mean, if I were a bike rider, I would ride as close to the edge of the road as possible, not on the while line. I don't care if it's legal for me to do so. I'd rather ride another day than risk accidentally moving into the lane that the car behind me going 45 MPH in.
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At the end of the day, the problem comes down to the fact roads were designed for cars traveling at speed. Throw a slow push bike in with a fast car and bad things are bound to happen.

I appreciate bike riders trying to be healthy and reduce emissions, but it is quite frustrating when I have an hour long drive home from work made longer by someone riding a push bike and holding up hundreds of cars of traffic (which, in the end, probably creates more emissions than if the rider just had of driven to work or rode a bike with an engine).
 
What are your thoughts on farm vehicles (tractors, specifically)?
 
Tudz said:
At the end of the day, the problem comes down to the fact roads were designed for cars traveling at speed. Throw a slow push bike in with a fast car and bad things are bound to happen.

I appreciate bike riders trying to be healthy and reduce emissions, but it is quite frustrating when I have an hour long drive home from work made longer by someone riding a push bike and holding up hundreds of cars of traffic (which, in the end, probably creates more emissions than if the rider just had of driven to work or rode a bike with an engine).
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Giant spider crossings create more hold up for commutes in Australia than bikes do.
 
rflcptr said:
What are your thoughts on farm vehicles (tractors, specifically)?
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They shouldn't be cruising through the city streets at rush hour either :p

I don't have anything against people riding bikes or people driving farm equipment when they need to do so. I'm just surprised people don't realise riding at a fraction of the speed limit (especially in traffic) pisses people off and is dangerous, or that riding 15mph on a winding 45mph road with poor visibility is dangerous. You're stretching the already limited driving skills and judgement of your average road user.
 
LeninGHOLA said:
Giant spider crossings create more hold up for commutes in Australia than bikes do.
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Don't get me started on the giant spiders, they feel like the road is theirs or something, cross where ever they please. If it weren't for the fact they control the giant insect population and provide food for the giant lizards, I'd support exterminating them.
 
Problem is, where I live, winding roads are our options when not in the city.
 
rflcptr said:
Oh the irony.

Depending on the state's laws where this occurred and the number of lanes available, riding abreast is legal./QUOTE]

There's no irony, genius. They were blocking a state highway. Riding abreast on a 55mph two lane road is not permitted.
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Aluisious said:
There's no irony, genius. They were blocking a state highway. Riding abreast on a 55mph two lane road is not permitted.
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The irony is found in your response to what you label "douches."

What highway was this?
 
Aluisious said:
There's no irony, genius. They were blocking a state highway. Riding abreast on a 55mph two lane road is not permitted.
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Whether it's legal or not it's just a bad idea, IMO. I'd love to see roads become better designed for both riders and drivers to coexist, but until they are, I will continue to think it's a bad idea, legal or not. The speed difference is just dangerous and it doesn't reduce emissions and fuel consumption if on your 10 minute ride to work 50 cars have to slow down then speed up again to get past you.

I have great respect for people who ride up the steep hill near my house... but it's a pain in the arse because it's a 45mph road where most people go 50mph and the road is too blind to overtake in many spots. It ends up being dangerous and you consume much more fuel if you have to slow down and then accelerate back up the steep hill (opposed to just maintaining 40-50mph from the bottom).

So I respect that they climb the steep hill but I still think it's a bad idea because it's dangerous and any fuel they save is consumed 2 or 3 times over by cars having to get around them.
 
I think a lot of people are confusing Boating Rules from the Traffic Laws.

It does not go like this:

Big Trucks>Small Trucks>Big Cars>Small Cars>Motorcycles>Bicycles>Pedestrians>Pet Animals>Wild Animals.

You have right-of-way based on laws, not your attitude.

Or is it "Faster Is First?"

Well, I doubt few who read this thread own anything considered fast. Your Prius-Texting-45mph-FastLane driving ass does come with a tattoo on it that say King of the Road.

If you don't like other humans moving slower than you, call your Congressman so we can get a law to kill cripples, old farts, and infants.
 
Qinsp said:
I think a lot of people are confusing Boating Rules from the Traffic Laws.

It does not go like this:

Big Trucks>Small Trucks>Big Cars>Small Cars>Motorcycles>Bicycles>Pedestrians>Pet Animals>Wild Animals.

You have right-of-way based on laws, not your attitude.

Or is it "Faster Is First?"

Well, I doubt few who read this thread own anything considered fast. Your Prius-Texting-45mph-FastLane driving ass does come with a tattoo on it that say King of the Road.

If you don't like other humans moving slower than you, call your Congressman so we can get a law to kill cripples, old farts, and infants.
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Wait... what?
 
With powered ships, it's Tonnage law. Bigger has right-of-way. Traffic laws aren't that way. A bicycle or pedestrian has as much right to use the road as cars do.
 
Car drivers who think bicycles and motorcycles don't belong on the street are sociopaths. Just like Truck Drivers who think cars don't belong on the road.
 
Qinsp said:
Car drivers who think bicycles and motorcycles don't belong on the street are sociopaths. Just like Truck Drivers who think cars don't belong on the road.
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I think there should be bike lanes on roads where the speed limit is well above what a bicycle can achieve. Sociopathy isn't really part of the equation. As far as motorcycles go, I don't really see people saying they shouldn't be on the road.
 
If there are NOT bike lines, people who use bicycles as transportation have every bit of right to use the roads. Speed has nothing to do with right-of-way except on the freeway.
 
Qinsp said:
If there are NOT bike lines, people who use bicycles as transportation have every bit of right to use the roads. Speed has nothing to do with right-of-way except on the freeway.
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Right. And getting the heck out of the way when someone wants to pass you is common courtesy. Some bicyclists have great road etiquette, some do not. Same goes for people driving cars.
 
Here in San Francisco they've created bike lanes over the entire city, after much planning and finding routes, in many cases this caused the loss of a lane of traffic. Bike riders have every right to use the road? Then why are they getting special treatment with their own roads?

They also like to say they follow the rules... up until that point they run a stop sign or a stoplight because they don't feel like slowing down. Yes cars have done that too but no where close to the frequency as bikes. I'm very pro-bike mind you, but only when they act like another vehicle and not a douchebag who believes they have some right to use all of the road however they see fit. Just like a car, if you're going slow you move over to the right, if you're on a bike, stop driving in the middle of the road let cars pass you, you have every right to drive 65mph in the fast lane even when everyone is passing you on the right you're just a douchebag if you do.
 
Qinsp said:
If there are NOT bike lines, people who use bicycles as transportation have every bit of right to use the roads. Speed has nothing to do with right-of-way except on the freeway.
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I never said anything about who has right of way. Just because you have right of way doesn't make it any less stupid. Pedestrians have right of way at intersections in most places, you'd be fucking crazy as a pedestrian to walk out at an intersection without first waiting for the driver to stop and see that they've acknowledged your existence.

I'm not talking about "speed = right of way", I'm saying "large difference in speed = bad idea" and "expecting drivers who struggle with basic road rules to know what to do when presented with a slow moving bicycle is expecting too much" and "you aren't reducing emissions or traffic congestion if every vehicle on the road has to slow down and accelerate to get around you". Whether it's legal or not to do certain things doesn't suddenly make it a smart thing to do.

In certain areas, I really don't mind push bikes. Down the main street of the town I currently live in, it's really not safe to drive faster than the bicycles go anyway, so have at it I say. Suburban back roads, go for it. Areas where there is well placed bike lanes, go for it.

But if the road and conditions are clearly not well suited for vehicles of massively different speed, my response to cyclists who complain about bad drivers or drivers getting unhappy is "well what did you fucking expect?".
 
Look, I'm not slamming anyone.

Well maybe I am.

When road conditions indicate that you need to slow for the safety of others. SLOW THE FUCK DOWN.

Nothing in your life of driving to work is going to calm your terror when you kill somebody.

Even if you don't get a ticket, killing someone is going affect you for a lifetime. Trust me.

So let the motorcycles, bicyclists, and pedestrians be jerks. Be late for work. Because the alternative is something you might not be able to live with.

Nuff said.
 
Very neat idea. I doubt it would translate well to motorcycles though.

Oh, and while I do agree that bicycles have every bit as much right to use the road as cars/trucks/motorcycles, I do not get the "it would be the cars/trucks/motorcycles driver's fault!" mentality I see out in the wild and a touch of it here as well. Your still dead or grievously injured, and your bicycle is still a mangled chunk of scrap metal. Who is to blame will not change that.

I ride a motorcycle 90% of the time year round and I have every bit as much right to the road as a car or truck does. But I accept that I will never be the winner in a full contact contest with one of them. So I yield to them as needed even when the law says they should be yielding to me.
 
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