DConf 2013 official car/room sharing thread

[H. S. Teoh]

On Thu, Apr 18, 2013 at 10:50:55AM -0700, Walter Bright wrote:
> On 4/18/2013 10:42 AM, Iain Buclaw wrote:
> >I certainly don't mind winding and narrow.   Cycling isn't inherently
> >dangerous, but the two main things that don't help are - lack of
> >cycle paths; careless or inconsiderate drivers.
> 
> When you have cars brushing by your elbow at 40 mph, well, I thought
> that was very dangerous. When going around curves, cars routinely
> cut into the inside shoulder. They'll do it on blind corners, too.
> 
> I'm actually surprised that a lot more bikers aren't killed around
> here, although many are. I walk a lot, and many times I've had to
> step lively off of the road.

Speaking of careless drivers... not long ago up here in Canuckland (a
few hours' drive from Seattle, incidentally), I almost got run over by a
car *while crossing a crosswalk with flashing lights*. There was another
vehicle which had come to a stop in the outer lane, which may have
obscured me, but the car in the inner lane obviously didn't see me and
didn't notice the big flashing lights above the crosswalk (and didn't
consider why the vehicle on her right had stopped at a crosswalk with
big flashing lights above).

Fortunately I was keeping an eye on it (I wasn't sure if it was slowing
down so I hesitated). The driver screamed (oh yeah did she scream -- I
could hear it through her closed windows) and slammed the brakes when
she saw me, but couldn't stop in time; I stepped back just in time as
she passed in front of me about 1-2 feet at the most.

Since then, I no longer assume that red lights, pedestrian walk signs,
or crosswalk flashing lights mean anything to drivers. You might pay for
that assumption with your life. *shudder*


T

-- 
"Life is all a great joke, but only the brave ever get the point." -- Kenneth Rexroth