tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8908461644259659419.post3945197440072492113..comments2024-03-27T19:12:49.609-07:00Comments on Midlife Cycling: Is This California Law A Lemon In Orange County?Justine Valinottihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10852069587181432102noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8908461644259659419.post-86143455427271329792017-05-17T13:30:00.448-07:002017-05-17T13:30:00.448-07:00Brooks--I love what you say in your last sentence....Brooks--I love what you say in your last sentence. It is indeed that drivers can so blatantly break a law and get away with it, even if their actions result in cyclists or pedestrians getting killed or maimed.Justine Valinottihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10852069587181432102noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8908461644259659419.post-44971449830580660122017-05-17T10:41:38.754-07:002017-05-17T10:41:38.754-07:00Ohio just passed a 3-foot rule after several years...Ohio just passed a 3-foot rule after several years of debate and opposition from motorist-oriented groups. We also have (supposedly) a no-texting-while-driving law that is virtually unenforceable. They made texting/driving a "secondary" offence, which means that even if an officer witnesses someone texting while driving, there is nothing they can do to stop them. It is only if the person commits another violation simultaneously -- for example runs a light, or (god forbid) hits a cyclist, pedestrian, or another car while texting that anything can be done -- and then only if the officer bothers to ask "were you texting when you struck that person" and if the offending driver is dumb enough to answer "yes." They probably have the right to inspect a driver's phone to see call/text usage (they might be able, but I'm not certain) but I doubt many police bother to make such a request/demand. Needless to say, but when I'm riding to or from work, I'd estimate that about 1/3 of the drivers I see at any given moment are using a cell phone in some fashion. From a cyclist's vantage point, I can see right into their cars very well, and if my vision were still as good as it was 20 years ago, I'd probably be able to read their texts!Brookshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12110998345857993287noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8908461644259659419.post-24176528351887094722017-05-12T10:27:41.920-07:002017-05-12T10:27:41.920-07:00Steve--Thank you for pointing that out. From what...Steve--Thank you for pointing that out. From what I can see, enforcing laws against DUI, DWI and distracted driving would do more than anything else (save, perhaps, for allowing the "Idaho Stop") to make cycling safer on streets.Justine Valinottihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10852069587181432102noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8908461644259659419.post-58609079637389693912017-05-12T09:32:43.838-07:002017-05-12T09:32:43.838-07:00Actually, "enforcement of rules against impai...Actually, "enforcement of rules against impaired and distracted driving" would make any specific distance requirement irrelevant. The "OLD" rule of passing at a safe distance is perfectly fine - if you HIT something, you OBVIOUSLY were not a safe distance away. Prosecutions of specific distance laws are so rare as to make them irrelevant anyway.Steve Ahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13650405341304401203noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8908461644259659419.post-9517018871833434622017-05-12T07:32:49.307-07:002017-05-12T07:32:49.307-07:00Mike--Exactly. So, from what you've said, non-...Mike--Exactly. So, from what you've said, non-enforcement of such laws is not particular to NYC.<br /><br />Coline--It's been a while since I've been to the UK. I recall more pleasant cycling there than in most of the US, though not as nice as France or the Benelux countries. From what you're saying, though, cycling there sounds more and more like cycling here.Justine Valinottihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10852069587181432102noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8908461644259659419.post-23451564909668729202017-05-12T00:42:18.097-07:002017-05-12T00:42:18.097-07:00Fewer and fewer drivers have experienced cycling o...Fewer and fewer drivers have experienced cycling on roads prior to being given their licence to kill...<br /><br />he most comfortable and isolated place most now have is their mobile tin isolation unit with comfortable seats, climate control and infinite number of distractions to isolate them from the realisation that they are notionally in charge of a deadly weapon.<br /><br />In the UK officially designated cycleways are usually a strip of less than three feet in the roughest part of the road in the gutter with badly sited and installed drainage grids and unrepaired potholes. Passing another cyclist within the zone is impossible and worse than that the designated roadway remaining for motorists is too narrow to allow sufficient safe room to pass cyclists with a small car let alone a large truck or bus!<br /><br />I have lived here and been cycling on roads which have only changed imperceptibly in that time whilst the number of vehicles has increased exponentially, speeds have increased, speed "bumps" proliferated and driving skills fallen.<br /><br />It is clear to see why so many buy and use off road bikes and give the roads themselves a miss. doctors implore us to get out and exercise but cycling can increase stress levels and too often involve encounters with "entitled" motorists with their right to never consider others.<br /><br />Ride safe!Colinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01667939789517989280noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8908461644259659419.post-22085747263593941832017-05-11T18:52:51.050-07:002017-05-11T18:52:51.050-07:00Distracted driving laws are all well and good ONLY...Distracted driving laws are all well and good ONLY IF ENFORCED.<br />Statistics for distracted driving citations in Chicago:<br />2014: 45,594<br />2015: 25,884<br />2016: 186<br />Through 4/16/17: 24<br /><br />(source: Chicago Tribune.)<br /><br />grim...mike w.https://www.blogger.com/profile/10317710564489321690noreply@blogger.com