RAILROAD SIGNALS of the U.S.

 

RANT #17
I'm 35 And I Don't Know How To Ride a Bicycle

 

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Two friends of mine recently said to me: "You can't fix stupid".
 

For some reason, JUST in San Franscisco, and especially on 17th Street, people have been going over on their sides while riding bikes because they never learned you CAN'T cross a track in the street if you're riding parallel to it, and then decide to cross over it without consequences.

This rant was precipitated by the following article:
http://hoodline.com/2016/07/as-bicyclists-continue-to-fall-on-17th-street-muni-tracks-will-city-implement-solutions

And now, after having trolley tracks (especially) in San Francisco for over 100 years, there is all of a sudden an issue with stupid people having a problem with this concept.

And they want the city to fix the "problem".  Fine, let the bicyclists pay for the changes, that will shut them up.

No one dares to consider that it is our modern society that might have the problem, and not the infrastructure.

I don't mean to come off sounding cold or non caring, but why is it always "someone else's problem?" instead of my own stupidity.  One of the first things any REAL motorcycle biker learns is that you NEVER EVER cross a railroad track except at a 90 degree angle, or close to it.

One thing that no-one made mention of, is that the woman in the video didn't slow down.  Suppose the guy in the car she passed decided to open the door while she was going around.  Who's fault would that have been since she wasn't in the bike lane?????  And with the drivers on the road these days, what the Hell is she doing carrying two kids on a bicycle in the middle of a busy street?????
     

So, I guess if you're driving in New Jersey and make a left turn on a major road, and get pulled over because you didn't know about "jughandles", you're going to try to talk your way out of it, because you were stupid and didn't know any better. 

So I guess if you make a left turn in Michigan at a traffic light with a flashing left turn arrow, without stopping, and get a ticket for it, you'll do the same.

So I guess if a cop pulls you over in Virginia or DC cause he knows you have a radar detector, you're going to try to deny that you have one (a really big mistake, BTW).

So, I guess if you're in Michigan with a scanner in the car, and the cop takes it because it is illegal to have a mobile scanner in a car, you're going to scream bloody murder.

And finally, don't blame the other guy, if you get hit in the ass on the Autobahn cause you're going to slow in the fast (left) lane.... it's your fault, and you don't want to pay for the damage to a Mercedes or Porsche.  If someone flashes you from behind on the highway, get the f**k out of the way.

Don't blame others for the above incidences, it's your own stupid ignorance that got you into the mess.

So I have a couple of low or no cost solutions for the morons that don't know bike etiquette......

1) Make it illegal to ride bicycles on streets with railroad tracks in them unless there is a way to cross them at a 90 degree angle, like at an intersection.

2) Make bicycles ride on the sidewalks, and when they come to a street crossing, they get off the bike and walk it across the street (like we were told to do in the old days).  This also gets the asshole bike riders out of the lanes of auto traffic where they have no right to be (in areas that do not have dedicated bike lanes). 

We have all been behind an asshole on a bike who refuses to get over and let cars pass.  They have no right to be there because they are not a licensed vehicle.  And how many times have you seen a cyclist not obey traffic lights, and proceed thru an intersection when the light for him is red.  Yeah, pick and choose the rules you want to pay attention to.  Hope you do get injured for pulling those stunts.

3) Take bike riding off of streets with railroad/trolley tracks on them.  So they have to go another block over, oh my God!  If 17th street is too narrow for everything, then do away with the bikes, they came last as a class of vehicles anyways..... Since the video was made on 17th Street, and Mr. E. says that there have been some 200 accidents like this between Church and Noe, I think this is the best and easiest solution that doesn't cost the city anything!  Who cares if the cyclists have to ride another block over and back to get where their going, they're riding their bikes because it's healthy anyways, get used to it - and then walk your bike down the sidewalk of 17th St.  It's not a right, it's a privilege.

4) Make every bicycle rider go to a safety class before getting a bicycle drivers license, just like you have to for motorcycles.  Apparently, riding a bike is not as safe as most think, or people wouldn't be getting injured.

It just ain't right.

What is a matter with people?   Do they not and hear themselves?  Take responsibility for your own stupid actions.

This guy has probably never dropped his bike crossing the tracks, he knows better, and look, the bike lane is marked!!!  It's telling you to stay onto one side of the tracks.


Three pictures of the intersection at 17th and Church.






 
NEW 07/09/2016
LAST MODIFIED: 09 Jul 2016