[i love cars] I don't need a Tesla to take big loads

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > C-SPAM > [i love cars] I don't need a Tesla to take big loads

LonsomeSon: Nov 22, 2009; A fishperson in an intimidating hat!

BIG-DICK-BUTT-gently caress posted:

Did you not ride your bike as a kid? Kids usually rode on the sidewalks where I grew up

it'd be different in the city though of course

bikes riding on the sidewalk is an artifact of car brain in city planning (or in a just world, a temporary product of construction work or the like)

bikes aren�t as dangerous to pedestrians as cars are to them, but in a world where auto-mobile conveyances have been successfully relegated to vital services and some kind of giant libraries on the outskirts of habitation one of the next transport safety concerns properly ought to be providing space to separate bikes and pedestrians in most places

# ? Feb 9, 2022 22:13

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# ? May 27, 2024 09:42

Jestery: Aug 2, 2016; Not a Dickman, just a shape

Atleast here, it's crazy how close to average "through town" car speed you.can get here on a pushbike , even just riding on the footpaths and with parking being an activity that takes time it might as well be parity of travel time. If the footpaths were kept in better condition , and wider I would almost be fine with just riding conservatively around pedestrians , almost.

In other news, I went to a demonstration last night on my pushie and it was neat to take the streets and disrupt traffic for a good hour or so for a cause, very "whose streets our streets" feeling

# ? Feb 9, 2022 22:16

BIG-DICK-BUTT-FUCK: Jan 26, 2016; by Fluffdaddy

LonsomeSon posted:

bikes riding on the sidewalk is an artifact of car brain in city planning (or in a just world, a temporary product of construction work or the like)

bikes aren�t as dangerous to pedestrians as cars are to them, but in a world where auto-mobile conveyances have been successfully relegated to vital services and some kind of giant libraries on the outskirts of habitation one of the next transport safety concerns properly ought to be providing space to separate bikes and pedestrians in most places

Agreed .. I think lol

Just saying, the kind of bike riding that kids do isn't as dangerous as the cycling adults do. Lower speeds, less distance covered, and predominantly on sidewalks/bike paths. So I wouldn't have any issues w my kid riding their bike even in this car centric hellscape.

# ? Feb 9, 2022 22:19

mystes: May 31, 2006

BIG-DICK-BUTT-gently caress posted:

Did you not ride your bike as a kid? Kids usually rode on the sidewalks where I grew up

it'd be different in the city though of course

Sidewalks can be pretty dangerous because of people entering/exiting driveways at high speeds without looking for pedestrians/cyclists.

This probably isn't helped when people are now driving huge SUVs that have terrible lines of sight.

also, sidewalks don't really connect continuously in any sane way in a lot of place

I think in most of the us people just aren't going to let kids bike on their own nowadays even if they stick the the sidewalk even where it used to be common.

mystes has issued a correction as of 22:27 on Feb 9, 2022

# ? Feb 9, 2022 22:21

Cat Puke: Apr 15, 2017

What's a pushbike?

# ? Feb 9, 2022 22:23

actionjackson: Jan 12, 2003

the suburb i grew up in only had sidewalks on major streets lol

# ? Feb 9, 2022 22:23

mystes: May 31, 2006

Cat Puke posted:

What's a pushbike?

Apparently a bicycle

It's also crazy the degree to which kids just aren't allowed to even walk beyond their house on their own at all now in the US.

mystes has issued a correction as of 22:28 on Feb 9, 2022

# ? Feb 9, 2022 22:24

Jestery: Aug 2, 2016; Not a Dickman, just a shape

Cat Puke posted:

What's a pushbike?

Sorry, bit of the local patois , just a bicycle

# ? Feb 9, 2022 22:33

BIG-DICK-BUTT-FUCK: Jan 26, 2016; by Fluffdaddy

mystes posted:

Sidewalks can be pretty dangerous because of people entering/exiting driveways at high speeds without looking for pedestrians/cyclists.

This probably isn't helped when people are now driving huge SUVs that have terrible lines of sight.

also, sidewalks don't really connect continuously in any sane way in a lot of place

I think in most of the us people just aren't going to let kids bike on their own nowadays even if they stick the the sidewalk even where it used to be common.

maybe we have regional differences in this stuff but where I live in the Midwest people don't peel out of their garages lol. Nor do they enter them at high speeds only to slam on the brakes immediately but it is a funny thing to Imagine.

Idk when I was a kid we would ride to school, friends houses and to the park. Seemed safe enough that I would let my kid do it if I had one but that was 20 years ago, so maybe things have changed a bunch.

# ? Feb 9, 2022 22:41

Wolfy: Jul 13, 2009

BIG-DICK-BUTT-gently caress posted:

maybe we have regional differences in this stuff but where I live in the Midwest people don't peel out of their garages lol. Nor do they enter them at high speeds only to slam on the brakes immediately but it is a funny thing to Imagine.

Idk when I was a kid we would ride to school, friends houses and to the park. Seemed safe enough that I would let my kid do it if I had one but that was 20 years ago, so maybe things have changed a bunch.

yeah drivers murder impulses are more fine tuned now

# ? Feb 9, 2022 22:54

Fitzy Fitz: May 14, 2005

I grew up in the country and would bike around with other kids on the road, but I think drivers have gotten more violent in the past 30 years. The vehicles are definitely much bigger.

# ? Feb 9, 2022 23:04

Cugel the Clever: Apr 5, 2009; I LOVE AMERICA AND CAPITALISM DESPITE BEING POOR AS FUCK. I WILL NEVER RETIRE BUT HERE'S ANOTHER 200$ FOR UKRAINE, SLAVA

"acoustic bike" is the proper term for a non-electric :colbert:

# ? Feb 9, 2022 23:39

Cat Puke: Apr 15, 2017

BIG-DICK-BUTT-gently caress posted:

maybe we have regional differences in this stuff but where I live in the Midwest people don't peel out of their garages lol. Nor do they enter them at high speeds only to slam on the brakes immediately but it is a funny thing to Imagine.

Idk when I was a kid we would ride to school, friends houses and to the park. Seemed safe enough that I would let my kid do it if I had one but that was 20 years ago, so maybe things have changed a bunch.

Crosswalks also intersect with side streets, so that's a problem even if people didn't pull into their driveways at high speed.

# ? Feb 9, 2022 23:45

Cup Runneth Over: Aug 8, 2009; She said life's
Too short to worry
Life's too long to wait
It's too short
Not to love everybody
Life's too long to hate

BIG-DICK-BUTT-gently caress posted:

Did you not ride your bike as a kid? Kids usually rode on the sidewalks where I grew up

it'd be different in the city though of course

I rode my bike a LOT as a kid and teenager, from middle school all the way through high school. I always rode on the sidewalk because it was manifestly obvious that riding on the street was suicidally insane.

# ? Feb 9, 2022 23:46

LonsomeSon: Nov 22, 2009; A fishperson in an intimidating hat!

Jestery posted:

Sorry, bit of the local patois , just a bicycle

aww, i was imagining some kind of weird standing bike with hand pedals

# ? Feb 9, 2022 23:59

Milo and POTUS: Sep 3, 2017; I will not shut up about the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. I talk about them all the time and work them into every conversation I have. I built a shrine in my room for the yellow one who died because sadly no one noticed because she died around 9/11. Wanna see it?

LonsomeSon posted:

aww, i was imagining some kind of weird standing bike with hand pedals

Hell yeah every time you commute it's arm day

# ? Feb 10, 2022 00:04

Dolphin: Dec 5, 2008; by Jeffrey of YOSPOS

Cugel the Clever posted:

"acoustic bike" is the proper term for a non-electric

i thought it was bike

# ? Feb 10, 2022 00:07

Filthy Hans: Jun 27, 2008; by Fluffdaddy
(and can't post for 10 years!)

Fitzy Fitz posted:

I grew up in the country and would bike around with other kids on the road, but I think drivers have gotten more violent in the past 30 years. The vehicles are definitely much bigger.

vehicles are larger, heavier, far more powerful and tend to have a higher center of gravity than 30 years ago

tires, brakes and suspensions have come a long way in that time too, but once they started putting big dick motors into almost every car in the last 10 years things have gotten really lovely

https://www.statista.com/chart/17194/pedestrian-fatalities-in-the-us-by-year/

also over the last 40 years the average distance driven by Americans has more than doubled, to an average of over 14k miles per year

Filthy Hans has issued a correction as of 00:46 on Feb 10, 2022

# ? Feb 10, 2022 00:43

biceps crimes: Apr 12, 2008

Riding a bike around near my house in the late 80s and early 90s as a kid felt pretty safe. The drivers would slow down, smile and wave at me. I knew all of my neighbors, people weren't quite as psychotic and disconnected from everything around them. Most of the cars were small cars and trucks, the biggest cars I remember were vans. Maybe I was just a dumb kid and am developing rose tinted boomer goggles, and I didn't understand the danger I was in, but it definitely seems way worse now

# ? Feb 10, 2022 00:51

Ham Equity: Apr 16, 2013; The first thing we do, let's kill all the cars.; Grimey Drawer

Filthy Hans posted:

vehicles are larger, heavier, far more powerful and tend to have a higher center of gravity than 30 years ago

tires, brakes and suspensions have come a long way in that time too, but once they started putting big dick motors into almost every car in the last 10 years things have gotten really lovely

https://www.statista.com/chart/17194/pedestrian-fatalities-in-the-us-by-year/

also over the last 40 years the average distance driven by Americans has more than doubled, to an average of over 14k miles per year

Also, there's basically no penalty for murder as long as you use your car to do it.

# ? Feb 10, 2022 00:52

BIG-DICK-BUTT-FUCK: Jan 26, 2016; by Fluffdaddy

Cat Puke posted:

Crosswalks also intersect with side streets, so that's a problem even if people didn't pull into their driveways at high speed.

yeah that's what I think they meant to write but it's really funny to imagine someone mashing the accelerator to pull out of the garage into the street. The inverse is also hilarious, someone speeding into their 30ft driveway just to slam on the brakes and screech to a halt in their garage

Cup Runneth Over posted:

I rode my bike a LOT as a kid and teenager, from middle school all the way through high school. I always rode on the sidewalk because it was manifestly obvious that riding on the street was suicidally insane.

yeah same and thinking about it, everyone stopped once we hit driving age :smith:

Some of the nicer neighborhoods had friggin blacktop paths that were tarred smooth .. Just an absolute dream to ride on.

# ? Feb 10, 2022 03:07

mazzi Chart Czar: Sep 24, 2005

The trucking protest are humming about blocking traffic in LA during the Superbowl.

Trucking is a fake job.

# ? Feb 10, 2022 04:48

PeterCat: Apr 8, 2020; Believe women.

I'm of two minds about bicycles and pedestrians. Riding on the sidewalk is much safer than riding in traffic in most situations, at least in places with no bike lane and traffic that's multi-lane and 35mph+.

OTOH, we tried to take a 2 year old on a walk on a path in the country and gave up on it because 2 year olds like to dart around unpredictably, and all the cyclists kept wizzing by us without slowing down, so we picked the kiddo up and left rather than have to worry about him getting run over.

And this wasn't like it was a path that was in town or lead anywhere so it's not like we were interfering with commuters.

# ? Feb 10, 2022 05:21

mystes: May 31, 2006

That's what happens when bike riders are infected with car brain

# ? Feb 10, 2022 05:25

PeterCat: Apr 8, 2020; Believe women.

mystes posted:

That's what happens when bike riders are infected with car brain

I think that's what happens when bikes become a recreational toy versus being looked at as a legitimate form of transportation.

# ? Feb 10, 2022 05:26

PeterCat: Apr 8, 2020; Believe women.

The self-driving cars are programmed to lunge at cyclists.

https://twitter.com/omedyentral/status/1491146820097298433

# ? Feb 10, 2022 05:37

LonsomeSon: Nov 22, 2009; A fishperson in an intimidating hat!

PeterCat posted:

I'm of two minds about bicycles and pedestrians. Riding on the sidewalk is much safer than riding in traffic in most situations, at least in places with no bike lane and traffic that's multi-lane and 35mph+.

OTOH, we tried to take a 2 year old on a walk on a path in the country and gave up on it because 2 year olds like to dart around unpredictably, and all the cyclists kept wizzing by us without slowing down, so we picked the kiddo up and left rather than have to worry about him getting run over.

And this wasn't like it was a path that was in town or lead anywhere so it's not like we were interfering with commuters.

hosed up to do around a kid imho, they are riding loving bikes they could wait to be a little bit away

# ? Feb 10, 2022 05:54

Cugel the Clever: Apr 5, 2009; I LOVE AMERICA AND CAPITALISM DESPITE BEING POOR AS FUCK. I WILL NEVER RETIRE BUT HERE'S ANOTHER 200$ FOR UKRAINE, SLAVA

PeterCat posted:

OTOH, we tried to take a 2 year old on a walk on a path in the country and gave up on it because 2 year olds like to dart around unpredictably, and all the cyclists kept wizzing by us without slowing down, so we picked the kiddo up and left rather than have to worry about him getting run over.

And this wasn't like it was a path that was in town or lead anywhere so it's not like we were interfering with commuters.

There's absolutely a variant of cyclist for whom cycling is purely a sport where the primary imperative is "go fast!", completely devoid of practical applications. The majority of them are good folks, but there's certainly a noticeable segment of assholes who clearly have never put themselves in either the shoes of the pedestrian facing lycra-clad hooligans negligently playing Tour de France on a narrow, mixed-use, low-sight-range trail or even the shoes of the cyclist trying to reach the grocery store surrounded by metal murder machines. I think mystes has it right: they've got terminal car brain and the sociopathy seeps into the other ways they inhabit the world.

Part of being a ~~responsible road user~~ well-adjusted human being is being conscientious of those around you no matter the situation. We need to better instill that mindset in everyone, and the incredible harms of car culture is a great entry point that can have ripple effects into other behaviors.

Cugel the Clever has issued a correction as of 06:22 on Feb 10, 2022

# ? Feb 10, 2022 06:14

Jestery: Aug 2, 2016; Not a Dickman, just a shape

mystes posted:

That's what happens when bike riders are infected with car brain

Absolutely

I am a massive supporter of the UK road heirachical thingo

Simplest , most consistent blanket rule

Seeing dickheads on a footpath racing by , or trying to force their way through? idiots.

If there are pedestrians I will happily dismount and go to the grass to ease passing. Like I am the idiot with a 20kg steel frame here.

Speeding back up is a non issue, just get off let everyone safely pass and speed back up , it take like 10 seconds to hop back on and be back up to speed.

# ? Feb 10, 2022 06:14

Blackhawk: Nov 15, 2004

sat on my keys! posted:

https://twitter.com/StreetopiaUWS/status/1491409345103659013

counterpoint

Lmao why the gently caress couldn't they have had a bicycle roundabout in that pedestrian area on the level under the road surface?

I can't find a good picture of it right now but they have exactly that type of infrastructure in Rotorua, NZ:

There's a roundabout at the top which is the start of a motorway, and there's a separate bicycle and pedestrian roundabout in the middle beneath the road surface. It owns because it's near a huge mountain bike park and a holiday park (caravan park), so we routinely camp at the holiday park and ride our bikes on the cycleway a km or so to the mountain bike trails without ever having to go on the road.

As far as shared bicycle and pedestrian paths go, I honestly think that bicycles and pedestrians should be separated in the majority of cases the same way that cars and bicycles should be separated. There's too much of a speed difference there, and to be fair to cyclists I see a lot of pedestrians being selfish too, like walking in a big clump totally blocking the path and refusing to move for passing bicycles.

# ? Feb 10, 2022 07:03

Cup Runneth Over: Aug 8, 2009; She said life's
Too short to worry
Life's too long to wait
It's too short
Not to love everybody
Life's too long to hate

PeterCat posted:

I'm of two minds about bicycles and pedestrians. Riding on the sidewalk is much safer than riding in traffic in most situations, at least in places with no bike lane and traffic that's multi-lane and 35mph+.

OTOH, we tried to take a 2 year old on a walk on a path in the country and gave up on it because 2 year olds like to dart around unpredictably, and all the cyclists kept wizzing by us without slowing down, so we picked the kiddo up and left rather than have to worry about him getting run over.

And this wasn't like it was a path that was in town or lead anywhere so it's not like we were interfering with commuters.

I would usually just hop off the sidewalk and onto the street to pass a pedestrian, then hop back up.

# ? Feb 10, 2022 07:10

Cugel the Clever: Apr 5, 2009; I LOVE AMERICA AND CAPITALISM DESPITE BEING POOR AS FUCK. I WILL NEVER RETIRE BUT HERE'S ANOTHER 200$ FOR UKRAINE, SLAVA

"Nothing could have prevented this," says nation inured to the daily slaughter of innocents.
https://twitter.com/BrooklynSpoke/status/1491632791234265089?t=xd8VH0AFKlhMPmYrtdmZ0g&s=19

article posted:

An out-of-control driver plowed into a woman and a 10-year-old girl, killing the youngster, before slamming into a shuttered car wash in Queens Wednesday afternoon, police and witnesses said.

Rescuers desperately tried to save Davina Afokoba, who was pinned underneath the driver’s SUV, but the car wash collapsed on top of the vehicle, pelting it with bricks and a steel beam.

The horrific crash was caught on video — the youngster was carrying her bookbag, walking along a sidewalk on Beach Channel Drive by Dix Ave. in Far Rockaway, when a black Mazda SUV rocketed out of the parking lot of the Shop Fair Supermarket across the street just before 4:15 p.m.

A family friend said she was on her way home from her charter school, and had stopped at a deli moments earlier with her teenage brother, who witnessed the ghastly carnage from across the street.

The 35-year-old woman at the wheel had just finished shopping, and was trying to make a left turn, edging too far into the street as she waited for traffic to ease, said supermarket worker Legend Jones, 43.

“She went across there from zero to 60. She gunned it and went straight into the building,” he said. “She meant to take the left, but she went straight.”

Her SUV barreled across the street and mounted the curb, striking the girl and a woman, 33, before smashing through the long-closed car wash and hitting a support pillar, sources said. Two other pedestrians, a man and a young boy, scrambled out of the way in time, sources said.

“She clipped a lady and then went straight into that little girl,” Jones said. “The little girl had no time to do nothing. She didn’t have a chance. We tried to pull her out of there. I was holding her hand. She was moaning.”

He recounted how he tried to assure the girl, urging her: “Hold on, shorty. We’ve got you, we’re going to get you out.”

The driver stayed on the scene. Jones said she got out of the car, wailing in alarm and vomiting.

A yellow sticker on her car’s rear bumper reads “New driver please be patient.” Her car had a temporary paper license plate.

The young girl died of her injuries, cops said.

Davina’s mother, identified by neighbors as Priscilla Afokoba, rushed to the 101st Precinct stationhouse after hearing about the crash, and collapsed in grief, police sources said.

She could be heard crying out through the open door of the family’s home, three blocks from the crash: “My daughter! My daughter! My little girl! She was just walking home!”

She was just walking home.

# ? Feb 10, 2022 07:51

Cup Runneth Over: Aug 8, 2009; She said life's
Too short to worry
Life's too long to wait
It's too short
Not to love everybody
Life's too long to hate

gently caress cars, and gently caress SUVs

# ? Feb 10, 2022 07:55

ate shit on live tv: Feb 15, 2004; by Azathoth

An idea: You know all those poll-tests and poll-taxes etc that they used to disenfranchise voters back in the day? Let's bring them back, but for drivers.

# ? Feb 10, 2022 08:23

Blackhawk: Nov 15, 2004

Sounds like she just mashed the accelerator to get into a gap, panicked and pushed harder. Maybe most cars don't need to go from 0 to 60 in less than half the time they did 10 years ago IDK? That's what concerns me most about a lot of EV's, their only real 'party piece' is accelerating really fast in a straight line, so the car makers are competing with each other by juicing that number.

# ? Feb 10, 2022 08:24