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FU, Doug.
Because of this, I'll consider "taking the lane" way more often than is necessary. And you bet your ass I'll be going <15km/h.
Sorry drivers, but if you don't like it, vote for someone who isn't a turd.
You have to take the lane 100% of the time when there's no bike lane. It's the safest option by far.
Until dick in an emotional support truck runs you down while rage tweeting. Or a soccer mom driving a road-condo turns you to paste as she TikToks about how hard her life is.
And yet it is STILL safer
It’s the safest option by far.
And despite that, the reaction from some drivers is downright terrifying. I rode down Steeles between Markham and Pickering the other day... there are no shoulders, and you have to take the lane.
Except, you get truckers doing some aggressive shit with their motor/transmission as they creep closer behind you. Call it intimidation, or bullying, but you have to be a hardened cyclist to endure that kind of treatment, and the risk to your life is real.
Safer, yes. But it's like saying it's safer to jump from a plane at 5000 feet without a parachute than it is one that's 10,000 feet. LOL
Trucks often have to use 'engine breaking' or a 'Jake brake' to slow down. Basically, they cut fuel in the intake stroke, changing the engine into a 'compressor' to exchange forward momentum into useless compressed air that gets thrown away in the exhaust. The result is a lot of 'noise' from the truck as it slows down. It's not intimidation, it's a valid way to slow down without excessive wear on wheel brakes. Or, it shouldn't be intimidation. In some municipalities, engine braking or Jake braking isn't permitted.
I'm aware of engine braking, and some were doing that, but I'm referring to drivers inching up behind and REVVING.
And when it was a dickhead in a pick-up truck, they would GAS IT. Two of them actually peeled out as they passed!
A few other drivers would intentionally block the shoulder (when there was one), so I'd either have to be behind a line of cars, or ride off the road. Several would do this to bike lanes, when there was a line at a stop sign, probably because they knew I'd fly past them without any traffic in my lane 😂
I mean, on the same ride, I was also yelled at (while I was on an MUP) by a passing van.
I 100% believe that much of this behaviour was intimidation.
Unfortunately, the bike I was riding doesn't have my usual camera on it, or I would have been able to make a compilation featuring Idiot Drivers of Durham Region and York Region.
And here I am, frustrated that bikes aren't taking the lane where I live. Instead they try to act like super pedestrians who can use the sidewalk, lane, or shoulder, and they ignore traffic signs and signals. I'd rather they were just in the road at that point. It's a stop sign every block, 25 mph road. So we're not exactly slowing down traffic with bikes. Instead I almost hit 2 of them in one trip a couple days ago because they didn't stop and came from behind cars so they were hidden until the last moment.
?? Why? What could possibly be the rationale for this?
To gather more votes from the majority of the electorate who drive into the city.
Bike lanes only serve those who live in Toronto and those people don't vote for these clowns anyways. Hell, even people who never drive where there are bike lanes will like this to give the middle finger to all the people who bike in the city.
To accept bribes for bike lane approval
"More lanes make car go faster" probably.
It's outrageporn, they get themselves worked up over stupid things.
Conservatism now stands for «turn Ontario into Michigan».
Coming to appreciate Valérie Plante even more every year.
Valérie Plante my beloved.
Like all politicians she ain't perfect, but damn do I love Montréal's urbanism, even as a car owner.
So can I reduce the number of lanes without provincial approval? Coincidentally two years later, can I decide to otherwise implement bike lanes?
My city, Oakland, is making the smart move of reducing lanes of traffic and putting physical barriers around the bike lanes in our downtown. Smart because downtown has been hollowed out post-pan, with lots of people wfh. Source: I live downtown.
So it's not law yet?
Oh look at that, every road got approved for a bike lane the day before the bill was passed. Darn shame that is. Oh well.
I wish Municipal governments moved that fast 😅
For something like this it shouldn't be hard, we're just talking about the city approval, not the implementation. Like when Roosevelt created national parks the night before Congress was going to make it really hard to keep making them. He stayed up right to the last minute signing new parks into existence. That's the kind of malicious compliance we need to fight back.
this post was submitted on 15 Oct 2024
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