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submitted 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) by destructdisc@lemmy.world to c/fuckcars@lemmy.world

This was a Critical Mass event, which is why the bicyclists are taking up all of the street as a way to reclaim the streets and protest the lack of safety for riders under usual conditions. It's not legal, but protests are never useful if they're fully legal now, are they.

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[-] Showroom7561@lemmy.ca 183 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

This is how cyclists feel when they are surrounded by cars on busy roads because the cycling infrastructure is shit.

Except, cyclists can't kill people in cars with their bike.

So, lady, imagine our frustration.

Edit: spelling 🤦‍♂️

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[-] technocrit@lemmy.dbzer0.com 161 points 1 month ago

Car brains are incapable of realizing that they're the deadly threat.

[-] philthi@lemmy.world 38 points 1 month ago

I said it elsewhere but it's worth repeating here that fighting drivers is fighting the wrong fight. Fight the government.

Even if you convince the drivers that you're right, nothing changes.

[-] healthetank@lemmy.ca 53 points 1 month ago

NGL, you're fighting the drivers for this, just in a different medium. You think the government is just doing shit for kicks and giggles? Nah, they don't put in bike lanes because too many residents complain when they lose their parking lanes to bike lanes, or the road gets widened solely to add a bike lane.

Sure there are some cases where the govt is making a bad decision, but don't think that you don't need to argue with those same people, just in a Public Information Session instead of on the road.

[-] LordKitsuna@lemmy.world 33 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

The drivers are the ones pushing the government to not expand bike infrastructure. There are massive complaints anytime bike Lanes or other protection is installed in major cities and anytime it's put up to a vote it's the car drivers out there voting no

[-] Crankenstein@lemmy.world 26 points 1 month ago

Seriously, like has that dude never heard of a NIMBY?

Drivers fight tooth and nail to prevent anything from being implemented if it means they incur even the most mild of inconvenience.

[-] regdog@lemmy.world 17 points 1 month ago

You can do both

[-] AI_toothbrush@lemmy.zip 86 points 1 month ago

Idk about the usa but here in europe its EXPLICITLY written into the drivers code that even if someone is driving illegaly if its in your power to stop an accident you have to. So if a person steps in front of you randomly and you have half a second to react thats usually not your fault BUT if you for example saw that there was a school bus dropping kids off and then you hit a child running across the road theres a large chance that theyre gonna charge you. Of course in europe you have to put like 30 hours into theory and then a lot of driving lessons to get a license while in the usa you basically get a drivers license instantly and nobody gives a fuck so thats why people dont know the rules...

[-] Kickforce@lemmy.wtf 45 points 1 month ago

To add, in the Netherlands, known for it's stellar bike infrastructure it's exactly with actions like this that they reclaimed their cities from being purely car oriented.

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[-] django@discuss.tchncs.de 82 points 1 month ago

"Everyone except me is crazy."

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[-] danielquinn@lemmy.ca 78 points 1 month ago

Whenever I've been on a Critical Mass ride, we've always had designated "corkers", people whose job it was to block traffic with blockading/dancing/whatever while the others continued onward. Without people doing that, you run the risk of this sort of carbrained nonsense.

[-] Katana314@lemmy.world 22 points 1 month ago

Something else that happened on mine was that as soon as we hear sirens, we drop the mass protest and prioritize making a path for emergency vehicles to get through.

[-] BigBenis@lemmy.world 77 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

"Dangerous to drivers"

Because you're going to give yourself an aneurysm over a minor inconvenience? You're in a giant suit of armor. You could hit every single one of those cyclists without sustaining even a scratch.

If the cyclists were actually dangerous to drivers, do you think the diver would be accelerating aggressively towards them?

[-] blackn1ght@feddit.uk 67 points 1 month ago

She definitely should have either stopped or gone a different route, but it is incredibly dangerous to cycle head onto incoming motor traffic. Not really a great look for the cyclists.

Better off staying in the correct lane but hogging it so vehicles had no choice but to stay behind.

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[-] BossDj@lemm.ee 57 points 1 month ago

Confused Portlander here. Why are these bikers fully clothed?

[-] TempermentalAnomaly@lemmy.world 18 points 1 month ago

After last years was cancelled, I wasn't sure if was happening this year. Apparently, a split in the org means there will be two this year.

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[-] Bakkoda@sh.itjust.works 17 points 1 month ago

And ignoring a lot of traffic laws?

[-] TeddE@lemmy.world 51 points 1 month ago

It's a protest. Showing how dangerous the streets are to cyclists (and how many cyclists use the roads) is the message. A protest that challenges law and inconveniences people peacefully is how they garner attention (hopefully as a prelude to change and improvements).

So yeah, ignoring a lot of traffic laws.

[-] Bakkoda@sh.itjust.works 21 points 1 month ago

Thank you. It was an honest question, downvotes are fuckin hilarious lol

[-] BossDj@lemm.ee 22 points 1 month ago

I apologize as someone who fully thought you knew it was a protest and were just being a snarky ass opposed to their cause and sent you a down vote.

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[-] glitchdx@lemmy.world 45 points 1 month ago

lots of people in this thread that don't understand how protests work.

[-] spankmonkey@lemmy.world 43 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

While she is clearly a dumbass for not just parking and waiting, why is the bike ride taking up all of the lanes in both directions? Was the street blocked off and this lady ignored it?

Why was there an oncoming car in her lane?

This really needs context.

[-] Trainguyrom@reddthat.com 47 points 1 month ago

The OP has some context but Lemmy is bad about showing the text included with a media post so it's easy to miss. The OP states it's a "critical mass" protest where large numbers of cyclists reclaim the street to demand better bicycle infrastructure

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[-] philthi@lemmy.world 42 points 1 month ago

I agree that more bike lanes are needed and also cyclists need to be treated with the respect any life demands.

But flipping off a driver or generally blaming people who drive is fighting the wrong fight. I drive a car, I also cycle, being in a car doesn't make me anti-bike.

Fight the government - flip off the government - that is refusing to put in safe infrastructure for the bikes (with protests like this, of course. But don't flip off the driver, at best it does nothing, at worst it widens the gap between both groups and makes it easier to dehumanize and villianize the cyclists).

[-] theacharnian@lemmy.ca 42 points 1 month ago

This isn't about flipping off a driver. This is flipping off a bad driver who doesn't understand that what they're doing is unsafe. They're flipping off bad behaviour.

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[-] noname_yet2077@lemmy.world 32 points 1 month ago

Idiots in cars, idiots on bikes. Hell yeah I'm pro bikes but setting a wheel on incoming lane? Yeaah.. no thanks, I'm fine

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[-] PumpkinSkink@lemmy.world 30 points 1 month ago

Imo it looks remarkably safe as long as we ignore the person in the car driving into oncoming traffic.

[-] durfenstein@lemmy.world 24 points 1 month ago

With her smartphone out, recording.

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[-] Monstrosity@lemm.ee 27 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

ITT: confounded folks who live in areas where Critical Mass events don't take place.

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[-] OpenPassageways@lemmy.zip 26 points 1 month ago

Protesting the lack of safety for riders by being unsafe riders? I don't think the best way to convince the public that cyclists can be safely integrated into traffic is to purposefully create dangerous situations.

[-] mic_check_one_two@lemmy.dbzer0.com 36 points 1 month ago

Ah yes, the inevitable “protests should only happen when it’s convenient for everyone and 100% approved by the authorities” comment.

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[-] MBech@feddit.dk 23 points 1 month ago

Sure, fuck cars and all that, but jesus that is a stupid way to protest. Being very squishy and in low visibility (because it's night), riding slowly while blocking all lanes. Sure, I support their cause, they probably DO need better bicycle infrastructure, but ffs, don't put your fucking life on the line like this. All it takes is 1 lunatic who roadrages, and you're dead.

[-] Ideonek@lemm.ee 23 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Isn't this true for all protests? My understanding is that people who do them doesn't agree to live with in the constrains drawn by small number of raging lunatics with oppression tools. That's why they organize. Into masses.

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[-] CBYX@feddit.org 22 points 1 month ago

And recording while driving...

[-] Ibuthyr@lemmy.wtf 22 points 1 month ago

I'm all for bike activism and fuck cars. But what they're doing is illegal and the driver likely had no idea what's happening. If they weren't riding the wrong way, then everything would have been perfectly legal (at least here in Germany). As long as the cyclists form a mass, they're considered one long vehicle and can even pass red lights that way, as long as the first person did so with a green light. But riding on the wrong side of the road and expecting everyone to know what is going on is kind of a dick move and just brings more hate on cyclists.

[-] petrol_sniff_king 22 points 1 month ago

Running people over is also illegal. A defensive driver would stop and wait for the road obstruction to clear, or take a wide-berth, safe alternative path around it.

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[-] jagged_circle@feddit.nl 20 points 1 month ago

It doesn't matter if a protest is legal. The word you're looking for is "non violent"

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[-] recall519@lemm.ee 17 points 1 month ago

Honestly, this was fine. She went through slowly and she's understandably annoyed. She doesn't her car being hit.

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this post was submitted on 07 Jun 2025
601 points (100.0% liked)

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