FELLOW AMERICANS I HAVE A QUESTION.



Zobius

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Jun 4, 2014
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Is it me or are motorists in our country are very, very ignorant of our laws? I say this because me (living in Western New York) finds that even in a bike lane I am shouted at to get on the sidewalk, even when I am going 25+ MPH. Is this around the country? Or just a New York thing? Also one other thing, what would a decent but cheap Action cam I can mount on my helmet?
 
you live in New York, that should explain everything. I get the very rare yell at me to ride on the sidewalk but I'm from Indiana and we aren't all that educated here! I usually yell back: "I'm on the street because most of you idiots drive on the sidewalk", that usually gets some really odd looks from those dopes.
 
It's not just NY, it's all of New England and everywhere else in the country that the majority of the population isn't cyclists. Perfect reason to move somewhere more bike friendly.
 
Last time someone said that, it was a woman with CT plates driving a Jeep Commander. "You should be on a bike trail". My reply: "Lady, this is a ROAD bike. You're driving an off-road vehicle. Which one of us should be on a trail somewhere?"

That ended the discussion.
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This is funny, yeah there are some entitlement issues with drivers here in NY. Road rage is quite an epidemic. A camera on your helmet now that would be fun with the way people drive. Maybe you can find something for the handlebars, but I guess it would be like a bird's eye view on the helmet. A quick easy way would be to hang it on your neck with a shorter loop. It would move more, but it doesn't cost much to do that. This is a good invention if they don't already make it. Like an apparatus that sits around the neck that holds it out. It would be as steady as your body is. This way you could glance down & see the screen once and awhile
 
Personally, I've found cab drivers (honestly, the one's with the most to lose if you consider the cost of a medallion but i digress) are the WORST at understanding the law. They are also particularly aggressive as if I were carrying a rickshaw as I rode to steal their customers. It's always driven me insane.

As far as a cam goes, cheap always leaves you wanting. I have an early GoPro that I'm particularly happy with & didn't blow my arm off with it's shotgun pricing.
 
AyeYo said:
It's not just NY, it's all of New England and everywhere else in the country that the majority of the population isn't cyclists. Perfect reason to move somewhere more bike friendly.
Where in the US is the majority of the people cyclists? B) BTW: NY is not part of New England.

Boston MA and NY NY are usually in the top 20 bike friendly cities for the US. I have homes in NH, MT, and TX and by far TX is the worst in my experience for cyclists vs motorists. I frequently ride in MA and NY, DC, MD, and VA and they are for the most part...in my experience pretty firendly.
 
mpre53 said:
Last time someone said that, it was a woman with CT plates driving a Jeep Commander. "You should be on a bike trail". My reply: "Lady, this is a ROAD bike. You're driving an off-road vehicle. Which one of us should be on a trail somewhere?"

That ended the discussion.
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LOL hahaha. That is a great response, it deserves to be recording in a history book somewhere.

I find drivers everywhere suck. Each place has it's own little quirks. Here in Ontario 95% of drivers don't understand proper highway lane usage, you get grandma going under the speed limit in the left lane.
I find most American's don't use their turn signal indicators. I asked a guy in Florida once why this was and he plainly told me "I know where I am going so I don't need to signal."
As a motorist, motorcyclist and cyclist who knows most people are not paying attention, this answer irradiated me. It's all about letting traffic know where you are planning to go.
 
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I have run into the same ignorance here in Florida. I can't even blame the worst incident on New Yorkers ( we get a lot of those here in Florida), the worst offender was a young African American woman who insisted that the law required for me to ride onthe sidewalk.

I should mention that the road in front of my house does not have bike lanes and only has a sidewalk on one side. A few months ago I was returning from the nearby Grocery store during rush hour (my road can be busy at times) and decided to use the sidewalk. I was actually hit at a side-road by a careless undercover Deputy. The sheriff's bepartment bought me a new Raleigh bicycle.
 
Here, nobody wants a cyclist on the sidewalk because there's a lot of pedestrians, especially in downtown, where bikes and anything with wheels are not allowed on the sidewalk. I have been yelled at ringet in the bike lane where there is no bike lane though. Believe me, if there was one, I would not be in the car lane.
Here, nobody wants a cyclist on the sidewalk because there's a lot of pedestrians, especially in downtown, where bikes and anything with wheels are not allowed on the sidewalk. I have been yelled at ringet in the bike lane where there is no bike lane though. Believe me, if there was one, I would not be in the car lane.
 

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