Old man runs motorcyclist off road. Says "I don't care."

[TragicMonkey]

A man in a white car?

That pretty much nails it...

O.J.!!!!

 

[Lerxst]

You saw a sidewalk in Texas?

Yessir. This is a big city and we have those in these here parts.

 

[Lerxst]

Don't know about Texas, but in a lot of places it's illegal to ride your bike on the sidewalk.

A lot of drivers seem to be unaware of this. Or oblivious.

It varies from city to city, most of the bigger ones ban bicycles on sidewalks.

but yeah, that is usually what the driver exclaims after running over the cyclist.

BUT HE WAS IN THE ROAD!!!

 

[Travis]

Don't know about Texas, but in a lot of places it's illegal to ride your bike on the sidewalk.

A lot of drivers seem to be unaware of this. Or oblivious.

They just don't want cyclists to exist. After all Real Americans™ drive pick up trucks with stencils on the side for how many queer-o-sexuals they have run down.

 

[The Don]

I don't picture the UK as having such blazing-sun blindness, but I could be wrong.

Why not ?

It gets particularly bad when the road is wet. I used to travel on the M4 motorway which runs East/West and during spring and autumn would often get the double whammy of a rising or setting sun right on the horizon and right in my sight line combined with a wet and shiny road and/or spray being thrown up by other vehicles.

So glad I don't have that journey so much these days.

 

[Flo]

They just don't want cyclists to exist. After all Real Americans™ drive pick up trucks with stencils on the side for how many queer-o-sexuals they have run down.

It's unfortunately not limited to American motorists owning big cars ...

 

[3point14]

Which is so odd. If I'm on a rather open road and you pass me I think of you as running radar cover for me. So long as you are up ahead going faster I'm less likely to get nicked.

Always good to have somone more nickable just in front of you, yes

I do get peaved when sitting in traffic and some idiot comes running up the shoulder as if the rest of us just aren't trying hard enough to move ahead. But those idiots are always in cars.

When I see bikes splitting in my rearview I give them room. Even if they are stunting or being stupid. I don't want to clean up the mess.

If the rider's not an idiot, why not let them pass, they're not using up any of the road I'm wanting to use.

If the rider is an idiot then I want them as far away from me as possible and letting them pass achieves that.

 

[bluesjnr]

As far as the truck driver blinded by the sun - in the UK? Not what I would expect. In the U.S. Southwest I have been instantly and terrifyingly blinded and it can be a serious problem. I don't picture the UK as having such blazing-sun blindness, but I could be wrong.

I'm embarrassed for you. This represents a staggering level of ignorance.

 

[Dr. Keith]

FIFY

But of course. Thank you!

As a former bike rider, I really do think more about the injury, but even if one were to discount the rider as sub-human, the headache of getting into such a wreck must be some deterrent, no?

Always good to have somone more nickable just in front of you, yes

If the rider's not an idiot, why not let them pass, they're not using up any of the road I'm wanting to use.

If the rider is an idiot then I want them as far away from me as possible and letting them pass achieves that.

Yep.

 

[Jrrarglblarg]

We do have sun here, believe it or not. I even own sunglasses.

I am lead to believe it might even be the same sun you guys have in the US.

We let you borrow it when we want a spot of rain.

 

[Jrrarglblarg]

I'm embarrassed for you. This represents a staggering level of ignorance.

Is is, in fact, an actual fallacy called Agument From Staggering Level of Ignorance.

 

[ponderingturtle]

Have you watch the motorcycle crashes on Youtube? Flat spins, vertical spins (a triple!), a guy getting side punched and going down, followed immediately by a dump truck running over him. Sixty miles an hour into a stationary cage. Every nightmare a rider has ever had, you can see real world examples.

Plowing into the back of a car pulling over and stopping at a bus stop. All the riders in that thread(not here) made it clear that it was totally the cars fault as well.

 

[bluesjnr]

There is a Facebook page called "Idiot Drivers UK", or similar. On that page people post dashcam videos of scrapes they have been in. It's strange that the only people who respond are excellent drivers, innocent of any bad habits, bastions of The Highway Code and all red hot lawyers to boot. I see a similarity here.

Seems to bring them out, I guess.

I have been banned previously under the totting up procedure. I have also been charged with dangerous driving (undertaking) which was reduced to careless driving by the Sheriff Court (8 points). I drive around 40,000 miles annually and due to a stint in the Royal Corp of Transport have, at one time, been licensed to drive HGV class one as well as motorcycles above 125cc. In short, there isn't much I haven't driven at one stage of my life and I've probably done more miles in reverse than a lot of you have going forward. All of this should, according the unwritten internet rule of argument from experience, make me a great driver. It doesn't, I'm terrible. I drive too fast, too close, too tired, too carelessly and just too much as if the road is there for me and the rest of you should get the **** out my way.

I have had the urge to steamroll over some cyclist or motorcyclist for a variety of reasons, but it passes immediately. If somebody wants past me, I let them through, if I can. I'm not there to enforce speed limits or any other rules, it's a pity so many feel they are and that's what leads to incidences like the one being discussed here.

That's my argument for being an ******** and a **** driver. If everybody was, we'd all be more bloody careful.

 

[deadrose]

GB has the same sort of sun problems as Seattle I'd imagine. When you live in a relatively northerly place, the sun doesn't get that high in the sky, especially in winter. Add to that the freshly washed air and often-wet pavement and driving in a direction between ESE and WSW is often blinding.

Add to that sensitive eyes from living in a near-twilight world most of the winter and you find out why Seattle has the highest per-capita consumption of sunglasses in the US. They're easy to misplace during those 8 week long glooms (or while skiing/boating/hiking/etc for the more active sorts).

Seems as if that sort of problem would apply to the countries lying north of us as well.

 

[jimbob]

GB has the same sort of sun problems as Seattle I'd imagine. When you live in a relatively northerly place, the sun doesn't get that high in the sky, especially in winter. Add to that the freshly washed air and often-wet pavement and driving in a direction between ESE and WSW is often blinding.

Add to that sensitive eyes from living in a near-twilight world most of the winter and you find out why Seattle has the highest per-capita consumption of sunglasses in the US. They're easy to misplace during those 8 week long glooms (or while skiing/boating/hiking/etc for the more active sorts).

Seems as if that sort of problem would apply to the countries lying north of us as well.

Pretty much - of course Seattle is about the latitude of the Loire, in the middle of France, so it is probably more of a problem, Rolling hills can also make the problem worse if a road is in the wrong place for some time of day/year.