You think cyclists don’t understand that they’re in danger? What kind of condescending bullshit is this?

MAGA?

I was riding into work the morning a woman got right hooked by a box truck on Addison and Damen. Drivers just flat out don’t have any awareness of bicycles unless they have a close call. The habit of doing something like looking over you left shoulder before you get out of your car just isn’t taught.

Exactly! And most bikers are not texting, etc. while riding in traffic. 

Counterpoint. If there were no bikes, there wouldn’t be any bike deaths.

By the way, Patrick, the piece itself is wonderful, and should probably be required reading at drivers’ ed.

I’ve been a commuting cyclist in Chicago for over a decade. I’ve been hit a few times and had 2-3x as many close calls. I pass ghost bikes (white-painted memorials for cyclists murdered on the city’s streets) daily and it never gets any less haunting. What makes me ache even more about every preventable death…

Didn’t you get the memo? It’s 2019, and weighing differing points of an issue of social consequence is just so pre-21st century.

All street parking, especially in downtown cores, should be removed. It occupies wasted space that causes more traffic problems than it solves “This unused lane of traffic, oh shit a parked car, now i have to try and get out” “this is a nice drive. OH SHIT *swerves* as someone who parked on the street just opened…

Bikers who ride dangerously can’t kill anyone else. Cars that drive dangerously can and do.

In Holland (mostly Amsterdam, probably) they teach people to open their driver door with their right hand, as it forces the driver to look back when opening their door so they don’t wack bikers. It would be a good idea if we taught people this in America - especially in older cities with narrow road ways, like NYC. 

Since we’re generalizing to all cyclists and car drivers.... let’s remember that when a car driver does stupid shit to a cyclist, cyclist gets killed. When a cyclist does stupid shit to a car, maybe a dent.

Bikes don’t kill people. Cars do. 

It’s extremely rare that a cyclist puts anyone in danger by not being “experienced in driving in traffic.” It’s even more rare that a cyclist would put anyone besides themselves in danger by doing so. On the other hand, car drivers are piloting around several tons of metal at very high speeds, so when they fuck up…

I live and bike commute in a midwest college town. Local cops park in the bike lane to speed trap. I gave a “what the hell?” arm wave one day when passing around a parked cop car that was particularly hard to see because of lighting conditions and dense morning car traffic. The cop followed me all the way into my…

In the 90's she convinced a group of HIV/AIDS patients that they could beat AIDS if they just believed hard enough.

God is the candle, the soul is the flame, and you are the wax stains on my new tablecloth.

I have one, and I know of a few more in the neighborhood, so I'm assuming she has all the rest.

She wants your perception to shift!

Don’t forget Thor gets super cool lines carved into his hair in Ragnarok!