[SDCBC] Pet peeve: cyclists have "no choice" but to be unsafe/crazy

[Wade Blomgren]

On Tue, Feb 26, 2008 at 9:08 AM, Serge Issakov <serge at issakov.org> wrote:

> But if the stripe were removed, the space would still be there for you to
> use.  Or do you feel that the stripe itself gives you something of value?
> I think all the stripe does is enable faster overtaking of you.


Serge,

How do you feel about fog lines?   If you had your druthers, would  you
desire that they be removed, and why?  (for the purposes of that question,
pretend there's no such thing as bicycles)  I'm not trying to be a smartass,
I'm genuinely curious.   I agree that paint does not in and of itself
protect anyone from anything, but as a driver and passenger in automobiles I
find that delineating the _intended_ use of various parts of the paved
space, whether with a double yellow line in the  middle of the road, dashed
line between lanes, fog line, "bike lane" line, etc. does tend to influence
(admittedly possibly fairly passively) the path of a typical driver.  By
typical I mean they aren't driving like it matters, they're just driving
along.   A driver who is distracted/not paying attention at the wrong moment
can kill you no matter what the pavement art looks like (and no matter where
you position yourself).   And they (we) all get distracted from time to
time...some more than others.  But if you can influence the default
trajectory of the deadly mass during the periods when it IS under the
control of the operator, it seems to me that you improve the chances that
said mass will be in a more convenient location when they aren't actively
controlling it.

Considering how poorly licensed and therefore supposedly educated drivers
handle something like a broken traffic light, I believe roads implemented as
swaths of pavement with no markings whatsoever would lead to chaos.   When
there are wide outside lines on the insides of curves with no markings of
any kind (eg. Camino Del Sur when all the paint was worn away), the default
behavior of most drivers is to cut the apex tightly, defaulting a cyclist
into a "taking the lane" position, and for the most part drivers, those who
are actually looking at the road more or less continuously, will adjust - no
problem.   It's the people driving by....feel...braille...memory...or
inadequately frequent look/adjust frequency I'm worried about.   Yes, some
of those will hit you wherever you position yourself, bike  lane  or no bike
lane.   But SOME, maybe the one that counts, will  be doing their half-assed
driving simulation more or  less constrained by the pavement markings.   In
which case, all other things being equal (no debris, no hook or front cross
opportunities, yada yada), I'd just as soon have a fog line or "bike lane
stripe" or whatever to help that idiot keep from damaging their grill with
my corpse, and I'll ride to the right of that line as they hurtle by me.
And keep an eye in my mirror for the ones who are 'driving' even less
effectively.  And come out  further left to wake them up as they approach
and so forth.  I think you and I probably _ride_ pretty much the same, I'm
just saying that I believe there is a group of drivers (I don't care if it's
1% or 40%) who are helped by pavement markings of various kinds  (whether
they deserve to be or not), and what helps them (even if not all the time)
helps me (even if not all the time).    Yes there are downsides (eg. drivers
who think if there's a bike lane you should be in it, and worse, knowing
that bike lanes exist some places if there isn't one you should be there at
all)...but those are political/emotional problems.  Soft problems.   Crap
drivers who shouldn't even be on the Disneyland Autopia, those are the ones
I want help with and simple directions (paint) are about all they
understand.

Cheers,

Wade  (who regularly swears he won't get sucked into these conversations
ever again, but just saw Rocket Science on netflix, which is in part about
debate competitions, and that must have somehow put me in the mood for some
banter)
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