Los Altos looking into banning bicycles

the bicyclists seem to have made a problem for them selves
with all the acting out that they like to do. I for one see the
restriction as a good thing

Small cars too. They are too slow and in the way. It's their own fault if they want to insist on their rights against a vehicle three times as heavy.

you come up on cars outta nowhere. cars already navigate complex traffic situations, under constant threat of severe physical and financial consequences for the slightest of mistakes. guess what: no automotive driver wants to hit anyone or anything! the rage you sometimes experience from drivers is a by product of the anxiety that they'll do just that-- because you came out of nowhere, and at least some of you (admit it) fuck with drivers in a war of nerves.

such consequences as these sorts of citizen-driven restrictions and bans are the predictable enough result. consider yourself cared about!

we have at least as much rights to the road(if not more) bikes don't spread cancer!
as far as I am concerned we have full rights to the freeways as well. after all we paid for them.

to the best of my knowledge, it is not virtue that entitles one to the road.

if you can't learn to share nicely, you should expect some trouble. that's not a threat, it's a reflection on the nature of things.

i am searching the web for the title of this purported article and i am not finding anything except for this post to indybay, and one to santa barbara (?) indymedia.

What is it that is so bad (threatening?) about bicycling that makes drivers hate cyclists so much?

You get out there on your bike, and you're in the fresh air (if you're not stuck behind a diesel truck or a line of traffic), you're getting exercise, your bike was built with far less materials than your neighbor's car, it uses less fuel, and it still allows you to slow down and chat with the neighbors.

In some cities, you can get places a lot faster by bike- hence, the use of bike messengers.

The thing that I don't get about cars is, what gives people this sense of entitlement that means that EVERYBODY has to have a car, it's their god-given right, and there's got to be something wrong with people who either choose not to drive, or can't afford a car?!

Every time I get on my bike, in San Francisco, Oakland, or Berkeley, even if I'm only riding ONE mile, I am nearly hit by some part of a car. Either it's someone opening the driver's side door into the bike lane, or someone who's not looking where they're going, or someone who doesn't bother to stop all the way at a stop sign to look around and make sure it's safe to go (am i the only one who paid attention in driver's ed?), or someone who can't be bothered to use their turn signal before a. entering traffic or b. turning.

So please don't say that we don't share nicely. The cars don't share nicely.

And the fact is, CARS HAVE NO FUTURE. Human-powered (and animal-powered) transportation existed before cars, and it will outlast them, but we'll have to navigate around tons of abandoned car dinosaur bodies. How much money are you willing to pay for your gas? How much for insurance? How often do you have to replace your car due to a pileup like the one in the picture above? How much longer till you go crazy from sitting in traffic? (at least you can breathe, with your air conditioning and vent. we're basically sucking on exhaust pipe) Which takes up more space in the landfill-- a broken car frame, or a broken bike frame? Which breaks down faster? Probably the smaller item.

Even this website i found when i googled sometihng about car exhaust says, "Vehicles possess two exactly opposite qualities. One is being useful, friendly, and attractive. The other one is being destructive and to some extent, being lethal. The reason for owning a car may vary according to the person.... Everyone is aware of the pollution the environment is currently suffering from. The more cars operating in a community increases the chance of pollution. Looking closely at this case creates the realization that the pollution brought about by the vehicle exhausts threatens those innocent souls who inhale them as well as the environment itself. Clearly enough though, the number of vehicles continues to escalate despite the government efforts of antipollution measures and required devices. For one, the United States and Canada are faced with the dilemma of hazardous exhausts mainly because of the reason that car nowadays are becoming bigger. Also, pickup trucks, vans, and sports vehicles are now produced to replace smaller and lighter passenger cars. The exhaust produced by all combustion engines deliberately produces adverse effects both on the health of car users and the plain bystanders. " (http://www.carpartswholesale.com/cpw/exhaust.html)

guess what, the bikes aren't getting bigger. although i do sometimes find that the bike parking at a store is being taken up by some jerk's motorcycle.

http://www.footprintnetwork.org/ what's your footprint? mine's an appalling 9. if everyone lived like me, we'd need 2 planets to support us all.

notice, if you will, how discussions about sharing the road, and a bit of mutual respect that includes bicyclists respecting the situation of the automotive driver, can so quickly turn into these long rants by some of the bike folks about the eeeeevils of other people in their cars.

that means these arent really discussions at all. and whose fault is that?

if you wonder why some car people get upset at some bike people, take a look at this thread and ponder. clue: car people dont hate bikes, just because some bike people hate cars. this is a kind of projection on the part of some bike people. as clearly indicated, car people dont want to hit you-- the consequences are too great, and it's that simple. do you want them to hit you, so that they can feel shame and you can feel righteous martyrdom? so you can have a reason to yell at them in public? so your anticar obsessions can be vindicated in the theater of your own experience?

yes? why is that some driver's job, rather than your therapist's?

no? well then, why do you want to pick fights with car people? that doesn't seem like a very good way to make friends.

ps: if bikes have the right to the road, then please, as a pedestrian, allow me to encourage you to take full advantage of that right, and keep those bikes off the sidewalks! where they are a menace to kids, old peeps, and others with limited abilities and/or special needs. also, don't forget to stop at stop signs, wait for green lights, and otherwise act like the vehicles some of you keep yelling at cars that you are.

pps: also, please, keep off the escalators, out of crowded cars, and out of the doorways on bart! we can all see the virtue you literally possess, we dont need constant inconvenience, poky edges, and dirty tires on our work clothes to remind us. please remember, it's everyone else's environment too. thanks! have a nice day!

keep those bikes off the sidewalks!

who are you to impose your rules on the cyclists of the bay area. I will ride where ever and when ever I feel like and if this upsets you than too bad. revolt is what critical mass is all about Rock ON

I am no more willing to cede the road to bicyclists than I am to cars.

It belongs to everyone.

yes go drive solo in the carpool lane and tell that to the cops.

I will be eagerly waiting for the results of your experiment.

sometimes words are different because they mean different things. roads are for everyone. highways are for cars and trucks. footpaths are for feet.

surely this is not so hard to understand.

we All seem to be in agreement that this is a good thing for every one.
besides bus travle is much safer anyway

this story is clearly a hoax!

The Sheriff's department plans to step up enforcement of road rules for
> cyclists Aug. 19 through Sept. 4.

seems you bicycle types have pissed off a lotta folks, now you have to find another place to play

If one would check the traffic statistics for this or any other city, one would see that CARS cause much more problem, injury and death than bicycles; not to mention smog with the attendant global warming. Not to mention rude behavior of drivers.

By focusing on bikes the city council is avoiding the real problem -- AUTOMOBILES.

It 's interesteing how a community in today's society could be so anti-green. More polution and oil /gas consumption is going in the wrong direction if you ask me. Banning bicycles? Amazing!

Cyclists aren't threatening, just irritating and dangerous, driving without any lights on in bad weatherconditions, agressive driving and cycling on places they just shouldn't be

<i>It 's interesteing how a community in today's society could be so anti-green. More polution and oil /gas consumption is going in the wrong direction if you ask me. Banning bicycles? Amazing!</i>

That's just bullshit. We can't do without cars and trucks anymore, fact! Pollution is a problem, but since it can't be solved by banning cars, we must look into other solutions.