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PaperclipPerfector  1mo ago (text post)   28444 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of September 2, 2024

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It seems that the main difference between bikes and motorized vehicles is speed, and that's also the main difference between different types of roadways- highways go faster than main roads go faster than side streets go faster than residential streets. It's perfectly reasonable for a typical cyclist to ride on residential or side streets but not main roads, and only the most elite cyclists ever have any business going on the highway.

only the most elite cyclists ever have any business going on the highway.

Honestly, highways are much safer for cycling than a lot of main roads. They tend to have wide shoulders and long sightlines, making it easier to stay out of traffic and maintain visibility. Main roads often have limited room on the side and blind curves that can send motorists a little over the edge; add in traffic and it can be pretty nerve wracking. Even country roads can be bad, because people fly on them without regard for other traffic, let alone bicycles.

Even country roads can be bad, because people fly on them without regard for other traffic, let alone bicycles.

i'd endorse most of this post, but ime the rural roads around me are actually pretty friendly because it's easy to pass in the oncoming lane and people are used to passing tractors going from field to field, and honestly if you're in a hurry there are state highways and interstates to take instead. obviously not universal.

My experience in midwestern corn country is that it's a big flat grid where you can pretty much see to the horizon when the stalks aren't up, see cross traffic coming from miles away, and know that there are no cops because there's nowhere to set up a trap and not enough traffic to make it worthwhile anyway. As a result, you can basically drive as fast as your balls will let you, knowing that no one will ever make it to you in time if you manage to somehow wipe out going in a straight line. Trying to drive anywhere near the posted speed limit just means you occasionally get blown past by irritated locals.

Mind you I'm talking real Children of the Corn territory, well away from population centers. The kind of countryside where roads have reference numbers rather than names and you're eerily aware that this isn't the wilderness, but isn't really civilization either. It's fantastic, you can go fast as fuck and make better time than if you were on a freeway where traffic and construction existed.

Of course when the stalks are up, you have to keep your dick in your pants a bit, but during the winter and early spring if the pavement is dry it's basically the autobahn.

There's another rather major difference between main roads and side streets, and that's that the main roads go through. I live between two ridges; all the roads (except the highway) which cross the summits are "main streets", so is the road along the eastern summit and so is the road that goes along the valley. The side streets are mostly just little networks that either lead to the main roads or dead end without going far. The one partial exception which parallels a large section of the valley road is rather unpleasant to bike on because it's covered in speed bumps to keep people from taking it as an alternative to the valley road.

So, if you want to actually go anywhere, you will be on the main roads.

speed, and that's also the main difference between different types of roadways

I'm not at all sure about this (lots of main roads move pretty damn slow through town, lots of country two-lanes with driveways entering them where everyone does 70 in good weather, classification by density of access points or something like that seems a good deal more rigorous), and I don't think your conclusion makes sense either. How well slower vehicles mesh with everything else is going to depend much more on how much of everything else there is, how many lanes there are, what the shoulder looks like, and infrastructure for overtaking (passing lanes, sight lines, etc) than it will on speed alone.

Well yes, bike lanes, wide shoulders, etc, make slower bike traffic mesh better with main roads- this is probably why the main road in my neighborhood has such wide shoulders(many of the boarders cannot afford cars). But those dirt-poor boarders who need their bikes to commute to wherever they work don't go on the highway and stay out of the left lane, because they will never go fast enough and they're smart enough to take some responsibility for not getting run over.

It seems that the main difference between bikes and motorized vehicles is speed,

I am a novice to this debate, but why wouldn't two other relevant differences be stability (cars don't fall over or spill their driver/occupants onto the pavement nearly as easily as two-wheeled vehicles) and occupant safety features (seat belts, air bags, crumple zones, etc.)?

Another difference is the amount and types of data to be processed by the driver/rider.

As a person with high-functioning autism, I’ve been blessed with a computer mind and very few sensory issues. I’m a car driver with no blemishes on my record and a good feel for safety.

However, I didn’t learn how to ride a bike until the age of 21 due to severe autism-related clumsiness. The person who taught me was surprised when I wasn’t able to do with my left side what I could do on my right. He said it was the first time he truly knew I had a disability.

I wouldn’t survive a week on the bike lanes and intersections of Albuquerque.

and occupant safety features (seat belts, air bags, crumple zones, etc.)?

Besides thicker clothing and a better helmet wouldn't motorbikes be the same as bikes under this standard?

Sure.

Hence why I said motorized vehicles, not cars. Motorcycles use the highway uncontroversially.

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