Welcome to Spare The Road

Spare the Road is a blog dedicated to getting annoying cyclists off the streets for the safety of everyone and betterment of society.

Mar 2, 2012

Don't Do it For Me, Do it For Your Family


One thing I do for this site is check the news for cycling articles to comment on. I mainly look for political stuff to show you guys where cyclists are trying to get dangerous new laws passed in their favor. Unfortunately mostly what I find is story after story about someone who was riding a bike and was hurt or killed. I rarely comment or link about these articles because I do not want to make the suffering for these people’s families any worse. The last thing I want is someone to Google their dead father’s wife’s name and find me ranting about cyclist. 

But once or twice a week while looking for incidents to comment on, this is mostly what I find. And the question is why? Are all these accidents the fault of the cyclist or cyclists involved? No, even though, as we’ve discussed before, cyclists do often cause accidents on purpose, it is not always the case. And in some incidents the cyclists may have been, at least at the time of the accident, following the rules of the road. But pretend for a second no cyclists went around and purposefully broke traffic laws and cause accidents, there would still be many of them dying. Again I ask why? 


Because accidents happen, that is why. We are human and we make mistakes, be it behind the wheel or behind the handlebars. But when it comes to an accident between a car and a bike, the car is always going to win. It doesn’t matter whose fault it was, the person on that bike is going to be far more injured than the one driving the car. And when you are riding that bike on high speed, high traffic roads, the injuries are going to be even worse.

Try to Google stories about kids on bikes getting killed in accidents with motor vehicles. There are some sure, but it’s fraction of the stories you find about accidents involving adults wearing spandex and riding a bike that cost more than their car. We know the reason for this as well. Kids ride their bikes in safe areas and they pay attention to the cars on the road. Cyclists ride in incredibly dangerous places and do so while assuming no one is ever remotely distracted while driving. 

And that is why it is so sad to have to read these stories on a consistent basis. Many of these deaths could have been prevented. These people decided that, for whatever reason, they should ride a bike on major roads with speed limits up to 55 MPH. Whether the fault of the accident is of someone in a car or not, you cannot excuse someone who would do this from blame. If I play Russian Roulette and lose, I can’t blame the gun. 

Please, please get off the roads. As sad and lonely as you may be, there has to be someone who cares about you to some degree. Even if your mom is the last person on Earth who will talk to you, and even she is constantly disappointed in you, she is probably going to be sad you are gone. Maybe someone at work will notice if you are gone, even if only because they noticed that, upon arriving to the office, their trash had not been emptied the night before. Thank about these people and the suffering they must endure if you are killed while riding your bike. Is it worth it? Just to cheese off some cagers? No, it’s not. If you want to ride your bike, there are trails, or just ride around your neighborhood on low volume, low speed roads. Ride it there. Thank you.

23 comments:

  1. I am amazed at your one-sided comments and rantings as you hid behind your keyboard. Not looking at the good things that cycling groups actually do. You MUST have had a bad experience at some point with someone on a bicycle.

    I too get the attitude from those "weekend warriors" or "spandex warriors" or "Lance Armstrong Wannabes". But I use mine as a commuter and everyday errand machine. I do manage to save a TON of cash on fuel costs.

    Try and take a look at the GOOD stuff out there as well. You might find it rather interesting.

    ReplyDelete
  2. This guy writing this blog is a moron. Nobody reads it or comments on it except if you are led here by accident. Bicycles have a legal right to use the road, distracted driving is against the law thus negating your accident claim. 98% of all "accidents "can be avoided by following the law, an accident while breaking the law ie :distracted driving, not passing safely ...is not an accident.it would be preventable. I have been in the transportation industry over 32 years and you are one of the most dangerous drivers out there with your me only attitude. Share the road, it was built for everybody and drive legally, that means paying attention at ALL times.

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    Replies
    1. I love how you call the author a moron yet you were unable to comprehend the message of the blog post. No matter "who is right" the cyclist is the one who bears the ultimate effect of an accident involving an automobile (of any size). Obviously cyclist are people who care deeply about their health, why risk injury and or death when there are safer alternatives?

      No need to answer Don the Cyclist, I tend to believe I know the answer...............a selfish need to put ones "hobbies" over the well being of themselves, their families and the folks who use driving as a means.

      Delete
    2. Cyclists are not only people who care about their health but about the environment as well. I don't own a car. I choose to bike as my form of transit because my city's transit system is slow and corrupt. I choose not to drive because I don't enjoy being stuck in traffic, missing out on time that I could be spending with my family.

      It's not a hobby. It's my life. Get over yourself. Learn how to share the road. I feel like I, as a cyclist, have been more accommodating. Unlike the jackass who parked in the bike line, pulled out when I tried to go around her, HIT ME with her SUV and DROVE AWAY. While I was lying in the middle of the road.

      Just remember that cyclists are people with lives. I am a mother. A wife. A daughter. A sister. A friend. I am a PERSON with rights.

      Delete
  3. To whom writes this pathetic blog, you are a jackass and desperately need to grow up. It is dimwitted people like yourself that causes injury and death.

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  4. This is a joke, right? Nobody is actually stupid enough to believe any of this are they? You're just writing this blog to jerk some chains, cause a little friction. Correct?

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  5. A Cyclist and Environmentalist to the CoreMarch 4, 2012 at 10:43 AM

    Again, more written evidence that the gene pool needs a bit of chlorine!

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  6. wow what an incredible waste of internet space........

    Maybe all cyclists should buy semi trucks and run this loser over driving his ford taurus...... then the cyclists can write a nice blog about pushing ford taurus's off the road... it might be more interesting.

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  7. Your use of the expression "douche bag" is hateful. Your prejudice toward the British is hateful. Your attitude towards cyclists is aggressive. I fear that there are others like you. Do you believe that this blog is helpful or instructive? I feel sorry for your children. Cyclists do not kill automobilists; bad drivers kill cyclists. Freedom of speech is a wonderful thing, because we can see what the enemy thinks. You are an enemy of rational society.

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  8. I wonder if you realize the subjectivity of your judgement.
    Could you please put some effort into understanding cyclists?

    Thanks.

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  9. Somewhere out there is a trucker's blog who is writing about that moron in the car who is purposefully causing accidents by cutting off a loaded 80,000 truck on the highway, and how cars have no business being on the interstates. He would be just as wrong as you are. Weight in pounds doesn't make for right.

    If YOU want to be able to use the roadways, then you must allow everyone else who has a right to the road the use of the roadway without prejudice as well, and YOU drive YOUR vehicle accordingly. Motorists can't control anyone's vehicle but their own. And they just don't do it very well.

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  10. Replies
    1. That's the BEST you can do? No support of the "facts" as you have presented them? I suppose that you are simply looking for a little bit of attention and are nothing more than a very sad and lonely internet troll.

      Delete
  11. Excellent write-up. I agree whole-heartedly with your comments. These inconsiderate bikers need to get off the road.

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  12. Lol @ all you idiot bikers that came here to comment on this article. My god cyclists really are idiots.

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  13. I don't understand the hostility. People freely admit that motorcycles are dangerous because in the event of an accident the rider has no protection. So why lash out at a guy for saying the same is true of bicycles? When riding a bike among motor vehicles safety is obviously a concern.

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  14. Cyclists in most states have a right to be on the roads. What's so hard about understanding that?

    If you see someone riding a bike instead of driving a car, know that they are patriots who are reducing our economic and national security risk exposure. Even Robert Gates will tell you that;

    http://secureenergy.org/projects/oil-shockwave

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  15. There are about 1 Billion bicycles in the world. If we all traded them in for cars the bike free roads you want would be so congested, it would be quicker to walk.

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  16. We should also give up flying...

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  17. Troll.

    Meanwhile, I bike all over the place, enjoying the fresh breeze and sunshine, exercising my body so that I am in excellent physical/mental/emotional shape.

    Enjoy your loneliness behind that keyboard and windshield. This is so sad, it's almost funny, but almost not...What a strange and sad person you must be.

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  18. The telling thing here is the author of these lame posts keeps his or her indentity secret. If you can't put your name on it, it must be worthless, and the author a coward.

    I dare the author to publicize his identify: let's see if the coward comes out of the shadows... I doubt it.


    Signed,

    Tim Guthrie

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  19. Calling out a man for "hiding behind a keyboard" by...typing on a keyboard. Irony or hypocrisy? I say both. I never knew that cyclists were opponents of free speech.

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