Think of this as a Missed Connection.

You blew the red light east bound on Lawrence at Damen at 5:26 pm this evening.

 

There was enough time for the biker in front of me to make it half way into the intersection, northbound on Damen, before you came whizzing past my front wheel.

 

I yelled "You're an idiot!" at your big haired chick, self, and you looked back at me. I meant it!

 

I woulda testified for any of the cars, that managed to not kill you, if they had.

 

Keep riding like a tard!

love,

gabe

 

Witness bad behavior during your commute? Feel free to post. Maybe that lovely human can read it and think they are famous. Maybe you can also inspire the whole generation of kids to shower but we can start with small things.

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Sean Newby on April 18, 2019 at 3:04am

To the tool in the dark grey Mercedes E-Class (?), IL vanity license plate WEINIII:

1. Wells St is not a speedway. Slow down.

2. Bikes are allowed to take the lane. Period.

3. The law is 3 feet, not 6 inches.

If I had any doubt as to the size of your ego and the ways in which you try to inflate it, diving in to the bike lane after buzzing the Divvy rider (who I might add was completely in the bike line) is a total dick move. And I was not surprised to see you pull that stunt.

Permalink Reply by Yasmeen on April 18, 2019 at 3:27am

#3 is the worst!

Permalink Reply by Julie M. on April 18, 2019 at 10:29am

Nope, that Wien guy's a local, because I remember that I had a similar situation with him on Wells a couple of years ago.  People with vanity plates should learn to drive more courteously.  

Permalink Reply by Sean Newby on April 18, 2019 at 11:05am

or get plates that aren't so easy to remember!

i don't usually go down wells, but will now keep an eye out for him in case we cross paths in the future.

Permalink Reply by Steve Weeks on April 18, 2019 at 2:14pm

"That's a pretty nice E-class Merced you've got there... it would be a shame if something bad were to happen to it." <points to handlebar end>

Permalink Reply by Tom A.K. on April 18, 2019 at 2:49pm
Permalink Reply by David S. on April 19, 2019 at 1:24pm


How many deaths annually are caused by passenger rail (subway, metro, commuter, inter-city, and long-distance)? How is the war on autos faring?

Permalink Reply by Steve Weeks on April 19, 2019 at 2:16pm

Guy on bike going the wrong way on the Jackson Blvd bike lane...

Me: "Wrong way, pal."

Him: (unintelligible)

A couple blocks later he has chased me down(!)

Him: "There's no bike lane going the other way."

Me: "It's a one-way street."

Him: "How am I supposed to get around?"

Me: "Find another street. Like cars do."

Him: (turns around, back to the wrong way)

Me: continues to train station, SMH.

Permalink Reply by David S. on April 19, 2019 at 5:07pm

Re: Wrong way on one-ways. They're only the wrong way until someone gets around to painting the bike-path in the opposite direction. See, e.g., Wood St. near Milwaukee, Berteau, etc.

Permalink Reply by David S. on April 19, 2019 at 6:11pm

How about this: When there is as much money poured into bike infrastructure as there is for cars, then bikes can obey all the rules of the road. This applies to one-ways, stop signs, red lights, etc., etc.

Permalink Reply by David S. on April 20, 2019 at 12:53am

Just to get started with a response:

David, that graph shows remarkable improvement in deaths per motor vehicle mile.  

That is certainly one story to read from this data. Here is another. Let's assume an average of 30,000 deaths per year in the US going back to 1919. Let's use 1919 just to make it an even 100 years of data. Then the total deaths by auto in the last 100 years is going to be 30k x 100 = 3,000,000. Three million. To put this number in perspective, according to this article, although it is certainly hard to pin down, the total number of US soldiers dying in all wars since the founding of the US is somewhere between 600k and over 1 million. Of course, this number does not represent civilian casualties. So, only in the past 100 years, this technology has managed to kill roughly three times more Americans than all the US soldiers in all wars in US history.

This is just deaths. And this does not include premature death caused by lack of exercise, exposure to exhaust, etc. Additionally, millions of Americans every year experience life-altering injuries due to being involved in some way with auto accidents. These are not only incredibly traumatic events but also are the cause of long-lasting disabilities, both mental and physical.

Permalink Reply by David S. on April 20, 2019 at 3:41pm

Jane Jacobs: "Not TV or illegal drugs but the automobile has been the chief destroyer of American communities.”

Per Wikipedia (motor vehicle fatalities in the US by year), pedestrian deaths are included in annual fatalities and make up 16% of all traffic deaths in 2017. Takeaway: At city speeds, motor vehicles are extremely dangerous.

KG: There's no question that travel is itself dangerous...

Travel itself is quite safe, especially when done over short distances. If you were to walk up and down your street once a day for your entire life, you should not expect to be killed. An issue regarding the supposed "need" to travel is a) why is it necessary? and 2) materialism, consumerism, and capitalism driving excess transportation of goods (above what is necessary or useful). Getting onto distance traveled, this is a real and present danger facing sustainability, namely Hypermobility. Is it better to travel further, even if it is theoretically possible? What happens to supposed "local community" no one is around that often to get to know each other?

KG: ..., and we see large numbers like 37,000 MV deaths. Speaking of large numbers, years past the invention of the bike, we now measure car deaths per billion miles. The stats have gone to that because against the old measure, we are declining to near 1 death per 100million miles for motor vehicles.  For context, that's about 1 death per twice the distance to the moon and back.  Still too many but that distance on a horse or the time it would take on a bike with the relative decline in human productivity, where the productivity while traveling declines to almost zero, would be as staggering as the 37,000 mv deaths.  That's why people try to accelerate travel time in the first place by choosing a bike or horse over walking, which is why people get into jet planes for instance.

Why travel further? My argument: It is not that people want to travel further, but that capitalism and profit-motive make it desirable to do so more frequently. Cars are fun! Cars are exciting and great! It is the easiest way to get sh** done! All well and good. Maybe it is the only because it has been "pushed down the gullet" of western society, in the sense that year after year it is marketed to the hilt as the consumer's favorite option. "It's too hard to walk to the deli market on the way home from work and interact with the friendly meat choppers" is not a good enough reason to avoid having a deli, work, home, friendly people, and an inviting atmosphere all within walking distance for the majority of city-dwellers.

KG: Bottom line: Per mile, at city speeds cars are extremely safe.  Per mile, cycling next to one is relatively more dangerous. 

The Wikipedia article on motor vehicle fatalities from above also nicely points out that the fatalities per year caused by motor vehicles does not include deaths attributable to transportation by pollution nor energy production for the use of transportation. Animals are also significantly affected with "tens of millions of deaths". Let's also remember the destruction caused by roads and highways tearing communities apart: Those interested in social justice will be quick to point out that major roads and highways affecting those of lower income level disproportionately. Where is your house? Is it with 100-yards of a busy highway? Do you know anyone whose front doors and windows open to deafening four-lane inner city traffic nearly 24 hours every days, 365 days per year? Sure, people live there by choice. It's cheap. And there's noise cancelling headphones. And maybe it's only for a few months until a better place is available. What are the deaths attributable to the noise of autos (and sure, throw in there jets as well)?

Bottom line: Cars are a masochistic fascination prodded on unsuspecting thrill-seekers by profit-seeking corporations. EVs are big oil's response to a threat to automobility, namely, to push a quasi-solution that they bet will never fully take off. In the meantime, more autos (and bigger ones) means more money.

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