this post was submitted on 14 Aug 2023
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Fuck Cars

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McSweeney's bringing some hard truths with this one. We could all be doing better.

You forgot to go back in time and tell people that subsidizing the oil industry might be a bad idea.
When the oil and auto industries teamed up to bend public policy to their will, making a system of roads and parking lots that now function as a continuous subsidy and magnificent symbol of the normalization of injury and pollution, you had a lot of options. You could have objected. You could have shifted public opinion. Instead, you weren’t even born yet. And, rather than go back in time, all you’ve been doing is riding to get groceries and occasionally saying, “Please stop killing us.” On the effort scale? 1/10.

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[–] Zeke@kbin.social 59 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

I was hit on my bike while heading to college. Simply crossing a crosswalk with a stop sign and someone decided they didn't feel like stopping while I was already crossing. I now live with back pain. Drivers can't be trusted to follow traffic signs.

[–] TurtleJoe@lemmy.world 36 points 1 year ago

Yes, but I once saw a cyclist run a stop sign. These two things are obviously exactly equal, and bicycles are just as dangerous as cars. I am very smart.

[–] Adeptfuckup@lemmy.world 17 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Hmm.. Have we tried painting lines?... we should paint lines... let's paint lines. Problem. Solved.

[–] Rusky_900@reddthat.com 3 points 1 year ago

That's ridiculous. LINES WONT STOP CARS! Only if they paint the ground near the edge a different colour will it be safe to cycle on roads.

[–] xantoxis@lemmy.world 40 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Only 66% of drivers commit moving violations? Every instance of speeding is a moving violation, I think that number should be more like 90%.

[–] CaptainEffort@sh.itjust.works 13 points 1 year ago

*99%

I mean really, who doesn’t speed even a little?

[–] Blackout@kbin.social 21 points 1 year ago

In 20 years of commuting by bike I've been hit twice. Both times were from cars exiting driveway without looking. Times cars driving recklessly and nearly merging into me have happened too many times to count. Sure bikes cause accidents but it's got to be 99 cars to 1 bike.

[–] sadreality@kbin.social 19 points 1 year ago

Auto and oil created a country where you pretty much have to be upper income to live in a few high income cities where no car life is possible but you got to pay top dollar for it.

[–] Polymath@gehirneimer.de 17 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Thank goodness this reads, at least to me, as largely satire. But then again Poe's Law is certainly a thing.

I have been hit twice by motorists/cars while road cycling, and will die on the hill that US motorists are entitled asses, too self-absorbed to care that, LEGALLY, on just about any roadway bicycles are allowed to take up one entire lane, as a full-fledged vehicle.

Drivers can piss off and cry, that the whole world isn't cars like the auto manufacturer lobby and oil magnates/giants have tried to force us all to become dependent upon and addicted to.

[–] Nouveau_Burnswick@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago (2 children)

If cars don't want bicycles on car lanes, then they should build more bike lanes. shrug-emoji.

Bike lanes and sidewalks are car infrastructure that lets cars go faster.

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[–] BorgDrone@lemmy.one 13 points 1 year ago (24 children)

If a car hits a pedestrian or cyclist, the car is always legally at fault. At least here in the Netherlands. Is this not the case everywhere?

[–] queermunist@lemmy.ml 14 points 1 year ago (1 children)

In Iowa they just acquitted a man for driving into people blocking traffic.

[–] TigrisMorte@kbin.social 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Was that the one that posted ahead of time that they were going to do so?

[–] queermunist@lemmy.ml 6 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Different guy.

This guy used his wife and child as eye witness testimony to prove he did nothing wrong when he drove into the crowd.

How long before they start selling pedestrian shields to drivers so they don't dent their vehicles when running us over?

[–] pbrisgreat@midwest.social 7 points 1 year ago

If you want a good sense of how bad it is in the states here are two episodes of Freakomomics that do a job of exposing the issue.

"The Perfect Crime": https://freakonomics.com/podcast/the-perfect-crime/ (From 2014)

Then a follow-up episode: "Why Is the U.S. So Good at Killing Pedestrians?": https://freakonomics.com/podcast/why-is-the-u-s-so-good-at-killing-pedestrians/ (from July 2023)

[–] Adeptfuckup@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago

Not here in the US. There's so much victim blaming. The victim always being a pedestrian. Not the asshole driving on a walk path.

[–] Veraxus@kbin.social 5 points 1 year ago

Your mistake is assuming that places like the US are as rational, practical, just, and/or civilized as the Netherlands.

[–] Thordros@hexbear.net 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Oh lord, no. Drivers are rarely held accountable for murdering cyclists. The "accountability" usually caps out at weekends in jail, picking up some garbage on the highway, and being real real sorry.

[–] Aesthesiaphilia@kbin.social 1 points 1 year ago

Depends on how rich you are.

[–] SLfgb@feddit.nl 2 points 1 year ago

not in Australia

[–] davi@lemm.ee 1 points 1 year ago

what matters most is who can afford expensive lawyers and if they cost enough; it doesn't matter whose legally at fault.

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[–] uriel238@lemmy.blahaj.zone 9 points 1 year ago (2 children)

When I was riding, I actually found by night it was better to make myself as invisible as possible and assume cars could not see me, since when I went out bright and shiny they were unpredictable and more dangerous.

[–] HeartyBeast@kbin.social 19 points 1 year ago (6 children)

As a daily cyclist - and as a motorist, please don't do this. Being invisible at night on a bike is a bad idea.

[–] brewbellyblueberry@sopuli.xyz 7 points 1 year ago

I'm from a country where we have no fucking sunlight half the year, and seriously, reflectors etc are a must and we have halfway decent infrastructure for biking. So many people injure and cripple themselves or get killed, just because a driver couldn't see them. Remember, a ton of drivers are not just assholes, they're idiots. Half of them are on the phone or doing shit on their phone or focusing on anything other than driving. It's no more noble to die by an idiot than an asshole.

[–] spitfire@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago

And this is the kind of ideas motorists (as you describe it) have to face every day🤦🤦‍♀️

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[–] BidensGranddaughter@hexbear.net 8 points 1 year ago (4 children)

This tracks, there's actually some evidence that drivers behave more dangerously around cyclists wearing helmets.

Scientists should study carbrains more, and try to understand why cyclists trying to protect themselves seems to attract drivers like moths to a flame.

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[–] heavyboots@lemmy.ml 4 points 1 year ago

Cannot upvote this enough…

[–] Auzy@beehaw.org 2 points 1 year ago

I was actually hit by a car on my electric scooter. In my case, it actually was my fault. Actually felt bad for the person who crashed into me (she seemed more affected by the ordeal than me)

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