| Re: Holy shatz! Cop stops bicycle!
And so it panned out that the following script was sculpted by
none other than Tom Keats:
>Now, I'm just a poor guy,
[...]
>And since I live in Vancouver BC,
Ouch, I feel your pain. Those two don't mix well at the best of
times. I'm making 25 racks of high society this year or I'm out.
:}
>With my current low financial status, I readily submit that
>cyclists like me are most definitely /not/ willing to take
>chances such as bolting into a busy intersection, or any
>other infraction that might result in an expensive fine.
>Or worse, medical expenses incurred by being clobbered by
>a car. I've already spent top-dollar, ensuring that my
>bike and myself are perfectly legal.
Wow! A considerate cyclist who obeys the traffic laws and doesn't
cycle on the sidewalks/Xwalks like some asswipes I see? A first!
>On the streets, drivers find me considerate, and they
>appreciate my consideration (even though I just don't want
>them to clobber me.) I often take to the side-streets.
>Those can be dangerous, because they're narrow. Anyhow,
>I've observed how drivers on narrow side-streets are willing
>to dive into gaps between parked cars, to let oncoming cars
>go by.
Better than a head-on collision or an impasse...
>I do the same thing as the drivers, and often get an
>appreciative smile & wave from them as they roll by. That
>feels really good to me. But it can be a dangerous practice
>for a cyclist because if improperly done, it could entail
>disappearing from view (between parked cars), and then suddenly
>popping-out into the traffic stream again.
So you pop your head over your shoulder to check for traffic...
>When I'm on the big arterial streets, I might get yelled-at,
>honked-at, spat-at, have burning cigarette butts or McDonald's
>grunge tossed at me, or all manner of abuse directed at me --
You would only deserve that if you were riding on the sidewalk.
Funny how the asswipes often get more consideration than the good
people, eh?
>Tell ya what, though -- if I had to deal with the expense of
>licensing and registration, I might as well sell my bike for
>food, go on the dole, and live on your tax money.
I don't pay income taxes, but let's not get into that... ;}
>Inflicting mandatory licensing & registration on cyclists
>wouuld be, besides an expensive and reduntant inflation of
>governmental bureaucracy, an unconscionable expropriation
>of /your/ right to freedom of movement.
No more so than the same formalities for motor vehicles, imo,
especially here in B.C. where you practically *need* a car (kudos
to you for managing to get by without one!).
>Everyone has the right to ride a bicycle,
This right should be curtailed to a privilege, imo, subject to the
same principles behind driving being a privilege, including the
moral and ethical obligation on the part of the state to provide
*better than adequate* mass transit over its territory (read
integrated railroads).
>whether or not they actually want to. Some of us want to.
I love cycling, but this isn't the most conducive city to it.
Nonetheless, if one avoids the major high-speed arterials (50 kph
speed limit is essentially meaningless on these, used only for
revenue collection) and heavy traffic, it can still be quite a
pleasant endeavour, even in this very large and rapidly growing
metropolis.
>Some of us have to. Especially with
>the current high (and getting higher) gasoline prices.
They're not that high. Try the (European) Soviet Union.
--
E.R. aka S.J.G. aka Ricardo - Xlate & correct for e-mail reply
'91 mx6gt, white, 5sp MT, V1, CB
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