Biking in Boston

What I want for a bike is a bell which sounds like a trolley.

They make single use rechargeable air horns for bikes which would have a similar effect. They talk about them at bikeforums.net

A better campaign would have been along the lines of "Be safe be SEEN use lights" and "check twice save a life". With photos illustrating cyclists not being very visible without lights in some conditions and how drivers need to check twice because of blind-spots.

THIS. I would go so far as to say lights are the single most effective safety device for a cyclist, and that includes working brakes. As most of you know I am anavid biker (I have a helmet, don't wear it enough), as well as a "spirited" driver. I can not tell you how many times I have almost killed a cyclist making a turn because they are invisible until they are on top of me. Dusk and rainy conditions are the absolute worst. GET A LIGHT!
 
I think that following traffic control devices (same road, same rules) would go a long way towards reducing deliberate aggressive actions from passive-aggressive drivers.
 
THIS. I would go so far as to say lights are the single most effective safety device for a cyclist, and that includes working brakes. As most of you know I am anavid biker (I have a helmet, don't wear it enough), as well as a "spirited" driver. I can not tell you how many times I have almost killed a cyclist making a turn because they are invisible until they are on top of me. Dusk and rainy conditions are the absolute worst. GET A LIGHT!

Agreed.

Every cyclist needs to drive a car at night one day to understand how invisible cyclists without lights are
 
Someone or group has gone around to various stencil locations and vandalized them:

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I think the whole helmet thing is extremely stupid. Let people do what they want.

And yes, Im against seat belt laws as well. I always wear a seat belt, but so what if I dont? Not your problem, its mine.

Exception in both cases for children. An adult is an adult. They can judge their own risk.
 
^ Helmet laws I don't get. Seatbelt laws I do because they try to prevent your body from being thrown from the vehicle and potentially injuring someone else.
 
^ Helmet laws I don't get. Seatbelt laws I do because they try to prevent your body from being thrown from the vehicle and potentially injuring someone else.

The odds of your limp body injuring someone else are so slight though.

I mean, potentially, without your helmet, blood could cause someone to slip and fall....but come on.
 
A projectile body can hit other cars in traffic expanding the accident... Your body can also injure other people in the car...
 
But... nobody is blaming anyone for anything?

wat

Yeah, I don't get it. If anything, I feel like it's just reinforcing common sense. There will always be a clear victor in accidents: T > truck/bus/car > bike. If you're on a bike, why wouldn't you want to protect a very delicate area of your body from harm?

Every day when I see probably 70+ percent of bicyclists riding down Comm Ave without helmets, I just can't help but think how dumb they are. You sure as hell couldn't even pay me to ride a bike down Comm Ave after seeing so many near-misses and actual car-bike accidents on a relatively frequent basis.
 
I saw these riding in to the city from Allston today. It wasn't until I hit Kenmore Square that I could slow down enough to make out the writing, and then I was just confused.

My guess is that the intention is to say something like, "I shouldn't have to wear a helmet, it's the absent-minded and terrible drivers of Boston that ought to be more conscientious and courteous to cyclists and then there wouldn't be an issue." If a biker gets hit and suffers a head injury, then it's his fault for not being properly outfitted. Of course even if the only way for a cyclist to sustain a head injury (it obviously is not) was in a car-bike accident, the key word is accident so this line of thought is all wrong. I may be wrong, but people usually don't refer to a "victim of an accident" as victim usually implies some sort of malicious intent was wrought upon you. Though in my own cycling I've occasionally been suspect, I've never seen or heard of anyone being intentionally mowed down by a car.

Accidents happen, and will always happen, even if you want to argue that the effort ought to be spent getting drivers to improve their behaviours towards bikers (which, incidentally, I would). People who don't wear helmets are dumb; it's just a potential risk for which there's no real reason not to be prepared.
 
People who don't wear helmets are dumb; it's just a potential risk for which there's no real reason not to be prepared.

Do you wear a helmet when driving?

It's just a potential risk for which there's no real reason not to be prepared.

Id be more worried about my head at 55mph than at 10mph.
 
It isn't you cycling at 10mph that would cause the harm... it's all of the other much larger objects hurtling along at 25-50+mph that would.
 
Also, cars have 1 ton+ metal cages that acts a helmet.
 
My car is under a ton, should I wear a helmet? It does have front and side airbags.
 
Though in my own cycling I've occasionally been suspect, I've never seen or heard of anyone being intentionally mowed down by a car.

Now granted the cyclists were being assholes buttttt...

I've also seen cars purposefully run cyclists off the road multiple times.
 

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