I live in North carolina and drivers are really bad in the city and suburbs. My wife won’t let me go alone so I either ride in a group or go mountain biking. When we ride on the road, we pick routes that take us out in the country. I could be desensitized but main issue I see is drivers passing us with oncoming traffic. Frequently the oncoming traffic has to slow down or stop. It seems crazy to me that one would speed towards a head on collision but it happens multiple times a ride. It’s rare we get a buzz and I don’t see so much distracted driving out there probably because it’s hard to miss a big group
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I’m in WNC and I certainly won’t ride through Asheville any more. I’m in a pretty rural area and just go the opposite direction of town almost always. I used to commute into town daily but my new job is too far/dangerous to pull it off. I miss the commute, but not the almost daily run in with drivers too impatient to pass safely. I started getting aggressive with lane control, found it was a dammed if you do, dammed if you don’t scenario.
Groups can potentially be safer for a few reasons but I’d counter that unless you’re really in sync with friends and agree on constantly moving over and going single file it can create other issues like clogged lanes, which quickly leads to even more angry drivers. My buddy, for instance, almost always insists on riding two across, I get it to a degree but after a car almost killed us (intentionally) I’ll only ride off-road with him now. Time and a place for assertive lane control; and always is not the correct amount.
People would have to have the capacity to see past their own interests, even when it would benefit in the long run. American’s aren’t exactly known for thinking of others, we’re all about “rugged individualism” and cycling isn’t conducive for this mindset.
That said, I’m not sure I could disagree with keeping cyclists off 65 MPH roads. Although I’m not familiar with NV, and the popular routes mentioned in the article. Personally I avoid any road posted with any over 45 if I can help it in any way.
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You know what would be nice:
If Garmin or some street-map curator (open steet map, google maps, and so forth) could get data like this:
And put it on our Garmins so we could be notified that the steet we were riding on had a history of accidents. Like I said earlier, some streets are just much more suitable for cycling than others, and there’s no way to tell, before actually riding a street, which type of street you’re heading out on.
(That image comes from VISION ZERO 2020 (arcgis.com) )
Crowdsourced heatmaps are nice, but they’re not very useful except in well-traveled areas, imo. Some of the cycle-specific maps, like OpenCycleMap.org - the OpenStreetMap Cycle Map , will designate certain streets as cycle-friendly streets (generally because they have a so-called bike lane), but there are much better alternative streets nearby that you won’t find except by hard-won experience.
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That jawn would be useful for sure. I used to ride to Philly from the upper NE 19116 area but just don’t want to anymore with all the nonsense down there, with cars and bikes and otherwise
Using “jawn” made me laugh out loud. Not sure you even need to identify your location as philly once you’ve dropped in a “jawn” 
apologies for the thread interruption
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BRB changing my strava location to Jawn and name to Mantis Taboggan
/threadjack
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The preliminary estimated rate of death on the roads last year spiked 24% over the previous 12-month period, despite miles driven dropping 13%. The increase in the rate of death is the highest estimated year-over-year jump that NSC has calculated since 1924 – 96 years. It underscores the nation’s persistent failure to prioritize safety on the roads, which became emptier but far more deadly.
“It is tragic that in the U.S., we took cars off the roads and didn’t reap any safety benefits,” said Lorraine M. Martin, president and CEO of the National Safety Council. “These data expose our lack of an effective roadway safety culture."
#killcars
The state should be liable for harm caused by licensed drivers. They vouched for that person being safe and competent then they demonstrated they were not.
Hard for me to say if infrastructure improvements or education is most important. Seems to me education is step one.
From the NSC article:
- All new drivers under 21 – not just those under 18 – should adhere to a [three-tiered licensing system]
(https://nsc.org/getattachment/bda21d2a-1f77-4db5-8911-04cfc1d5a7bf/t-graduated-driver-licensing-134) for novice drivers
I have felt safer ever since getting the Garmin Varia. Its still dangerous, but I wouldnt ride without it now.
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“The expression probably reflects a superstition, perhaps a theatrical superstition in which directly wishing a person “good luck” would be considered bad luck, therefore an alternative way of wishing luck was developed.”
Sounds weird, but reasonable I guess…
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Yeah like you can’t say Macbeth, I mean the Scottish play 
as an actor in the theater.
Or talk to a pitcher throwing a perfect game.
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