Idiots + cars = LOL

I just realised Audi is an anagram of I, Adu....... :blowup:
 
To lighten the mood on the bicycle discussion (watch until the end for pay off):
[video=youtube;cYgF9E2-Fqs]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYgF9E2-Fqs[/video]
 
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That was brilliant. :lol:
 
Please note that she's not really keeping right and she's not letting other people pass until the very end of the video. Also, not stopping for stop signs. This is some of the 'better' bicyclist behavior here. Typically they're a lot worse - often they'll wobble around badly enough (again, even between two lanes) that not even another cyclist can pass them, let alone a motorcycle.
My last comment was meant to be my last on this topic, but now that there's a nice video of a seemingly capable person breaking the law... Why not either tell her to move over to the side (while there are creative ways to do this, obviously talking would be the most civil) or call the cops? Obviously any kind of aggressive behaviour will only reinforce the view that "they're out to kill us" and probably make her even more inconsiderate.
And I hadn't quite realised how stereotypically German law-abiding types we are, if that's the norm over there. Any road with that kind of speed limit and width would be pretty rural here, and I've never seen a cyclist (even old people) ride like that on such roads, and suburban areas would have cycle paths anyway.
 
 
It's important to read the description as this is what lead up to it. :)

[video=youtube;N-WQT9SbntQ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-WQT9SbntQ[/video]
 
Oh yeah, I noticed he explained the truck couldn't go up slowly but... gunning it is not exactly the most reasonable thing to do, specially if it involves a vehicle with a long wheelbase, a low fuel tank and a metal ramp barely wider than the vehicle itself :mrgreen:
 
Having somebody near the front to guide him would have helped a ton too.
 
My last comment was meant to be my last on this topic, but now that there's a nice video of a seemingly capable person breaking the law... Why not either tell her to move over to the side (while there are creative ways to do this, obviously talking would be the most civil) or call the cops? Obviously any kind of aggressive behaviour will only reinforce the view that "they're out to kill us" and probably make her even more inconsiderate.

Calling the cops will get nothing. The average response time of US city police for life threatening situations is about eight minutes. For non-emergency calls, it can be 30 minutes or more. (The current average for Dallas is 8:13 for life threatening calls, but 22:08 for anything of a lower priority.) By then, the bicyclist will be somewhere else unless you're willing to try a citizen's arrest - since the bicycle doesn't have a license plate, there's no way for the police to track the rider down later, either. See why I'm so adamant about bicycles needing license plates?

As for 'talking to the rider' - since they don't stop at stop signs, how do you propose I do that safely? Further, courtesy of the Nervous Nellie population and the media, the following are now classified as road rage by the general population and 'should be fled from as if your life depended on it because it does!' or as cause to escalate:

Honking horn - not even laying on it, just honking it at all is now ROADRAGE!!!!!eleventy1!!!!
Flashing headlight - yes, so much for flash to pass, now it's ROADRAGE!!!!!eleventy1!!!!
Indicating left turn while in the left lane behind another vehicle and a left turn isn't a possibility - the even more polite way of indicating desire to pass, yup, ROADRAGE!!!!!eleventy1!!!! now.
Waving hands - forget about flagging down/signalling another road user, it's ROADRAGE!!!!!eleventy1!!!!

So, how do you propose I get her attention in a manner not considered ROADRAGEROADRAGEROADRAGEROADRAGE by the general idiot populace?

And I hadn't quite realised how stereotypically German law-abiding types we are, if that's the norm over there. Any road with that kind of speed limit and width would be pretty rural here, and I've never seen a cyclist (even old people) ride like that on such roads, and suburban areas would have cycle paths anyway.

Actually, the behavior seen in that video isn't the norm for US cyclists.

It's *better* than the norm for US cyclists.

I'm still waiting to see a pedalbikist who obeys all the major traffic rules, such as 'red means stop not go.' This is the closest I've ever seen to that, but... well, watch the video.

 
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Anyway back on the subject of idiots + vehicles, this came up in the morning news.

Capture1.jpg


Big rig overturns on Dead Man?s Curve, spilling watermelons onto C.F. Hawn Freeway

Crews spent hours overnight cleaning up tons of watermelons that spilled on Highway 175 from on overturned tractor-trailer.

The crash happened about 7:30 p.m. Wednesday when a big rig carrying 36,000 pounds of watermelons lost control on ?Dead Man?s Curve.?

The semi was going too fast on the 90-degree turn, and the driver lost control. No injuries were reported.

All lanes of westbound C.F. Hawn Freeway were shut down for hours while a skid-loader was used to remove the melons from the road.

The highway reopened around 4 a.m.
 
You'd think the name "Dead Man's Curve" would be a clue to slow down a bit.

If not, this should:





You'd think that would be a big enough clue with the forest of signage and all the flashing lights. There's even signs indicating freeway end about half a mile back from the light and sign array and more further back to about a mile or so at quarter mile intervals. But the Jersey barrier tells the story - check out all the tire marks from people that ramped it.



Those are just since TxDOT cleaned it last.
 
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This reminds me, there is one particular off ramp here which is a nice long right sweeper, I tend to take at some speed but not crazy fast enough to get into trouble with the car getting out of control. A few weeks ago a tire mark showed up that goes from the road onto the barrier and down, kind of wish I was there to see it.
 
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Nooooo! :(
 
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