Meet the new gridlock, worse than the old gridlock. (Portland: transplants, insurance)

[skiffrace]

Deez, I mean, Jeez, peepl, aren't you at work, drinking (after work), eating, #%ing, or something?
How abut y'all quit this nonsense and go about some productive activity... It's weekend, after all..

[urbanlife78]

Originally Posted by Metlakatla

Excuse me? Where did I say that anyone has the right to run over someone simply because they're on a bike? Stop twisting things. I was typing about the possibility of an accident, not deliberately running anyone over. It's only a matter of time before it happens on the road I'm referencing.

The situation that I'm describing is this: curvy roads where you can't see what's ahead of you, so you can come up on a bunch of bikes going down the middle of the road pretty quickly. It's probable that there will be a fatality at some point in the future; there have been quite a few near misses so far, and they haven't been the fault of the local drivers. Personally, I'm glad that I no longer live there. A lot of them couldn't seem to understand that the place didn't exist just for them. It's flat out stupid to act that way on a winding country road with a speed limit of 50 mph.

If you're driving a vehicle so slowly that you're endangering others on the road, you can get a ticket. Should be the same deal for those "on bikes." You're also supposed to allow others to pass you if possible; those "on bikes" who refuse to do so should understand that they aren't the only vehicles allowed to use the roads. I've also seen the idiots get so drunk at their trailhead after a ride that they could barely manage to throw their bikes on their racks, pour themselves into their Subarus, and weave on down the road.

Well people in cars get in accidents for doing stupid things that ends up killing people. Not much different, I suggest you make sure you pay extra attention when driving through dangerous areas like this.

I have seen people get too drunk and then get behind the wheel of a car, too many people die from that. Neither is acceptable.

[Yankeemama]

Originally Posted by pdxMIKEpdx

I am a senior.
I don't ride a friggin' bike.
I physically can't anymore.
I am also in a position where public transit is not feasible for me.
I am wholly dependent on my car to get around when I have to.
I also don't have the option to car share.

I'm not the only one.
It must be nice to by young, healthy, and think that everyone who isn't just like you is wrong, or "just doesn't get it".
I'll bet you are one of those snooty "fair weather" bike commuters anyway.
As soon as the crappy, cold, wet weather hits, I imagine that you'll also be sitting in car, grumbling about traffic.

And yes, I also think that you have a skewed, privileged, rose colored, overly positive attitude about Portland.
Even though you may have went to school here a few years back, you remind me of a newcomer that arrives and drinks the Portland "Public Relations Kool-Aid", has an imaginary "ideal Portland" stuck in their head, yet has no idea of how it really works here,.


Buddy, let me warn you, reality will hit you like a ton of bricks some day.

Oh, I thank God that you wrote this. You and Oldintype said what I wanted to say but I was too bothered and annoyed...I could not write so well. As a parent of two kids with disabilities and worries that many other parents, let alone young, bike-riding, "hanging out with friends whenever" Portlanders, do not have. Walk in my shoes for a day, Urban, and then talk to me about traffic, the suburbs, biking in the rain...blah...blah. This tread has pissed off a lot of people for good reason.

[Yankeemama]

[quote=VTHokieFan;36471805]I always knew there were more rational people in Portland and Oregon than the media, Portlandia, etc like to lead on. The public transportation/arts tax/everything-in-Portland-is-perfect group I find are all from east coast. On behalf of us, I'd like to apologize.[/QUOT

I laughed at that one!

[Metlakatla]

Originally Posted by urbanlife78

Well people in cars get in accidents for doing stupid things that ends up killing people. Not much different, I suggest you make sure you pay extra attention when driving through dangerous areas like this.

I have seen people get too drunk and then get behind the wheel of a car, too many people die from that. Neither is acceptable.

Again, the particular road I'm talking about has a serious problem with bikes. Just because a car *could* cruise along at 5 mph in the middle of the road and refuse to pull over for other traffic doesn't excuse the behavior on the part of the cyclists. Again, a car behaving in that manner could get a ticket; the same should be true of the bikes. Again, my point is if those "on bikes" expect the same rights to the road as other vehicles, they need to practice the same rules of the road. Not sure why that's so hard to understand.

Some roads just weren't built to serve as recreational park trails, and old Oregon logging roads surely fall into that category. Bike paths would be nice, but there's no money for those, and every time anyone tries to suggest raising some by requiring bike riders to get licenses, the bike crowd squawks ad nauseum.

[Yankeemama]

Originally Posted by Metlakatla

You've obviously never tried to do a week's worth of grocery shopping with three kids in tow using public transit or riding a bike. Oh, and neither have I -- I'm not stupid.

I live alone. I shop alone. I drive alone. I spend money alone. If Portland or any other city wants to ban me from shopping there because I don't have another person with me, I guess they can just go to hell, and I'll spend my money elsewhere. Let the bikers and the bus riders support downtown businesses and see how well that works out for them.

When was the last time you shlepped an expensive purchase from an indie art gallery home on your bike or on the bus?

Yup! Every once in a while I go to Ikea while my kids are in school. FREEDOM! It's nobody's business why I am driving on the freeway by myself. I like having my SUV with me to take stuff home, yeah that's my home in inner NE Portland where I pay a crap load of property taxes. Sure I will drive by myself.

[urbanlife78]

Originally Posted by Yankeemama

Oh, I thank God that you wrote this. You and Oldintype said what I wanted to say but I was too bothered and annoyed...I could not write so well. As a parent of two kids with disabilities and worries that many other parents, let alone young, bike-riding, "hanging out with friends whenever" Portlanders, do not have. Walk in my shoes for a day, Urban, and then talk to me about traffic, the suburbs, biking in the rain...blah...blah. This tread has pissed off a lot of people for good reason.

Again, you are assuming I am talking absolutes. Not everyone can commute by biking. Clearly you cannot for whatever personal reasons you have. That is 1000% okay, but with that, you will probably have to sit in traffic with other people who cannot use alternative transportation for whatever personal reasons they have as well. That is just a reality.

[urbanlife78]

Originally Posted by Metlakatla

Again, the particular road I'm talking about has a serious problem with bikes. Just because a car *could* cruise along at 5 mph in the middle of the road and refuse to pull over for other traffic doesn't excuse the behavior on the part of the cyclists. Again, a car behaving in that manner could get a ticket; the same should be true of the bikes. Again, my point is if those "on bikes" expect the same rights to the road as other vehicles, they need to practice the same rules of the road. Not sure why that's so hard to understand.

Some roads just weren't built to serve as recreational park trails, and old Oregon logging roads surely fall into that category. Bike paths would be nice, but there's no money for those, and every time anyone tries to suggest raising some by requiring bike riders to get licenses, the bike crowd squawks ad nauseum.

Sounds like that road needs to be reconfigured to make it safer for bikes to use if it is that much of an issue and that many people are biking on that road. I have been on roads, and have skipped certain roads due them being unsafe to ride on without adequate bike lanes for safe bike riding.

Maybe you should try to get a bike lane added to this road so that it will be safer for drivers and bikers.

[urbanlife78]

Originally Posted by Yankeemama

Yup! Every once in a while I go to Ikea while my kids are in school. FREEDOM! It's nobody's business why I am driving on the freeway by myself. I like having my SUV with me to take stuff home, yeah that's my home in inner NE Portland where I pay a crap load of property taxes. Sure I will drive by myself.

And that is totally okay, my wife and I had to rent a box truck to pick up all the stuff we bought at Ikea a couple weeks ago. Not everything can be done by bike or transit.

[Metlakatla]

Originally Posted by urbanlife78

Sounds like that road needs to be reconfigured to make it safer for bikes to use if it is that much of an issue and that many people are biking on that road. I have been on roads, and have skipped certain roads due them being unsafe to ride on without adequate bike lanes for safe bike riding.

Maybe you should try to get a bike lane added to this road so that it will be safer for drivers and bikers.

I don't live there anymore. As I said before, I moved. In the past, some of us did strongly suggest that bike lanes be added to the road, but the support that we'd hoped for from the local mountain biking community for this was anything but forthcoming. Anyway, it's not my circus, not my monkey, and it certainly isn't my dead horse. They'll find the money for bike paths after the first one gets killed.

Actually, I'd be just fine with them not being allowed access to that road. They've got plenty of parking right next to their trailhead. They aren't using the road for transportation to where they need to go; they're using it like they'd use a recreational city trail through a park.

I see plenty of signs that say that semi trucks aren't allowed to drive through certain streets and don't see why the same couldn't happen on roads where bikes have no business.