Amazon Stops Selling Illegal eMotos in CA

[PedalUma]

This is scary. I am so glad I didn't tell the kid how to jailbreak his bike then let him go off without a helmet. That would have been easier. He said that he would just go a few hundred yards on a bike path to a friend's house to pick up a helmet, but I insisted; No helmet, no bike. Take my helmet, here is how to tighten it. That helmet has a light on top that looks to drivers like a camera. It helps them behave.

 

[PedalUma]

That thing in the recent SirRonster video about the number one cause of bike deaths being 'cyclist on wrong side of the road.' It could be a highly misleading category, that maybe should be broken into three categories or more. What if a UPS truck is illegally double parked? You need to cross the street, when you enter a driveway or make any left, you are on the 'wrong side'. But by never making a left turn you can't function. Sometimes there is a bunch of glass in the road from a car littering with a distracted driver texting. It seems mostly a way to blame the cyclist. There are perfectly normal and legitimate reasons to be on the 'wrong side.' Cars are the killers.

 

[LandoftheGiants]

Cars are the enemy! I don't encounter all that many on my typical rides, even in the daytime. About one every 2~5 minutes on average out on the rural backroads. I have a mirror, watch them like hawks, and ALWAYS move right over to the edge. I often slow down and go onto the verge, gravel or grass. I'm training them, making them feel guilty for riding up behind me. They are all locals coming down from dead-end roads and over time they will recognize me as that guy who "Gets out of our way" The implication is that they are dangerous, no one likes to feel they are dangerous behind the wheel and most cross way over to the other side of the road

At the end of the day it's all about being "seen". As for the slowing down being an imposition for me, quite the opposite. It's good exercise speeding up again, and going offroad a bit is good practice for the day when I really need to go offroad, like when the huge semi trailers come down from the egg farm. I'm not one of these guys.

 

[DDBB]

There's a section of a busy state road I have to ride for about a quarter mile to get to the good, light traffic roads. I ride into the traffic on that stretch because the shoulder of the road is at least twice as wide as it is on the other side. What I'm doing there is proably illegal but it gives me more separation from traffic. Also on that stretch there are two lanes on the side I ride and only one on the other. It floors me when there's just one car coming, he could easily move to the outside lane to give me more room but nope, he stays on the inside lane. I often ride off the shoulder in the gravel in just such cases but the fear there is the gravel could grab the front wheel and I could fall into the traffic

 

[EMGX]

Group riders like that are idiots, I see this once in a while. I'm sure all of those cyclists drive their cars many, many more miles than they ride and the overwelming majority cycle mostly or entirely for recreation. If they were the one their car behind this gaggle they'd be just as indignant as an average motorist. There are areas where there is no safe choice other than to take the lane but cyclist like those in the video just feed resentment and potentially bad motorist behavior.

 

[Chargeride]

And visa versa.
Disney made a very serious cartoon about it

 

[LandoftheGiants]

Group riders like that are idiots, I see this once in a while.

What struck me most was their entitled attitudes. "This is our lane" and "get off the road" lol. MAMILs. The web is full of videos of them being creamed by cars and even RVs, always riding at least two abreast. They really must have a death wish. They ride hogging the lane because they say it's safer. I wonder who told them that. Ambulance manufacturers?

 

[stompandgo]

There are well behaved group riders and ill behaved group riders. I've been doing group rides for decades, and still do. We always ride single file, even when riding flat out, recognize motor vehicles and give them way, stop at stop signs and lights, and respect other road users. If I'm on a ride that doesn't work like that, I sit up, get out of it, and never return. No group ride is worth risking my life over.

On one hand, riding two abreast in a group is safer, because making the pass is shorter, but most arrogant drivers don't understand that. So that's why I ride hard right, single file.

 

[PedalUma]

I conducted a group ride last Friday. It was all away from cars with dedicated bike trails or with protected lanes. People had so much fun.

 

[jabberwocky]

It is true that being somewhat in the lane is safer, unless the lane is super wide or there is a generous shoulder. The reality is that most people aren't psychos who will try and kill you, but a lot of people will do incredibly stupid s*it that will endanger you if they think they can get away with it, and part of riding in the road is managing other road users to try and keep them from doing that. If you ride trying to balance on the white line at the far right edge, my experience is that you'll just get buzzed at high speed a lot, because drivers either don't notice you (you're far enough off their direct path that their brain doesn't register you), or they see you but assume since you're so far over they don't need to slide over and give you space or slow down. Being out in the lane a bit increases visibility because you're actually in their path, force their brain to say "something is happening, I need to think about this" and actually move over to pass. Or (if they are the type of psycho that will try and buzz you) gives you somewhere to slide right and create space for yourself as they pass.

 

[stompandgo]

Where I am relative to the fog line is dependent on traffic, especially oncoming traffic in the other lane. If I've got a vehicle approaching on my left flank with an oncoming vehicle in the opposite lane, I'll take more lane to get them to notice my presence, then move back. Otherwise, I stay right, out of the gutter. Approaching an intersection with multiple lane choices, I will take the whole lane for the choice I need. Once I get going and through the intersection, I'll move right like always and wave the vehicle past. I have found that being courteous to others usually gets reciprocated. Bike haters will be bike haters no matter where you ride. If they are going to kill you to satisfy their blood lust, they are going to kill you.

 

[PedalUma]

Yesterday I was riding by some medical offices. A woman was about to go from the driveway on my right to make a right on the 25 mph road. She saw me starting to pass her and she started making the right that would hit me anyway. I swerved left to create space and sped up to create space. She then floored it and went 150 yards at full speed to a red light and slammed on the brakes in the lane against the right curb allowing no room for a bike. I passed her on the sidewalk and made a right. The light turned and again she floored it to the next red light, where I passed her again then made a right to get Chinese food for lunch. I will bet that she was angry that I did not slam on the brakes to show proper deference to an SUV. And she was flooring it to make up for a lost two seconds to a cyclist with the right of way. Would she do that to a school bus?

 

[PedalUma]

A local mom got her kid one of these one month ago. It keeps not working. I told her that as soon as it is spotted in public her kid will be made to sit on the curb, and cannot get a driver's licence until he is 18. The parents will be called to pick him up and a tow truck will be called. The parents will be cited and fined and the eMoto crushed. She is lucky it never worked.