psa & other news
The other day (a Wednesday or Tuesday from last week), I had watched the exchange between a cyclist and a motorist just where Elm begins to meet Providence. The motorist - in a yellow Ford Mustang, don't think I don't remember - had been driving behind the cyclist. When I say cyclist, I mean cyclist and not biker. Now, on this particular part of Elm there is a slight incline so that one has to increase energy - whether in car or on bike - to go up the hill to the stop sign. The motorist did so right into the bike.
When you hit a bike and you are in a car, the first piece of advice I have to give you is this: You don't have a leg to stand on, be very apologetic, be very nice.
My window was open and I remember hearing the scraping of metal, the cyclist turning around and screaming 'What the _____ is wrong with you?' and the motorist screaming at him. If you can't be nice or apologetic, then don't say anything. Motorists who hit bikes with their cars should really really not yell at cyclists.
My assumption is that the motorist - as many are - was unaware of Columbia traffic laws. A surprising amount of motorists and cyclists are ignorant of these laws because they either aren't from Columbia, or they see people breaking the law so often that they don't even know the law exists. Here are some notes for both motorist & cyclist:
1. Cyclists are not to ride on the sidewalks. Do not yell at them and tell them to get onto the sidewalk. By law they are to be on the streets with the motorists and in the case that there is no bike lane - usually there isn't - they are to take up their part of the lane as though they were in a car.
2. Cyclists are not to ride through crosswalks with pedestrians. Don't do it! You are not a pedestrian - you don't get the privileges of pedestrians and motorists because you are on a bike! If you do want to use the cross walk, be sure to get off of your bicycle and walk it through the crosswalk, distinguishing yourself as a pedestrian.
3. Cyclists are bound to any traffic laws that are binding to motorists. Do not ride through stop signs, do not ride through stop lights, do use turn signals.
4. Motorists, do not expect cyclists to ride their bikes to the side of the lane so that you can ride to their sides or pass them. Cyclists - when you are on the street, ride in the middle of the lane so that the motorists know that by law you are to be riding on the street and not on the sidewalk. Too many motorists have moved their cars too close to the curb while cyclists were on the side of the lane, causing cyclists to hit the curb and go flying from their bicycles onto the pavement.
5. Bicycles are not cars - they do not go as fast, this does not mean that any speed on a bike is a safe enough speed to forego a helmet. It's true that helmets give you helmet hair, but the lack of them gives you peeled skin, stitches or worse when you fall - particularly if you have to ride down a hill. I am not exaggerating and neither are all the nurses and doctors who have to treat people in the hospital from really simple bicycle accidents that could have been avoided if the rider had been wearing a helmet.
Alright, enough of the cycling tips.
Because Paul is moving in this summer, I have taken the opportunity to get rid of all the bs that I do not need or want from my storage closet. I am pulling clothing out that realistically I have not worn or at this age should not wear. I have clothes from my sophomore year in high school in these boxes. The only shirt I wear from way back when is a tye-dye shirt from the 3rd grade. I like tye-dye, I probably shouldn't admit that. I also burn incense and eat mostly organic. I'm a horrible person.
Anyway, even though I am getting rid of things, I am always getting new things in. I bought (online) Oreka TX's album Quercus Endorphina - in retrospect, the album's name is pretty lame. Anyway, Oreka TX were the main txalaparta players featured in the documentary Nömadak TX which had played during this last True/False film festival. The txalaparta is a traditional instrument from the Basque country. The soundtrack (limited copies, by the way) and the documentary had really made an impression on me, so I bought their album.
Oh! Also, because I never mentioned it here - Paul writes a video game column for the Columbia Tribune. It appears in 'Go!' in the Thursday paper & he also updates a gaming blog on the website: Game Over.
-Monique
When you hit a bike and you are in a car, the first piece of advice I have to give you is this: You don't have a leg to stand on, be very apologetic, be very nice.
My window was open and I remember hearing the scraping of metal, the cyclist turning around and screaming 'What the _____ is wrong with you?' and the motorist screaming at him. If you can't be nice or apologetic, then don't say anything. Motorists who hit bikes with their cars should really really not yell at cyclists.
My assumption is that the motorist - as many are - was unaware of Columbia traffic laws. A surprising amount of motorists and cyclists are ignorant of these laws because they either aren't from Columbia, or they see people breaking the law so often that they don't even know the law exists. Here are some notes for both motorist & cyclist:
1. Cyclists are not to ride on the sidewalks. Do not yell at them and tell them to get onto the sidewalk. By law they are to be on the streets with the motorists and in the case that there is no bike lane - usually there isn't - they are to take up their part of the lane as though they were in a car.
2. Cyclists are not to ride through crosswalks with pedestrians. Don't do it! You are not a pedestrian - you don't get the privileges of pedestrians and motorists because you are on a bike! If you do want to use the cross walk, be sure to get off of your bicycle and walk it through the crosswalk, distinguishing yourself as a pedestrian.
3. Cyclists are bound to any traffic laws that are binding to motorists. Do not ride through stop signs, do not ride through stop lights, do use turn signals.
4. Motorists, do not expect cyclists to ride their bikes to the side of the lane so that you can ride to their sides or pass them. Cyclists - when you are on the street, ride in the middle of the lane so that the motorists know that by law you are to be riding on the street and not on the sidewalk. Too many motorists have moved their cars too close to the curb while cyclists were on the side of the lane, causing cyclists to hit the curb and go flying from their bicycles onto the pavement.
5. Bicycles are not cars - they do not go as fast, this does not mean that any speed on a bike is a safe enough speed to forego a helmet. It's true that helmets give you helmet hair, but the lack of them gives you peeled skin, stitches or worse when you fall - particularly if you have to ride down a hill. I am not exaggerating and neither are all the nurses and doctors who have to treat people in the hospital from really simple bicycle accidents that could have been avoided if the rider had been wearing a helmet.
Alright, enough of the cycling tips.
Because Paul is moving in this summer, I have taken the opportunity to get rid of all the bs that I do not need or want from my storage closet. I am pulling clothing out that realistically I have not worn or at this age should not wear. I have clothes from my sophomore year in high school in these boxes. The only shirt I wear from way back when is a tye-dye shirt from the 3rd grade. I like tye-dye, I probably shouldn't admit that. I also burn incense and eat mostly organic. I'm a horrible person.
Anyway, even though I am getting rid of things, I am always getting new things in. I bought (online) Oreka TX's album Quercus Endorphina - in retrospect, the album's name is pretty lame. Anyway, Oreka TX were the main txalaparta players featured in the documentary Nömadak TX which had played during this last True/False film festival. The txalaparta is a traditional instrument from the Basque country. The soundtrack (limited copies, by the way) and the documentary had really made an impression on me, so I bought their album.
Oh! Also, because I never mentioned it here - Paul writes a video game column for the Columbia Tribune. It appears in 'Go!' in the Thursday paper & he also updates a gaming blog on the website: Game Over.
-Monique
posted by Monique Mendoza at 5/15/2007 10:37:00 AM
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