This was a Critical Mass event, which is why the bicyclists are taking up all of the street as a way to reclaim the streets and protest the lack of safety for riders under usual conditions. It’s not legal, but protests are never useful if they’re fully legal now, are they.
Can’t see it; “failed to load media”.
I agree that more bike lanes are needed and also cyclists need to be treated with the respect any life demands.
But flipping off a driver or generally blaming people who drive is fighting the wrong fight. I drive a car, I also cycle, being in a car doesn’t make me anti-bike.
Fight the government - flip off the government - that is refusing to put in safe infrastructure for the bikes (with protests like this, of course. But don’t flip off the driver, at best it does nothing, at worst it widens the gap between both groups and makes it easier to dehumanize and villianize the cyclists).
Fuck bike lanes. We need to dedicate a percent of roads to be car free
This isn’t about flipping off a driver. This is flipping off a bad driver who doesn’t understand that what they’re doing is unsafe. They’re flipping off bad behaviour.
Dows it work tho, im a simple man, anything inconveninces me directly and im against them, have had multiple hotels in the last two years where they protested with bullhorns and sirens loudly from 2am to 8am every night, they ruined my sleep and expect me to support them? Im not able to get a refund or swap hotels, in the future im still not planning ahead and getting the first available decent hotel near the location close to the time of the event. It happened multiple times at different locations/cities, not recording them or helping their cause when they actively ruined the 3 vacations I have a year by not letting me sleep.
so protests should only be done where nobody notices them?
No. Protests should be in in a way to gain voter support. Not destroy it.
voter support for what? most protests happen because there is nobody in the system that speaks for the people in the protest.
will they now, or are you creating ppl who actively speak out against it
Aw poor you.
Nah poor them, they didn’t get their jobs back? Their conditions didn’t improve, their business wasn’t effected, life moved on and if I ever have a ballot infront of me with a measure to prevent protests at certain times in redidential areas where ppl sleep, im not going to vote the anarchist way now that I’ve had it effect me negatively. They looked out for themsleves and actively fucked me over, so why should I be a saint and do the opposite for them.
The only reason you can even vote for anything is because people illegally protested things over the ages. But yes. Poor weettle baby got inconvenienced by people fighting for our rights 😭
lots of people in this thread that don’t understand how protests work.
Whenever I’ve been on a Critical Mass ride, we’ve always had designated “corkers”, people whose job it was to block traffic with blockading/dancing/whatever while the others continued onward. Without people doing that, you run the risk of this sort of carbrained nonsense.
Something else that happened on mine was that as soon as we hear sirens, we drop the mass protest and prioritize making a path for emergency vehicles to get through.
It doesn’t matter if a protest is legal. The word you’re looking for is “non violent”
it’s only non-violent until someone in a car drives into it tho (good)
Where I live, critical mass is legal. Bikes can go on the street and we have a law that allows multiple vehicles that move as one to be treated like one vehicle.
Where is it legal to drive in the oncoming lane?
The organizers will inform the city that a critical mass protest is taking place, the city will inform the police and they will cordon off the route. If there are enough people talking part in the protest, the public order authorities will have no other choice - thus the name critical mass. The right to protest takes precedence over the right to drive this specific route.
that’s a different setup than the one OpenPassageways described.
Depends on where you are.
In most places you can certainly drive in the oncoming lane to overtake things in your own lane or avoid obstacles. You wouldn’t do it if something was coming the other way though, unless you really like the taste of airbag.
This will make people hate bicyclists more than they already do. Maybe the bicyclists should be more weary of a 2 ton vehicle and safeguard their own lives. And stay on bike paths. And the bike lanes.
One thing I hate is when there’s a dedicated bike lane/path and the bicyclists are driving in the middle of the road instead with the 2 ton+ vehicles and then wonder why people hate them.
Maybe the bikers should be as considerate as the drivers.
Go ride a bike.
I need to repair my bike. I do enjoy a bike ride every once in a while. But I do stop at 4 way stop intersections and yield to cars, because I know I’d lose in a game of chicken.
Too bad for those losers who hate bicyclists I guess. They are trash people anyway
Idiots in cars, idiots on bikes. Hell yeah I’m pro bikes but setting a wheel on incoming lane? Yeaah… no thanks, I’m fine
In the bike party near me, we take over the traffic lane but not the oncoming lane.
Maybe that’s why bike party split off from critical mass
I obey the traffic laws. I’m apparently one of the only people in my town that has read them. I like riding my bike. I like my town. People Hollar at me from their cars. I get called “fag” every second day. For taking a bike ride.
“Everyone except me is crazy.”
The irony
I mean Ive been a part of many of these in Orlando and the point was to never cross into incoming traffic. So she sort of has a point. That is super dangerous. The idea isn’t to give people who hate cyclist more fuel to hate cyclist. Have respect for all types of traffic.
A critical mass to be massively critical of the critical masses. I’m certain folks who see or hear of such protests are going to become very sympathetic to the cyclist cause. Am I doing the mass criticism thing right?
It’s a nice way to blow off steam and feel important, but I suspect it polarises against rather than towards the desired cause. Shame really since it looks fun!
The point of a critical mass ride is to demonstrate that the cyclists are going to assert their right to the street whether car drivers like it or not, so drivers’ choices are to either support cycling infrastructure or stay stuck behind them forever. Not having cyclists use the road isn’t an option.
It doesn’t matter whether the drivers like the cyclists; the drivers must be made to realize that it’s in their own best interest to capitulate and demand bike infrastructure in order to get the cyclists out of their way.
That seems somewhat foolish - a driver delayed by such an event is liable to be angry and complain rather than feel that surrender is necessary.
If other posts in this thread are correct (let’s walk out on that limb), and politicians try to meet the demand of drivers over cyclists, then this is more likely to lead to stricter laws against cyclists as a result of drivers issuing (very justified in this case) complaints.
An effective protest wins both sympathy and ire, and leads to more voices calling out for your cause - this one just inspires ire. It doesn’t unequivocally paint the picture “vote for cycle infrastructure or else”, it more emphatically implies “too many cyclists will add to my commute, just look how bad it is now, we need less of them, so I will now vote against anything for cyclists”.
Just to point out, for the record, I’m in the third camp - pedestrians. I’ve seen drivers dangerously overtake, I’ve seen cyclists randomly pull out forcing emergency stops, and I’ve seen both put pedestrians at risk with self righteous indifference. My take home from the post is “more legislation is needed for cyclists using the road inappropriately”, not “we need more cycle lanes” and definitely not “we need more shared space sidewalks”.
Well, that was a mass of criticism for a critical mass; one wonders if the critical masses will mass against this criticism or perhaps such masses will critically reflect instead and engage in mass critical thinking!
It does not only inspire ire like you think. I’ve been at these rides, and I’ve seen people waving at us from their doors and windows, I’ve seen random people join in, and I’ve even seen some (cool) drivers stop and just vibe along with the parade.
Some drivers don’t like it, but the beauty of critical mass is how 1. Cyclists feel safer when there’s a critical mass of them, and 2. In this event, drivers see that they’re in the minority, which is a perspective change for any onlooker and for some of the more agreeable drivers as well.
At most of these rides, some cyclists can be rude (and it’s annoying af but understandable) but I think the majority are trying to just show what a good time we’re all having and respect the laws of traffic and other road users, to the extent that while we have the right of way to continue through red lights once the lead group has entered the intersection, we try to keep people riding on the right side of the road.
Oh, the driver’s feelings were hurt by a slight delay?
Fine. Here’s a better solution. Molotov cocktails. Any driver that pulls this shit gets their car torched.
critical masses will mass against this criticism
Wow, you really like your wordplay, huh.
Whenever something makes the news or the rounds on social media, this is your opportunity to advocate to other people for the correct “thing,” whatever that is. … Which you are presently not doing.
“But is that why they’re blocking the road?” Yes. Yes it is.
Or go like Canada and just remove biking or making it illegal. You’re viewpoint seems clouded.
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Downvoting because of your opinion, and also because you can’t spell “motor vehicles”
Meanwhile pedestrians get angry at me for riding on the side walk and tell me to ride in the road, there’s no winning.
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Cars don’t belong on streets. Paved roads were built for bicycles. It’s time we kicked the cars off the road. Cars should not be allowed in city limits.
It’s illegal where I live to ride my bike on a sidewalk (US)
Its illegal to ride on the pavement (or sidewalk) here in the UK (though tbh rarely enforced). Drivers pay “road tax” on their vehicles and a lot believe that pays for the cost of the roads. But it doesn’t. Residential and industrial roads are maintained by the local authority and paid for with council tax. Highways are covered by the Highways Agency and paid for by income tax.
It’s similar in the US. Most jurisdictions ban bicycles from the sidewalks in favor of pedestrians. Roads in towns/cities are paid for typically through property taxes. County roads, highways and freeways are funded through other taxes collected at the various levels.
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Streets are paid through tax dollars. Often income, property, and sales tax. Not from car or gasoline tax. :-)
Streets are made by motor vehicle’s what now?!
Imo it looks remarkably safe as long as we ignore the person in the car driving into oncoming traffic.
With her smartphone out, recording.
No but see youre responsible for all the actions of people who want to kill you.
The bikes in the oncoming lane are safe? C’mon what kind of joke. Blocking streets is one thing but they’re actually moving forward straight on in oncoming traffic, in what world is that safe?
in what world is that safe?
In the world of every parade that has been performed in every major city for the last two centuries at least.
Ahhh, I’ll remember to drive right on into that parade next time they’ve moved off closed streets.
Nothing you say will stop the parts of this protest that are riding into oncoming traffic as safe. They clearly didn’t get coming traffic directed away.
The unsafe thing here is the driver who insisted on dangerous driving. Motorists have an obligation to not cause harm regardless of what others are doing.
If I threw you into oncoming traffic would that be unsafe? Simple answer, yes. That’s literally the only point I’m making. A protest being good doesn’t make the handful of troublemakers suddenly perfectly safe. They’re on the wrong side of the road.Travel direction does not change because you’re on a bike. Done. That’s it. Unsafe behaviors by some of the cyclists.
And the driver was the only person making the situation unsafe.
If they were also on a bike would the cyclists suddenly be unsafe? No, being on the wrong side of the road is unsafe. Idk why that’s hard to understand, especially in a protest that’s supposed to promote safer biking conditions. People riding into oncoming traffic is exactly the justification assholes are using for ripping out bike lanes. Shit people just follow the rules of the road.
Since when are cars the only one entitled to use the road?
Edit: Bunch of fucking idiots who don’t understand roads or protests getting all pissy because they were told they don’t own the road.
Cars are also not safe when driving into oncoming traffic. Thought that was obvious.
Huh, seen as how the driver here was unsafe, it appears you are intentionally misinterpreting what I have posted.
Seeing as I’m talking about the BIKES LITERALLY RIDING AGAINST THE DIRECTION OF TRAFFIC, I think you’re missing that that’s what I’m talking about.
And we’re still talking abouy the car.
The car with a complaining bitch whining while still fully stopped? Still following the rules of the road? Just because someone is taking out their ass while filming doesn’t stop my point, which has been from the get-go a point about the cyclists who, unlike the rest of their group, are riding in oncoming traffic where the roads have clearly not been closed.
