BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

That stinks Lyle. Glad you're okay.

No worries though, HB40 is nearly a done deal.

What a jerk. Did his arms and chest puff out (to make him look bigger) when he hopped out of the van?

So early in the day on a Monday too. He must hate his life to be that angry so early.

and here I thought "BZY" was a new type of biking law the legislature was going to enact to make our lives better (though I suppose it couldn't be, if 6945 previous ones exist... I don't think so great before Tuesday afternoon).

glad you're ok Lyle, sorry you had a rough morning.

@dwillen

bossanova

HB40 would grant him the right to defend himself as opposed to being forced to ride off (despite riding away being the better option).

Sucks about the road rage. You probably shouldn't "filter through" though...

See, I would use HB40 as a better excuse TO ride away. Knowing that people would be driving around feeling they have the need AND right to defend their vehicles with deadly force from a little lady on a bicycle...

"When one lives amongst madmen one must train as a maniac." - Count of Monte Cristo (Dumas)

I fully understand what HB40 would do, thanks. The problem is that it works both ways. Next time some jerk sideswipes you, and you pull up and tap on his/her window with your bloody shoulder or whatever, and try to get insurance info, they might fear for their life or property, and shoot you in the face. People are already running cyclists over with their cars under the guise of "self-defense", and some even get away with it!! (this in places a lot more accommodating to cyclists than here). HB40 just gives them a way to do this without denting their cars. Road rage is already a huge problem, and we're going to toss guns without consequences into the mix? Yikes.

Lyle glad you are ok.

@rsprak – you hit the nail right on the head. Meatheads that jump out of vehicles with road rage have issues. They are the type of person that is waiting to be offended by anything. Then they blow up like a powder keg on a perfect stranger for no reason.

@Ben

While it is not the ideal practice, I don't see anything wrong with filtering forward in specific situations. It is not against the law, and even encouraged in the PA state bike "drivers" manual! "Traffic jams don’t have to stop you -- that’s one of the biggest advantages of bicycling in the city."..."If the street is completely plugged, pick your way forward slowly and with your hands on the brake levers." Nevertheless, it is certainly better to filter forward than to cut someone off making dangerous and illegal lane changes while both parties are in motion, so blaming Lyle over the driver here is ridiculous.

Hey ben. I usually don't filter forward, but it is technically legal. In this case, the driver didn't completely overtake me, just shoved me off to the right, so I wasn't even filtering, really. So my choices would have been to (a) stay put on the right side of his van (b) use my reverse gear to get back in the lane behind him, or (c) go forward directly in front of him or (d) go all the way to the front of the line of stopped traffic. I chose (c), to make a point. Yes, (c) is sometimes provocative of the meatheads, but that doesn't make the raging response *my* responsibility. It was clear that he took my slipping off my backpack as further provocation, but hey, if I'm going to be assaulted, I'm not going to do it with a laptop on my back.

Helmet cams

@DWillen... You are missing the point completely.

I think the rager respected the knickers.

HB40 will provide reason for a new hipster product - top tube holster.

I wonder if this would work?

Cars and trucks overtake slower moving bicycles all the time. I've never understood why it's a problem when a bicycle overtakes a slower moving car or truck.

BradQ

Ever seen the opening sequence to Office Space?

@orionz06 I am not missing the point. You've got your take on it, and I've got mine. Nothing wrong with disagreeing. I fully believe that more people will end up dead with the law in place than without it, and for me, that is no good. Feel free to disagree with my logic, but it is probably best done over a beer rather than the Internet.

I've never understood why it's a problem when a bicycle overtakes a slower moving car or truck.

It's not, unless your car is your phallus.

I've never understood why it's a problem when a bicycle overtakes a slower moving car or truck.

It's not, unless you've no common sense.

Maniacs in training:

http://mountainbikemilitia.com/gungolf.html

Scroll down for details on how to transport your weapon by bicycle, provided by PA Jeff.

1. To the OP, sorry to hear about your incident. Glad everything turned out alright.

2. dwillen, can you please explain to me how more dead bodies will end up on the streets? You do realize that if you use your weapon for self defense, even under the proposed HB40, you are still subject to investigation. If the police conclude that you rightfully used your gun in self defense then, and only then, are you protected from further legal action. The police here in Pittsburgh, especially downtown, are fairly anti-gun. Not nearly as crazy as those in Philly but they still hold some disposition against civilians with firearms. This coupled with the fact of our fairly anti-gun city leaders, you can bet money on the fact that they wont let people walk without a serious investigation. I guess I could of summed this up fairly quickly by letting it be known that numerous states have introduced Castle Doctrines and most, if not all, have seen a drop in crime rates.

3. Hipster + guns. Now theres a good laugh.

@boostuv I guess I could of summed this up fairly quickly by letting it be known that numerous states have introduced Castle Doctrines and most, if not all, have seen a drop in crime rates.

Um...

Is this greater or lesser than the general trend?

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1963761,00.html

Most, if not all, states have seen a drop in crime. Period.

The way you phrase it indicates that you might think there is cause and effect there.

lol

discussions of guns on a bike message board

My new fixed gear has both front and rear brakes. So I can have an emergency brake while using either hand to hold my cell phone.

cheers Lyle, I filter forward too sometimes. Carefully. We could discuss techniques and cautions.

Wow, I started trying to write down my mental "rules" or "tactics" that I seem to have unconsiously developed for filtering forward and dealing with intersections, it is some insanely complicated matrix that I was not even aware that I was processing. I've been successful though.

Lyle, I'm glad nothing happened. I must not have been more than a block away. Woe to the driver if I am ever an innocent bystander walking by an interaction like that.

Guns are bad.

Filtering forward not so bad…In some European cities they paint a big white box on the street at intersections for cyclist and scooters to filter forward to and wait for the light to change.

Sorry I brought up the gun thing. I mentioned earlier this really isn't the place to hash it out. If you wish to pick my brain on my point of view, please find me in person. I am at just about every flock ride, though I could be lured to just about anywhere with the promise of a good beer.

Some American cities have bike boxes too.

dwillen, are you Dan from Flock of Cycles?

Yes.

Ahh very nice. This is Kyle, I was with Nick friday night when we met you at Houghs haha.