Local NY legislator: No one 'should ever ride a bicycle' in Suffolk County

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Bicyclists are so pretentious and annoying. Before I started driving a few months ago, I walked everywhere. I walked six or seven miles a day. I had a nice tan and my legs had muscles in them for once. When I walked, I never got in the way of drivers because I was on the sidewalk.

Now that I drive, I find myself stuck behind fat old men in spandex riding their bikes down the main highway going ten miles an hour quite often. Yes, this is Florida (“God’s waiting room”), and this is normal. Commence in bashing Florida when you finish reading my next to paragraphs. Anywho, it’s impossible to get around them sometime. The main road by the beach, A1A, is one of my favorite places to drive since there is never any traffic, and the speed limit is 35, but on the weekend, some 70-100 bicyclists get on the road in groups and make it a nightmare.

I also have a problem with this “watch for motorcycles” campaign. Motorcyclists need to watch for everybody else! The men on the Harleys aren’t usually too bad; they are responsible and drive in a well ordered pack on the side of the road. But at least twice a week, I get cut off by some f[inks]ing 19 year old riding one of those rice rockets who dodges in and out of traffic, cutting between cars that are already five feet apart, and generally creating a nuisance. I can’t say I empathize for them when I see their bike on fire by the side of the road, an old lady crying out of guilt (even though the accident is not her fault), and finally, seeing the riders body wrapped twice around a telephone poll.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

He's got it all wrong. No one should ride a car.  I can't count the number of idiots running red lights, opening their car doors in front of me, pulling out in front of me, etc while I try to bike to work and back.

DRIVERS: GET IT THROUGH YOUR THICK SKULLS! SOME PEOPLE CAN'T AFFORD TO DRIVE / WANT TO STAY FIT / AND BIKE TO COMMUTE. SHARE THE ING ROAD *SSHOLES, OR STAY HOME. QUIT COMPLAINING ABOUT CYCLISTS, ***YOU ARE THE PROBLEM*** POLLUTING THE ENVIRONMENT, CLOGGING ARTERIES, KILLING BYSTANDERS!!!

There, one of my few rants.

Or, you can bike on the sidewalk. Or walk. Unless you have a horse and buggy, you shouldn't be on a road designed for vehicular traffic.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Bikes are not exactly great for pedestrians either. The sidewalk is not suitable for bikers in any way. They deserve the road.

Your right, bikers are much safer going up the side of a two lane road with cars going by them at twice their speed and having to move to the center (and into oncoming traffic) to avoid hitting them. Or they can go on the sidewalk, and have to suddenly slow down and awkwardly pass somebody walking up the street. Which situation is more dangerous?

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Biking on the sidewalk is not only illegal, but dangerous to pedestrians.

Which is a shame, because it is a hell of a lot safer. How fast are you going on your bike anyway? Its not hard to slow down and wait for a pedestrian to move to the side. When I walked around Boynton every day I was always passed by cyclists and never had a problem.

And guess what, a bicycle is a vehicle!

Can I drive my uncle’s lawn mower down the street then?

But I see you've cleverly ignored my points. What's a poor person to do? Can't live close to work, rent is too high. Can't own a car, too expensive. Can't walk to work, lives too far away. Can't take public transportation, because it's too inadequate. But, nope. Who cares?? You have yours, Jack.

If a person is too high and mighty to ride on a bus because its “inadequate” then that’s their fault. I walked two miles to the train station, road the train a half hour to Boca, walked another two miles to the campaign office I worked in, and volunteered everyday for a whole Florida summer. It’s not hard. I’m as bony and weak as they come.

I try to respect traffic on my bike, but it's people like you that make me so angry, that I don't mind sometimes cutting corners. Especially if it means pissing off a driver like you.

Well, when you piss off the wrong person because they don’t respect your high and mighty bike, I won’t have any sympathy for you. Your taking a huge risk riding in the road on the bike.

Bikes are not exactly great for pedestrians either. The sidewalk is not suitable for bikers in any way. They deserve the road.

Your right, bikers are much safer going up the side of a two lane road with cars going by them at twice their speed and having to move to the center (and into oncoming traffic) to avoid hitting them. Or they can go on the sidewalk, and have to suddenly slow down and awkwardly pass somebody walking up the street. Which situation is more dangerous?

Or we can ban cars. Which would be much better for the environment.

After all, you don't seem to care about my transportation needs, why should I care about yours. I got mine, Jack.

I'm so sorry that my concerns for my safety and yours violate your own transportation needs. For a guy with a Rocky Anderson endorsement, I'd think you would be a little less "me!" centered.

Sure. We can ban cars. And I could walk everywhere again, and be fine with it. And I wouldn't have to deal with pricks on bikes as often. Good luck getting that policy off the ground though.

Quit calling me Jack, its rather annoying and doesn't make you appear any more intelligent.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Driving cars inside cities should be illegal. They're fine for rural transportation I guess.

As urban cities get denser and denser, this could be a rational solution. There is no reason to have a car in the heart of New York City, but there is no reason to be biking on US-1 in the middle of Boynton Beach, Florida either.

Of course, the true solution, rather than disfavoring bikers, is to reduce driving by raising the driving age to 21, investing in large-scale public transport, and hiking gas taxes.

Yeah, lets punish drivers for looking out for the safety of others and getting where they need to go! Bastards!

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Well, I bike fast enough to seriously injure someone if they were on the sidewalk, and came out of nowhere. I think most cyclists would. (Plus, what would you do about crowded sidewalks and sidewalks with a lot of shop doors opening up onto them?) Sounds like you've never biked in your life, now that I think of it. Someone in your mindset would quickly have a different view of things if they started biking regularly.

I bike occasionally. I find it tiring to struggle over the bridge to cross the interstate, and I prefer to walk. Walking is peaceful, easy, and after a few days, you actually can build steady speed. I walked to and from work (again, that’s five miles one way) everyday last summer and two miles the summer before.

I wouldn't have a problem with it. I can easily pass it on my bike.

Good; then you should have no trouble slowing down for a second to gently pass a pedestrian on the sidewalk.

Not everyone can ride the bus. And even if the option is available, spending more than 1 hr on a commute is unreasonable, especially if they can take a shorter time via bike.

Oh the horrors! Riding a bus for an hour! Is it because of all the smelly, scary poors? Are you scared of it for some reason? Bus services are pretty fast down here. When I walked so far that I couldn’t walk home before dark or because I was tired, I often took the bus and got home very, very quick.

Well, more people die in car accidents than bike accidents (per capita), so I feel perfectly safe, thank you very much.  Plus, I've never heard of a cyclist killing anyone in an accident. Again, another reason to ban cars.

I have heard of people who were hit by an oncoming car trying to avoid knocking people like you into the grass on the side of the road. So, yeah, bikes can kill. Planes crash. Lets ban that too. And my mother’s friend’s first child drowned in a lake behind their house back in 1995. Lets ban lakes too.

Good luck with your plan to ban bikes.

From driving in the road? That could catch on. I know of one state legislator who supports the idea….

I can start calling you Dirty Sanchez, would you prefer that?

I’ve been called that jokingly since I first joined, so you wouldn’t be the first. Contact Oakvale or Cathcon-one of them has the trademark on it.

I have a feeling Sanchez never learned how to ride a bicycle.

I did, but its a struggle to bike in Florida. Easier to walk over bridges then it is to ride over them.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Oh the horrors! Riding a bus for an hour! Is it because of all the smelly, scary poors? Are you scared of it for some reason? Bus services are pretty fast down here. When I walked so far that I couldn’t walk home before dark or because I was tired, I often took the bus and got home very, very quick.

An hour long bus journey is generally extremely unpleasant, and I can't imagine doing it on a regular basis. Though I can't conceive of an hour long car commute or whatever. Commutes that long are way the Lord invented trains...

I may be wrong about this, but I'm pretty sure trains are only for Eurocommunists.

I got around by train all the time in the summer of 2012. I support high speed rail being expanded all across Florida. I guess I am a Eurocommie now as well .