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

[Hatman 🍁]

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.

[Hatman 🍁]

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.

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

And guess what, a bicycle is a vehicle!

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.

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.

[Hatman 🍁]

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.

[Hatman 🍁]

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.

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.

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

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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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?

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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.
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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.
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Good luck with your plan to ban bikes.

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