OK, This has been online for a while and you may have seen it. But I just saw it for the first time thanks to Chandra at GreenComotion.
Chandra posted a different video of the cool pedal truck, watch it there.
Commute Orlando
Encouragement, Education & Advocacy for Bicycling in the Real World
Humor: Car Driver Shares Tips for Cyclists
19 Responses to Humor: Car Driver Shares Tips for Cyclists
Leave a Reply
Essays
Copyright © 2012 Commute Orlando. All Rights Reserved.
Magazine Premium created by Themes by bavotasan.com.
Magazine Premium created by Themes by bavotasan.com.
I’ve had this vision of building a bike surrounded by a wire frame (so it would be entirely transparent) in the shape/size of a car with a big number 3 (Saint Dale) in the rear window.
Here’s a similar concept (lacking the #3)
In the video on Keri’s link, rather than trying to demonstrate how little space bicycles take up, they should have pointed out how much space bicyclists deserve: the whole lane!
I love the yellow pedal powered pickup.
Wayne
Another thought pops into my alleged mind about the sedan-sized bicycles in the article. If the operators of those cycles were not vehicular cyclists, they learned how effective it is to be one. I think there might not be, as the observations in the article indicated surprise at how the other road users treated them.
On a less positive note, somewhere out there in the ol’ inter-web is an article, perhaps a video, of a group of people who extracted everything from a motor vehicle, leaving only the shell, making it pedal powered. I believe it was in a state in which four-wheeler human powered vehicles are bicycles, unlike Florida. They were accosted by local law enforcement and commanded off the roadway. I believe the standard “impeding traffic” was the basis.
How unfortunate for them to not have an on-board lawyer familiar with cycling laws of their state.
That’s weird, I’ve joked and thoerized many times with my friends that a nice “3″ iron on for my cycling jacket, or decal for my pannier, might confuse some motorists enough that they cut me some slack…
I had never seen that video! Thanks Keri and Chandra!
I laugh when they demonstrate what yelling at a cyclist when passing them sounds like. Perfect!
ChipSeal: that was my favorite scene.
Wayne: yeah, the other video had a couple odd things. One was the helmets. I wonder if they’d wear helmets in a NEV. The other was the bike lane – they inadvertently demonstrated the inadequacy of bike lanes in a world of new, creative, human-powered vehicles.
Fred wrote about:
“…a group of people who extracted everything from a motor vehicle, leaving only the shell, making it pedal powered.”
Kevin’s comment:
That was here in Toronto. Michael de Broin converted a 1986 Buick Regal to be powered by four people pedalling. The charge of “operating an unsafe motor vehicle” was dropped because… duhhh… it isn’t a motor vehicle. Ontario’s “impeding traffic” law also explicitly refers only to motor vehicles.
Pedal cars and all that sort of thing is legal in Ontario, and a lot of fun.
There is a video here:
http://www.thestar.com/fpLarge/video/409354
Note:
Someone on this forum somewhere questioned my statement about how hot it got here in Toronto in the summer. I see that the current temperatures right now are:
Orlando – 31
Toronto – 32
Yes, it is hotter here in Toronto than in Orlando right now. Rather annoying, but summer is still my favourite time of the year!
Thanks for the link Kevin, that was amusing.
It’s often much hotter in the northern midwest and western states than it is in Florida. The excess water vapor actually moderates the temperatures here.
The killer is the humidity. It makes all your sweat stay on your skin rather than evaporating. It is relentless, humid heat, day after day, for 4 months. It’s not cool in the mornings and the mugginess makes you sweat even more.
We make up for it the rest of the year though.
Re: the Toronto Buick Regal video: I love it when the cop says “The safety factor is, uh…. [long pause] unsafe.”
Also, is that a squadron of bicycle cops passing the right-turning cars on the right? Okay, maybe they’re just pulling over to observe the situation…
Yes, the Toronto bicycle cops are notoriously bad examples. They ride on sidewalks, through crosswalks, don’t exercise proper lane control, roll through stop signs and red lights, etc, etc.
Come to think of it, the Toronto car driving police are also notoriously bad examples of car driving. They routinely violate the speed limits, park in no parking zones and bike lanes, roll through stop signs, etc, etc. They are only allowed to do these sorts of things in an emergency situation with their emergency signals on.
“It is relentless, humid heat, day after day, for 4 months.”
More like 7-8 months out of the year. If it wasn’t for air conditioning, Florida’s population would have stayed pretty much where is was in 1960.
it’s hot more than 4 months, but it’s not relentless. June, July, August, September are oppressive without reprieve… unless a hurricane sucks a bunch of cool dry air down here for a day or two.
Hahahahahaha! Too funny!
No sooner did I write about bad police car drivers than I ran across this article:
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/681624
An undercover cop for a local police force was caught by the Ontario Provincial Police driving 150 km/hr – at least 50 km/hr over the speed limit. He was charged with street racing, handed a seven-day on-the-spot driver’s license suspension and his unmarked police car was impounded.
Street racing is good for up to six months in jail upon conviction. And police supervisors tend to look with some disfavour upon cops who commit crimes and go to jail.
“it’s hot more than 4 months, but it’s not relentless.”
Do you work for the Chamber of Commerce? Anyone that ever lived north of Macon would know better.
Some people that grew up in Macon once asked me, in an incredulous voice, “How did you grow up here without air conditioning?” A question that was sort of like, “How did you grow up without running water or electricity?”
My answer was the same as anyone could say in the same circumstances, “We got by.”
“My answer was the same as anyone could say in the same circumstances, “We got by.””
I’ve heard people living north of Macon say, “cold showers are the answer.” No good here, I’m afraid. Well water is a tepid 80F all summer. Like taking a hot shower without water from the hot water tank.
If you are on city water, it’s about 70-75F. That’s still warm.
I love this video also. Thanks for bringing it to our attention, Keri!
Peace
Apparently, I need to go back to school and learn how to spell my name LOL!