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How To Kill A Bicyclist
By spokesman | August 26, 2008
There have been an alarming number of driver vs. bicyclist incidents in the past few months. The trend has been reported in many newspapers including the New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. Violence occurred at two recent critical mass rallies; one in Seattle and one in New York where a policeman intentionally pushed a cyclist off his bicycle. A video of the New York incident is posted on Youtube.
The disturbing part of the news coverage from a cyclist’s perspective is that most of the articles portray the cyclists as the villain. The United States is an auto-centric nation, so I understand why the coverage is slanted in favor of the drivers. However, I was alarmed to see that the State of Delaware (the home of Vice Presidential nominee Joe Biden) which should try to ensure a safe environment for all citizens despite their selected mode of travel, issued a press release explaining how to kill a cyclist. It tells drivers how fast they need to drive in order to achieve a kill. Thanks Delaware.
In the above picture from the Delaware Neighborhood Speeding Campaign, the bicyclist is shown without a helmet despite the fact that Delaware enacted a helmet law for children under 16 in 1995. Clearly there is a rogue element in the Delaware Department of Transportation that is out to get bicyclists. Hopefully, Joe Biden will not be introducing this to the Democratic Party platform. After all, Obama is a cyclist.
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Topics: Bicycle Culture |
August 27th, 2008 at 9:56 am
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August 27th, 2008 at 10:29 am
It seems to me like some people just want to be upset. The sign does not say that if you want to kill someone on a bicycle that you should hit them at 35 mph. It doesn’t say that you can ignore bikes if you are driving 25 mph. It says the reason for the 25 mph residential speed limit is the increased probability of fatality. You would have to be pretty jaded to read it any other way.
Why not just be glad that the government is trying to remind people why the speed limit is there.
Oh yeah, that’s right. He is looking for a reason to be upset. I forgot.
August 27th, 2008 at 10:35 am
I think the ad is poorly worded, but I don’t think it’s intended to encourage bicycle homocide. If anything, it places bicycles in an unfair light of being unsafe to use on the roads; perhaps “At 35, she’s dead; at 25, you stop in time” or something along those lines would be more appropriate. It seems to presuppose that bicyclists will be hurt no matter what.
August 27th, 2008 at 2:02 pm
As a daily bicycle commuter and enthusiast, I have to say that I’m not bothered by this ad at all. My first reaction wasn’t that this was encouraging people to run over cyclists. In fact, I’d love to see lots of ads like this (perhaps with more of an eye for good graphic design, admittedly) in Los Angeles. Anything to get motorists THINKING about cyclists more, and the fact that like the cliche says, speed does kill.
August 27th, 2008 at 2:14 pm
An ad team comes up with campaign about safety between cars and bicycles. Do you think any of the people on the ad team knows anything about cycling or even rides a bike? Probably not.
It may not be the best ad, but at least someone is trying. It is a step in right direction.
August 27th, 2008 at 4:00 pm
Porly worded ad. spokesman Chill the jets dude.
August 27th, 2008 at 9:01 pm
If 25 miles an hour is dangerous and 35 miles an hour is deadly, I’m glad I never turn the cranks much past 18 miles an hour while cruising around town.
Oh, wait, what is that ad about again?
—Matt
August 28th, 2008 at 10:31 am
Yeah, we should ban all documents that show the wrong way to do things. Ridiculous. This is a helpful document, showing the right and wrong way to do something and the consequences that arise from doing it the wrong way. Simple, clear cut. Stop being outraged for the sake of being outraged.
September 2nd, 2008 at 5:38 pm
[…] How To Kill A Bicyclist […]