"This is so dangerous!", laments the woman driving directly into a Critical Mass bike ride
This was a Critical Mass event, which is why the bicyclists are taking up all of the street as a way to reclaim the streets and protest the lack of safety for riders under usual conditions. It's not legal, but protests are never useful if they're fully legal now, are they.
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This is how cyclists feel when they are surrounded by cars on busy roads because the cycling infrastructure is shit.
Except, cyclists can't kill people in cars with their bike.
So, lady, imagine our frustration.
Edit: spelling 🤦♂️
This gives me an idea. How about every bike gets retrofitted with a large titanium hook. The idea is that if you hit my bike, your car is pretty much totaled. Not just that but if you really hit me, the hook passes thru the radiator, thru the firewall and into the drivers asshole.
Put a little LED light on it as a warning beacon.
A tactical pool noodle with a very abrasive end should do the trick.
Maybe they could make the trucks bigger and more armored to compensate?
The all new 2026 Ford fackarator 350! With pedestrian slicer adapter and bicyclist impaler adapter! Slicer and impaler sold separately with $5000 memorial day discount!
They feel like cars are coming from both sides of the road through red lights?
Where do you bike?
Yes.
I've witnessed cars driving in the wrong lanes (headed towards me) as they recklessly pass drivers.
I've seen drivers turning onto dedicated bike paths.
I've seen drivers jumping curbs. In the city, they've even managed to hop TALL, concrete barriers protecting bike lanes.
I've seen numerous cars flying through stop signs and red lights. At least a few times per week. And even more "stopping" on crosswalks.
I've witnessed a teen getting hit by a car while she used a crosswalk in front of her school. I've nearly been hit several times crossing at intersections, too. I saw an elderly man who was almost run over by a car turning right without slowing down (the driver then yelled at the old man).
If you think these are rare occurrences, you likely don't live anywhere near cars. This shit happens all the time, everywhere.
And I won't even bring up aggressive drivers who are hostile towards cyclists and use their cars as weapons.
I've had two close calls with roundabouts. One where someone didn't look before entering and another where some tried to pass me inside the circle when they wanted to exit and I didn't.
As much as I love roundabouts, I agree that some drivers simply have no idea how they work. They stop when they don't need to, and go when they should be yielding. And as you describe, the ones with multiple lanes are even more “confusing”, despite them being quite logical in design and implementation.
Stay safe.
No, these were both in the same, single lane roundabout. And there shouldn't have been any confusion since the roundabout has been there for a while now. It was just drivers being reckless and careless, putting my life in danger by not obeying traffic laws.
Oy, vey! LOL I bet they found a reason to blame you. 😫
Cool, as they pass drivers. Did you see them drive en masse the wrong way through red lights? Come on, you know you haven't. You know how dangerous it is. Even if it were people walking, it would be dangerous; this isn't safe. This is so dishonest.
Are there bad drivers, yes. But no where, in any city, are drivers doing what these bikers did. Taking up the entire road to drive the wrong way as dozens of them go through red lights.
No, no it doesn't. And this is why bikers are often ridiculed by people. I want safer roads, but I don't claim that cars drive both ways on the road and through red lights by the dozens.
This shit happens all the time everywhere? Really. Everywhere, cars are just all going the same direction, ignoring every traffic law en masse with no cops doing anything? This is so dishonest, again. There are so many good points and ways to fight for more biker safety, creating false narratives isn't one of them.
How is this relevant to the point at all? This feels more like ranting that discussing the topic on hand. How these bikers are breaking traffic laws in ways cars do not, and in doing so are putting themselves and others in danger for 0 gain. This feels like an "own the libs" thing for bikers where making drivers get upset is the only point. Which a lot of people seem excited about in this thread, further proving that point.
Good because it's not relevant. I'm saying cars don't drive like these bikers do. They are acting extremely unsafe for no reason. This doesn't help gain any support or change anyone mind. If anything it makes people hate us bikers more.
You do realize that this was a Critical Mass event, right?
In that context, YES, I've seen cars in large groups going through red lights and driving the wrong way during similar events. In fact, just this past weekend, I saw numerous cars going through red lights at a local Pride Parade 😘
If you take a survey of stop signs, you'll find that the majority of motorists do NOT stop at those signs. Hundreds of cars per intersection per day.
This ship happens all the time, everywhere, was referring to the list I wrote of things I encounter on a regular basis.
I didn't touch on speeding.
Cops will only "do something" if they can catch someone.
And when we have "traffic enforcement blitzes", what do you know? We catch a LOT of drivers behaving badly. It's too bad we only do this a few times out of the year.
I think you'd be surprised to learn about the history (and purpose) of Critical Mass, because it's not "for no reason". It's quite literally a form of direct action to promote cycling safety and activism.
And the fact that they are riding in a large group makes them safer.
These events happen all around the world, and are widely celebrated as powerful social movements.
I cited Critical Mass and documentation about it in my response a lot. I think you might have a lot to learn about the movement based on your reply.
At a parade? One that has permits and works with the city? Yah... lol. Looking into criticall mass is says "These events are spontaneous and unpermitted." Do you know the difference between a permitted event and one that's not? Traffic can be re routed, cops can be places to manage traffic. This is not that. On CM it says "The routes of some rides are decided spontaneously by whoever is currently at the front of the ride." That means anyone can do whatever, causing massive issues with traffic and safety. What a false equivalency.
Looking further into it, they give the reason: The disorganized nature of the event allows it to largely escape clampdown by authorities who may view the rides as forms of parades or organized protest.
So they know it's dangerous and doesn't have the permits needed to make it safe, which is why parades and such need them, but they see that as a pro. They basically take to the streets to break the law en masse and inconvenience everyone, including emergency services and they think this will make more people want to support bikers?
This is either being dishonest or not understanding what I said. I'm not talking about an aggregate across the country, I'm talking about dozens doing it at once in such a way that it creates a wall that can cause an accident.
Lol, so cops should just mail tickets to people randomly? You have to catch someone committing a crime to charge them with it. That's how the law works....
I see plenty of bikers breaking traffic laws too, every week when I ride. None of them get tickets either. Doing the things they do like going across a cross walk when they don't have the right away, could cause an accident. But you conveniently ignore that and the laws they break.
Not surprised. You can do something for a long time for no reason. CM started in the 1990s. If it's not pointless, please show me the changes it has pushed or championed. I would love to know all the good work that came from CM aside from performative protesting.
Yah, so they can safely ignore all traffic rules and literally break laws to put on this show. Laws meant to keep people safe. You realize that right?
Also they are literally breaking off to try to control traffic.
From CM: In the Critical Mass practice of "corking", a rider breaks away from the group to block the side streets of an intersection as the mass crosses. This prevents traffic travelling through the intersection on a green signal and allows the riders to ride through red lights. This both contains cross-traffic while the mass passes and protects the mass from splitting or from drivers who might attempt to pass through the mass.
They are not only unsafely trying to control traffic, they are causing mass congestion, again for no reason but some parade of bikers they decided to do without proper permits. This is such a "look at me, I'm the main character" movement.
Powerful? Sure, but powerful isn't always positive. I mean take a step back and look at this from a normal persons point of view, someone who is not an avid cyclist. This doesn't make me think they need more safety or protection; this makes me think they are reckless and a nuisance. This does nothing but make drivers hate bikers more, this doesn't change minds, at all.
Argh... my browser crashed as I had almost finished my reply. 😱
I'll condense my points:
Yes, it's a protest. Just like with protests involving pedestrians, the streets get filled and people "ignore the rules".
To this point, let me expand on what I mean.
The absence of a ticket does not mean the behaviour doesn't exist. There are a LOT of motorists who run reds, ignore stop signs, drive over the speed limit, don't use signals, make illegal turns, park illegally, drive while intoxicated, etc. More than you'd think.
If you set up automated speed cameras, red light cameras, DUI checkpoints, and school zone blitzes, suddenly you realize that it's more than just a few drivers behaving badly. And that's during normal traffic, not during a protest.
It's hard to quantify, because this form of protest operates on many levels:
As with other protests, this is normal. And those traffic rules... are only there because cars make public spaces unsafe. People don't need traffic rules.
On the flip side, would you prefer that every single cyclist in that group STOP at every single red light and stop sign? I'm a massive fan of that type of malicious compliance, so I'd be OK with that, too.
Man, I don't even know what to say.
When I see protests, even when I don't know the motivations or goals, I still respect and value the right to protest.
And if someone "hates cyclists" because of a protest like Critical Mass, they probably hate black people, gays, Palestinians, workers, the disabled, unions, First Nations, environmentalists, animal rights, and other groups of people who deserve to be heard and seen through public protests.
Then why did you bring up the Pride parade? You said: "I’ve seen cars in large groups going through red lights and driving the wrong way during similar events. In fact, just this past weekend, I saw numerous cars going through red lights at a local Pride Parade." That is a permitted event. Driving the wrong way can be permitted by a, ya know, permit. Bringing this up then saying "of course their breaking the rules" only proves my point. Bikes are doing this, cars do not unless it is done legally with a permit. And you saying "ya I know" means you knew that but presented it anyway. That's extremely dishonest.
And I'm sure you'd find the same with biking. Many bikers break laws about where to cross or how to handle intersections and are just ignored all the time.
Do these people not know about side streets or bike paths or anything else? There are places to bike outside of traffic. If anything this is making it worse because you're not just driving around traffic, you're driving into it and trying to control it. This is a weak reason to but people in danger.
So the only way to show people that bikers exist is by massively disrupting traffic and causing safety issues? Yah, it brings attention to them, but not the good kind.
Or it shows the government that bikers don't listen to traffic laws and do whatever they want. This doesn't make the government do anything except maybe arrest some bikers for breaking the law.
See, this has been going on for 35 years and the only thing you can point at is maybe it might have possible sped up some cycling infrastructure. Maybe. Yah, that's not a lot of progress for 35 years of this nonsense. There are much more effective ways.
This is just wild.... People need traffic rules. Have you ever been in a large crowded city? Do you know all the foot TRAFFIC rules? There is literally a section of code on just this. And yes, cars exist, but what do you propose to avoid needing these rules, have no cars at all? That's absurd. Look at rural areas and tell me how that works.
No, I would prefer they don't disrupt an entire city for some performance that has gone on for 35 years with nothing to show for it. It's just an excuse to protest and "stick it to the drivers."
Ok, now imagine you are late to pick up a family member from the hospital, or you're going to miss an interview, or a million other things. With a little empathy, you can quickly realize how this would cause issues for people, all for what? I can respect the goals, but I don't respect the way they have chosen to reach those goals.
Jesus, you just went nuclear there huh? If someone hates cyclists for doing something like this they must be a bigot and racist? Tell me more about how you're willing to empathize with the other side to reach a conclusion, FFS. You've decided that drivers are the enemy and so now they suddenly don't matter at all. You can just assume they're racist, sexist, anti-worker, hate animals, etc all from not liking bikers from this protest. Wow.
Maybe stop being so emotional and think for a moment. You can be pro-animal rights and think that what an animal rights group does is wrong. Are you really incapable of understanding that basic concept? Or can I just do anything under the banner of "cyclists' rights" and call you a racist if you disagree with my actions?
Come on, what is this nonsense?
I think you're a little too focused on the one very specific way the bicycles were being unsafe in the video. Every example they listed was another way that cars are driven irresponsibly all the time, not just during a critical mass event where the point is to flood the streets with bicycles.
You're right. I was trying to talk about this specific incident originally and the other commenter kept trying to pivot or change the topic. I was talking about this behavior that is so far outside the norm. The person who replied to me tried to act like cars do this too, but then started talking about all the other things cars do.
But to be clear, I bike very often. And while doing so I do see plenty of bikers break the laws and act unsafe in ways that can cause accidents. Do I see bad bikers as often as I see bad drivers? Hell no. But they do exist, and in this community the stance is often all drivers are evil no matter what and bikers are always right. We can see this with the justification of this protest. It doesn't help us get where we want to be. That's my point.
Car brains are incapable of realizing that they're the deadly threat.
I said it elsewhere but it's worth repeating here that fighting drivers is fighting the wrong fight. Fight the government.
Even if you convince the drivers that you're right, nothing changes.
NGL, you're fighting the drivers for this, just in a different medium. You think the government is just doing shit for kicks and giggles? Nah, they don't put in bike lanes because too many residents complain when they lose their parking lanes to bike lanes, or the road gets widened solely to add a bike lane.
Sure there are some cases where the govt is making a bad decision, but don't think that you don't need to argue with those same people, just in a Public Information Session instead of on the road.
If you don't change driver attitudes, fighting the government is pointless. We're getting bike lanes TORN OUT right now, because it's popular politics.
just to say where I'm coming form: I communte by bike, thankfully living somewhere drivers are relatively polite and bike friendly.
Riding into oncoming traffic isn't going to convince any drivers you're in the right. it's just being stupid and unsafe. They want to raise awareness, I get it, and this driver is certainly a whiny, entitled brat. but what the cyclists are doing here is just reinforcing the driver's poorly informed opinion that bikes are the problem.
The drivers are the ones pushing the government to not expand bike infrastructure. There are massive complaints anytime bike Lanes or other protection is installed in major cities and anytime it's put up to a vote it's the car drivers out there voting no
Seriously, like has that dude never heard of a NIMBY?
Drivers fight tooth and nail to prevent anything from being implemented if it means they incur even the most mild of inconvenience.
Those cyclists? Many are drivers. This is a community event that builds solidarity and changes driver attitudes by mobilizing them against the vehicular violence we are all currently subject to. A critical mass ride has hundreds or even thousands of participants. It changes the way THEY think about cars, bikes, traffic, and public safety.
You can do both
Idk about the usa but here in europe its EXPLICITLY written into the drivers code that even if someone is driving illegaly if its in your power to stop an accident you have to. So if a person steps in front of you randomly and you have half a second to react thats usually not your fault BUT if you for example saw that there was a school bus dropping kids off and then you hit a child running across the road theres a large chance that theyre gonna charge you. Of course in europe you have to put like 30 hours into theory and then a lot of driving lessons to get a license while in the usa you basically get a drivers license instantly and nobody gives a fuck so thats why people dont know the rules...
To add, in the Netherlands, known for it's stellar bike infrastructure it's exactly with actions like this that they reclaimed their cities from being purely car oriented.
That's also because bike usage is encoded in legislation.
If you hit a cyclist with a car you are almost always considered liable. It needs a lot of proof to prove that is the cyclists fault.
Guess what, that makes people very careful around bikes.
The US license comes with the fruit loops.
one could very well argue that it's still your fault if you hit someone who unexpectedly jumps out, if you cannot stop in time for such a thing you are driving too fast.
It's like sprinting right past a corner and then insisting it's not your fault when you inevitably run into a person who walks out from behind the corner. You fucking slow down when approaching a place like that, then speed back up when you are not longer liable to hit people.
"Everyone except me is crazy."
The irony
Whenever I've been on a Critical Mass ride, we've always had designated "corkers", people whose job it was to block traffic with blockading/dancing/whatever while the others continued onward. Without people doing that, you run the risk of this sort of carbrained nonsense.
Something else that happened on mine was that as soon as we hear sirens, we drop the mass protest and prioritize making a path for emergency vehicles to get through.
"Dangerous to drivers"
Because you're going to give yourself an aneurysm over a minor inconvenience? You're in a giant suit of armor. You could hit every single one of those cyclists without sustaining even a scratch.
If the cyclists were actually dangerous to drivers, do you think the diver would be accelerating aggressively towards them?
Confused Portlander here. Why are these bikers fully clothed?
After last years was cancelled, I wasn't sure if was happening this year. Apparently, a split in the org means there will be two this year.
I would expect Umbrella to sponsor zombie walks rather than this.
And ignoring a lot of traffic laws?
It's a protest. Showing how dangerous the streets are to cyclists (and how many cyclists use the roads) is the message. A protest that challenges law and inconveniences people peacefully is how they garner attention (hopefully as a prelude to change and improvements).
So yeah, ignoring a lot of traffic laws.
Thank you. It was an honest question, downvotes are fuckin hilarious lol
I apologize as someone who fully thought you knew it was a protest and were just being a snarky ass opposed to their cause and sent you a down vote.
Never heard of the movement but as a cyclist the first thing i thought was no helmets, ignoring stop lights and riding outside the lane. Now that i know it's a protest I guess i understand.
This is critical mass and each city does theirs a bit differently.
They are a form of protest but they're usually done legally with the cooperation of police. The lead riders will stop at Red lights, but the mass of cyclists is treated as a single, long vehicle, and will continue through red intersections if the light was green when the front of the group went through. In my state at least, helmets are only required for children.
The official ride does not ride on the wrong side of the road, but there are usually some free spirits doing what they want.
They also have volunteer ride leaders, medics, and corkers who stand in front of cars trying to pass perpendicularly through the long bike "vehicle".
She definitely should have either stopped or gone a different route, but it is incredibly dangerous to cycle head onto incoming motor traffic. Not really a great look for the cyclists.
Better off staying in the correct lane but hogging it so vehicles had no choice but to stay behind.
I'm with you. I get this is a protest, but I don't protest gun violence against kids by parading them down a firing range. Taking up the whole road can result in you getting hurt, it doesn't matter what should be our what your ideals are. It's a road for cars and behaving like this increases the chance that someone gets hurt.
On top of that this does what every protest that interrupts traffic does, makes people dislike you and your cause.
"I don't protest racial injustice by going to a segregated lunch counter. That could get you hurt."
-Lightor, c. 1960.
Lightor, 1960:
It's a metaphor
A poor one that makes a ton of assumptions about my character and what I would do during Nazi Germany all because I said that this isn't an effective way to gain supporters.... Really?
It's functionally identical. The lane is occupied. Motorists cannot enter it, whether the cyclists are facing them or not.
It is not.
Cars follow the rules of traffic. This means you know basically what they will do. These people are just a mob. Look at how many of those bikes just cross solid lines. This is no where near the same. We can't make progress if we start acting irrationally.
Also, cars don't drive on the wrong side of the road into traffic and through red lights.
Sorry to hear any your friend but it doesn't change reality. Your friend was following the rules and got hurt. Clearly that upsets you, as it should, they were doing what they should. But I find it interesting that when cyclists do that exact same thing and break traffic rules, putting people in danger, you find them blameless. It seems no matter what you want to blame drivers.
Sure does sound like a group of people are smooth brained and full of themselves.
P. S. Before trying to make some baseless accusations you should know I bike and electric scooter almost everywhere. The last time I was in a car was months ago. I don't like how cars treat bikers, but this just makes the problem worse.
Yes, a car driving the wrong way on a road is more dangerous than a bike doing it, but a bike doing it can still cause an accident by them getting hit or causing a car to swerve.
Additionally, there are numerous pro-bike laws in place to protect bikers and ensure their safety. Your us vs them mindset is causing you to ignore reality.
This is such a false equivalency. Both cars disobeying traffic laws and cyclists disobeying traffic laws can result in death.
It's not functionally identical, the function of the right lane is to move traffic in the opposite direction to the left. It would be absolute carnage if every other vehicle decided to disregard the rules of the road and use any lane they want because it would make it theirs.
Of course the traffic in their own lane has to stop when others are breaking the rules of the road as you don't want to hurt anyone, but it's still dangerous and stupid to ride a bike into oncoming traffic.
Yes the bicycleist are wrong and are only hurting the cause. What if the lady had to get to work with no orher way, or what the hell they do if there was emergency that ambulance needed access. Riding bike on wrong side of the road just makes them assholes. If you don't know its a protest it ineffective. Besides protesting late at night is also dumb. This isn't a protest, just bicycles wanting to be dicks.
Protests need to make sure that no one is ever inconvenienced or made uncomfortable. That way people can just ignore it and we can all feel better about ourselves
That's why the best protests are done by leaving a very mildly offensive joke on mastodon.
Can you explain?
Sarcasm.
Oh, oops, thank you. I got stuck imagining that you were referring to something that actually worked 😂 hoo boy not my shining moment.
Be idealist all you want. If you try to convince someone to join or support your cause by angering them, it won't work. You form enemies, not allies.
If the purpose of this was to make the bikers feel good while turning people against bikers, I'm sure it worked. This protest isn't going to make someone in a car 30 minutes late and think "hey those cyclists just going through red lights, the wrong way, making me late, they got a real good point."
People need to be realistic and realize that whimsical ideals don't seamlessly translate to reality.
You are the white moderate MLK warned was worse the Klan members.
No, it doesn't make you racist. You're just showing the same moral failings as the white moderates MLK warned us about. You prefer an unjust peace to any struggle for justice. If you were in 1940s Germany, and you were stopped at a train track watching cattle cars full of people being taken to death camps, your only complaint would be that the train was blocking your path.
It's wild that you can claim to know exactly what I would do. A smart man would know better than to make such strong assumptions about someone's character.
Your logic doesn't hold up because this isn't a struggle for justice. This is people driving head on into traffic through a red light. What are they accomplishing with this, what justice are they championing? Being able to ignore all traffic laws and put themselves in danger by doing so?
By your warped world view I can do anything I want and say it's for a cause, and if you disagree you only want unjust peace. This is a blanket dumb stance you can take to literally justify anything. You can say ICE deporting everyone is right, and anyone saying it isn't only wants the unjust peace of illegals being here. No nuance. That's a dumb ass stance but your logic supports it.
This is paper thin logic hanging onto a concept you don't fully understand.
So the neat thing about ambulances, and other emergency vehicles, is they have flashing lights AND sierns to let people know they are there.
And protesters always swiftly move to let emergency vehicles through, because they know not to block actually useful vehicles like ambulances and fire engines
I agree, crowds of protesters are far more observant than drivers. I've seen ambulances stuck in new York traffic before
What a spectacular photo.
This guy has a picture of it happening once, in another country, with people stationary on foot, it has to be true. Unless there is a picture floating around out there of people not moving.... That would blow this whole thing up.
God, anecdotal evidence is such brain rot.
Nobody thinks this proves anything. If you think that is what is happening, tend to your own brain rot.
This is evidence supporting an argument, not evidence proving an argument. Feel free to provide contrary evidence.
Oh look, more brain rot.
I can find images of people not moving. That would go against the argument. My point is, cherry picking one or two instances of something proves only that it can happen. Not that it does.
I mean I Googled "protesters blocking emergency vehicles" and got tons of results. So what we a exactly does that picture prove? It happened once? Cool.
Very first result, incase you need it. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/just-stop-oil-waterloo-bridge-ambulance-b2443700.html
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/just-stop-oil-waterloo-bridge-ambulance-b2443700.html
There ya go. I forget some people don't know how Google works and need to be spoon fed. But a picture with 0 context or information, you just eat that right up huh? Don't question something that supports what you want to be true. Lol
That's been my experience, bikes also clear out way faster than cars.
Pretty much, more or less, yah.
And bikes are more agile and capable of getting out of the way than cars are
I'm guessing they would get out of the way?
Then she would have to pull over and wait 10-15 minutes for them to pass. Geez.
In an emergency there would be lights and ee-oo-ee-oo and the bikers would definitely part to let the emergency vehicle.
It's a protest not a rally.
Be glad they're not carrying bricks.
lots of people in this thread that don't understand how protests work.
While she is clearly a dumbass for not just parking and waiting, why is the bike ride taking up all of the lanes in both directions? Was the street blocked off and this lady ignored it?
Why was there an oncoming car in her lane?
This really needs context.
The OP has some context but Lemmy is bad about showing the text included with a media post so it's easy to miss. The OP states it's a "critical mass" protest where large numbers of cyclists reclaim the street to demand better bicycle infrastructure
I figured that was happening, which is why I updated the title to explicitly state it's a Critical Mass event
I have no official context. If I had to guess this was some kind of organized night bike event. There were multiple cars on the road so likely not a closed course thing, probably organized only on social media. The car on the wrong side of the road was probably trying to go around the cyclists. The cyclist were likely in the wrong, but as a driver she definitely should have turned off of that street and gone around.
Not sure how she could turn off and go around when she has no idea why there is a massive amount of bikes, where they are coming from, or where they are going. Going around requires more information than someone surprised by a massive number of surprise bikes would have.
I'm not opposed to the idea, and I do think just stopping and waiting it out is the best option. She was wrong to just drive forward through the crowd of bikes, but maybe she hoped she would get past the mass of bikes faster?
But expecting someone to 'just go around' is pretty dismissive of someone's confusion when completely surrounded in a situation they don't understand. Like what if she just needed to turn left and go two blocks?
Pretty easy to just turn the keys and wait... What they did is risking injuring someone. And if you want to take the selfish route, she's putting herself at risk of a large group of now angry people. Turn off the multi ton vehicle and wait. It's not that hard.
Yes, stopping and waiting it out is what I said she should have done. Someone else said she should have 'just gone around'.
We are in agreement 🤝
The cyclists should pull out guns and shoot the driver in this situation. After all, how can you expect them to do any differently? They suddenly see a driver driving through their parade route, scaring and confusing all of them, endangering all their lives? Sure, they could go around, but we can't judge them harshly if they just kill the driver or set the vehicle on fire.
The context is if the lane ahead of you is blocked you do NOT drive directly into it.
You do ride a bike directly into it though!
The video originally had a vague title and zero context, which is why I asked for some.
It's called a parade.
If a bunch of cars did the same thing would you call that a parade?
That's literally what happens in parades.
So if a bunch of street racers drove in all the lanes you would be fine with it and call it a parade?
Street racing is not a political protest.
Please keep in mind that arguments made in bad faith are uncivil and thus subject to removal under rule 1.
Per the person I was responding to:
They are not engaging with it as a protest, but as a parade, and I am trying to meet them on their terms.
Would you?
Of course not.
Idiots in cars, idiots on bikes. Hell yeah I'm pro bikes but setting a wheel on incoming lane? Yeaah.. no thanks, I'm fine
In the bike party near me, we take over the traffic lane but not the oncoming lane.
Maybe that's why bike party split off from critical mass
ITT: confounded folks who live in areas where Critical Mass events don't take place.
ITT people not understanding that new and confusing situations are confusing.
ITV: a driver just hitting the gas pedal when confused
I'm referring to people in the thread acting like eveyone knows what a critical mass event is or that people should always be expected to know that a mass number of cyclists taking over the road is to promote better infrastructure. They are baffled that anyone would be confused.
If you're so drunk or stupid you don't realize you shouldn't drive right into what is clearly an organized parade or protest, you need to have your license taken away. You are not responsible enough to be allowed to ride a bicycle, let alone drive a vehicle.
So, that's why I used the adjective "confounded," b/c it's not like folks are stupid, just obviously completely unfamiliar.
I was referring to a second group in the thread who can't understand how someone else couldn't instantly figure out what was going on.
Maybe I should have started with 'Also ITT...'
And recording while driving...
I agree that more bike lanes are needed and also cyclists need to be treated with the respect any life demands.
But flipping off a driver or generally blaming people who drive is fighting the wrong fight. I drive a car, I also cycle, being in a car doesn't make me anti-bike.
Fight the government - flip off the government - that is refusing to put in safe infrastructure for the bikes (with protests like this, of course. But don't flip off the driver, at best it does nothing, at worst it widens the gap between both groups and makes it easier to dehumanize and villianize the cyclists).
This isn't about flipping off a driver. This is flipping off a bad driver who doesn't understand that what they're doing is unsafe. They're flipping off bad behaviour.
Fuck bike lanes. We need to dedicate a percent of roads to be car free
It doesn't matter if a protest is legal. The word you're looking for is "non violent"
it's only non-violent until someone in a car drives into it tho (good)
This looks like Miami. If it is.. critical mass usually has a police force in the loop they do usually to stop people driving right through the crowd. The loop is posted online about a week before and there is always police presence
Probably LA? Looks similar but police less likely to beat the shit out of white people on bicycles
Imo it looks remarkably safe as long as we ignore the person in the car driving into oncoming traffic.
With her smartphone out, recording.
No but see youre responsible for all the actions of people who want to kill you.
The bikes in the oncoming lane are safe? C'mon what kind of joke. Blocking streets is one thing but they're actually moving forward straight on in oncoming traffic, in what world is that safe?
In the world of every parade that has been performed in every major city for the last two centuries at least.
Ahhh, I'll remember to drive right on into that parade next time they've moved off closed streets.
Nothing you say will stop the parts of this protest that are riding into oncoming traffic as safe. They clearly didn't get coming traffic directed away.
The unsafe thing here is the driver who insisted on dangerous driving. Motorists have an obligation to not cause harm regardless of what others are doing.
If I threw you into oncoming traffic would that be unsafe? Simple answer, yes. That's literally the only point I'm making. A protest being good doesn't make the handful of troublemakers suddenly perfectly safe. They're on the wrong side of the road.Travel direction does not change because you're on a bike. Done. That's it. Unsafe behaviors by some of the cyclists.
And the driver was the only person making the situation unsafe.
If they were also on a bike would the cyclists suddenly be unsafe? No, being on the wrong side of the road is unsafe. Idk why that's hard to understand, especially in a protest that's supposed to promote safer biking conditions. People riding into oncoming traffic is exactly the justification assholes are using for ripping out bike lanes. Shit people just follow the rules of the road.
Since when are cars the only one entitled to use the road?
Edit: Bunch of fucking idiots who don't understand roads or protests getting all pissy because they were told they don't own the road.
Cars are also not safe when driving into oncoming traffic. Thought that was obvious.
Huh, seen as how the driver here was unsafe, it appears you are intentionally misinterpreting what I have posted.
Seeing as I'm talking about the BIKES LITERALLY RIDING AGAINST THE DIRECTION OF TRAFFIC, I think you're missing that that's what I'm talking about.
And we're still talking abouy the car.
The car with a complaining bitch whining while still fully stopped? Still following the rules of the road? Just because someone is taking out their ass while filming doesn't stop my point, which has been from the get-go a point about the cyclists who, unlike the rest of their group, are riding in oncoming traffic where the roads have clearly not been closed.
This is a CM?
I have never been to a CM with oncoming lane blocked (or in this case - not really blocked).
Also where are the corkers?
Where I live, critical mass is legal. Bikes can go on the street and we have a law that allows multiple vehicles that move as one to be treated like one vehicle.
Where is it legal to drive in the oncoming lane?
The organizers will inform the city that a critical mass protest is taking place, the city will inform the police and they will cordon off the route. If there are enough people talking part in the protest, the public order authorities will have no other choice - thus the name critical mass. The right to protest takes precedence over the right to drive this specific route.
that's a different setup than the one OpenPassageways described.
Depends on where you are.
In most places you can certainly drive in the oncoming lane to overtake things in your own lane or avoid obstacles. You wouldn't do it if something was coming the other way though, unless you really like the taste of airbag.
As a Bicycle commuter... there's plenty of "Am I the Asshole?" that needs to go around here.
I understand the cyclists are treating this as a protest, but unless the road is closed, get the hell out of the oncoming lane. You're not doing anything here other than confirming the drivers bias that you're the problem.
As for the driver, just fucking STOP until they pass. Is the risk of you hitting someone worth the few minutes that pulling over out of the way costs you? The driver's pissing and moaning on the video is some self-entitled bull shit.
I obey the traffic laws. I'm apparently one of the only people in my town that has read them. I like riding my bike. I like my town. People Hollar at me from their cars. I get called "fag" every second day. For taking a bike ride.
Can’t see it; “failed to load media”.
Here
She sure is.
For all of the unequivocally civic commenters on this thread, ask yourself this: would you be defending someone driving through a protest if the protesters weren't on bikes?
Meanwhile, in Germany: §1 StVO
pretty sure that's true everywhere that has signed the vienna convention on road traffic, so like 86 countries
StVO § 1: Das Auto des Menschen ist unantastbar
Protesting the lack of safety for riders by being unsafe riders? I don't think the best way to convince the public that cyclists can be safely integrated into traffic is to purposefully create dangerous situations.
Ah yes, the inevitable “protests should only happen when it’s convenient for everyone and 100% approved by the authorities” comment.
No but how about do this but only in the proper lane? You're still causing attention/inconvenience, but it's a lot less likely someone is going to mow you down from behind over driving slowly behind you, versus riding directly into oncoming traffic.
Use your brain for two seconds. Don't you think they already tried what you're suggesting? If you were planning a bike protest, wouldn't you only go down one side of the lane? Well, it turns out, the people running this already tried that years ago, and they found that blocking both lanes is the only way to do this safely. Otherwise asshole drivers will try to "just slip past" by doing things like taking left turns. Parades take up all lanes on a road for a damn good reason.
Your idea was already tried and found not to work.
Parades close down the street with barricades/detours and such so cars don't have the option to dangerously drive at them.
By law they don't have that option either.
Yeah, but this is a little like protesting against gun violence by juggling loaded handguns and putting everything on the safeties working perfectly. You don't protest an unsafe amusement park by going on the unsafe rides standing up.
Point being, most people would probably not want to serve as the example of what not to do. Most rules/regulations are written in blood, but most people aren't volunteering to be the ink to pen those regulations.
Maybe you shouldn't use loaded language chuckles.
What is the best way?
They could try attending local government meetings that decide city ordinances, or protest outside of the city government buildings?
Are people on this thread really that ignorant that I need to explain how local government works and how the people trying to get home from work in this disaster are not magically going to be on the side of these criminals trying to cause accidents?
Who's to say that they're not doing both?
I sometimes go on these critical mass rides and I am heavily involved in the local council meetings here when they discuss infrastructure. Unfortunately, you have to be squeaky wheel in order to get the grease.
Yeah, people are trying to get home etc. But it's a minor inconvenience compared to cycling on bad infrastructure.
Funny how it's a problem when cyclists start acting like drivers
Funny how no one would be on the side of a driver driving into oncoming traffic. They're not acting like drivers unless you want to lump them in with absolute moron dangerous drivers.
Hold up traffic by staying in the proper lane and following road rules like cars and I'll be on their side.
That's literally what happens during every parade. They don't close down half a street and let regular traffic proceed down half a parade route. That's dangerous. You close the entire street and send the parade down both sides of the street.
Have you really never been to a parade before?
Right. You close the entire street, with barricades/detours and such. I don't know what parade you're going to but the ones I've been to don't parade down both sides of the street while giving cars the option to drive down them.
That's common in the US, but elsewhere theres often parades and demonstrations that se the entire road without blocking them off. Drivers can either wait or backout or be stuck there while everyone goes around them.
There is exactly 2 persons creating dangerous situations in that video and none of them are on bikes.
I'm all for bike activism and fuck cars. But what they're doing is illegal and the driver likely had no idea what's happening. If they weren't riding the wrong way, then everything would have been perfectly legal (at least here in Germany). As long as the cyclists form a mass, they're considered one long vehicle and can even pass red lights that way, as long as the first person did so with a green light. But riding on the wrong side of the road and expecting everyone to know what is going on is kind of a dick move and just brings more hate on cyclists.
Running people over is also illegal. A defensive driver would stop and wait for the road obstruction to clear, or take a wide-berth, safe alternative path around it.
Why can't the bikers stay in the right lanes. What about anyone walking, get out the way and fuck them too.
proceeds to selectively ignore their activism and promote car centric infrastructure and viewpoints
I don't see banners. How the fuck is the driver going to know what the fuck this is about? Critical Mass in Germany is also inconvenient as fuck but completely legal. You won't find dicks riding in both lanes. Get fucked.
forget which sub you're in?
They're called communities here. Should have known I was dealing with a redditor. I know plenty of people (most of them preferring the bicycle over the car) who are fed up with this kind of "protest" as it just widens the divide. The conservatives jump on that and weaponize it.
Conservatives jump on anything and weaponize the tiniest bullshit. You can't just cede a battleground because "oh well they might get their panties in a bunch"
Telling us your tactics?
That's awesome. I love that.
But that's not the situation here, so already what you consider tolerable behavior and valid protest is law breaking in the context of the video. Surely you can see that reasonable people can also disagree on whether crossing the centre line is valid protest.
No idea what's happening? Who doesn't know what critical mass is? Even if you didn't, if you're so cousin-fucking stupid you can't look at this situation and see that this is obviously an event you shouldn't drive into, then you should be locked in a rubber room and not be allowed near sharp objects, let alone be allowed to drive a car. You're too stupid too be allowed in public.
Honestly, this was fine. She went through slowly and she's understandably annoyed. She doesn't her car being hit.
I mean Ive been a part of many of these in Orlando and the point was to never cross into incoming traffic. So she sort of has a point. That is super dangerous. The idea isn't to give people who hate cyclist more fuel to hate cyclist. Have respect for all types of traffic.
It is absolutely legal. The driver's manual for my state:
Unless there's a bicycle lane, bicycles get the full lane of regular streets like any other vehicle. On highways, they stay close to the right boundary. Bicycles are passed with abundant clearance.
Edit: Full street? Nevermind.
Do you also live somewhere that cars can legally cross a double yellow and travel in the wrong direction down the roadway?
Read the last line.
Misled by crappy title & description that didn't mention cyclists riding the wrong way against opposing traffic, and a picture that didn't clearly show cyclists doing that.
Fair enough.
I too carry around a 5lb bit of unwieldy metal for the sheer purpose of hitting cars if one hits me. I dream of the day it happens, I'll pop right up and go "Hey buddy, you like hitting things? well now I'm gonna hit YOU" (in my dream I'm not injured, and they don't get out of their car or respond in any way) then I hit their car while they cry. Everyone around me in the street claps. I get so excited thinking about it. That's why I always bring it with me despite it serving no purpose other than the imagined scenario in my head.
This will make people hate bicyclists more than they already do. Maybe the bicyclists should be more weary of a 2 ton vehicle and safeguard their own lives. And stay on bike paths. And the bike lanes.
One thing I hate is when there's a dedicated bike lane/path and the bicyclists are driving in the middle of the road instead with the 2 ton+ vehicles and then wonder why people hate them.
Maybe the bikers should be as considerate as the drivers.
Go ride a bike.
I need to repair my bike. I do enjoy a bike ride every once in a while. But I do stop at 4 way stop intersections and yield to cars, because I know I'd lose in a game of chicken.
How about they take this up with the officials who can actually make a difference in bike safety and quit making life worse for people who just want to get home?
Go bike around City Hall if you want to "raise awareness." All you're doing here is pissing people off.
People who are downvoting literally never leave their house. You are entirely correct. This is an issue of local policy, and that is something that can actually be changed by individuals choosing to be more active in their local politics. It just requires some organization and a coordinated political effort.
Cycling down the street will not only not achieve anything, but it's also putting both drivers and cyclists in danger. If an accident does happen, it's not going to be pinned on the driver because they didn't do anything wrong. Instead, whatever these cyclists were trying to achieve is going to be scrutinized due to their recklessness.
How brain dead does a person have to be to see an entire parade in front of them and think, "this can't be some organized event, I must just be able to drive right through here!" Main character syndrome. Or more likely, a sociopath just looking to murder someone.
Here's an idea. Find another fucking route. They plan these events, publish the routes in advance, have a police presence there, and place them in areas where they won't cut off people's only means of getting somewhere.
Do you ever find yourself in this situation? Here's how to handle it without being a fucking moron:
Pull off the road.
Pull out your phone.
Google "" critical mass route <today's date.>"
Is that really that hard? Or are you someone who is so concrete sequential that you have one and only one route you can drive, and any other route home will break your mind? What if a sink hole opened up on the road you normally take home. Would you just blindly drive right into it because you this is the route you take home, and damn it if you're going to let anything stop you?
How would a person who has no idea that it is called a critical mass event know to google when a critical mass event is held?
Is it really that hard to understand not everyone know what this is?
You have a very poor understanding of how these critical masses work, they do NOT function like normal protests, at least in the US.
Most critical masses of cyclists are intentionally made to be spontaneous, barely organized, and they do not give prior warning to locals (through the local media or such), the government, or even the police. The whole point of the intentional disorganization to escape the authorities when they eventually come in to restore order. The reason why they're called "critical masses" to begin with is because large turnouts is the only requirements of these events. There is no organization or leaders or hierarchy or anything to hold accountable.
So what happens is unsuspecting locals going on about their day get met with a mob of cyclists who are blocking traffic, ignoring any and all established safety laws, and disrupting the flow of the city. The people who do come across them don't know where they came from, where they're headed, or what they're going to do next.
That's why you can't "go around them" like you're suggesting. You're basically trapped in your car until they go away. These events put the cyclists in danger and they put the drivers in danger. That's why they're considered dangerous. If they functioned like how you imagined they functioned, then way less people would have an issue with them.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_Mass_(cycling)
None of your paragraphs addressed my comment. Your comment is completely orthogonal to mine.
Yes, it may be difficult to find the route in advance. But again, how brain dead do you have to be to see a giant parade of people and think "I know, I'm going to try to drive right through that!" Your license should be confiscated if you're so stupid.
The routes are published in advance. How do I know? Because there's thousands of people here. It has to be published somewhere if all these people are finding the route. So again, what keeps you from pulling over, searching the route, and simply going around?
You're not trapped in your car. You can back up, do a u-turn, and go somewhere else. The dumbass in the video could have just turned right and got out of the situation entirely.
Again, just how cousin-fucking stupid do you have to be to see a parade of thousands of people and decide "you know what, I should drive through there!" I don't care if it's a protest, a parade, or a mob of people standing on the street because a building just had a fire alarm pull. If you are so stupid that you can't realize you shouldn't drive into such a crowd, you need to have your license suspended, as you are simply too stupid to drive.
I'm not defending the person in video, she's clearly a clown herself. I'm just pointing out that these events aren't exactly helpful to the cause they're trying to advance.
That's like playing go fish. Again there's no central organization to these events by design, so it's very difficult to actually track down where the information is. It could be on Facebook or Discord or Instagram or anywhere really. Good luck finding the right groups with the right info.
This easier said than done. If you're a normal driver, then you'll be stuck as they arrive. If there's a car behind you and the cyclists are already swarming around your car then you can't move else you'll risk hitting them.
Sure, but that doesn't justify these cyclists creating the dangerous situation in the first place.
Trying to pin this on just one group of people won't ever achieve anything. The whole point is to raise awareness and possibly have some fun while doing it. That woman who brazenly ignored the cops and recorded it on her phone while driving? Totally oblivious asshole who missed the entire point.
The entire name "critical mass" is based on the thinking that if there are enough cyclists on the road at once, then drivers wouldnt dare to drive through them. They organize with the city (a date and path are set and publicized) to force their bike traffic through town with the ultimate goal of trying to improve safety for cyclists.
Interestingly enough, your entire argument can be wrapped up with a bow that neatly provides justification for their protest. That is some special kind of woosh.
A big part of the problem is that they DON'T do this. If they did then people can plan ahead of time to avoid running into them, and way less people would be annoyed with them. But that's not how they operate, these events aren't protests because they're so disorganized. There's no leadership, no organization, nothing. They also don't give any notification to locals, law enforcement, the media, or their local governments. This why they're considered dangerous, it's because this disorganization puts the cyclists and drivers in harm's way.
Most people who run into them, like the woman in the video, do so without prior warning. They're just going about their day when they're met with a mob of cyclists who are ignoring the established safety laws and blocking traffic. You have no idea where they came from or where they're going. Their unpredictable. Yes, this woman filming and driving is being reckless, but she's not the only one in the video who is.
You complain about one day of bikes being disorganized jerks in one place but you fail to reflect on how the automobile has utterly dominated the structure of all cities and urban areas. I think one is far more disruptive than the other and you're focusing on the wrong.
That's the thing, I actually agree with you and these cyclists. Cars DO take up way too much space and we're way too dependent on them. I 100% support better urban development that's more sustainable and pedestrian friendly. That being said, I don't see things like this as a meaningful way to achieve results. If it was an organized protest that actually gave people a heads up that this would be happening then that's fine, but just randomly forming up cyclist mobs to takeover streets is still dangerous and unnecessary.
Protests have to be disruptive to be heard. If they weren't disruptive, people would ignore them.
Disruptive and dangerous are two different things. Rosa parks sitting at the back of the bus is a disruptive protest, cycling as an unorganized mob into oncoming traffic is dangerous.
This is an issue of urban planning. Blaming drivers for it is childish.
Drivers are the ones who whine to politicians to stop urban planners from doing their jobs properly.
But that's not true. Drivers aren't a cohesive group. Just about every adult in this country drives. The people who are against more pedestrian development are either NIMBYs or the car lobby.
And why would the infrastructure be planned this way unless drivers have specifically demanded it?
I don't like cars, but this is fucking bonkers. Trapping people in place isn't 'protesting', it's being a twat.
All the people claiming that this is a legitimate protest surely understand that the car driver was only 'counterprotesting', right?
Only protest where no one is inconvenienced and you can easily be ignored, mkay?
What's fucking bonkers is car infrastructure. Highways trap me in place all the time when I want to talk a a walk or cycle.
Have you ever seen any protests? How do you think they work lol
FFS we close our streets for less important things like construction, marathons, parades.
Oh. Is that how protests work? I am a non-driver who supports initiatives like making cities car-free, increasing public transport, improving cyclist/pedestrian infrastructure. Yet, I am now blocking this community because it's clearly full of attention-seekers craving a power-trip.
This 'protest' makes me support the drivers, not the cyclists. I don't understand how this silly idea came about that making people hate you somehow builds support for a cause.
this "idea" came from doing things and seeing what works. My personal observation is whatever you do there's people who feel it's too extreme and offensive, that's the nature of trying to change things.
IDK about community here, don't really participate, don't care who leaves or joins. Critical mass as an idea is much older than any "fuckcars" community.
A critical mass to be massively critical of the critical masses. I'm certain folks who see or hear of such protests are going to become very sympathetic to the cyclist cause. Am I doing the mass criticism thing right?
It's a nice way to blow off steam and feel important, but I suspect it polarises against rather than towards the desired cause. Shame really since it looks fun!
The point of a critical mass ride is to demonstrate that the cyclists are going to assert their right to the street whether car drivers like it or not, so drivers' choices are to either support cycling infrastructure or stay stuck behind them forever. Not having cyclists use the road isn't an option.
It doesn't matter whether the drivers like the cyclists; the drivers must be made to realize that it's in their own best interest to capitulate and demand bike infrastructure in order to get the cyclists out of their way.
That seems somewhat foolish - a driver delayed by such an event is liable to be angry and complain rather than feel that surrender is necessary.
If other posts in this thread are correct (let's walk out on that limb), and politicians try to meet the demand of drivers over cyclists, then this is more likely to lead to stricter laws against cyclists as a result of drivers issuing (very justified in this case) complaints.
An effective protest wins both sympathy and ire, and leads to more voices calling out for your cause - this one just inspires ire. It doesn't unequivocally paint the picture "vote for cycle infrastructure or else", it more emphatically implies "too many cyclists will add to my commute, just look how bad it is now, we need less of them, so I will now vote against anything for cyclists".
Just to point out, for the record, I'm in the third camp - pedestrians. I've seen drivers dangerously overtake, I've seen cyclists randomly pull out forcing emergency stops, and I've seen both put pedestrians at risk with self righteous indifference. My take home from the post is "more legislation is needed for cyclists using the road inappropriately", not "we need more cycle lanes" and definitely not "we need more shared space sidewalks".
Well, that was a mass of criticism for a critical mass; one wonders if the critical masses will mass against this criticism or perhaps such masses will critically reflect instead and engage in mass critical thinking!
It does not only inspire ire like you think. I've been at these rides, and I've seen people waving at us from their doors and windows, I've seen random people join in, and I've even seen some (cool) drivers stop and just vibe along with the parade.
Some drivers don't like it, but the beauty of critical mass is how 1. Cyclists feel safer when there's a critical mass of them, and 2. In this event, drivers see that they're in the minority, which is a perspective change for any onlooker and for some of the more agreeable drivers as well.
At most of these rides, some cyclists can be rude (and it's annoying af but understandable) but I think the majority are trying to just show what a good time we're all having and respect the laws of traffic and other road users, to the extent that while we have the right of way to continue through red lights once the lead group has entered the intersection, we try to keep people riding on the right side of the road.
Wow, you really like your wordplay, huh.
Whenever something makes the news or the rounds on social media, this is your opportunity to advocate to other people for the correct "thing," whatever that is. ... Which you are presently not doing.
"But is that why they're blocking the road?" Yes. Yes it is.
Oh, the driver's feelings were hurt by a slight delay?
Fine. Here's a better solution. Molotov cocktails. Any driver that pulls this shit gets their car torched.
Or go like Canada and just remove biking or making it illegal. You're viewpoint seems clouded.
Sure, fuck cars and all that, but jesus that is a stupid way to protest. Being very squishy and in low visibility (because it's night), riding slowly while blocking all lanes. Sure, I support their cause, they probably DO need better bicycle infrastructure, but ffs, don't put your fucking life on the line like this. All it takes is 1 lunatic who roadrages, and you're dead.
Isn't this true for all protests? My understanding is that people who do them doesn't agree to live with in the constrains drawn by small number of raging lunatics with oppression tools. That's why they organize. Into masses.
Possibly, but do people really wanna be martyrs for a fucking bike lane?
There is a freekonomic episode about how the easiest way to murder someone in US is to run them with your car. There is a reasonable chance you'll go free. US is so car-centric that it's a dogma that car accidents are unavoidable part of life.
So "for bike lane" seams very reductive.
There is an argument that more people will die because lack of protest like that than during those.
This hypothetically raging lunatic don't disappear when you are alone, trying to survive on the infrastructure build without any consideration that you exist. If he's a danger here, he's a danger there. Where you are alone.
(Also, where I live protest like those are coordinated with police. Why is no one protecting nor serving here?)
Yes.
Source: stood in a bike lane while drivers deliberately rammed me with their car. Twice.
The bike lane in question has plastic barriers protecting it now. Frankly, that direct action was more successful than the previous decade of activism the "proper" way by showing up to planning meetings and such.
You're right. It's a stupid way to protest. Instead we should be setting fire to cars parked in bike lanes.
Honestly. Assuming you make sure people aren't actually in the cars before lightning them on fire, that would be a much safer, and much more efficient way to protest. No one is going to park their car in bike lanes if there's a high chance they'll come back to a charred mess.
Nobody wants logic here
Of course not. The people applauding the cyclists here and deriding the motorist would be the same ones upset if it was a video of a cyclist encountering a bunch of cars driving illegally on bike paths/lanes.
Huh, it's almost as if cars aren't the same thing as bicycles, differing greatly in aspects like vulnerability, respect from drivers, and existence of suitable infrastructure. Or said another way, it's almost as if punching up isn't the same thing as punching down. Who'da thunk it?
Never said they were. I posited that reversing the roles would upset people (like you clearly) who applaud the cyclists and deride the motorist.
If you'd be upset by people driving their cars on a bike path in protest of losing road space due to cycling infrastructure they'd be idiots but they'd be the same kind of idiots as these cyclists.
I think treating others as you wish to be treated is generally the simplest, safest rule to live by.
What you're doing is analogous to clutching your pearls about "white lives matter." It only seems fair or reasonable if you willfully ignore the power dynamics involved.
The oppressed are entitled to get upset about acts of aggression against them. The oppressors are not entitled to get upset when their victims fight back.
Sure. The power dynamic "doesn't exist".
You're a fucking moron.
very well i'm sorry for calling their face a stupid way to protest
Dows it work tho, im a simple man, anything inconveninces me directly and im against them, have had multiple hotels in the last two years where they protested with bullhorns and sirens loudly from 2am to 8am every night, they ruined my sleep and expect me to support them? Im not able to get a refund or swap hotels, in the future im still not planning ahead and getting the first available decent hotel near the location close to the time of the event. It happened multiple times at different locations/cities, not recording them or helping their cause when they actively ruined the 3 vacations I have a year by not letting me sleep.
so protests should only be done where nobody notices them?
No. Protests should be done in a way to gain voter support. Not destroy it.
voter support for what? most protests happen because there is nobody in the system that speaks for the people in the protest.
will they now, or are you creating ppl who actively speak out against it
Aw poor you.
Nah poor them, they didn't get their jobs back? Their conditions didn't improve, their business wasn't effected, life moved on and if I ever have a ballot infront of me with a measure to prevent protests at certain times in redidential areas where ppl sleep, im not going to vote the anarchist way now that I've had it effect me negatively. They looked out for themsleves and actively fucked me over, so why should I be a saint and do the opposite for them.
The only reason you can even vote for anything is because people illegally protested things over the ages. But yes. Poor weettle baby got inconvenienced by people fighting for our rights 😭
Meanwhile pedestrians get angry at me for riding on the side walk and tell me to ride in the road, there's no winning.
It's illegal where I live to ride my bike on a sidewalk (US)
Its illegal to ride on the pavement (or sidewalk) here in the UK (though tbh rarely enforced). Drivers pay "road tax" on their vehicles and a lot believe that pays for the cost of the roads. But it doesn't. Residential and industrial roads are maintained by the local authority and paid for with council tax. Highways are covered by the Highways Agency and paid for by income tax.
It's similar in the US. Most jurisdictions ban bicycles from the sidewalks in favor of pedestrians. Roads in towns/cities are paid for typically through property taxes. County roads, highways and freeways are funded through other taxes collected at the various levels.
Streets are made by motor vehicle's what now?!
Cars don't belong on streets. Paved roads were built for bicycles. It's time we kicked the cars off the road. Cars should not be allowed in city limits.
Downvoting because of your opinion, and also because you can't spell "motor vehicles"