Washington Post is on an Anti-Bike Roll

[Brendan von Buckingham]

@baiskeli 90009 wrote:

Bike to Rule could also complicate the debate, because some people simply think bikes shouldn’t be on roads even when they do follow the law because they (by their thinking) get in the way of the rightful users of roads.

Bikes will only be banned from roads once there are enough bike lanes to restrict us to.

[baiskeli]

@cyclingfool 90010 wrote:

Just to make it abundantly clear, in case it’s not, the protest ride to the Post yesterday was completely PAL. Single file. Appropriate hand signals. Full stop at all red lights. We ended up arriving in three or four smaller groups because of traffic lights along the route. The closest thing to an infraction of the law was when we arrived at the Post and the sidewalk became a little blocked. BUT, that was because of the media and the cameras that met us, not us cyclists ourselves, as all were asked to park or stand with their bikes such as not to block the sidewalk, and did so.

Awesome. Exactly what was needed. Wish I could have been there.

[DCAKen]

@baiskeli 90009 wrote:

Bike to Rule could also complicate the debate, because some people simply think bikes shouldn’t be on roads even when they do follow the law because they (by their thinking) get in the way of the rightful users of roads.

At the gym this morning, I overhead someone complaining about the bikes on the roads. At one point, he stated that he was glad he lived in Virginia, because with its laws, “The roads belong to the cars.” Unfortunately, I was in the shower while he was espousing this nugget, or I would have reminded him of the 3 foot law that was just passed.

[baiskeli]

@DCAKen 90021 wrote:

At the gym this morning, I overhead someone complaining about the bikes on the roads. At one point, he stated that he was glad he lived in Virginia, because with its laws, “The roads belong to the cars.” Unfortunately, I was in the shower while he was espousing this nugget, or I would have reminded him of the 3 foot law that was just passed.

It sounds like he is far more uninformed – he may actually believe bikes are illegal on roads in Virginia.

[scorchedearth]

@DCAKen 90021 wrote:

At the gym this morning, I overhead someone complaining about the bikes on the roads. At one point, he stated that he was glad he lived in Virginia, because with its laws, “The roads belong to the cars.” Unfortunately, I was in the shower while he was espousing this nugget, or I would have reminded him of the 3 foot law that was just passed.

You can’t fix stupid.

[Greenbelt]

Instead of apologizing, the Post doubles down, says bike riders can’t take a joke:

http://www.thewashcycle.com/2014/07/youre-killing-me.html

Assholes.

[jnva]

@DCAKen 90021 wrote:

At the gym this morning, I overhead someone complaining about the bikes on the roads. At one point, he stated that he was glad he lived in Virginia, because with its laws, “The roads belong to the cars.” Unfortunately, I was in the shower while he was espousing this nugget, or I would have reminded him of the 3 foot law that was just passed.

Yep, I commute from virginia into DC every day on my bike and I always feel relieved after making to DC. Va drivers do think they own the road. I get honked at and run off the road way too often along with dirty looks and comments from drivers that I’m on “their” road. I rarely get that in DC.

[jrenaut]

@Greenbelt 90043 wrote:

Instead of apologizing, the Post doubles down, says bike riders can’t take a joke:

http://www.thewashcycle.com/2014/07/youre-killing-me.html

Assholes.

I love jokes. I don’t love being run over by a car, or the implication that these things are the same.

[Terpfan]

Interestingly enough, the VA portion on roads is much better for me than when I get into DC. Maybe it’s because Beacon Hill/Belle View is so wide of a road. Meanwhile, once I get to Georgetown, it’s like every idiot drive in the world is magnetically attracted to me.

[lordofthemark]

On my commute, the Va piece is great – but the only on road Va piece I do (aside from the ride to the busstop in Annandale) is the Pentagon Reservation, where everyone is polite. “An Officer and a Gentleman” indeed. The folks on Eye Street are usually pretty good. Lately I’ve occasionally seen some rudeness in the Navy Yard area, but never been full on Milloy’d, thank goodness.

On other rides, I generally breathe a sigh of relief when entering Arlington from Fairfax, but that’s more the infra than the drivers. Best part of FFX in terms of drivers, aside from Mosaic, seems to be Vienna. Annandale drivers are often not good, but again full on Milloys are rare even there.

[jabberwocky]

@lordofthemark 90055 wrote:

Best part of FFX in terms of drivers, aside from Mosaic, seems to be Vienna. Annandale drivers are often not good, but again full on Milloys are rare even there.

I rarely have issues in Reston. Great Falls is another story. I will say that my impression of the local police is that Fairfax is one of the best when it comes to dealing with motorist/cyclist issues.

[DanB]

@lordofthemark 90055 wrote:

Best part of FFX in terms of drivers, aside from Mosaic, seems to be Vienna.

You’re probably right. At least in Vienna you can point to one of the many “Share the road” signs if someone starts complaining.

[peterw_diy]

@Greenbelt 90043 wrote:

Instead of apologizing, the Post doubles down, says bike riders can’t take a joke.

The WaPo problems run far deeper than Milloy and the paper’s non-response to his vicious, sociopathic rant.

Today’s A1 pic, taking most of the above-the-fold space, is a helmet-less cyclist riding no-hands diagonally through an intersection. Visually it’s a nice image, but It reinforces Risky Scofflaw stereotypes.

Style has a piece on WABA bike ambassadors. The headline and subhead suggest the program is new (“here come the spokespeople”). Not until after the jump, in the 14th paragraph, is it revealed that the program has been around for years.

Metro has another opinion piece that says nothing nice about cyclists until after the jump. Even then, it only says that not “all” are scofflaws. It downplays Milloy’s license-revoking speeding and suggests cyclists are so bad at lawbreaking that they should be turned into a revenue stream through citations. (The columnist also suggested DDOT focus on improving infrastructure in poor areas — clearly she hasn’t bothered reading the MoveDC draft.)

Remember last month when WaPo badly covered that flawed study of bike injury rates? After catching some heat, they quietly changed the headline but left in place, without any disclaimer, text like “In fact, when they compared raw head injury data for cyclists in five cities before and after they added bike share programs, the researchers found a 7.8 percent increase in the number of head injuries to cyclists.” How is going from 319 to 273 head injuries per year “in fact” an increase of 7.8%? Isn’t that “in fact” a 14.4% decrease?

Truth, Courtesy, Logic, and Integrity — all in very short supply at 15th and L when it comes to bike safety & policy issues.

[rcannon100]

@Greenbelt 90043 wrote:

Instead of apologizing, the Post doubles down, says bike riders can’t take a joke:

I believe the proper response is for all of us to proceed to tell a series of really bad jokes on twitter with the hashtag #CyclistsCantTakeaJoke

I have taken the liberty of starting us off

How many Cyclists does it take to screw in a light bulb?? None – cyclists are so awesome they provide their own light #CyclistsCantTakeAJoke

Your Welcome

[StopMeansStop]

Not to side with Milloy, but why is it that cyclists seem to have an image problem in the first place?

[Author]

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