@bikeyface #DemandMore from your mayor than victim-blaming.
Demand cities for people. pic.twitter.com/imk45H4nA4— Jonathan Fertig (@rightlegpegged) May 22, 2017
Jonathan Fertig and some friends went along Mass. Ave. overnight, planting these signs in the alleged buffers between the bike lanes and the rest of the road. The Globe reports the signs went up in response to Mayor Walsh's comments last week about bicyclists and pedestrians needing to accept some blame for crashes, but Fertig reports he actually made up the signs last fall:
I did most of the work for this in the fall after my last GoFundme (thx to all who contributed).
They were sitting in the office for months pic.twitter.com/0lAfz61Y4V— Jonathan Fertig (@rightlegpegged) May 22, 2017
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Comments
If there's a crash...
By Matt
Mon, 05/22/2017 - 12:46pm
In your hypothetical crash, the speeding driver is criminally culpable.
As for a bucket of sand in a buffer next to a parked car, the parked car is the real obstacle. Also the buffered bike lanes are large enough for an ambulance, by design
Um, doesn't look to me like an ambulance
By roadman
Mon, 05/22/2017 - 4:11pm
could pass these "necessary" cartoons in flower buckets in the bike lane.
Anything put into the street has to be crashworthy. If it isn't, and it gets struck and causes damage that could otherwise be avoided - like ending up through somebody's windshield or striking a pedestrian, then the person that put the device in is liable for causing that damage. In this case, it the City allows these cartoons to remain in place, then the City would also be liable for any damage.
What makes you think
By anon
Mon, 05/22/2017 - 4:55pm
Or on what planet can an ambulance pass a car that is parked there?
Planet ROADMAN of course - a magical universe where CARS solve EVERY PROBLEM!
One thing
By roadman
Mon, 05/22/2017 - 8:30pm
These silly cartoons blocks the bike lane 100% of the time. Parked cars don't.
You never walk or bike there
By anon
Mon, 05/22/2017 - 9:17pm
How would you even know?
You don't know. That's obvious.
Stay in your safe space where those meeeeeen bikers won't insist on their rights!
are you sure?
By tf
Mon, 05/22/2017 - 9:33pm
it sure looks like they're in the buffer area, not blocking any part of the lane that somebody would biking in
I didn't say speeding. It
By Rob
Mon, 05/22/2017 - 8:25pm
I didn't say speeding. It doesn't take speeding or even carelessness. Someone not speeding can still lose control for a crucial instant (tire blowout at a Vision Zero 25 mph) and go off course or knock someone off course.
Physics. Mass & velocity. Something heavy enough hits that bucket of dirt even at 5 mph will transfer a good chunk of energy and momentum, That bucket goes over & the festivus pole standing in the bucket that he's attached his cutout figures to will come down like a hammer and split somebody's skull.
Or...
By lbb
Tue, 05/23/2017 - 9:15am
Or they could get trampled by a herd of circus ponies. Shall I clutch my pearls and gasp?
I can think of exactly once in my life that I've seen a tire blowout It was on the Mass Pike, and the driver was attempting a to pass me at high speed and then cut in sharply --
that's when the tire went. Thankfully it was a skillful driver -- managed to keep control AND get the car off into the breakdown lane quickly, no harm to anyone else. I'm no expert, but I don't think that "tire blowouts" are all that common anymore. Maybe we can focus on realistic dangers like circus ponies.
Spacesavers
By BostonDog
Mon, 05/22/2017 - 12:47pm
Does that apply to space savers too?
Is it wise to open two
By Rob
Mon, 05/22/2017 - 1:13pm
Is it wise to open two classic rabbit holes in one article's comments?
Isn't that a little like "crossing the streams" in Ghostbusters?
I'm about to destroy UHub, sorry Adam
By BostonDog
Mon, 05/22/2017 - 4:31pm
WE NEED MORE PARKS FOR MY OFF LEASH DOG
What about illegally parked cars?
By anon
Mon, 05/22/2017 - 1:40pm
That's truly giant pieces of crap in the road - oh ... wait ... that's called "traffic" and "you can't expect me to walk half a block" and all that entitlement.
Missing the point
By peter
Mon, 05/22/2017 - 1:34pm
You have missed the point entirely. The signs are trying to draw attention to the fact that cars frequently park illegally in this buffer space. If those "dangerous" cartoons weren't there, an illegally parked car would be there instead. Surely that would be just as bad if not worse for this hypothetical ambulance, or inattentive driver who is about to crash.
No, I'm afraid you missed the
By Rob
Mon, 05/22/2017 - 1:55pm
No, I'm afraid you missed the point.
People who park there illegally - yes, they create problems & dangers for which they should be held responsible.
In the way he's making his statement, what he has put there - He has created problems & dangers for which he should be held responsible.
Two wrongs don't make a right.
it's simple
By Sargasso
Mon, 05/22/2017 - 12:18pm
Motorists should have to be retrained every year to pass a web-based exam about how to co-exist on the roads with cyclists. It would not be too hard to write such an exam--you'd just need a few computer scientists, some stats, and some professional "gamers" to test drive--all of which, like terrible motorists, Boston has in abundance. We expect frequent hours of retraining for airline pilots, and they get in far fewer accidents. End of story.
Test every year? Why not test every drive!
By Matt
Mon, 05/22/2017 - 2:27pm
Touch screen technology is so cheap it's becoming the interface for everything, and is installed in nearly every new car. Why not require the car to "quiz" the driver every time they start the car.
Q) "_______ May Use the full travel lane. Pass only when it's safe to do so"
A) "Bikes!"
If the driver gets the answer right, they may put the car in gear and drive. Get it wrong, it makes you wait 5 minutes.
All kinds of roadway safety rules can be taught that way. After awhile all drivers, tired of delays, will know the correct answers...
And bikers...
By lalabonila
Mon, 05/22/2017 - 2:49pm
And bikers have to take a web-based education program about safely biking on streets. Deal? While we're at it, how about we just implement a universal "road user education class" that everyone who wants to use the road has to complete? It can include how to safely share the road, etc. etc.
95% of cyclists are tested
By anon
Mon, 05/22/2017 - 5:03pm
At least, tested as much as drivers are.
That's because they have .... LICENSES TO DRIVE! (tada!)
However, if your point is that all DRIVERS need to be tested about CYCLING RULES, I'm all for that darling.
If you think that cyclists don't have licenses, your point is on the top of your head.
Yeah. Not much difference in
By Morton
Mon, 05/22/2017 - 7:16pm
Yeah. Not much difference in the rules, but many cyclists don't seem to understand that. A shared resource means it is not optimized for any particular group of users. Drivers of motor vehicles pull this crap too. Take the space you are entitled to to cycle safely, obey traffic controls, and communicate your lateral movements. Eye contact us a mythical safety habit. And get shit out of the roadway.
I agree but I think just a
By Morton
Mon, 05/22/2017 - 7:10pm
I agree but I think just a road test and exam upon renewal.
these are superb
By geep9
Mon, 05/22/2017 - 1:40pm
.
These are distracting to
By anon
Mon, 05/22/2017 - 1:52pm
These are distracting to drivers and not helpful... not screaming, but trying to walk across Newbury at Mass. Ave. entrance to the Pike I watched drivers starung at them as if to read the small print of what they say and it only serves as another attention diverter. Dumb and dangerous.
Littering? Or graffitti?
By Lunchbox
Mon, 05/22/2017 - 2:27pm
.
Space saving
By anon
Mon, 05/22/2017 - 2:48pm
This is a space saver for bikes.
the separated bike lanes are
By anon
Mon, 05/22/2017 - 7:06pm
the separated bike lanes are a total disaster. people walk, stand around and hang out in them and every intersection you come up to you have to get ready to come to a complete stop because cars taking right hand turns can't see you coming. i guess if you are going 10mph or below and don't have to get anywhere then they might be good.
But... everyone knows that
By anon
Mon, 05/22/2017 - 11:29pm
But... everyone knows that the correct belief for bicyclists is to want separated bike lanes.
Most cyclists do want
By DTP
Tue, 05/23/2017 - 9:29am
Most cyclists do want separated bike lanes. But we also want peds, drivers, etc. to actually respect them. They're great when people aren't standing in them.
And they're great when they're actually incorporated into the design of an intersection and not an afterthought...
long tI'm cyclist, first time commdnter
By Khan Kissed a Door
Tue, 05/23/2017 - 6:08pm
I've commuted by bike in Boston and environs for over 25 years.
I do not want separated bike lanes, I want wide outer lanes.
Spend the money on improving surfaces and skills training and awareness.
However in a democracy and with maintenance and education, there's little political capital to be gained, so I'll just ignore facilities that are poorly designed and/or useless as safety improvements - which is most - and continue to cycle safely and legally. You can't fight safety theatre. And feeling safe is a much easier sell than being safe.
Until bike lanes are mandatory, I'll follow best practices.
Link
By Bookish
Wed, 05/24/2017 - 11:10am
https://www.routledge.com/Bicycle-Justice-and-Urba...
Lincoln Dinkins
By Bookish's Buddy
Thu, 05/25/2017 - 6:34pm
That book referenced above
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