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Comments
Hopefully they catch the
Hopefully they catch the offender quickly. Chauvinistic and aggressive pickup driver is definitely a recognizeable subtype around these parts.
For what it’s worth, the Somerville police actually do a yeoman’s job of enforcing traffic laws - better than Medford, worse than Cambridge, *way* better than Boston.
How did those flashing, strobing crossing lights not work?
How can anyone miss them? Well, maybe if they looking at their phone instead.
Other possiblilities
Drunk on alcohol, drunk on entitlement, didnt give a shit who they killed, etc.
Or
driving while high.
OMG
OMG don't get me started.
Playing "skunk or skunkweed" with my kids while driving only goes so far to lighten the mood of the epidemic of stoned drivers.
My biggest pet peeve used to be repressed draft-dodgers in their Datsun 210s trying to salvage a tiny bit of their masculinity. Now I got a whole bunch of Maynard G Krebs zoneouts in their mothers' Versa driving to the beat of a different drum.
And you can't yell at them, cause they are all like "duuuude".
Tired cliches
are tired.
It's funny to see who comes out of the woodwork to blame the devil's lettuce for a made-up epidemic, especially when there is zero evidence that it's even the least bit related to this tragic story.
3,000 Americans are killed on
3,000 Americans are killed on 9/11. In response we spend a trillion dollars and are at war for a dozen plus years.
35,000 killed every year by American drivers. 35 THOUSAND. And what is the reaction? A pathetic shrug. If you drive a vehicle in America then you are part of this. You belong to a group that is exponentially worse than Al-qaeda. Congrats. What are you doing to stop these brutal killings? Ask yourself that the next time you speed through a red light or text while you drive.
There's a word for people like you...
"Insufferable". You must be a joy to be around at social gatherings. I wonder how many people roll their eyes once they're done having to listen to your hyperbolic bloviating. It'd be great if we could all live in your perfect little utopia, where everyone rides a bike or takes a leisurely stroll to work every day. But the fact is that your vision of the world isn't possible. To say that anyone who drives a car is worse than Al Qaeda is beyond insulting, even for someone like you who seems to think that talking to people like they're trash is acceptable behavior. Dial back the irrational shit talking, and maybe more people will want to have an intelligent discussion with you. Have a nice day.
Fact is, it is possible
But car apologists like you always come out of the wood work and say we are asking for an unattainable utopia. We are just asking to curb road violence, why is that such an issue for you? Why are you ok with the status quo?
Thats the problem with reactionaries like you, criticize kinopio all you want but they are not wrong when the speak about the ambivalence we have to road violence in this country. There are data proven, meaningful changes we can make to how our roads are designed, vulnerable users are protected and meaningful enforcement is made. Its proven, there is no argument against it except that people here push back because its an inconvenience to how they drive, don't be dishonest and say you are willing to have a discussion about this, you've offered zero solutions here to curbing road violence.
I think the fact that you take offense to a comment about Al Qaeda is very telling, cars are a menace to our communities but because so many of you choose to ignore the violence from your own kind means you'll never see reason, hence comments like that. People here have literally called us bike Nazi's because we don't wanna die on our ride to work.
Totally missing the point
Kinopio says if you drive a car, you're a killer. Period. It's a very Trumpian statement.
Not some drivers - all drivers.
Do you really subscribe to that kind of thinking?
And you're not the only one that rides a bike around here.
Please tell us
How much time do you spend navigating urban environments without a car? Like, maybe, two hours a year?
Cite please
Please show me where Kinopio said that, because what I saw was something entirely different: that if you drive a car, you're part of the problem.
Right here
Driving a car is worse than Al-qaeda? Really?
Let's try reading
Let's look at the actual words that you're responding to. They're right there in the quote you helpfully included:
You and Kinopio are both being lazy and sloppy and I don't have much respect for either one of you, but you're worse. The correction I would give him is to amend his statement to "You belong to a group whose annual death count is worse than Al-qaeda's death count on 9/11". Your statement is just so willfully ignorant that it really can't be fixed.
Yes, let us try reading.
The actual text from Kip was:
"If you drive a vehicle in America then you are part of this. You belong to a group that is exponentially worse than Al-qaeda."
Which means, "If you drive a car in American you belong to a group that is exponentially worse than" a terrorist organization.
First, this statement is hyperbole. Second, it is hyperbole and third, well, yes it is hyperbole.
So, Kip is saying that because I drive a car I am a terrorist. Which, knowing how he/she swings, I am not surprised.
Go back to school
No, Kip is not saying that.
Apparently we read that differently
Fine, whatever, we read those words differently. I'm probably swayed by Kin's history here claiming that if you drive, you're a killer.
Look Bob, I regard you as one of the best posters here on UHub. When you say something, it's thought out, well written, and polite. My politeness can escape me sometimes, and that's not a good thing.
Please read my post below in response to c'girl.
We are all drivers
Why are you the one taking this so personally?
It's about responsibility. Walking is an entitlement, driving is not. Why is it so hard to make cars and streets safer? One of the reasons is people like you, pretending to be a victim. All citizens, even non-driving citizens are responsible for what we allow cars to do. If we take honest responsibility for safety, then these deaths will stop.
Nope its pretty straight forward
Drivers are part of a group that kills more Americans than Al Qaeda, that is a fact.
And don't forget that cyclists and pedestrians are anecdotally thrown under the collective bus when one of us does something wrong, you snowflakes just seem to get really salty when its thrown your way.
Your outrage is willfully ignorant here to make a dishonest point.
Maybe it's just me
But I'm less worried about the hurt feelings of the collective local motorist population and more angry that someone in a car just killed another person and we have no idea if they'll ever get found and/or face consequences for it, and that that's a ridiculously common occurrence.
WTF? Al-qaeda?
Are you fucking kidding me?
I drive a car nearly every day, therefore I am worse than Al-Qaeda? You've always been a total asshole about car drivers, accusing them of everything from paper cuts to the plague. Now, you make a statement that accuses every car driver of being a murderer. What kind of petty mind says this?
English, do you speak it?
How do you get from
"You are part of a group that is worse than Al-qaeda"
to
"you are worse than Al-qaeda"
How would you feel about someone financially supports Al-Queda?
Never raised a hand in violence their whole lives, but sends checks or sells them supplies?
It would be nice if motorists were willing to care about these deaths. Stop whining about low speed limits, and paying for pedestrian infrastructure. It is possible to prevent these deaths entirely.
Stop making assumptions
See, this is what bugs me. You and others assume that because I drive a car, I don't care when someone dies. You assume that because I drive, I want to drive 90 mph thru the city. You assume that I don't want improvements for peds and cyclists. You assume that all I care about is myself and my car, and screw everyone else.
That's simply not true. Please don't lump me in with a bunch of other drivers who definitely are arrogant and don't care about others. I actually care about others.
I have advocated many times over the years, right here on UHub, that the gas tax should be raised $1, with proceeds going to mass transit and improvements for peds and cyclists. When Gov Patrick couldn't even get a 19(?) cent rise in the gas tax, it was just frustrating. I though a lot could have been done with that tax.
Again, not all drivers are arrogant pricks.
Pretty arrogant Post
I made no assumptions about you. I made an anlogy about Al-Queda. This is a terrorist organization, but it is financially supported directly and indirectly by large groups of people that have never hurt a fly. The United States continues to do business with Saudi Arabia's despite the fact that ruling family funds terrorism: Not just Trump, but Obama and W as well.
What does this say about America? Can we say that we care about terrorism, if we sell the Saudi's weapons?
Why do you assume that these posts are a personal accusation? You are acting as if this shoe fits you very well. It is arrogant to demand that anyone temper their comments to protect your feelings.
No.
We think that because you are commenting in a public forum, loudly bitching that someone hurt your fee-fees by pointing out that driving a car puts you in some bad company, you're either arguing in bad faith, or are in fact one of those assholes driving 90 MPH on city streets. The two camps are indistinguishable, so why should we go to any length trying to read good intent into some really shitty words?
There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics
35k? how about around 6000: still too many, but......
NHTSA reports that 37,133
NHTSA reports that 37,133 people died in automobile crashes in the USA in 2017 (the last year with complete numbers). That's about 1.8% down from 2016. 19% of those (about 7000) are pedestrians. Is that the number you were referencing?
https://www.nhtsa.gov/press-releases/us-dot-announces-2017-roadway-fatal...
And
Your link has a link to a preliminary report that the first half of 2018 is down a further 3.1%.
According to the Federal Highway Administration, there are approximately 210,000,000 licensed drivers in the USA.
Just adding more numbers to the conversation.
Welll
The other 30k deaths are Al Qaeda on Al Qaeda deaths, so who cares right?
Comparing Bike Safety to Terrorism. New Low Kinopio
Please Kinopio. Stop the drama
I had thought this was a well-marked crosswalk
This is so sad and should never have happened. What a tragic loss.
I had thought this crosswalk is was one of the best marked crosswalks around. It's also directly at an elementary school. Particularly in the direction coming from Route 16, there are multiple signs and blinking yellow lights and a suitably low speed limit.
How awful.
I live near there and am
I live near there and am baffled that it occurred at that crosswalk. Like you say, it's well-marked, well-lit, and with good visibility in both directions. I can only assume the driver was speeding and/or impaired to not notice the two pedestrians. I really hope police catch that driver and get a menace off the roads.
You should charge by the comment, Adam!
I'll pay my fair share for the dozen I put up a year.
And you can rake it in charging the incessant arguers!