Warp <war### [at] tagpovrayorg> wrote:
> Warp <war### [at] tagpovrayorg> wrote:
> >   Thus it's not "crazy" to be scared of a flu pandemic.
>
>   However, do you know what *is* crazy? Thousands of pigs being slaughtered
> and international import bans on pork.

They are slaughtered everyday.

Post a reply to this message

On Fri, 18 Sep 2009 02:32:46 +0200, clipka <ano### [at] anonymousorg> wrote:

>Stephen schrieb:
>
>>> And in 
>>> the netherlands, which might have the highest "density" of cyclists, 
>>> they have a remarkably good system of separate ways for their "fietsen", 
>>> so even there it's a no-issue.
>> 
>> That's not what I found when I worked in Eindhoven. The cyclists scared me half
>> to death when I was walking about the town centre. :)
>
>Mind you, I was referring to bicycles vs. automobile traffic - not 
>bicycles vs. pedestrians :-)

I knew that but I'm emotionally scarred. ;)
-- 

Regards
     Stephen

Post a reply to this message

>  In Finland these are quite common:
> http://otoksia.fi/wp-content/uploads/2006/10/kevyen-liikenteen-katkoviiv.jpg

Which side of the dashed line can I expect oncoming cyclists to use?  The 
dashed line to me makes it look like they should come on the left (and I 
stay on the right) like a normal car road, but then the sign seems to 
indicate bikes should stay to the right of the centre (or is that just a 
general sign to say the road is shared, where the vertical line is 
meaningless?).

Post a reply to this message

> In china, it's bicycles vs busses.

On a 4-lane road, with no cycle lane, in a curve, with (3-wheeler) bicycle 
and bus in the same lane but going in opposite directions.  The scariest 
thing is that really nobody cared and acted like this is completely normal 
behaviour.

Post a reply to this message

"Warp" <war### [at] tagpovrayorg> wrote in message 
news:4ab23df0@news.povray.org...
>... The "solution" to the former is to drive the children everywhere.
> This decreases significantly the amount of exercise they get, which is a
> huge growing problem in the US. Even when they grow older, they will have
> learned the bad habit to drive everywhere, and it's unlikely they will get
> rid of that bad habit, thus worsening the problem of not getting exercise
> throughout their adulthood.
>
>  Also driving them everywhere is way more expensive, and this money wasted
> on gas and car maintenance is always away from something more useful and
> educative (such as healthy hobbies).
>

That's partly what I was getting at in my bicycle post.  Not only do 
children learn the "bad habit" of driving everywhere, but alternate forms of 
transportation seem to be discouraged by the government as a whole.  Many, 
if not most, cities and towns that have bicycle paths got the money from 
private funds.  There is a HUGE percentage of the population that seem to 
think bicycle paths are a waste of public money, but money spent on roads is 
never wasted.  It's a sad fact.

Having said all of that, the vast majority of people I encounter on the road 
while riding are very courteous, especially while I'm riding by myself.  But 
get a handful of cyclists in a group, traffic has to slow down more often, 
cars may get backed up a bit, and people become extremely irritated and 
impatient, apparently because now they will arrive at their destination 45 
seconds later, which I guess is just inexcusable.

I don't know if this is true in other developed countries, but in the US, 
your cars really seem to be an extension of your home.  In fact, for some, 
it's more of a home than their actual home/apartment.  I think that's part 
of the reason we tend to drive the large SUV's, and more and more of the 
"comforts of home" seem to be showing up in our automobiles.  And if those 
comforts aren't there from the factory, then there's always plenty of room 
to pack them in yourself.

Post a reply to this message

nemesis <nam### [at] gmailcom> wrote:
> [-- text/plain, encoding 8bit, charset: iso-8859-1, 11 lines --]

> Warp <war### [at] tagpovrayorg> wrote:
> > Warp <war### [at] tagpovrayorg> wrote:
> > >   Thus it's not "crazy" to be scared of a flu pandemic.
> >
> >   However, do you know what *is* crazy? Thousands of pigs being slaughtered
> > and international import bans on pork.

> They are slaughtered everyday.

  But now they are slaughtered and thrown away. That is, killed for nothing.

-- 
                                                          - Warp

Post a reply to this message

scott <sco### [at] scottcom> wrote:
> >  In Finland these are quite common:
> > http://otoksia.fi/wp-content/uploads/2006/10/kevyen-liikenteen-katkoviiv.jpg

> Which side of the dashed line can I expect oncoming cyclists to use?  The 
> dashed line to me makes it look like they should come on the left (and I 
> stay on the right) like a normal car road, but then the sign seems to 
> indicate bikes should stay to the right of the centre (or is that just a 
> general sign to say the road is shared, where the vertical line is 
> meaningless?).

  Coincidentally, that photo is in a website complaining about that exact
problem.

  That kind of arrangement is rare, though. Usually it's more logical.

-- 
                                                          - Warp

Post a reply to this message

On 18-9-2009 0:12, Stephen wrote:
> On Thu, 17 Sep 2009 00:54:51 +0200, clipka <ano### [at] anonymousorg> wrote:
> 
>> And in 
>> the netherlands, which might have the highest "density" of cyclists, 
>> they have a remarkably good system of separate ways for their "fietsen", 
>> so even there it's a no-issue.
> 
> That's not what I found when I worked in Eindhoven. The cyclists scared me half
> to death when I was walking about the town centre. :)
Did anyone post 
http://www.warringtoncyclecampaign.co.uk/facility-of-the-month yet?

I like the dutch entry: 
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/pete.meg/wcc/facility-of-the-month/February2009.htm

Post a reply to this message

scott wrote:
> Yeh, my short experience of the US made me think that the entire road
> system is not designed to cater for pedestrians or cyclists at all. 
> Making it by foot even short distances is a nightmare, footpaths just
> randomly end, you are forced to cross over large areas of parking lot or
> multiple-lanes where it is obvious nobody usually crosses, or walk along
> the side of the road because there is no path, it just felt really
> uncomfortable.  I even saw a sign that said "No Cycling" at the vehicle
> entrance to a shopping centre parking!  That just wouldn't be allowed here.
> 

I have seen a few signs like that at shopping malls, usually right next
to the racks for locking a bicycle to. In other cases, it is at the
entrance to the large parking structure. And with the way people drive
through those, I would not feel safe taking a bike into it.

The "No bicycles, No skateboards, No rollerskate, etc" signs that I have
seen are usually to keep out the kids who want a large open parking lot
to try new tricks in. Getting there via those methods is fine, but
riding around in the parking lot, or worse inside the shopping center,
is not.

Post a reply to this message

On Sat, 19 Sep 2009 00:04:06 +0200, andrel <a_l### [at] hotmailcom> wrote:

>Did anyone post 
>http://www.warringtoncyclecampaign.co.uk/facility-of-the-month yet?
>

That was quite amusing. I particularly liked the one where the cycle path
swerved around a lamppost only to direct the bicycles into a bus shelter. 
About eight << from the link :)

>I like the dutch entry: 
>http://homepage.ntlworld.com/pete.meg/wcc/facility-of-the-month/February2009.htm

I suppose that path takes you home from the coffee shop :)
-- 

Regards
     Stephen

Post a reply to this message