Tired of Exhaust

Glenn Jordan makes good points. Many people on bicycles violate the law (I also see many drivers speeding or pedestrians jay-walking -- they may be the same people). I see two reasons for it.

One, kids get little or no bicycle education at school or outside. Countries like the Netherlands have years of school education to create law-abiding bicyclists. Often here, kids learn from their parents who start them with a push, then send them onto the streets to learn from their peers.

Two, laws that are not enforced are not really laws. How often do we see police stopping motorists, but they ignor bicyclists riding on sidewalks, or against traffic, or running stop signs? The cyclists may not even know what they're doing is illegal.

Until those two problems are addressed, we can expect to see dangerous behavior continue.

@ oryx

You are right on target. I ride, a lot, and it really ticks me off when I see such dangerous behavior from both cyclists and automobile drivers. It is so simple to teach just the basics; letting common sense handle the rest. Daniel Petry

I have a different take on all this.

I commute from Solvang to Santa Barbara six days per week so I have to drive. I will not apologize for nor feel guilty about operating a motorized vehicle despite the militant Luddite culture. That having been said, I drive a 1998 mercury tracer which when I purchased it got 25/33 MPG. My main consideration for buying this car was the gas mileage which at the time was pretty good and what I could afford. If I had the $$$ I would be driving a prius which gets 50 MPG average but as I say, I don't have the money, and I'm guessing that many of the people smugly derided as driving "killer-klunkers" probably are not in a position to purchase newer cars either.

The fact that in addition to those of us who commute, many people simply are not able bodied enough to ride bicycles, and paradoxically--and speaking merely for myself--I would not dare take a chance riding given the aggressive driving habits of the average Santa Barbara drivers.

What is also curious is the fact that the comments leave out--whether intentionally or not--criticism of S.U.V. drivers. What I see here is an attack on motorcycles, old cars, and any motorized vehicle normally driven by the the working-class. It comes off as elitist to me.

Here is what I take from this: Santa Barbara's exploding population growth is taking its toll all around. Mr. Lange is another example of an angry, stressed out militant type who is going to scapegoat those who do not fit into his little anti-technology world. Don't dare address the impact our open border has had on our overcrowding situation and that the unlimited population growth we see locally is primarily the result of this, just lash out at those who have been doing what people have been doing since Henry Ford became a household name. Don't go after the chi-chi Yuppies who drive gas-sucking S.U.V's so big that they need their own zip codes, but rather go after all who either can't afford something more economical, or who don't fit into his ideal of a physically fit ¼bermensch.

What is also missing is the fact that I often see bicyclists zipping through stop signs and being careless so the aggressive driving habits one sees among those who drive motorized vehicles carry over into the bicycle culture, and Mr. Lange's tirade is a perfect example of aggression personified.

The truth be told, I feel sorry for David Lange but just as he is (justifiably) "tired of exhaust" and aggressive drivers, I'm tired of elitist faux-progressives who keep pushing their anti-car campaign especially when overall, the gas mileage of cars continues to improve.