Who is the real danger on the Texas roads?

[DanielWayne]

Houston most definitely is a Texas city. Not sure what that is supposed to mean. This so called 'mentality' is no different from what I would receive from any region if I came in with a cavalier attitude about how an ingrained culture and infrastructure should change to meet my own personal unique needs.

Texasreb, I tried to rep you but appears I've done it too many times already haha!

[TexasHorseLady]

Originally Posted by vegankris

I can one up you TexasHorseLady. If we lived within a resource based economy rather than a monetary based economy then technology would no longer be held back by "money". This would enable more creativity and the "sky's the limit" approach to developing technology in cars that could almost eliminate accidents all together. Then everyone's safe.

Anyway, within our current system, since cars are much MORE DANGEROUS than bicycles it is the greater responsibility of the motorists to make sure they are being safe on the roads. Everyone can make mistakes, but a mistake by a motorist can be deadly to a cyclist. Whereas a mistake by a cyclist is only deadly to the cyclist NOT the motorist.

As far as the whole "Texas mentality" presented in this thread... I'm extremely happy to be living in the loop in Houston where it doesn't feel like actually living in Texas. Houston isn't a very "Texas" city.

So, first, you've clearly bought the stereotype of the "Texas mentality" hook, line and sinker. Too bad for you. Where did you move here from?

Second, the point of my post apparently went flying right past your head, since you're still trying to foist responsibility for safe usage of the roadways off on the cars. A mistake by a cyclist can be the cause of an accident between two cars, or a car and a pedestrian, because the driver of one of the cars is trying to miss the cyclist who is NOT taking responsibility for their own safety and is NOT obeying the rules of the road that pertain to them and is NOT looking out for themselves and everyone else on the road, and most likely won't even realize, since they're not directly involved in it, that they are the cause of the accident and will go merrily on their way thinking how much more dangerous cars are than they are.

In an accident between a car and a bicycle, yes, the car is more dangerous. But that's not the only kind of accident there is, and having seen how far too many cyclists ride, the above scenario is not all that unlikely. That's why I think that education and licensing for everyone using the roads is a good idea; it makes sure that those using the roadways know the laws and it makes it clear that, no, just because you're riding a bicycle doesn't mean you get cut the same slack that you did when you were a kid riding one and that you have some responsibility for what happens on those roadways.

[TexasReb]

Originally Posted by DanielWayne

Houston most definitely is a Texas city. Not sure what that is supposed to mean. This so called 'mentality' is no different from what I would receive from any region if I came in with a cavalier attitude about how an ingrained culture and infrastructure should change to meet my own personal unique needs.

Texasreb, I tried to rep you but appears I've done it too many times already haha!

LOL It's ok, Daniel W! I have the same problem with the same thing from the other direction!