my rest stop on the information superhighway
Links for Tuesday, August 11, 2009
by Adam Kuban
- Make better use of the road [The Bellows]
"Meanwhile, commenters in the previous post are all very upset that cyclists might even consider not strictly obeying the rules of the road. This, quite frankly, is dumb. Every time I find myself on an interstate, it seems to me that nearly 100% of the cars and trucks on the road are traveling faster than the speed limit, which, I believe, is against the law. Here in the city, cars routinely speed. They rountinely roll through stop signs. They routinely illegally park in bike lanes and vehicle lanes. I have seen them go the wrong way down one way streets. I have seen them travel in reverse on city streets to go back and make a turn they missed. Drivers are more or less constantly breaking the rules of the road. As are pedestrians. As are those on scooters and segways and rollerblades. I promise to get very angry at stop sign flouting cyclists as soon as drivers agree to accept a full, no tolerance program of speed limit enforcement."
- 10 Easy Secrets of Good Grammar [MSN Encarta]
Improper use of "I" drives me crazy: "Use 'I' when you're the subject of the sentence. Use 'me' when you're not. If someone is doing something with you, to you, or for you, for example, use 'me.' 'The teacher was talking with Susan and me about our test scores.'" ¶ The author also says, "The dictionary is your friend," which is something I always try to stress to folks I work with. [via @grammargirl]
- A reader corrects Andrew Sullivan
"Your contention about roads not existing for bicycles might be true in rural areas and the west. It is not in the cities of the east. The first organization to actively lobby for paved roads in America's cities was The League of American Wheelmen, a cycling organization. The league's members were a who's who of the elite of the day including Wright Brothers, Diamond Jim Brady, and John D Rockefeller. If not for their successful efforts to have the roads paved in our cities the auto would have taken hold much more slowly in its early days. Just as cars once made use of roads paved for cyclists, cyclist may use roads paved for cars without guilt. Public accommodations are public."
Comments
When I started cycling, I asked my racing friend for advice. He told me to get good lights, watch out for cars making right-turns that might “right-hook” you, stand inbetween cars instead of squeezed between cars and the sidewalk, and always stop at the red lights because you’ll always catch up to the guy who runs red lights.
You should visit Copenhagen. You’d really get a kick out of it.