Lee, you said,
"The problems are not with the velomobiles themselves; it is with the laws
and
public opinion ("get that dammed contraption off *my* road")."
It is a myth that this public opinion is a pervasive and unceasing
problem.
We imagine it is true because we are designed to pay attention to negative
events. It is how our brains work. Heck the state of television is a
tribute to this old part of our brains. TV gets our attention with the
sorriest examples of human interaction, collected from all about the world,
and then hold forth on it for one reason - to get us to buy stuff. When bad
stuff happens we are predisposed to remember and exaggerate the emotions
and effects. A number of built in cognitive biases feed this.
Reality is obscured, and we operated from a skewed perspective.
You rarely hear about the thousands of trouble free miles that are ridden
on bikes, because those pleasant and uneventful experiences don't sell junk.
Having ridden thousands of miles - when I honestly count the number of
people who pass me safely and without enmity, and compare it to those
isolated negative events, I can clearly see that the vast majority of car
drivers are willing to take the care not to hurt me.
I do my part to make myself obvious, to follow most of the laws (not all
lights will trip). To stay out of their way and not scare them as best I
can. I don't really want to ride around ICE because they stink and make a
lot of noise. A large percent of the time I don't ride near cars except
intermittently. They have little impact on me. I work to minimize it.
WIth my electric velo it is even better because I can get out of cars way
faster and the drivers appreciate it and the effort I apply to do it. If I
wave them around when the way is clear, they feel like I am on their side,
and treat me with respect. (Some folks are to scared and law abiding to
pass on a double yellow - this is probably the worst thing that happens and
the waving solves it).
I am not sure what the laws do that are wrong - less that we may think. I
am entitled to the same space on the road and it is legislated that I
should follow all the same rules. This really works well. When cyclists
behave in a predictable manner (lawful) things go pretty well.
There is a decided lack of training, and enforcement for all that are
involved.
Some locales are really eyeopening how they welcome non-automotive road
use. Santa Cruz is a great example where they work hard to encourage the
presence of motorized wheel chairs and other nontraditional traffic. First
place I ever felt like the cars drivers were actively looking out for my
interests. It isn't like that very many places, but it show what is
possible. The laws are the same though.
--
Put this question to yourself: should I use everyone else to attain
happiness, or should I help others gain happiness?
*Dalai Lama *
Tell me what it is you plan to do
With your one wild and precious life?
Mary Oliver, "The summer day."
To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk.
Thomas A. Edison
<http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/t/thomasaed125362.html>
A public-opinion poll is no substitute for thought.
*Warren Buffet*
Michael E. Ross
(919) 550-2430 Land
(919) 576-0824 <https://www.google.com/voice/b/0?pli=1#phones> Google Phone
(919) 631-1451 Cell
(919) 513-0418 Desk
[email protected]
<[email protected]>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL:
<http://lists.evdl.org/private.cgi/ev-evdl.org/attachments/20140927/a086b45e/attachment.htm>
_______________________________________________
UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub
http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org
For EV drag racing discussion, please use NEDRA
(http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA)
