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adde. fotograf: björn lexius.
we are traffic. hamburg, deutschland.

Is that fender really a milk bottle? Yeah, this is from a bottle of kefir. 

Tell Me About Your Bike: Street Interviews with Cyclists.the spokesman. blogs.sfweekly, 18.06.12. 
I don’t see why it’s so difficult or oftenly ignored to “Look left, right, and LEFT AGAIN”

nearly crashed into a car this evening.

I was going east on Washington St., through an intersection that’s got no stop signs or traffic lights for me, but stop signs for crosstraffic (third ave., I think).

Lady in a white car was trying to turn right, about to turn, I could see. I was watching her face, I think she was talking to a friend or someone else in the car, maybe, and didn’t look left before turning. I was ready to swerve left and did, and got my half-yell heard by her and a few people standing nearby. then as/after passing her I looked behind to give a WTF sort of face. 

seriously, if I was driving in a car and that happened, I would’ve slammed the front/hood of her car pretty bad. and it would’ve totally been her fault.

people, fucking pay attention when you’re driving, walking, and on a bike. 

Look left, right, and LEFT AGAIN at intersections before crossing or turning. (right, left, and then right for UK, HK)

I even had my new bigass cateye front bike light that requires 4 f—ing AA batteries! And Washington St. is lit! (San Diego is majorly lacking in streetlights, except for big arterial streets like this one.) I wasn’t even cycling to the far, far right that might otherwise have me blocked from her view by parked cars, and she was scooted to the turning curb, way ahead of the stop sign already. There weren’t cars immediately behind me so I was riding in the center of the lane to increase visibility (and avoid bumpier parts of the road).

people being hella inattentive is how “accidents” happen. 

and I guess I’m pretty much an “expert urban cyclist” now to have developed enough future-telling skills and been able to so narrowly avoid crashes..

which is very telling of how unfriendly this city is to cyclists. Try getting your mom to ride a bike in auto traffic. not gonna happen. 

so ya: who cycles in San Diego?

  • roadies. lots of them.
  • hipster fixie kids.
  • other risk-loving fearless young people, not necessarily on fixies.
  • committed commuter types with racks, panniers, milk crates, or baskets, etc.
  • university students who bike mainly just from class to class within campus grounds
  • pedicab drivers on weekend nights in the gaslamp district
  • people who live really close to a beach

far, very far, from everyone ages 8-80.

I would never tell my mom how dangerous it is to cycle in San Diego, and all my near accidents. just hope she’s enjoying the new bike lane along Lake Merritt in Oakland…and avoiding getting doored. (definitely less dangerous, still.)

this recent string of hit-and-runs on bicyclists

is really quite discomforting.

I’ll try to compile a list. Heard of any other attacks on cyclists on the road, add here.

  • 27.04.12Hit-and-Run Berkeley Driver Caught on Camera Injuring Two Bicyclists
  • 18.04.12. Bicyclist Dies After Being Hit By SUV — San Diego 
  • 06.04.12. L.A. CYCLIST SUSANNA SCHICK SERIOUSLY INJURED in Downtown Los Angeles HIT-AND-RUN ROAD RAGE ATTACK
  • 02.04.12. Attempted hit-and-run in Bethlehem, PA.
  • 22.03.12. David Ortiz was struck by a Ford expedition on Balboa Ave over I-805. Ortiz then rolled and was hit by two other cars in different lanes. The last car ended up on top of his body. — San Diego
  • 17.03.12Wanderson Pereira dos Santos killed by Thor Batista, the 20-year-old son of Brazil’s richest man
  • 15.03.12. Krys Blakemore was struck by a car and has had major surgery that leaves her unable to walk, work, or ride a bike. —Brooklyn, NYC.


Krys from Brooklyn.

Happy friday.. dampened a bit..

I’m gonna feel so thankful every time I come home alive. 
*should not have to feel this way. cycling should be safe, and drivers prosecuted for bad behaviour, especially manslaughter.* 

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