Everytime you drive your car, you put yourself into the careless and reckless arms of bicyclists that don’t think they need to follow the rules of the road. How often are you driving down crowded city streets and see bicyclists that are weaving through stopped cars, running red lights, driving down the wrong way or cutting in front of vehicles?
The situation is fairly bad here in Minneapolis. I see it at least once a week. Just the other day, while I just pulled up to a stop sign and came to a stop, a bicyclist came up beside my car on the right and darted right out in front of my car to cross to the left. Now, I do make complete stops at stop signs (usually) but I don’t sit there and wait for long. That guy was very lucky I saw him coming and didn’t start driving away just as fast as I came to a stop. I don’t even think he realizes how close he came to disaster.
Have you ever seen a bicyslist stop at a stop sign? It’s a rare sight. Even if there are cars lined up all directions, they think they can just zip right through. Now, I’m not saying they should line up behind all the cars and go when there turn comes up, but they need to at least stop at the stop sign and wait for the cars going in the same directions turn and cross when they do.
Now, before everyone jumps on my case, I know there are many people who are model bicyclists. Groups like the Twin Cities Bicycliing Club and the Share the Road program run by the Minnesota DOT do try to educate bikers on the rules of the road and safe bike riding, but from what I’ve seen, the number of people with poor bicycle riding skills greatly outnumber the number of people that follow the proper rules of the road and bicycle safety.
I, for one, fully support police to stop and ticket these offending bicyclists. I do not want to hit someone on a bike. I have never seen a police officer ever stop a bicyclist to tell him that he is driving dangerously, even though I have seen these reckless drivers pass right in front of police cars. For some reason, they don’t feel the need to prevent possibly tragic accidents.
What we need is police officers to start stopping and tickets the most reckless bicyclists and start educating the public that the streets they ride are are not their free playground.
Filed under: Automobiles
Last night while watching the Vikings on television, I was presented an advertisement for the new Lexus GS450h.
This has got to be one of the coolest vehicles I have seen in a long long time.
All Lexus vehicles are generally sophisticated, but this new Lexus really shows some automotive ingeniousness with what may be a nearly perfect mesh of electronics, luxury and the latest in automotive technology (at least in 2007 – can’t wait to see what’s in store for the next 10 years.)
Now, when I first saw the commercial, I thought “hmm, so Lexus has a new hybrid, big deal.” But… then the real news came. This hybrid is not a pomegranate-juice-sipping, touchy-feely, 21st-century-hippy-wannabe car (ehem, Prius or Insight anyone? um, no.) When the announcer said that it goes from 0-60 in 5.2 seconds and has 339 horsepower, I knew this new Lexus is a true enthuisiasts car.
Combined with the hybrid engine is an array of other technological features that really make this car stand out. The transmission is an electronically controlled continously variable transmission (CVT.) If you don’t know, a CVT does not have traditional gears which would be shifted, but instead the gear ratios are continuously altered to maximize engine efficiency. Lexus also includes a bunch of new technologies to increase safety or performance, such as Variable Gear-Ratio Steering (VGRS), Active Stabilizer Suspension System, Electronic Brakeforce Distribution (EBD), traction control, Vehicle Dynamics Integrated management (VDIM – stability control), tire pressure monitor system, 10 airbags, backup camara, rain-sensing wipers, auto-dimming outside mirrors, voice activated DVD navigation system, power trunk closer and a 14 speaker 330 watt Lexus premium sound system. This car has is all.
The only complaint I would have about this car is that you are allowed to simulate a 6-speed manual. I don’t really see the point to this, since the simulated manual mode would be less efficient than the standard CVT mode. I guess it’s pointless to complain about a feature that you don’t have to use if you don’t want to, but it just seems excessively unnecessary to include this.
Oh yeah, the other thing would be the price. Not because the price is out of range compared to other Lexus vehicles or automobiles of a similar class (Mercedes, BMW, Jaguar), but because I can’t afford any vehicle with a $55,000 price tag. But it sure would be nice.
