BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

that is a good idea!

The content of the message still seems to rub me the wrong way, but I am not sure why. It seems to come off as patronizing, perhaps?

In any case, I like the concept. It would even be interesting to see if there was someway to have an ID number on it so the cyclist could go online later and 'tag' the even, and perhaps allow an anonymous discussion with the driver through a web portal? Or maybe that is a bit too blue sky/future/european. Naw, in europe they might just stop and talk about it rationally right there and then…

way too wordy and I don't really like the words.

"Dear motorist,

You may or may not know this, but you almost took a human life. Please be more cautious, I hear jail sucks.

Signed,

The cyclist you almost hit."

I would use that one.

It is a bit wordy, yes..We could make them say whatever we'd like..I think it's a great idea, but either way if it's too well written or not written well enough you'll either come off cocky and rude or smug and..well, something! Haha.Point would be made with any words though.

"Dear motorist,

You may or may not know this, but you almost took a human life. Please be more cautious, I hear jail sucks.

Signed,

The cyclist you almost hit."

+1

I don't think we, as a community, want to communicate with passive aggressive language.

Also, I would like to believe that most bad drivers are unaware of just how reckless their driving is. I.G. I don't think people pull out of their parking spot and think "I'm going to go sideswipe a cyclist!" So the "you may or may not know" bit seems a little, eh, off.

Lastly, and tragically, taking a human life via motor vehicle seems to have little correlation to jail.

I sort of meant the "You may or may not know," part for the people who don't realize that they're passing too close, or who didn't realize that what they did was dangerous.

If I had to guess, I say the majority of motorist don't relize. My husband wouldn't pass someone on a bike for the longest time. One day he was taking my bike to Thick and had someone follow him down to bring him home and he FOLLOWED him. My husband didn't realize how much it sucks to have a car follow you until it happened to him. I don't know how that helps at all, but I truly believe most people just don't realize they're doing things that endanger us or make us nervous or whatever.

on the bright side, I had a string of four or so cars pass me with plenty of clearance, all in a row. Maybe they were following the others' lead. We should have positive magnets, that say, "Thank you for not being a jerk."

Dear Motorist:

I'm the bicyclist you almost hit today. You may not be aware that your driving behavior today threatened my health and safety. Bicycles are lawfully permitted on roads and streets like any other vehicle - including automobiles.

Please be more aware of the bicycles you are sharing the road with. For more information of relevant laws, and to engage bicyclists in a constructive dialogue, please visit Bike-Pgh.org.

Yeah, good idea, poor execution. Passive-aggressive, too wordy, patronizing and actually worst of all, the last line can come off sounding like a threat. Bad strategy.

ALMKLM wins. Print that up stat.

Rubber Factory, I think you're right that it is totally follow the leader. It always puts a big smile on my face when I'm in the car and pass a cyclist safely and then everyone behind me does too. I feel like I'm educating every time!

After reading all these comments, I'm wishing I could redact my first one. It would actually be pretty hard to slap a magnet on a moving vehicle & its true the tone of writing on the sample magnet is probably not one an oblivious driver would feel receptive to. I wish there were a better way of protecting cyclists from people who drive with impunity.

If money were no object, I wish there could be a local print/web/tv campaign educating drivers in a friendly tone.

"How to pass a bicyclist safely."

or "Meet Pittsburgh Cyclists" with profiles of the different people who ride & why they chose to do so. Or "Why bicycles are good for Pittsburgh," with some stats that have been discussed on other threads. Something, anything, that might raise road awareness even if it weren't trying to convince people to get rid of their cars.

The thing that worries me is people who pass me with about 10 to 15 feet of space. I fear they are going to cause a head-on, and that somehow I would be seen as the ultimate cause of that accident.

Pseudacris, your suggestion is a good one. To that, I would add a bit about how to judge how to provide three feet of passing space.

The "Meet a Cyclist" ads could be like those ones the Mormon church has been running. And the ones warning people off bad driving habits could be like that scary Montana Meth Project.

And the ones warning people off bad driving habits could be like that scary Montana Meth Project.

Perfect.

?

This looks like some kind of satire. The original campaign is scarier...easy to find on interwebs. too gruesome to post here.

As a car lover, and a very vocal member of Pittsburgh's bike advocacy community, I am going to adamantly urge cyclists not to partake in throwing magnets onto cars. Although it says it is harmless, magnets can rub swirls into well cared for paint, and if hit with a corner, magnetic cards like that can even dent thinner sheet metal.

Also, I could see this being considered vandalism (like sidewalk chalk can be). It also could make the cyclists the instigator--"I didn't know it was a magnet, I just saw he threw something at me."

Pseudacris, a campaign like that is in Flock's long term plan.

I saw some of the commercials, but I saw the "not even once" things first. if you do an image search for "Meth not even once" you'll get a lot of them.

yeah, my first thought was "If I actually hit a car with a magnet, they're going to pull over and beat the crap out of me". Maybe it's more a suburbanites-love-their-cars-more kind of thing or something, but I could see that going horribly, painfully wrong. Without the driver even stopping to read the magnet or see if there was any damage.

Not that I don't love the idea - I just think that if I tried it I'd end up in a coma with the first magnet that made contact (after sending 50 into the ditch - littering sucks).