[ExI] Ignorant fear mongering (was Re: Doomsday Oil Price: (was RIP: Peak Oil))

[spike]

-----Original Message-----
From: extropy-chat-bounces at lists.extropy.org
[mailto:extropy-chat-bounces at lists.extropy.org] On Behalf Of Mike Dougherty
...
Subject: Re: [ExI] Ignorant fear mongering (was Re: Doomsday Oil Price: (was
RIP: Peak Oil))

2012/2/26 spike <spike66 at att.net>:
>>... Secondly, we could build low speed lanes to the far right of existing
roads which are specifically restricted to sub-500 kg class vehicles ...

>...I don't know what the landscape around your commute looks like but the
majority of apes hauling themselves to and fro are doing so in metropolitan
areas.  We can't even repair the deplorable state of existing roads (because
there is no alternate route during the repair
perioid)... 

Mike that is part of it, ja, but in many cases the deplorable state of the
existing roads is a result of intentional inaction on the part of state
legislatures.  We have an example of a high level state legislator saying
exactly that, caught on an open microphone and recorded.  Terrible roads
encourage the voters to raise taxes to fix those roads.  The raised taxes
are not used to fix the roads, for ratty old roads are a great moneymaker.
It's a perfect example of immediate pain felt by taxpayers, more than closed
parks and schools.

>...much less create addition lane(s) of "low speed"(!) travel... 

In many places, bike lanes already exist, but are underused, because they
feel dangerous.  There is no physical divider between the bike lane and the
ordinary traffic other than a white line.  It is far too easy to imagine
riding a bike in that lane, some drunken pickup truck driving yahoo is
texting and putting on lipstick, drifts over, and you are dead.

I have a solution: put a physical barrier on the white lines.  This would
cost even less than using existing concrete barriers, for the existing ones
are over-spec for this purpose.  The barrier does not need to withstand the
impact of a drunkard's Detroit, but rather would decrease the chances the
yahoo would drift over.  Think about it.  A physical barrier would make the
bicycle lane feel safer, even if a determined Detroit driver could still
theoretically slay a bicycler in that lane.  Having a physical barrier there
would cause her to drive a little farther over to the left, contributing to
the safety of the cyclist.

Next, the barriers need not be as sturdy as existing ones, nor would they
need to be mounted on rods.  They could be put down with a high viscosity
adhesive, such as tar, so that installation is cheap.  A car could knock
them over, but my notion is that such an arrangement would be better than a
white line.  They could be made of the very lowest grade concrete, with the
assumption that they would be a total loss if struck, which again would be a
cost savings.

If we figure out a way to make single seat ape haulers safe, they will be
used.

spike