#tera rants

Like.

Travel! Oh that takes money

Learn a skill! Oh that takes money

What if I was driving a 4x4 instead of cycling on my 5-speed down that ramp? I'd be pretty okay in my vehicle. You, not so much because I would've crashed into your driver's side door. All because you can't follow a simple sign in a rather busy carpark that suggests that despite how easy it is to simply reverse out of your parking space and turn slightly right to get to the up ramp (that is to your left of the down ramp I was going down at the time), you should be turning left and following the clearly marked arrows indicating the safe way out of the underground carpark.

Be grateful that I actually do have enough leeway on my bike to get out of your way, even though you shouldn't be there in the first place. I could've ended up splattered on the side of your car. Your insurance would really like you then.

You might dismiss my very large gestures asking what the hell you were thinking because you think "no harm, no foul". But think about it, doing stupid shit like that is gonna see somebody get hurt one of these days, or worse, killed.

I consider myself to be a responsible cyclist. I wear protective gear (it has saved my life on several occasions, most notably, when I was knocked of my bike and landed on my helmeted head onto asphalt) and make sure I am visible at all times, I always indicate when I'm turning or crossing lanes, I always check to see what other road users are doing. Heck, if I find myself wanting to make a right-hand turn into a side street on a main road in horrible Monday morning peak traffic, I often dismount near a pedestrian crossing and use that to get across. But even all of this is not enough when faced with people who think that taking an unsafe shortcut here or there is fine as long as no one gets hurt. I doubt many people would see it that way when you've gone and killed someone through this continued lapse of judgement on your part.

I've lost count of the number of times this year alone that I've had to quickly dodge out of the way of car doors, drivers who pull out without indicating, who don't follow the basic road rules, who can't keep on their side of the road when I'm waiting to turn right (the bend just meters from my driveway is a notable place for this, it's a miracle no one has ended up in a serious accident there despite the hoons). If my level of vigilance on the road was as low as their own, I would probably be dead right about now or very badly crippled.