this post was submitted on 07 Jun 2025
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Fuck Cars

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This was a Critical Mass event, which is why the bicyclists are taking up all of the street as a way to reclaim the streets and protest the lack of safety for riders under usual conditions. It's not legal, but protests are never useful if they're fully legal now, are they.

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 hours ago

For all of the unequivocally civic commenters on this thread, ask yourself this: would you be defending someone driving through a protest if the protesters weren't on bikes?

[–] [email protected] 12 points 2 days ago

As a Bicycle commuter... there's plenty of "Am I the Asshole?" that needs to go around here.

I understand the cyclists are treating this as a protest, but unless the road is closed, get the hell out of the oncoming lane. You're not doing anything here other than confirming the drivers bias that you're the problem.

As for the driver, just fucking STOP until they pass. Is the risk of you hitting someone worth the few minutes that pulling over out of the way costs you? The driver's pissing and moaning on the video is some self-entitled bull shit.

[–] [email protected] 46 points 3 days ago

lots of people in this thread that don't understand how protests work.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 days ago

I obey the traffic laws. I'm apparently one of the only people in my town that has read them. I like riding my bike. I like my town. People Hollar at me from their cars. I get called "fag" every second day. For taking a bike ride.

[–] [email protected] 22 points 2 days ago

And recording while driving...

[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 days ago (2 children)

I don't like cars, but this is fucking bonkers. Trapping people in place isn't 'protesting', it's being a twat.

All the people claiming that this is a legitimate protest surely understand that the car driver was only 'counterprotesting', right?

[–] [email protected] 21 points 2 days ago

Only protest where no one is inconvenienced and you can easily be ignored, mkay?

What's fucking bonkers is car infrastructure. Highways trap me in place all the time when I want to talk a a walk or cycle.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

Trapping people in place isn’t ‘protesting’,

Have you ever seen any protests? How do you think they work lol

FFS we close our streets for less important things like construction, marathons, parades.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

Oh. Is that how protests work? I am a non-driver who supports initiatives like making cities car-free, increasing public transport, improving cyclist/pedestrian infrastructure. Yet, I am now blocking this community because it's clearly full of attention-seekers craving a power-trip.

This 'protest' makes me support the drivers, not the cyclists. I don't understand how this silly idea came about that making people hate you somehow builds support for a cause.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 day ago

this "idea" came from doing things and seeing what works. My personal observation is whatever you do there's people who feel it's too extreme and offensive, that's the nature of trying to change things.

IDK about community here, don't really participate, don't care who leaves or joins. Critical mass as an idea is much older than any "fuckcars" community.

[–] [email protected] 29 points 3 days ago (6 children)

Protesting the lack of safety for riders by being unsafe riders? I don't think the best way to convince the public that cyclists can be safely integrated into traffic is to purposefully create dangerous situations.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 hours ago

There is exactly 2 persons creating dangerous situations in that video and none of them are on bikes.

[–] [email protected] 36 points 2 days ago (4 children)

Ah yes, the inevitable “protests should only happen when it’s convenient for everyone and 100% approved by the authorities” comment.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 2 days ago (1 children)

No but how about do this but only in the proper lane? You're still causing attention/inconvenience, but it's a lot less likely someone is going to mow you down from behind over driving slowly behind you, versus riding directly into oncoming traffic.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Use your brain for two seconds. Don't you think they already tried what you're suggesting? If you were planning a bike protest, wouldn't you only go down one side of the lane? Well, it turns out, the people running this already tried that years ago, and they found that blocking both lanes is the only way to do this safely. Otherwise asshole drivers will try to "just slip past" by doing things like taking left turns. Parades take up all lanes on a road for a damn good reason.

Your idea was already tried and found not to work.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Parades close down the street with barricades/detours and such so cars don't have the option to dangerously drive at them.

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[–] [email protected] 15 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Funny how it's a problem when cyclists start acting like drivers

[–] [email protected] 11 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

Funny how no one would be on the side of a driver driving into oncoming traffic. They're not acting like drivers unless you want to lump them in with absolute moron dangerous drivers.

Hold up traffic by staying in the proper lane and following road rules like cars and I'll be on their side.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 days ago (1 children)

That's literally what happens during every parade. They don't close down half a street and let regular traffic proceed down half a parade route. That's dangerous. You close the entire street and send the parade down both sides of the street.

Have you really never been to a parade before?

[–] [email protected] 10 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

You close the entire street

Right. You close the entire street, with barricades/detours and such. I don't know what parade you're going to but the ones I've been to don't parade down both sides of the street while giving cars the option to drive down them.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 days ago

That's common in the US, but elsewhere theres often parades and demonstrations that se the entire road without blocking them off. Drivers can either wait or backout or be stuck there while everyone goes around them.

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[–] [email protected] 11 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Where I live, critical mass is legal. Bikes can go on the street and we have a law that allows multiple vehicles that move as one to be treated like one vehicle.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 days ago (2 children)

Where is it legal to drive in the oncoming lane?

[–] [email protected] 14 points 2 days ago (1 children)

The organizers will inform the city that a critical mass protest is taking place, the city will inform the police and they will cordon off the route. If there are enough people talking part in the protest, the public order authorities will have no other choice - thus the name critical mass. The right to protest takes precedence over the right to drive this specific route.

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[–] [email protected] 161 points 4 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (20 children)

This is how cyclists feel when they are surrounded by cars on busy roads because the cycling infrastructure is shit.

Except, cyclists can't kill people in cars with their bike.

So, lady, imagine our frustration.

Edit: spelling 🤦‍♂️

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[–] [email protected] 27 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Idiots in cars, idiots on bikes. Hell yeah I'm pro bikes but setting a wheel on incoming lane? Yeaah.. no thanks, I'm fine

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[–] [email protected] 148 points 4 days ago (8 children)

Car brains are incapable of realizing that they're the deadly threat.

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[–] [email protected] 21 points 3 days ago (18 children)

Imo it looks remarkably safe as long as we ignore the person in the car driving into oncoming traffic.

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[–] [email protected] 18 points 3 days ago (22 children)

How about they take this up with the officials who can actually make a difference in bike safety and quit making life worse for people who just want to get home?

Go bike around City Hall if you want to "raise awareness." All you're doing here is pissing people off.

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[–] [email protected] 13 points 3 days ago (3 children)

This will make people hate bicyclists more than they already do. Maybe the bicyclists should be more weary of a 2 ton vehicle and safeguard their own lives. And stay on bike paths. And the bike lanes.

One thing I hate is when there's a dedicated bike lane/path and the bicyclists are driving in the middle of the road instead with the 2 ton+ vehicles and then wonder why people hate them.

Maybe the bikers should be as considerate as the drivers.

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[–] [email protected] 66 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

"Dangerous to drivers"

Because you're going to give yourself an aneurysm over a minor inconvenience? You're in a giant suit of armor. You could hit every single one of those cyclists without sustaining even a scratch.

If the cyclists were actually dangerous to drivers, do you think the diver would be accelerating aggressively towards them?

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