Solo Drivers should be appreciative of buses, bicyclists, pedestrians and carpoolers -not resentful

[REP]

62. Hostility = "use crosswalks" Okey dokey

I live and drive in the Mountain View area and now Los Gatos. In MTV, there are a metric shit ton of crosswalks, and I stop as soon as a pedestrian puts a foot into one. I can't tell you, though, how many times I've had to slam on my brakes because some asshole couldn't cross at the corner to get to the Alibi and ran out into traffic instead (or any other point between Castro and El Monte, where there are plenty of crosswalks at lights or not). Why do that?

In motorcycle license class, they teach riders how to avoid blind spots on cars. I have no idea if there is a bicycle safety course, but anyone who has ever driven a car is aware of the blindspot.

And yes, I am fairly aware of the type of cars that most often try to sideswipe me, so I try to stay away from them. They tend to be cars with video screens and kids. Kids are distractions. Videos in cars are distractions. The two are not a good combination.

Why so hostile about my serious reduction of my carbon footprint? I've done something very real, and I don't post condescending screeds about people using ultra-polluting wood stoves and fireplaces (which aggravate the fuck out of my asthma); I just do my part.

By the way, I'm disabled (public transport isn't an option for me) and in the last six years have driven less than 20,000 miles. That's a little more than 3,000 miles a YEAR - less than a third what the average driver does.