That silly Roadguy and his silly readers – what a silly bunch. They just spent a good chunk of the week talking about dangers ranging from biking scofflaws to weapon-wielding transit riders to lane-changing drivers. But they had it all wrong.

Why? Because the biggest danger is actually the person sitting next to you inside the car — she might decide to stop the car in the center lane of a busy suburban freeway so you can both get out, stand amid rush hour traffic and start beating on each other. (Strib story is here, WCCO’s story is here.)

An early report said that the two women were from outstate Minnesota, but they turned out to be from New Jersey. (Perhaps alert readers Shruti or DaBroad know them?) It’s always a bit of a relief when aggressive Morons are from somewhere else, for we prefer our locals to be passive-aggressive. But really, no matter where you’re from, if you must shove the one you’re with, please take the next exit and borrow the deserted corner of a grocery-store parking lot for your personal smackdown.

Next topic: Alert reader Steve e-mailed me with a link to his blog because he has a suggestion for improving safety aboard Metro Transit buses. Here’s an excerpt from his post:

Although it is not terribly practical to stick transit officers on every bus, how about we take a cue from the Mall of America and encourage bus riders to join a volunteer enforcement group? Volunteers would ride the bus as normal, but be officially empowered to take action when a situation arises. They could wear some kind of identifying mark – buttons or hats or something — so people would know whom to approach if there was a problem.

I actually think this idea might work. Neighborhood watch groups, for instance, function in a similar fashion. They are not officers of the peace, per se, but have a functioning relationship with law enforcement and actively seek to play a role in improving the safety and security of their communities.

Members of a community group called Mad Dads do some bus-riding already, but they can only be in so many places at once. Maybe more volunteers are the answer, but the comments I’ve seen this week lead me to believe there would be significant reluctance.

Finally, because Roadguy hates to end on anything less than an optimistic note, he offers a photo of this lively bit of merchandise:

It’s a bicycle bell, something alert reader Dob recommended for those bikers too shy to call out “on your left!” when they’re passing someone on a path. This particular brand has a bit of an attitude – Roadguy had to angle the package carefully to make sure certain aspects of the illustration were concealed, and the image on the bell itself is not at all reminiscent of the bicycle bells of Roadguy’s childhood:

Seems as though cars, especially any bad ones, would be unlikely to hear a bell, but the person walking or biking ahead of you might, so it could be worth a try.

All right, that’s more than enough from Roadguy for one week. Your turn to babble in the comments below. And may your weekend be free of dangerous Morons, whether on the road, on the paths, on the bus — or in the passenger seat right next to you.

This entry was posted on Friday, April 27th, 2007 at 6:05 am and is filed under Good to know, Transportation conversations. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.