Dodge RAM driver kills a cyclist. Media calls it a "bike crash".

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Here is a Google image of Dodge ram 3500. EVEN IF YOU NEED A CAR, NO ONE NEEDS A VEHICLE THIS BIG.
- But how else can you ensure a 100% fatality rate of everything you run over.
  
  And also make sure that you don't have to see the poor people as you run them over.
- The issue is not so much size but height. These things are all over where I am as fleet vehicles and even the good ol' type will comment that they can not see anything in front. Just look at the door or normal car in the background of that picture and you get an idea. These hoods are no joke 1.7 meters high for no other reason then to look mean.
  
  Obligatory...
- It's wild how there's this kind of evolutionary pressure to turn the grills into ever bigger and more menacing threat displays and it just keeps spiralling out of control because the cars in the rear view mirror only keep getting bigger and more intimidating and you constantly need to buy a new ego prosthetic in the form of a suburban tank like this to keep up with the other drivers that signal "I'M GONNA EAT YOU ALIVE" to you during every commute and grocery run. I'm sure manufacturers love that.
  
  I need a pickup truck for farm work, but I hate how big these things have gotten. I wouldn't buy anything made in the past 20 years. All this height for no practical benefit.
- GMC named their bro-dozers AT-4. AT as in anti-tank. They're marketing to the suburban tacticool jackasses. Loud exhaust and parking in crowded bus shelters. Yeah fuck these guys.
- But what if you want to run over all your children in one go?
  
  We already have horses for that, and you don't even need to drive them yourself.
- But I’m a poor, blue collar worker who lives in the country side and need to carry my very heavy tools (6 hammers and a wrench) that a truck from the 2000s cannot handle
  
  I got a family!!!
- A used ranger accommodated all of my hauling needs with room to spare when I needed it for work. I drove the company pickup which had the double rear tires once and it was awful and I couldn't recommend it even just for doing pickup truck things.
- Look, I'm terribly insecure and fragile. You expect me to drive something reasonable?
- how else are they supposed to haul around their ego?
- It's so fucking annoying when I'm trying to turn and check for oncoming traffic and one of these or its smaller cousins pulls up next to me so I can't see
- How else am I supposed to haul all of my groceries for a week? \s
- But I need to pick up 50 lbs of mulch from Home Depot once a year 😭😭😭
- It just screams micro peen
  
  I prefer to say, "masculinity crisis."
  Everybody knows what you mean, but you don't offend anybody with a small wiener.
- they're compensating.
- We're lucky as fuck to have you here to assess the needs of the entire population. Here's an example. I do concerts for a living. We haul mobile stages. They are quite a few tons. What vehicle to you recommend we tow them with? And should we bring a second vehicle to drive around while the stage is in place for the weekend instead of using the truck that's already there?
  
  Do you think you're the only roadie in the world? These vehicles don't exist abroad. Just check what the fuck they're doing in Europe. Also you can get a van that doesn't block your pov (see image) but that wouldn't look cool would it? Please get your head out of your ass before you comment next time.
- You lose just about anyone willing to listen to you (outside this echo chamber) when you go off the rails about how they have no use and none needs them.
  
  Eh, you need them for work and someone who lives out in the countryside probably could make regular use of them.
  The blame rests on the automakers though, pickup trucks used to have the same cargo capacity but were smaller. This lack of visibility is 100% an aesthetic choice. Look at the sprinter truck as an example, it can pull and has great visibility.
  
  BS you genuinely do not need it. Go look at what long time contractors are driving, it's mostly smaller toyota trucks or vans.
  You need a huge truck to haul some huge shit for the day? Rent it, duh
  
  Why would you need that specific truck? It looks like it is gigantic for the sake of being gigantic.
- So it would've been fine and dandy if the cyclist had been killed by someone driving a Prius?
  'Cause that's what you imply by placing this bullshit emphasis trying to single out big trucks in particular. Comments like yours reek of implied small-car apologism, and I, for one, am getting sick and hired of it!
  There's a reason this community is called "fuck cars," and not "fuck big trucks" or something. it's because the problem is cars — all of them!
  Any car, even the smallest, can turn a pedestrian or cyclist into a red smear when driven negligently.
  Every car, even the smallest, takes up an entire lane on the street and an entire parking space.
  Every car, even the smallest, contributes to car-dependent urban design.
  Singling out big trucks as if they're materially worse than all the other death machines is nothing but a distraction from the real problem at best, and an active disinformation campaign at worst. Our goals should be to get people out of cars entirely, not just into smaller ones!
  
  No, it probably wouldn't have happened in the first place, because the driver of a sensibly-sized car can see things that are less than fifty fucking feet ahead of the dash.
  
  The thing is, they are materially worse than other consumer vehicles. They do all the bad things but more, and their normalization makes it all worse for everyone -- have you seen the size of parking spaces in Europe?
  
  There is evidence that these shit wagons are largely responsible for a major increase in pedestrian fatalities.
  EVs are also a cause, because of their heavy batteries. It's like getting hit by a tank.
  
  No, not all cars are created equally. Some require much more public space and some are also much more efficient at killing.
  
  Fuck cars but trucks and SUVs are more dangerous than cars to pedestrians, and to argue otherwise just makes you look silly
  https://youtu.be/jN7mSXMruEo?t=521
  active disinformation campaign at worst
  Relax
  
  This community is so fucking funny.
  
  https://danielbowen.com/2012/09/19/road-space-photo/
  
  I find as cars get either bigger or more expensive or both, the driver's get proportionally more reckless, ignorant, and entitled. It's always the big trucks, bmw's, and teslas that seem intent on running me off the road or flat when I'm biking to work. I don't know about the more recent ones but the early Prius I rented on a vacation before had shit visibility so I wouldn't give that one a free pass at least. All this shit seems so futile though. I just want the jumbo sidewalks with a bike lane to be everywhere.

Vehicular manmurder is more like it.
- Driver faces hit-run homicide
  The first part of the headline does a fair job of pointing out the murder.

in case anyone does not want to click the link here is the whole article:
Brian Hammons, 55, faces hit-run and criminally negligent homicide charges.
SALEM, Ore. (KOIN) — A man turned himself into investigators on Sunday after fatally striking a bicyclist on a highway, then leaving the scene, according to Oregon State Police.
Brian Hammons, 55, faces hit-run and criminally negligent homicide charges.
Just after 7 p.m. Saturday, police say they responded to the collision in Marion County on Hwy 64 near milepost 5. According to investigators, the bicyclist, Harley Austin, 42, was riding south in the bike lane on Hwy 164 through the intersection of Talbot Rd SE when Hammons, who was driving a Dodge Ram 3500, turned onto the highway and collided with Austin. New Level 3 ‘Go Now’ evacuations issued for Bedrock Fire
Austin was taken to Salem Hospital, and was later pronounced dead, OSP said.
Authorities allege that Hammons left the scene after the arrival of medical personnel but before law enforcement arrived. He turned himself in the next day and was lodged in the Marion County Jail.
The investigation is ongoing. Any witnesses of the incident are being encouraged to contact OSP, referencing case SP23-252845.
- The article seems fine to me...the title is just a little bit strange probably because they wanted to mention "bike" in it to differentiate it from a crash that doesn't involve a cyclist.

Ram 2500 Drivers Have the Most DUIs, More Than Twice the National Average: Report
Roughly 1 in 22 Ram 2500 drivers have been cited with a DUI before, a study claims.
Now back to the story at hand....
Authorities allege that Hammons left the scene after the arrival of medical personnel but before law enforcement arrived. He turned himself in the next day and was lodged in the Marion County Jail.
Hmmmmmmmm, really makes u think
- Well, isnt that the reason its called a Ram?

I think you're reaching for something to be angry on this one. I read the title as "[car] crash [involving a] bike". Shorthand is not at all uncommon in headlines, which need to be snappy. They're not trying to frame the incident as caused by the bike or anything.
- Exactly. Car crash makes people think of only cars. Bike crash would imply a bike and car.
  
  Bike crash makes me think a motorbike crashed into something.
- Yeah, this is about as good as you’ll ever find:
  A man turned himself into investigators on Sunday after fatally striking a bicyclist on a highway, then leaving the scene
  Most places would just say that there was an auto accident involving a truck and a bicycle.

I'm not angry at the headline. Just. Not a god damned thing is being done to slow down pedestrian and cyclists death on our streets and roads. Not a thing. All we get is a fucking painted line and hope that some asshole doesn't hit you. Start impounding peoples cars for traffic violations. Increase fines so luxury car drivers think twice about driving on the sidewalk.
- Honestly you could do a lot by simply charging people the same as non car related crimes. Like if you or I got pissed/trashed/inebriated and killed a person we would get a totally different outcome if the tool used was a brick or a car.
  
  If you got drunk, tossed a brick into the woods hit someone and accidentally killed a person it would be treated very similar to vehicular manslaughter in most states in the US.
  Your issue is that don't bump up manslaughter charges to a second degree murder cause car?
- Fines should be based on economic status. A basic fine should be the greater of half a day's pay, or 0.1% of gross wealth before subtracting debt.
  
  That would make everyone actually follow the rules.
  
  No, no, no: manslaughter prision sentences for those who choose without real proven need to get a vehicle which is much more dangerous for pedestrians/cyclists and then end up killing a pedestrian/cyclist.
  If I went around running on the sidewalk holding a fucking spear (properly sharpenned) in front of me pointing forward, with no care in the World (for no reason other than wanting to look manly), and ended up goring and killing somebody with it, I would be fucking rotting in jail for it and rightly so, so the exact same logic should apply to people who knowingly choose the vehicular option most dangerous to others and then use it without "due care and attention".
  (PS: Sorry for the foul language, but the double standards of the Law on this versus every other single situation out there were people knowingly endanger the life of others with no need, really anger me).

They’ve been doing this talking about e-bike fatalities non-stop. “E-bikes are dangerous…. 42 people died on e-bikes…” they cite the statistics, but never mention how many of those people were ran over by assholes who don’t respect the danger of their cars.

To be fair calling it just a “crash” implies car vs car so calling it a “bike crash” conveys more i formation but makes it seem like only bikes were involved.

Just after 7 p.m. Saturday, police say they responded to the collision in Marion County on Hwy 64 near milepost 5. According to investigators, the bicyclist, Harley Austin, 42, was riding south in the bike lane on Hwy 164 through the intersection of Talbot Rd SE when Hammons, who was driving a Dodge Ram 3500, turned onto the highway and collided with Austin.
Why is there a bike lane on a highway?
To be clear, I'm not taking the side of the driver. Fuck people with unnecessarily huge vehicles. I side with cyclists almost 100% of the time. But this just sounds unsafe.
To me, a highway means speeds in excess of 50mph. That isn't a place where we should have a body unprotected sharing the road.
- In some rural areas, the "highway" is literally the only way to get from point A to point B. Many businesses and homes are directly on the highway. It's not the same as Interstate 5 which is a few miles west of there.
  Unlike a freeway, which has bigger speed limits, a highway is just any road designed for high traffic. It still has intersections, traffic lights, and driveways into properties.
  
  Repeating from another post, but thanks for the clarity. Grew up in a place where these words were interchangeable.
- To me, a highway means speeds in excess of 50mph.
  I suppose it's perfectly fine that it means that to you, but US highways run through every little dying town and the speed limits are usually 25-35mph in town, usually for the sole purpose of being a revenue generating speed trap. In fact I just looked it up and this intersection is a school zone with a 20mph speed limit.
  
  usually for the sole purpose of being a revenue generating speed trap. In fact I just looked it up and this intersection is a school zone with a 20mph speed limit.
  You think maybe there's other reasons bar revenue traps at play here then?
- Bikes are fine on highways. On freeways that are enclosed and its impossible to roll onto ground or terrain probably not, which is why freeways have rules against it.
  
  In California, if there is not a parallel alternative route for bicycles to take, they are allowed on the freeway. Many parts of the 101 freeway fit this exception. State highway 130 (look it up on google maps) is a favorite of cyclists. It is a two lane state highway with a 40 MPH speed limit. for most of its length, there are no shoulders. In many places, the white line on the edge of the lane is also the edge of a vertical cliff. There are places where I have seen an SUV in front of me with one wheel on the white line, and the other on the double yellow line because the lane is so narrow. The road is so winding that there are very few places where you can even get to the speed limit, let alone exceed the speed limit. But bicyclists love it because it was built to allow horse drawn wagons to haul heavy loads to the top of a 4000' peak, so it has a very gentle grade, and there are great views along its entire length.
  
  I think some rural states don't, and they even allow horses and pedestrians.
  
  Huh. I use "highway" and "freeway" interchangeably. Just did a search and found the following, so thanks for enlightening me:
  Highways have controlled areas, and traffic lights, tend to be placed in rural areas and always allow you to drive off. Freeways have higher speed limits and are, in essence, a faster way to get from one city to the other with minimal traffic control.
  I guess maybe this is a result of my having grown up in a midwestern state where both could exist without distinction. TIL.

least homicidal dodge ram driver

I am a bit lost, the articles title is "Driver faces hit-run homicide in Marion County bike crash". This seems to not put any blame on the cyclist. It seems much like any time a car hits and kills something, what am I missing?
- what am I missing?
  Some people get upset about the emphasis on the victim's vehicle. Title ends with: "Media calls it a 'bike crash'." They seem to imply the title implied the bike was at fault. Victim blaming.
  Other people disagree and see the inclusion of "bike" as useful information, to differentiate from car-to-car crashes.
- what am I missing?
  That fleeing the scene of a collision is an offence in and of itself. Fault doesn't play into it.
  
  I meant as the tone of the article, this post was about the media miss handling the homicide. I thought it was a good no punches pulled short write up, hence "what am I missing".

curse all these bugs, committing suicide on my windscreen

There may be dodge ram drivers that aren't pricks, but the majority of them are pricks. My neighbor just acquired a Dodge ram to add validity to this equation. He was pressure washing it before sun was through the windows on a Monday morning.
- Oh God my neighbor made some noise early in the morning twice a year to clean. What a prick!
  You people just want to be angry at everyone around you.

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