General Road and Highway Discussion

[dtkvictim]

AFAIK, sitting on a flat for even a day can damage both the tire and rim. Some may be fine, but others will likely be thrown out or reinflated with structural damage. It's shocking that you can be so concerned about road violence and then say there is no (potential for) violence here. Properly inflated, structurally sound tires are critical for road safety and intentionally compromising them isn't much different than cutting the brake lines on a bike. Both can lead to a loss of control, though in the case of the SUV it's probably someone outside of the vehicle who is most at risk.

I agree direct action is coming. Probably even required. But I think it requires being honest about the level of property damage and violence (very mild here) in order to be effectively targeted and to maintain the goodwill of the people.

"Isn't much different than cutting the brake lines on a bike"...really?!

I've had many flat tires in my life, both on bikes and cars. Now, I've never had a break line cut.

But I find the suggestion that a flat tire is the same as cutting brake lines to be truly shocking.

A flat tire is a relatively common occurrence, one that any driver should be able to deal with (and yes, having and using roadside assistance is an acceptable--albeit slow--way of dealing with a flat tire). A cut (or failed) brake line is an entirely different level of risk.

Now...having a catastrophic tire failure while at high speeds has some risk of loss of control (although again, something that a competent driver in a properly loaded vehicle SHOULD be able to recover from) but this isn't that....this is a flat tire at rest, something I have found at my car literally a dozen times...thanks careless roofers. If you feel this is a major risk akin to having a brake line cut, well....the roofing profession needs to be regulated...or..whatever.

I agree we need to be honest about the level off damage and violence here but I think I'm far closer than you are to being so.

You are skipping over the part where tires sitting deflated does damage them over time. I don't think this is nearly as bad as cutting a brake line, but I would consider it to be in the same class of action even if it's not nearly as severe.

The fact that the average person neglects proper inspection and maintenance of their vehicles doesn't make this less bad, it makes it even worse. You can just as easily claim that cutting brake lines isn't dangerous, because every cyclist should be checking them before beginning a ride.

Maybe I'm over-estimating the risk of damage and violence (I don't think so, but I haven't really expressed that here), but I'd prefer to be cautious than to outright deny it. At the end of the day, whether it's cut brake lines or tire failure leading to loss of control, I'm the most vulnerable as a pedestrian and cyclist.