Screw You, You Self-Entitled Arrogant Asshole Car Drivers

[wguy123]

I live in a very car friendly city. Cool. Lots of road lanes and shit. But you asshole jerk-offs are fucking up the whole program. You are supposed to obey the rules of the road like people on bicycles.

That means stopping at red lights and stop signs. Not blasting through a red light while I am turning you stupid fuck. Not turning in front of me like you don't see me. Not turning without using your turn signals you stupid fucks. And if I am at a light, don't fucking ease up beside me and cruise on through like you don't have to get in line.

I fantasize about breaking your fucking mirror off when you illegally pass me on a solid yellow.

You do not get to selectively obey traffic laws.

I will probably get run over and killed by one of you dumbass morons one day and guess what, it will be your fault.

[Kimstu]

Originally Posted by wguy123

That means stopping at red lights and stop signs. Not blasting through a red light while I am turning you stupid fuck. Not turning in front of me like you don't see me. Not turning without using your turn signals you stupid fucks.

Can't tell if you meant this to be pointless parody or not, but yeah, there are plenty of cars that fail to stop at red lights and stop signs. And turning without signaling is endemic.

[wguy123]

Ripping on a recent pitting about bicyclists.

Someone posted about how bicyclists were inconveniencing them while they are tooling along in their automobile. I commute by bike and from my experience there are far more cars breaking laws than bicyclists (sheer number of autos guarantees this) but the cars almost always have a more deadly result than a bicycle. I won't look up a cite but if anyone can prove that bicyclists cause more: wrecks, injuries, deaths, etc, I'll eat crow. Nearly every day I have to evade some idiot in a car while I am on my bike. Conversely, when I am on my motorized vehicle (motorcycle) I rarely have to evade a bicycle.

[Kimstu]

Originally Posted by wguy123

Someone posted about how bicyclists were inconveniencing them while they are tooling along in their automobile. I commute by bike and from my experience there are far more cars breaking laws than bicyclists (sheer number of autos guarantees this) but the cars almost always have a more deadly result than a bicycle. I won't look up a cite but if anyone can prove that bicyclists cause more: wrecks, injuries, deaths, etc, I'll eat crow.

I think you're certainly right about the absolute numbers, but I'd be willing to believe that the percentage of egregious scofflaws is significantly higher among cyclists than among drivers.

Although I think that this phenomenon may mask a different phenomenon: namely, that a lot of those clueless-dick cyclists started out as clueless-dick drivers and had their driver's licenses revoked for illegal behavior.

In my experience, the guys who ride bikes because they're prohibited from driving due to a DUI conviction are absolutely the worst and stupidest assholes on the road, perhaps with the exception of those drivers who are currently practicing illegal behavior such as DUI but haven't yet been caught at it.

[wguy123]

Originally Posted by Kimstu

I think you're certainly right about the absolute numbers, but I'd be willing to believe that the percentage of egregious scofflaws is significantly higher among cyclists than among drivers.

Depends on your definition of egregious when related to the road. I would speculate that a higher percentage of cars break traffic laws due simply to the speed limit. I speed from time to time in motorized and non-motorized vehicles. I break the law on my bicycle for valid reasons from time to time (ever try to trip a magnetized traffic sensor on a bicycle?). How much of bad behavior (motorized versus non-motorized) is due to revocation of license is beyond me. Idiots seem to travel by all means.

[John Mace]

Originally Posted by wguy123

Ripping on a recent pitting about bicyclists.

It's currently just 3 threads below this one.

[Duckster]

Originally Posted by wguy123

I won't look up a cite but if anyone can prove that bicyclists cause more: wrecks, injuries, deaths, etc, I'll eat crow.

Portland, Oregon, must the capitol of self-righteous bicycle drivers. They get hit and die frequently.

[Beware of Doug]

Originally Posted by Duckster

Portland, Oregon, must the capitol of self-righteous bicycle drivers. They get hit and die frequently.

Are they martyred by the bicycling public? Maybe there should be a monument. They could pay for it selling license tags.

[wguy123]

Originally Posted by Beware of Doug

Are they martyred by the bicycling public? Maybe there should be a monument. They could pay for it selling license tags.

Ha Ha!!! Selling tags to mow down dumbshit bicyclists!

[enipla]

Originally Posted by Kimstu

Can't tell if you meant this to be pointless parody or not, but yeah, there are plenty of cars that fail to stop at red lights and stop signs. And turning without signaling is endemic.

I always hear people complaining about such things. But where I live it just does not seem to happen. Oh, an occasional blast through a yellow/orange light, and some folks don't use their turn signals but most (95%) do.

[wguy123]

Originally Posted by enipla

I always hear people complaining about such things. But where I live it just does not seem to happen. Oh, an occasional blast through a yellow/orange light, and some folks don't use their turn signals but most (95%) do.

Have you never heard of red-light camera enforcement? I don't think they are installing these for the occasional blast through a yellow. Oh wait...maybe they are installing them to catch all the hooligan bike riders. Those assholes love to run red lights.

[casdave]

Seems to come down to mere bullying, if there was a backhoe trundling along the road, the average car driver would never think about cutting it up, and yet its moving at around the same sort of speed as a bicycle and is a far greater obstruction.

The car driver might get frustrated, but they are most unlikely to be shouting abuse as they overtake the slow moving vehicle, so why is it so common that cyclists receive this treatment?

How often do you see cyclists speeding? I'll bet you broke the speed limit on your way to work in your car today - seems motorists are happy to point out the misdeeds of others but not look too closely at themselves.

Even a 5mph breach of the speed limit can have devastating consequences in a crash, and car drivers can hardly say they are not aware since there are so many public information notices on tv.

[enipla]

Originally Posted by casdave

Seems to come down to mere bullying, if there was a backhoe trundling along the road, the average car driver would never think about cutting it up, and yet its moving at around the same sort of speed as a bicycle and is a far greater obstruction.

The car driver might get frustrated, but they are most unlikely to be shouting abuse as they overtake the slow moving vehicle, so why is it so common that cyclists receive this treatment?

How often do you see cyclists speeding? I'll bet you broke the speed limit on your way to work in your car today - seems motorists are happy to point out the misdeeds of others but not look too closely at themselves.

Even a 5mph breach of the speed limit can have devastating consequences in a crash, and car drivers can hardly say they are not aware since there are so many public information notices on tv.

The opposite is true where I live. It’s a very recreational community. I would rather that bikes not ride on the highway when they don’t have to though.

Can’t find the link at the moment, but I believe that slow moving vehicles such as backhoes are required to pull over if five or more vehicles are backed up behind it. It’s not always practical, and I understand that. The drivers that get our ire are the ones that have a string of 10 or 20 cars behind them all the way up a hill and don’t pull over to let them by.

Bikes are easy to pass, and we can legally cross the double yellow to do so.

[enipla]

Originally Posted by wguy123

Have you never heard of red-light camera enforcement? I don't think they are installing these for the occasional blast through a yellow. Oh wait...maybe they are installing them to catch all the hooligan bike riders. Those assholes love to run red lights.

Huh? Just saying that where I live, most folks seem to obey the traffic laws. We don't have red light cameras that I know of.

Oh, and the only folks that run red lights where I live seem to be bike riders. And I'm mostly OK with it if it's safe.

[Joey P]

Originally Posted by enipla

Huh? Just saying that where I live, most folks seem to obey the traffic laws. We don't have red light cameras that I know of.

Oh, and the only folks that run red lights where I live seem to be bike riders. And I'm mostly OK with it if it's safe.

My problem isn't with bikers that run red lights, it's with the ones that ride though red lights like there isn't even an intersection there...and then have the nerve to get mad at ME when I honk and slam on my brakes.

Also, I think there's a world of difference between the casual/sport rider and the bike couriers that I deal with in the downtown areas.
The only time I have a problem with sport type riders is when they're riding 4 wide and waaay out out of the bike lane and I'm stuck behind them until I can pass them. The city was nice enough to give them a big wide bike line, but they're still so far into the driving lane that they have 15 cars piled up behind them because they want to be able to ride next to each other instead of two in front and two in back. But that's not as big of a problem.

[wguy123]

Originally Posted by enipla

Huh? Just saying that where I live, most folks seem to obey the traffic laws. We don't have red light cameras that I know of.

Oh, and the only folks that run red lights where I live seem to be bike riders. And I'm mostly OK with it if it's safe.

Where is this mythical city where car drivers abide by all laws and it's only bicyclists breaking them?

I also don't understand all the talk of bikes running red lights. Where I live, I only do it when I don't trip the sensor and it's on my very early morning commute to work. No cars coming. If I were to try this on my commute home when the roads are busy, I wouldn't live much longer. Are you all really saying these bicyclists are darting out into busy intersections?

Joey P: Illegal in my state. Recent attempts to change this by the motorcycle community but it never gets past the state govt.

[Qadgop the Mercotan]

I think it's people who are the problem.

[wguy123]

Originally Posted by Qadgop the Mercotan

I think it's people who are the problem.

Even my dogs like to jaywalk. And I have seen plenty of squirrels that seem to have a deathwish...running out in the road with no crosswalk in sight.

[Snowboarder Bo]

Originally Posted by Qadgop the Mercotan

I think it's people who are the problem.

I blame society.

[Beware of Doug]

Originally Posted by Snowboarder Bo

I blame society.

All right, we'll arrest them instead.

wguy, I kinda don't get the term "car friendly." The more cars in a place, the less friendly it is, even for cars.

[DHMO]

It just seems to me that, if you're in a car, you have quite a bit of metal to absorb the impact in an accident. On a bike, you become a red smear on the pavement.

Outrageous idiocy is endemic to both classes of road denizens, but the negative consequences to boorish behavior fall disproportionately of the cyclist. That is one reason why motorists are so incensed by stupid bicyclists—they don't want to be responsible for being the unwitting executioner of some doucherag on wheels with a death wish.

[Mr. Miskatonic]

Originally Posted by DHMO

It just seems to me that, if you're in a car, you have quite a bit of metal to absorb the impact in an accident. On a bike, you become a red smear on the pavement.

Outrageous idiocy is endemic to both classes of road denizens, but the negative consequences to boorish behavior fall disproportionately of the cyclist. That is one reason why motorists are so incensed by stupid bicyclists—they don't want to be responsible for being the unwitting executioner of some doucherag on wheels with a death wish.

It might be one reason to some, but not to most. I ride legally, and I have found that a large number of drivers tend to actually be more annoyed with my existence when I do so. Don't misunderstand me: I am much safer by riding legally but I tend to get more horns blasted at me and more deliberate (and illegal) actions taken by drivers - such as going straight on a turn-only lane to pass me, crossing double-yellow lines into traffic, passing much too close, etc.

The simple fact is this: while many drivers say they want cyclists to ride legally, what they really want is the cyclists to be gone.

[TriPolar]

Originally Posted by Qadgop the Mercotan

I think it's people who are the problem.

Yes. People on bicycles.

[The Tao's Revenge]

Originally Posted by TriPolar

Yes. People on bicycles.

Yes drivers never cause problems. You never see a driver do something dangerous.


Reasons people bike:

Need for transportation
Health\Exercise
Enjoyment
The environment
Religious observance (the Amish love them some bikes)


Which group is the problem?

[Cumberdale]

Originally Posted by The Tao's Revenge

Yes drivers never cause problems. You never see a driver do something dangerous.


Which group is the problem?

I've never heard of bicyclists throwing cans and junk at cars while going down the road, or getting behind a car and ringing their bell, or yelling for them to "get off the road".

[DrDeth]

Originally Posted by Cumberdale

I've never heard of bicyclists throwing cans and junk at cars while going down the road, or getting behind a car and ringing their bell, or yelling for them to "get off the road".

As a pedestrian, I have had bike riders do two out of three of those things to me. While I was on a sidewalk and so were they, even tho there was a bike lane. I have also seen in SF a bike rider ride past several cars who had edged into bike lane (to make a right turn) and scratch their car doors as he went past.

You have heard about what packs of bike riders have done to driver sin SF, have you not?

[jasg]

Originally Posted by Qadgop the Mercotan

I think it's people who are the problem.

True, we need a thread pitting pedestrians... and motorcyclists... and truckers.... and worst of all, those idiots who land their planes on the interstates!

[Joey P]

Originally Posted by wguy123

I break the law on my bicycle for valid reasons from time to time (ever try to trip a magnetized traffic sensor on a bicycle?).

That's probably not illegal. At least in Wisconsin and at least for motorcycles there's a specific set of circumstances that come together to allow motorcycles to run a red light, I use it all the time in intersections where I know I can't make the light flip. I'd would guess it would apply to bikes...but since you think you're breaking the law, you probably aren't aware of the law and you probably are breaking it.
For example, part of it requires that there aren't any cars coming up behind me that can trip the sensor for me. If I see a car behind me, I'll pull up far enough so that the car can land on the induction coil and wait for the next cycle so I can get the light/arrow. Do you do that?

Actually, I see only a handful of states have adopted this law, so you might not even be allowed to use it anyways.

[Rick]

Originally Posted by enipla

Going straight in a turn only lane to pass you? Are you not keeping right?

In California a bicycle is a vehicle. If the bike rider were to stay all the way right at an intersection with a right turn only lane when he was planning on riding straight ahead he could be cited for that AND it is quite likely a car coming up from behind him would hit him.
The proper way to handle such an intersection is for the bike to stop at the right side of the rightmost lane that continues straight. This will allow right turners to turn while he is stopped.
My cite is how the bike lanes are painted on the streets in Los Angeles. Pics available upon request.

[Emtar KronJonDerSohn]

I live in a very car, bicycle, and pedestrian friendly city. Cool. Lots of road lanes and sidewalks and shit. But you asshole jerk-offs are fucking up the whole program. You are supposed to obey the rules of the road like people in tractor-trailers.

That means stopping at red lights and stop signs. Not blasting through a red light while I am turning you stupid fuck. Not speeding up to cut me off and then slowing down. Not taking a leisurely stroll in front of me in a parking lot completely oblivious to the 30 tons shaking the earth behind you and everything else besides the text you're sending. Not matching my speed and snuggling into my blind spot/emergency maneuvering space you stupid fucks. And if I am at a light, don't fucking try to direct me to turn on red just because someone on a streetbike might have time or space to.

I fantasize about vegetablizing you as you try to get around me while I'm parallel parking.

You do not get to selectively obey common sense.

I will probably kill one of you dumbass morons one day and guess what, it will be your fault but I will still lose my livelihood.

[FoieGrasIsEvil]

Well, we've fulfilled our annual quota of pro and anti cycling pit threads, so see you next year!

[fumster]

I'm amazed at the denialists. I live in Portland as well, and there is an incredibly high percentage of asshole bicyclists. I can't remember the last time I've seen a car completely ignore a stop sign, intentionally drive the wrong way down a one-way street, drive at night without lights, refuse to put brakes on their car, or drive on a sidewalk. I see all of those done by bicyclists EVERY SINGLE DAY. Yesterday there was the hipster on his fixie that wobbled into my lane when he lost inertia as a bus pulled out. He was just too fucking cool to have gears on his bike. Many bicyclists don't even obey stop signs when there are pedestrians crossing the street. A few weeks ago I saw a bicyclist riding in the sidewalk the wrong way on a one way street and just blow through the intersection. I don't know how I missed him.

I commuted by bike in Boston 35 years ago and done my share of cross country riding here and in Europe, so I fully support bicycles sharing the road with cars. But a large proportion of bicyclists are fucking it up for everyone.

And yes, I've had bottles thrown at me when I was riding and had someone try and run me off the road, but those people are few and far between here in Portland. Assholes on bikes are as ubiquitous as Starbucks.

[Drunky Smurf]

After reading this whole thread I can honestly say it's the bicyclists who are to blame. For everything.

[enipla]

Originally Posted by Drunky Smurf

After reading this whole thread I can honestly say it's the bicyclists who are to blame. For everything.

Yep, except global warming of course.

Whoose right back at you my friend.

[DrDeth]

Originally Posted by enipla

Yep, except global warming of course.

Whoose right back at you my friend.

You do know you give off extra CO2 when you bike, right?

[digs]

Originally Posted by DrDeth

You do know you give off extra CO2 when you bike, right?

CO2, hell, I'm blasting pure methane.