Sick and tired of bicyclists ignoring traffic law

The BBQ Pit
1

Bicyclists are required to OBEY TRAFFIC LAW, just like cars. They are legally required to stop at stop signs and red lights. But they do NOT do it here. Literally 90% of them (and I have been keeping track) sail through stop signs and zoom through red lights, totally ignoring cars. I am one of the FEW drivers who ALWAYS pays attention to what bicycles are doing. I’ll stop at two-way signs when I am NOT required to and the other direction should be stopping, and it’s 100% because I know that a bicyclist will NOT stop. Then the driver behind me is in danger of causing an accident, because neither one of us was supposed to need to stop!

Do these bicyclists have a death wish? If so, they need to not involve innocent drivers (AND pedestrians, who frequently almost get run over by those same bikes!)

This has to be one of the most bicycled cities in America (no, not Nashville. Portland, OR.) These people have got to use a vestige of common sense and obey the laws as they are supposed to do. I’m doing everything I can as a driver, and I cannot do any more. I am tired of dealing with this. And I’m NOT the only one!!

See this article!

2

I walk in my neighbourhood daily - I always take my little shopping cart with me, because it makes the cyclists on the sidewalk not pass me so closely that they give me a heart attack. The cyclists I see do as they please, where they please, and the city is going out of its way to encourage them. That’s fine; how about we see some enforcement of the laws that cyclists are constantly breaking to go along with taking away driving lanes and turning them into bike lanes? With privilege comes responsibility - you want a bike friendly city, you should be required to follow the laws as well.

3

As a former cyclist, I take exception to the broad brush you are painting with.

Your beef is with bicyclists who ignore the law, not with all bicyclists.

As far as that goes, yeah, cyclists have a responsibility to know the relevant laws and act in accordance with them. Ya know, like all members of society.

Will you next start a pit thread titled “Sick and tired of bankers ignoring finance laws”? :dubious:

Save your ire for those who deserve it, please.

4

'round here it’s the bike couriers that are the problem. As I like to say, it’s not that they sail through the intersections ignoring the cars, it’s that the act like there isn’t even an intersection there to begin with, and when I slam on my brakes and honk at them, I get flipped off. Meanwhile it’s them that’s going to have to learn how to walk again if I wasn’t paying attention.

In my perfect world, bike couriers would be required to be licensed by the city they operate in and have to follow traffic laws and get tickets just like vehicles. The logistics of all that to be worked out later.

Oh, and when they do have to stop at a light, it would be really nice if they would just stop and put their feet on the ground instead of doing everything in their power to try and balance and by the time the light turns green they’ve rolled into the middle of the road.

5

That and the fuckwads who ride on the sidewalk. It’s a sideWALK you asshole!

Dave Foley speaks for me.

6

I agree. In addition, it greatly upsets me when bicyclists use the road (which is for cars) when there is an adjacent bike path. It is extremely annoying and dangerous. Why don’t they use the bike path?

7

My town is not particularly bicycle friendly, but we do have them, and I’ve been upset for quite a while at how so many ignore traffic laws. My pet peeve is cyclists going the wrong way down one way streets, also, cycling against traffic.

Most of the violators I see are men. Women seem to do a beter job of following street laws.

Those who ride at night scare me. Twice on my way to work recently I’ve come clost to hitting bicycle riders. Look, if it’s dark, and you are wearing dark clothing with no lamps or reflectors, and your skin is dark too., then it’s kind of hard for me to notice you until the last second.

8

Because of all the walkers. And pet owners. And free range toddlers. And all the other moving roadblocks.

9

As a former banker, I take exception to the broad brush you are painting with.

Your beef is with bankers who ignore the law, not with all bankers.

As far as that goes, yeah, bankers have a responsibility to know the relevant laws and act in accordance with them. Ya know, like all members of society.

Will the OP next start a pit thread titled “Sick and tired of attorneys ignoring common-sense laws”? :dubious:

Save your ire for those who deserve it, please.

10

Perhaps we could just throw bicyclists in a quarry, and make everybody happy.

11

I have seen none of the above. I believe it is because the bicyclists are aware that the road is a flatter surface, (in other words, easier for them to ride their bikes), yet harder on the drivers, and more dangerous for everyone involved.

12

Bo is right. The OP clearly made an unfair generalization, and should’ve titled the thread “Sick and tired of the bicyclists who ignore traffic laws ignoring traffic laws.” Please endeavor to be more sensitive to the feelings of former bicyclists in the future.

13

Shut up, BigTard.

14

It’s a rare ‘bikepath’ that’s actually reserved for bicycles, rather than shared with every sort of nonmotorized traffic that cares to use it - pedestrians, joggers, pedestrians in groups, pedestrians walking dogs, kids on scooters and skateboards, and so forth.

In the DC area, all of the major bikepaths - C&O, Rock Creek, GW Parkway, W&OD, etc. - are widely used by pretty much all of the above. On weekends (and evenings during the Daylight Savings half of the year), a cyclist can pretty much forget about the prospect of building up any momentum on any of those trails.

Similarly, I’ve run into many secondary trails over time that were undoubtedly smooth right after they were initially paved, but have taken on the lumpiness of an unmade bed while preserving the solidness of asphalt, as tree roots, temperature changes, and low maintenance budgets have taken their toll.

In either case, it is only natural for cyclists to prefer the road. Not to mention, we do in fact have a legal right to ride on pretty much all roads that aren’t limited access, and a few that are.

Sure, there’s an added risk. But for the most part, we’ve got to bike on roads anyway, because outside of some exceptional locales like Portland, OR or Davis, CA, the bikepaths just don’t go everywhere. In my part of Maryland, if I want to bike, I’ve got to bike on roads, period. (There’s one little bikepath a few miles away from my home, but it’s short and doesn’t go anywhere I’m going.) So when I’m cycling in places where there’s a bikepath, I’ll use the bikepath if I regard it as an improvement on cycling on the roads, but I don’t feel any obligation either to the temporary and marginal improvement to my own safety, or to the convenience of motorists, to use the bikepath rather than the road.

15

But Anise did not paint with a broad brush. If, in her stated experience ( “I counted”) 90% of bike riders ignored traffic laws, then she is painting with exactly the right sized brush.

Saw a jackoff on his bike yesterday do the following maneuver:

[ul]
[li]was zipping along in the middle of the lane. Zipping maybe not the right word here…let’s see…oh, poking, that’s the word. Yeah poking[/li][li]anyway, middle of the lane, so multiple cars backed up behind him[/li][li]until we have enough of an opening to pass him, by being more than half into the oncoming lane of traffic.[/li][li]so now we are past him, and come to a red light.[/li][li]He’s supposed to stop in his place in line, right?[/li][li]Nope, he passes all of us between our cars and the curb.[/li][li]Then, here it comes, the douchenozzle move…[/li][li]He swerves into the pedestrian crosswalk, which by the way DID NOT have a walk signal, and continues across the intersection.[/li][li]Now this special snowflake is in front of us again[/li][/ul]

If you want to share the road, it means you have to share (read, observe) all the same traffic laws. Only fair.

16

Just curious, is anyone who starts these tired threads or participates in the pile-ons a bicyclist, runner, or pedestrian? Because it seems there’s a certain type who hates on the non-fossil fuel burning forms of motivation and that type isn’t likely to go outdoors for exercise.

17

I walk almost everywhere I go. I regularly have to avoid bikes that are where they shouldn’t be.

18

damn dude.

harsh.

19

Pfft, I’m sick and tired of posters who complicate things. Just adding one word (okay, and modifying one other) would have fixed the title:

Sick and tired of bicyclists who ignore(ing) traffic law

It was funnier your way though

20

I think we’ve been around this rodeo before - but then I reserve the right to have the same contempt for pedestrians who can’t see the “bicycles only” lanes on the pathway system (middle lane on the Peace Bridge is for cyclists, jackasses!). There’s a massive amount of selection bias going on from all parties here.