# Get your car out of the fucking cycle lane **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 4, 2003, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-your-car-out-of-the-fucking-cycle-lane/179704 "2003-06-04T22:09:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2003, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-your-car-out-of-the-fucking-cycle-lane/179704/1 "2003-06-04T22:09:23Z")
Look dickhead. See those signs? See that bicycle painted on the pavement? THEN WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING THERE? It’s called a “cycle lane” for a reason. It means you cannot drive there, you cannot park there, you should not even stop there unless you are damn sure you’ll be out of there before a bicycle approaches. If you are a cab you CANNOT PULL IN AHEAD OF ME, CUTTING ME OFF AND FORCING ME TO BRAKE DANGEROUSLY SUDDENLY just so you can pick up your fucking fare (and to the morons that jumped into that cab, do you think a bicycle doesn’t hurt when it hits you?) This is the LAW, and the reason for it is to prevent me being forced into traffic and squashed like a bug - what part of this don’t you understand? :mad: [sub]And yes, I know some bicyclists are eejits too. That’s no excuse.[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Myrr21](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Myrr21](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Myrr21)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2003, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-your-car-out-of-the-fucking-cycle-lane/179704/2 "2003-06-04T23:50:03Z")
Reasons #537 that bicycle-mounted rocket launchers should be both legal and free. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Cid\_Viscoso](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/41988e/32.png) [@El\_Cid\_Viscoso](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Cid_Viscoso)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2003, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-your-car-out-of-the-fucking-cycle-lane/179704/3 "2003-06-05T00:12:33Z")
FYI, if ever you should forsake Dublin for Los Angeles: **California Vehicle Code** 21209. No person shall drive a motor vehicle in a bicycle lane established on a roadway, except as follows: To park where parking is permitted To enter or leave the roadway To prepare for a turn within a distance of 200 feet from the intersection \*\* (This happens here frequently.)\*\* ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2003, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-your-car-out-of-the-fucking-cycle-lane/179704/4 "2003-06-05T01:36:03Z")
Still hold with fond memory the time I met a corvette headon. Twas darkling and a drunkling night… about Saturday, near a college. As it happens, there were two turns near each other. One was a purpose-built bike path, the other was a road to Briarcliff Manor. Innocent I was, with my early mountain bike, peddling for a bit of a stretch… when two evil eyes met mine around a corner. This path is on top of a hill, it seems, at points, clifflike off each side. I have no choice. It is, apparently, technically possible, when moved with great urgency, to bunny-hop a mountain bike at least a foot in the air, as near as my memory tells. For my next image is the impact on the hood, followed shortly by the front wheel going through the windshield, the neck of the bike meeting the roof sharply and beginning to tumble. I wound up on the ground behind the car, in a twisted pile, bike atop me. The corvette sideswiped a tree and kept going. Admittedly, it trashed the bike… but I got off with just some sprains and bruises. ---
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2003, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-your-car-out-of-the-fucking-cycle-lane/179704/5 "2003-06-05T06:31:22Z")
Mr B, there are laws about it here too, unfortunately the traffic police have no more respect for them than the drivers do. The suspicion among cyclists here is that these laws were passed only to comply with EU directives and there is no actual interest in enforcing them. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Kumquat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4491bb/32.png) [@Gary\_Kumquat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Kumquat)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2003, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-your-car-out-of-the-fucking-cycle-lane/179704/6 "2003-06-05T08:06:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ruadh \* > \*\*Mr B, there are laws about it here too, unfortunately the traffic police have no more respect for them than the drivers do. The suspicion among cyclists here is that these laws were passed only to comply with EU directives and there is no actual interest in enforcing them. \*\* Exactly the same situation here. The local council recently received a large grant to build a defined amount of dedicated cycle lanes. They obviously sat down, worked out the cheapest way of doing this and then proceeded to build a lane from a roundabout 2 miles outside the city up to the airport. Anyone know many people who cycle to an airport? Me neither. The local cycle clubs have been recording traffic on it, at the rate of about 5 users per day. Meanwhile we still have no real cycle lanes around town. The council ended up about a million better off though, which was promptly diverted to a string of pet council projects such as maintenance of golf courses. This has left me unsure as to who I hate more - our local council, or the drivers who still manage to weave in and out of the few lanes we have. Either group seem worthy of a beating to me. ---
**Author:** ![TwistofFate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@TwistofFate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwistofFate)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2003, 9:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-your-car-out-of-the-fucking-cycle-lane/179704/7 "2003-06-05T09:48:00Z")
One of the very reasons why I don’t drive. I don’t want to become an ignorant mofo like alot of the drivers I have encountered on both my bike and scooter. I reserve a very special place of hatred for taxi drivers. ---
**Author:** ![ticker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@ticker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ticker)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2003, 9:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-your-car-out-of-the-fucking-cycle-lane/179704/8 "2003-06-05T09:54:20Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Gary Kumquat \* > [BThe local council recently received a large grant to build a defined amount of dedicated cycle lanes._\* This is also the reason why you will find disconnected sections of cycle lanes which stop short of the complicated junctions - the exact point where they may do some good. They build 'em where it is easy, not where they are needed. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Kumquat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4491bb/32.png) [@Gary\_Kumquat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Kumquat)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2003, 10:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-your-car-out-of-the-fucking-cycle-lane/179704/9 "2003-06-05T10:07:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ticker \* > \*\*This is also the reason why you will find disconnected sections of cycle lanes which stop short of the complicated junctions - the exact point where they may do some good. They build 'em where it is easy, not where they are needed. \*\* But you see that’s the standard level of city planning in the UK which I’m kind of used to by now. Now a cycle lane that starts 2 miles out of town, reachable only by a very busy (and non bike friendly) dual carriageway, that then runs to the airport - to me this is a masterstroke of local government cynicism, one that should be applauded. Impossible to get to, and of no use to any fucker. Even by the high standards that British local government has for wilful stupidity, this is an absolute corker. ---
**Author:** ![Tarantula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e274bd/32.png) [@Tarantula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tarantula)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2003, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-your-car-out-of-the-fucking-cycle-lane/179704/10 "2003-06-05T12:18:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by TwistofFate \* > \*\*…I reserve a very special place of hatred for taxi drivers. \*\* Considering how they know how to run the country and all, you think they’d respect the few laws we have… :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![elfje](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19b73/32.png) [@elfje](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfje)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2003, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-your-car-out-of-the-fucking-cycle-lane/179704/11 "2003-06-05T12:22:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ruadh \* > \*\*Look dickhead. See those signs? See that bicycle painted on the pavement? THEN WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING THERE? It’s called a “cycle lane” for a reason. It means you cannot drive there, you cannot park there, you should not even stop there unless you are damn sure you’ll be out of there before a bicycle approaches. If you are a cab you CANNOT PULL IN AHEAD OF ME, CUTTING ME OFF AND FORCING ME TO BRAKE DANGEROUSLY SUDDENLY just so you can pick up your fucking fare (and to the morons that jumped into that cab, do you think a bicycle doesn’t hurt when it hits you?) This is the LAW, and the reason for it is to prevent me being forced into traffic and squashed like a bug - what part of this don’t you understand? > > :mad: > > [sub]And yes, I know some bicyclists are eejits too. That’s no excuse.[/sub] \*\* mm, ruadh, I know exactly where you’re coming from. Cycling in Dublin ain’t a a bleedin’ ride on a ferris wheel. It’s dangerous, but hey, I balme athe government and the cops. The government for handing out drivers licences to everyone, regardless if they can drive or not, and the cops for nearly never enforcing the law. Did you not know that aftger 19.00pm, cars are allowed to park on the cycle lanes? Where deos that leave the cyclist? Yep, out in the streets again, and then we get blamed for being in everybody’s way. There’s no provisions made for cyclists in Dublin, and if there are, people don’t respect them… It’s fucking disgrace. btw, you coming tonight? for drinks, even? ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2003, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-your-car-out-of-the-fucking-cycle-lane/179704/12 "2003-06-05T12:36:35Z")
Yeah, like the man said. Get your fat arsed lump of tin out of my face, or can’t you steer well enough to do so? Wouldn’t surprise me… ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2003, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-your-car-out-of-the-fucking-cycle-lane/179704/13 "2003-06-05T12:38:03Z")
I’ve been both a car driver and a cyclist in Dublin (even went on a Critical Mass protest once). I personally knew a guy who was killed cycling in Dublin. I heartily sympathise: Dublin is full of incompetent, aggressive drivers. There are so many people who don’t use their mirrors, change lanes suddenty without indicating or checking behind or beside them, drive in cycle lanes, don’t leave enough room when passing, and simply don’t observe what’s going on outside a 10° span directly in front of them. As you mentioned, there are some cycling eejits too. I do reserve a lot of criticism for people cycling against the opposing traffic, not using lights at night, weaving in and out of lanes, ignoring traffic signals, and not protecting themselves with visible clothing and helmets. The whole situation is a nightmare. In my opinion, segregation is the only way forward. Follow the example of Amsterdam, with a line of impassable bricks alonside each cycle lane that the voracious cars and trucks can’t get past. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2003, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-your-car-out-of-the-fucking-cycle-lane/179704/14 "2003-06-05T12:48:23Z")
BTW, **Twisty** , you don’t once you’re aware of their problems, it is possible to be a considerate car driver. I like to think I’m one. Meanwhile you may all appreciate this: [Cycle lane “not even as long as small cycle”](http://www.framleyexaminer.com/pages/frontpage.html). ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2003, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-your-car-out-of-the-fucking-cycle-lane/179704/15 "2003-06-05T12:51:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jjimm \* > In my opinion, segregation is the only way forward. Follow the example of Amsterdam, with a line of impassable bricks alonside each cycle lane that the voracious cars and trucks can’t get past. Oh, some drivers could probably still manage it. I’m reminded of my years in Madison, Wisconsin, probably one of the more bike-friendly cities in the US. They had bicycle lanes all over the university campus and downtown area. One particular street (University Avenue, for anyone familiar with it) was one-way only for cars, going west (plus a bicycle lane west as well). There also was a bicycle lane - separated from the westbound traffic with a concrete divider - that went east, and various signs, pavement markings, and other things to indicate that this was for bicycles only. You wouldn’t believe how many clueless drivers I saw who tried to fit their cars down the eastbound bicycle lane. I would think that the narrow width would tip them off, for starters. (Mind you, it probably wasn’t much wider than some ‘lanes’ of traffic in Italy, for instance, but we tend to drive larger cars in the US and usually expect much wider lanes here.) ---
**Author:** ![kabbes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e99b99/32.png) [@kabbes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kabbes)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2003, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-your-car-out-of-the-fucking-cycle-lane/179704/16 "2003-06-05T12:58:06Z")
JFTR: that site is an Onionesque spoofe, is it not? ---
**Author:** ![PatriotX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c4cdca/32.png) [@PatriotX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotX)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2003, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-your-car-out-of-the-fucking-cycle-lane/179704/17 "2003-06-05T13:09:22Z")
At least you guys have bike lanes. Where I live there are none. Even though in the drivers manual that we’re tested on b4 getting a driver’s license has a special separate section on driving a car around bicycles many people seem to think that bikes belong on the sidewalk. I have idjuts yell at me in school zones, (during school hours), where I am travelling fairly near the speed limit of 20mph, (downhill ;)). I’ve taken to carrying a copy of the state driver’s manual with me in case I ever have the opportunity to have a face to face confrontation. Oh yeah, obligatory pit cussing: fuck, fcuk,fuck, bloody fuck and shit ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Kumquat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4491bb/32.png) [@Gary\_Kumquat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Kumquat)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2003, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-your-car-out-of-the-fucking-cycle-lane/179704/18 "2003-06-05T13:15:02Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by kabbes \* > \*\*JFTR: that site is an Onionesque spoofe, is it not? \*\* It certainly is, and a brilliant one too. I’d urge anyone to read the classified ads. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2003, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-your-car-out-of-the-fucking-cycle-lane/179704/19 "2003-06-05T13:23:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by kabbes \* > \*\*JFTR: that site is an Onionesque spoofe, is it not? \*\* It is. It’s a very funny site, especially if you’re familiar with the oeuvre of small-town UK newspapers. ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2003, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-your-car-out-of-the-fucking-cycle-lane/179704/20 "2003-06-05T13:54:37Z")
I got my fucking wrist broken while biking to school in a bike lane. (And this was in Evanston, a relatively placid and low-traffic suburb, not downtown Chicago.) Fucking moron driver didn’t look in her rearview mirror and very nearly left me the choice of running headfirst into a tree, or falling to my left into the street. I chose the latter. My wrist broke the fall, driving one of the smaller wrist bones into the big one and leaving me in a cast for 6 weeks. Luckily I was 14 at the time, so my bones were still rather soft and I healed quickly. She got out of the car and felt horribly when she saw what she had done, of course, and asked if I needed her to call my mom or a ride to the hospital or something. I told her I was fine, no harm done, and she drove away. That was when I got up to drag my bike out of the street and blacked out. Luckily I was riding with a friend, and she rode on ahead to school and called my mom. How do they think kids are supposed to get to school in a town where many areas aren’t well-served by public transportation, and school is too far away to walk for many, and the few buses that do arrive within half an hour of the start of classes are completely packed to the gills? Things are somewhat better in the city of Chicago now – there are a few designated bike lanes, and more and better racks, and the lakefront path no longer had potholes into which you could drive a Sherman tank – but bike commuting is still not a realistic option for most people, even in the summer. In the winter, of course, it can go to 40 below zero, and only crazy people bike then. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-your-car-out-of-the-fucking-cycle-lane/179704.md?page=2)