I have a hard time feeling badly about any liberties I might take with traffic laws whilst on my bicycle. I’ve had people change lanes into the one I’d been occupying while I was still there. Only panic stops in some cases and slamming fists into driver’s windows in other cases prevented me from being smeared. I’ve been cut off more times than I can count. I’ve been intentionally driven into at a stoplight. So y’all will just have to excuse me when I roll a stop sign. For a lot time I meticulously followed traffic laws, but eventually I just said fuck it. If they want me to behave like traffic, they can accord me the respect they accord traffic. Until they do, I exploit loopholes, though I generally draw the line at red lights. I’ve rarely run a red on my bike that I wouldn’t also run in my car.
Matter of fact, I’m writing a $70 check to Glendale on Monday due to the stop sign being not quite secluded enough. I think Cheesesteak’s point was not doing this when there’s no traffic around, but doing it when it has the ability to fuck up traffic, as in my post.
Yes. Bicyclists are obliged to follow the rules of the road, yet I rarely see bicyclists actually do that. That makes the world more dangerous for everybody. While I would have no guilt if I flattened a bicyclists who broke the rules and got himself crushed by my car, there are lots of people who would have serious feelings of guilt and anxiety from such an event. A bicyclist may be free to play with his own life; but he can’t legitimately claim to be the only person affected if he gets himself wrecked up.
I’m fine with the idea that bicyclists are traffic, too. I’m fine with bicyclists having their own set of rules and being in a class more like pedestrians than automobiles. I’m not fine with what appears to be an endemic inability to commit one way or the other.
If you don’t follow the rules of the road that bicyclists are required to follow in your state, county, and municipality, then you ought to.
Well, you know I don’t like it when they endanger themselves, because they’re endangering me, too.
I’m not talking about the guy who generally wears his helmet and follows the rules. I’m talking about the guy who isn’t wearing a helmet, and generally weaving in and out of traffic, admiring the girl’s ass, going up on the sidewalks, crossing the street whenever he feels like it.
This is Albany, so I see it a lot. And…maybe I shouldn’t add this, but it’s always the same race.
I only dislike Trunk the stoplight ignoring cyclist, not Trunk the poster, or Trunk the person. The thing I don’t like about the attitude is that cyclists want to be treated like they are full fledged vehicles, but when there is a stoplight keeping all the cars motionless, they want to be different. They wave away the fact that 99+% of the cars on the road will stop for a red light and wait for the green before going by pointing out other situations where rules are broken.
Would you go through a red light in a car, just because there’s no traffic to collide with you? I don’t think you would, and I don’t think most cyclists would. If you all did, I’m sure I’d notice it happening more often. Your attitude about red lights changes when you hop on that seat. All of a sudden, they are optional rather than mandatory.
But then you’ve got the guys like me, who could count the number of pedestrians on the sidewalk on any given trip running errands around town on one hand. Albuquerque is not a particuarly bike-friendly city, nor is it particularly pedestrian friendly, due to the size and lack of good public transit. It’s a car city. And there are literally miles and miles and miles of sidewalk along major roads where there is absolutely nobody using the sidewalk. I betcha I could drive all the way down Candelaria from Tramway to the river and never see one pedestrian. On Wyoming all the way from Kirtland to wherever it deadends past Paseo del Norte and never see one pedestrian. Definitely no more than five. I’m about at the point where I think the city should either split the sidewalk in half to form a bike lane and a pedestrian lane, like has been done lots of places in Europe, or give the sidewalk over to bicycles entirely. There are bike lanes and specialized bike trails (mostly along the arroyos and drainage channels), but not nearly enough for ease of riding.
Then, when I do see a pedestrian, they’re generally doing things that are so stupid I’m surprised they aren’t killed right there by car traffic. I’d much rather hang to the right of the sidewalk in case a bicycle comes up behind me than pull some of the tricks these idiots do, like trying to cross an 8-lane intersection with traffic moving at 40+ MPH against the light. I figure that, when I go hiking in the open-space area in the Sandia foothills, there are often joggers, bicyclists, and horses on the trail. All three get right of way. And if I can pay enough attention to my surroundings to either see a bicycle approaching or hear a guy who’s overtaking say “on your left” in the open-space, how is doing so inside the city any harder?
Passing a bike is a pain in the ass, because you want to do it safely, but especially in narrow or crowded streets (like the one you specifically describe above), there’s not enough room for both a bike and a car in the lane. Passing the same damned bike over and over and over again because every time I have to stop with the rest of the regular cars at a red light, that bike uses that time to snake up the line of traffic and pull ahead of me again is an epic pain in the ass. I used to drive down a fairly heavily biked route that ran next to a university, and would sometimes be forced to either drive very slowly behind a cyclist, or pass the same cyclist 8-10 times in the 12 blocks that I spent on that road because every time I’d get past him, there’d be a red light and then, bam, he’d be in front of me again. While I can’t say I’ve ever deliberately blocked a cyclist from lane sharing beside me while I’m stopped at a light, I can sure as hell understand where the driver is coming from in wanting to.
IMHO, some drivers simply have no idea of how to conduct their driving when they encounter a bicyclist. Or they do know and just don’t give a shit. I’ve had a pickup full of idiots on my tail until and not pass me until I rode up onto the sidewalk, some jackass nearly knock me over when crossing his path at an intersection, an asshole lecture me on the proper way to cross an intersection, etc. I don’t ride much these days but I always try to all obey traffic signals and signs. I admit having rode through a stop sign at least once because I wasn’t paying attention. I do have a problem with those signals that are controlled by magnets, there’s not enough metal in a bicycle to set them off and sometimes the “press button for walk signal” doesn’t work. What are we bicyclists supposed to do, wait for who knows how long until a car comes along?
I’ll also ride off the street if I feel the route I need is too dangerous to be on the street. I usually try for the edge of a parking lot but sometimes I do ride on sidewalks, which is legal here. Some of our designated bike paths are ordinary sidewalks.
I saw this just yesterday on Madison between the Plaza and Pearl Street. Four guys, no helmets, hands only occasionally on the bars, tear-assing down the hill at speeds well over the limit, weaving in and out between cars, running red lights, and just generally looking for an interesting way to die. If it weren’t for the excellent reaction time of a woman driving a Toyota one guy would have found his.
Only slightly related is the guy in the power chair on Lark who backed up traffic for six blocks.
I ride.
Do I stop for red lights, yup every single time.
Stop signs? I always come to a complete stop. FTR sometimes I do a momentary track stand then continue if there is no cross traffic. Do I ever blow through a stop sign without stopping? Hell no, a car out weighs me by a factor of at least 100. If I get hit I lose.
Right turn only lane? I ride between that lane and the one that goes straight ahead, so I don’t have to cut in front of someone turning right.
Ride on the sidewalk? Nope sorry not legal
So the other day I am riding on the street, approaching an intersection. About 20 feet from the intersection, a Lexus passes me, brakes hard, and turns right. so now I am going 15 MPH 10 feet from the side of a Lexus. Panic stop time. Jesus, Christ, would the extra 5 seconds, I would have delayed her, made her that late?
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Stay the fuck off the sidewalk (crosswalks as well).
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Don’t ride two (or three) abreast on a busy street. Ride single file and stay as far right as possible so you don’t impede faster traffic.
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Don’t weave in and out of traffic. That’s incredibly stupid.
Those are the only things I can think of that have ever bothered me about bicyclists. IMO, the vast majority of offenses are committed by motorists against bicycle riders.
I have always been of the opinion that anyone who deliberately blocks or cuts off a motorcycle splitting lanes is the lowest form of humanity and a total fuckwad. They rate right down there with fundamentalists and suicide bombers.
I mean, they have to be just jealous. You don’t want a car to split lanes because they are not maneuverable enough to get away with it and they will cause traffic problems. A motorcycle is maneuverable enough. A motorcyclist is not going to delay you even thirty seconds from getting home to your TV or whatever. People ride motorcycles for this very advantage, and they deserve to be able to use it. Of course, where I live it is legal to do this, so I’m backed up by the law. Obviously if it’s illegal in your area you have to re-evaluate the wisdom and safety of doing this type of thing. But regardless, those complete assholes who will do anything to prevent a freakin’ motorcycle from passing them have to have deep seated control issues and are probably jerks with small penises or dry vaginas who lead miserable lives and probably make everyone around them miserable as well. To anyone who would do this: FUCK YOU.
I hate drivers that drive like assholes, and cyclists that ride like assholes.
If you ride / drive safely, you’re fine in my book.
I have a problem with the bikers in my area who are pulling wheelies and attempting other stunts at 55 mph surrounded by heavy car traffic. There’s seriously only 1 1/2 car lengths either in front of or behind them when they pull this shit.
Fortunately, these bikers will soon be off the road due to their stupidity, having destroyed their bikes and/or themselves. Unfortunately, there’s a huge chance they’ll physically harm or damage the property of the innocent people around them in the process.
Oh yeah. I also dislike the bikers who pass between me in the #1 lane and the car in the #2 lane at 100 mph. Startles the holy fuck out of me every time.
Trunk, I am sure you are not one of these guys.
I’m pretty sure Trunk won’t be able to get his bicycle up to 100mph, nor can he do a wheelie at 55. 
A slight hijack on this subject, I saw a guy a couple of weeks back roaring up 1st ave doing a wheelie for about 3 blocks, at night. He was near the right side of the street, when he passed me he came upon a double length city bus that was just pulling out into traffic. I bet the bus driver didn’t notice him, cause his headlight was pointing up to the sky. He got lucky and dropped down, swerving to miss the bus by about 5 feet. Hopefully, when he goes, he won’t hurt anyone else in the process.
::::SWOOSH!!!::::
Wow, didja guys hear that? That was the part where Trunk says that he’s a bicyclist going COMPLETELY over my head, at nothing short of Ridiculous Speed (a la “Space Balls”). Well, now I’m doubly sure that you’re not one of those motorcycle assholes I mentioned.
Any Dopers in this thread from San Francisco? I hear cyclists up there have a really hard time getting recognized as “drivers” on the streets and are constantly endangered because of the attitudes like the ones Trunk briefly mentioned. According to a fried who lives there, they stage an annual “Cyclists take over the city streets for a day” type event to try and bring awareness to cyclists’ rights.
Chessesteak, ya beat me to it! 
I’ll confess. I hate bicyclists. They are fucking slow. They travel at speeds far below that of a motor vehicle. The closing rate of a car on a bike can be terrifying, especially when bikes are traveling in hilly area that hides their presence until you are almost on top of them. Bikes lead to people making dangerous decisions when passing them. They are absolutely miserable to be following.
But I would never ever cut a bicyclist off. What I really hate about bike riders is that I’m terrified I’m going to hit one. A person on a bike just seems so fragile to me. I always assume they have the right away even if that’s not legally the case. If they run into me, I’ll be fine. But if I hit them, it would be catastrophic.
Would help if I could spell your name correctly, too. :smack:
I don’t mind bikers that much, but they do bug the shit out of me when they’re in the road, but refuse to use appropriate etiquette or follow regular biking rules, which are very similar to traffic rules because, even though most people use cars for transport now, bikes are still considered vehicles. For example, I live right next to an exceptionally large park that has clearly marked biking paths. To get home, I often drive down a road that runs parallel with the bike path. Instead of using the path, many bikers choose to use the road, which is fine; however, in rush-hour traffic, there’s always some asshole biker threading his way through traffic on the road even though there’s scarcely room. It’s dangerous for them, and I consider it exceptionally rude and stupid - I mean, there’s a goddamn bike path right next to you. You might lose some time getting to it, but if you’re riding in rush hour traffic, use the path, not the road! And if you must use the road, follow the rules and wait for the lanes to clear before you proceed instead of threading around the cars!