Get bent, lady. You have no right to yell at me because:
I live on this bloody road and I need to be here,
I was not only driving on my side of the street, but
I was in a Volkswagen Golf, for fuck’s sake, and
I am always, always respectful of cyclists and others.
There are tons of joggers, walkers, rollerbladers and cyclists here, probably because it’s very pretty. It’s a tiny little street with a 20 mile per hour speed limit, which I obey out of respect for those with whom I’m sharing the road.
On the larger roads nearby, when there are cyclists in my lane, I move out into the other lane to pass them, giving them waaaaaaay more room than they need.
You, on the other hand, were riding your bike down the center of the road, alongside your buddy. If anybody was in the wrong, you were. So step the fuck off.
Prolly a Snowbird. Next time, run 'em down, but Windex the grill and hood within 45 minutes before it sets. It takes FOREVER getting squished Snowbird off your car after an hour. Trust me on this.
Well, she sounds a lot smarter than the bicyclist who was jiving down the center of my winding, two-lane 45 mph country road, whilst enjoying cool tunes on his headphones.
Just FYI, im most places cyclists are allowed to ride two abreast. Dont let this chick give the rest of us a bad name. No helmet = no respect in my book.
I guess I do need to respond to points #3 and #4 though.
It doesnt matter what youre driving. It could be a shopping cart and the cyclist will be more injured than you in a collision. I realize that you said this to point out you were driving a small car.
The other person does not know this.
Yelling at drivers is idiotic, I should know, I’ve been chased down a few times because of it.
Hmm, I’m pretty sure that in my location* the only time it’s ok for two to ride abreast is when you wouldn’t be obstructing traffic. In other words, if there’s any significant amount of traffic on the roads, go single file.
It’s been awhile since I had to learn the rules for bicyclists, so I could be wrong. But my recollection is that while riding in traffic lanes, we are supposed to stay as far to the right as is reasonably practicable.
Even if the law somewhere lets us ride two abreast in a traffic lane, it strikes me as a pretty damn stupid thing to do, for the most part.
RCW 46.61.770 Riding upon roadways and bicycle paths.
…
(2) Persons riding bicycles upon a roadway shall not ride more than two abreast except on paths or parts of roadways set aside for the exclusive use of bicycles.
You’re right, collinsc. She and her friend did have the right to ride two abreast.
From the cite you provided, Florida bicycle law states that:
And:
This woman was impeding traffic because she was in the center of the two-lane road, not near the right-hand curb. The road is narrow enough that normally, I would drive directly down the center. Naturally, not wanting to kill this bimbo, I moved as far to the side as possible. I would have presumed that a cyclist, not wanting to be run down, would make room, too, rather than staying in the center of the street and yelling insults through my open window.
Not if she was moving with traffic, depends on her speed. If she is moving with traffic, it is her lane and her space (course my experience is with motorcycles).
Either way, get over it, no blood was spilled and nobidy died.
collinsc - let’s get the entire statute out there:
So it looks like bicycle riders in the state of Washington may ride two abreast if they are not impeding traffic by doing so; otherwise, they must ride as far to the right as is safe.
Considering that speed limits tend to be 25 mph even in residential neighborhoods, and higher elsewhere, and considering that 25 mph is a pretty difficult speed for most bicyclists to maintain for very long, it would be a rare pair of bicyclists who would have the right under this statute to ride abreast while sharing a road with a car.
For most of us, this statute means: you can ride two abreast on roads when there are no cars present.
I’m always amazed at how some cyclists seem to believe that their indignation will protect them. Yeah, you may have the legal right to bike down the center of the lane, but doing so dramatically increases the chance you’re going to get hit. Cut through intersections? Gonna get hit. Weave in and out of traffic without signalling? Probably gonna get hit.
As a carefree youth, I was hit twice by cars while cycling. (You’d think I would’ve learned my lesson the first time.) Since then, I’ve paid a lot more attention to the traffic around me. It bothers me that some many people don’t.
As I understand the encounter, the cyclist was not keeping pace with vix, and was impeding vix. Therefore, she needed to be riding as far right as was safe. Instead, she was yelling at vix because vix was inconveniencing her by trying to proceed down the street in a car.
No one should post to the Pit if no blood was spilled and nobody died? Didn’t know that was a forum rule. Guess you must be our latest Junior Mod.
Two abreast: the yellow Toronto bike cops do it all the time. And once one was standing in the bike lane, causing me to swerve into traffic. Well, no one said they were smart …
Hm. I don’t know what to think about this. When I lived in Bristol (where most roads had only two lanes) everyone biked down the centre of the lane and it terrified me just to see them. I stayed timidly by the curb (kerb?), and was nearly hit quite regularly, because drivers didn’t see me. At least the crazy cyclists in the middle of the road were seen by everyone.
What pisses me off is how cyclists can have two different set of rules depending on their situation. Now, I know it’s not all cyclists, but damn, it annoys the hell out of me when I see them ride their bikes on the sidewalk. Sidewalks are for pedestrians. The only time a bike should be on a sidewalk is if you’re wheeling it. Then there are the cyclists who ride on the road, but think road rules don’t apply to them. You have to stop at the fucking stop sign, you jackass! Unless you get off the bike to wheel it across the crosswalk, YOU’RE A FUCKING VEHICLE! These situations, combined with cyclists who complain that I don’t share the road when I’m driving, well, drives me nuts.
