I’m with you most of the way on this one. But I will carve out one exception. If the sidewalks (and any buildings that open directly onto them) are deserted), I will occasionally take a sidewalk. Doesn’t harm a soul.
But if there’s foot traffic around, or the live possibility of pedestrians appearing from a doorway without warning, I agree with you fully: cyclists should leave the sidewalks to the pedestrians.
I so rarely see a car come to a full stop at a stop sign (unless he has to yield) that it seems a double standard to get mad at a cyclist who also does a ‘boulevard stop’.
The difference, of course, is that when a motorist slows to 5-10 mph before speeding up again through the 4-way stop, the slowing down and speeding up again is quite obvious, and registers on the observer’s brain as a sort-of-stop. When a cyclist slows to the same range of speed, which should suffice for the cyclist as well as for the motorist, it’s a lot closer to the speed he was doing all along, so it doesn’t register as any sort of stop in the mind of the observer.
But I agree with the general point that, with a handful of mostly statutory distinctions (e.g. no bicyclists on the interstate, no cars on the bikepath), the motorists’ rules apply to bicyclists too. As a cyclist, I get pissed at the cyclists who flout them, because it makes us all look bad.
Impeding, or just in front of and not going fast enough for the OP?
20 MPH speed limit, is cycling at 15 impeding? Me, I ride motorcycles and people in cars cut me off etc all the time - they get there way because they represent 2 tons. That doesnt’ make them right - just fucking big.
As far as the rest of it, blood, get over it, etc - just my opinion. (But gee, how did you get in the “Junior Moderator Program” in case I do want to apply)
I would interpret “no more than two abreast” to mean that bicyclists riding two abreast would be legal under all conditions ('tho not necessarily a good idea).
Yeah, cyclists have a little too much righteous indignation most of the time. Maybe it’s a persecution complex or something. But for those of you who complain about cyclists flouting the rules, please keep this in mind: no one has to pass a test to ride a bike. Therefore, there’s hardly a uniform training standard in the way that there is for cars, and there is also not much motivation for people to abide by traffic rules. So it’s a bit silly to expect the en masse behavior of cyclists to be as good as drivers. Because of that, I think it’s quite silly to treat them legally as similar vehicles, but I’m not sure what to do about it – no one’s gonna go for requiring ‘cycling licenses’, but very few cities seem interested in setting aside enough resources to make separate bike lanes (which would fix the problem, I think).
I guess my point is that I’d like to see more bike lanes, and failing that, at least a bit more appreciation of some of the factors operating.
None of which has directly to do with the OP; my apologies.
If there’s a car behind me that wants to go 20 and I’m blocking it, yes.
Well la di dah. When traffic’s backed up at a light, and a motorcycle comes zipping between the lanes to move to the front, that doesn’t make it right either, but I see it often enough. So don’t tell me that it’s all about size. You can get off your high hog now.
But back to the point: the rules are different for cyclists, you see. Driving motor vehicles, we all get to impede one another; it’s rude and a little unsafe, but not very. And there’s a presumption that we’re all going relatively similar speeds, even if it’s occasionally wrong.
Bicycles, though, are almost always going much slower than cars (and I say that as one who can get his bike crankin’ pretty good, thanks), and we’re much less protected. There’s a damn good reason why we’re not supposed to be impeding traffic.
You’re welcome to it. But I note that your comment applies equally well to most of the threads on the first page of the Pit right now. Have fun.
Maybe it’s more an issuse of courtesy than rights? In my town the speed limit is set at 30 mph, which is slow enough to cause massive traffic issues during rush hour. In fact there are often times where I have to wait 10 minutes or longer to get an opening in the slow-moving traffic (there are no lights) to get out of my street and onto the road. The only thing that can and does amake the situation worse, is cyclists in the road at these times. For everyone’s benefit they ought to ride as close to the side as possible so everyone can proceed.
I think it’s funny how people are citing bicycling statutes about this matter.
When you’re cycling on a road and a car approaches, you make sure you’re out of their way. If you’re already hugging the curb and the car is about to hit you, then you’re justified in complaining. But when you’re cycling in the middle of the road, you shouldn’t be calling a driver a road hog.
Hey, this thread is still alive! I thought it was a pretty weak rant and that it would tank immediately.
I realize from reading the posts that I forgot to make a critically important point in my OP. :o The cyclists were going north. I was going south. The woman who yelled at me was coming down the center of the road toward me. She didn’t move over at all as I drove past. And she called me a road hog! :rolleyes:
Further clarifications (I was in the passenger seat):
As vix noted, our road is extremely popular with walkers and cyclists (probably because it is precisely one mile long, making it easy for people with set exercise programs). Conversely, it is rarely used by motor vehicles (though I suspect that will change as the snowbirds start to arrive).
Given the population of walkers and cyclists, and the lack of other cars, the prudent thing for a motorist to do on the road is to ride smack down the middle, allowing our nonmotorized bethren to use the sides of the road unimpeded.
This is exactly what vix did. There were pedestrians on both sides of the road as we turned onto it so she steered for the center. The two cyclists were heading for us, with the one coming right down the middle. vix moved over to her right, and courtesy, prudence, legality, and survival instincts all would have dictated that the cyclist also move over to her right.
Survival instincts would also have dictated that one not insult the person driving the vehicle weighing approximately 60 times your vehicle, regardless of the rights and wrongs of the situation. Darwin is spinning in his grave
Sua
P.S. my pet peeve is that, three times now, pedestrians have yelled at me to slow down while I’ve been driving on that road, when I’ve been going exactly 20 MPH (the speed limit). Even more annoying, in all three cases, I wasn’t near them or, even remotely, presenting a potential danger. Hell, in two of the cases, I was beginning to wave or say “hi” to the pedestrian when they yelled at me.
The next time, the pedestrian may have to discover whether they can outrun a car driving at 20 mph - and coming right at them.
As a pretty high mileage cyclist (and a relatively fast one at that), allow me to apologize for the actions of this cyclist.
On the road, nothing (4000 lb. car, laws, attidute, nothing) gives you the right to be a dick. I always try hard to be considerate of everyone else on the road.
Sometimes, it isn’t safe to be passed by cars so I’ll take the lane. Other times, I’m going as fast as traffic. If sobody is behind me, then I’ll come up abreast of somebody.
If they were only boulevard stops, I don’t think people would care much or comment on it. Bicyclists regularly (at least in my area) seem to consider themselves immune to stop signs and red traffic lights.
I almost never see a car going straight through a red light, except if it just turned red, you know. I see bikes doing that all the time, they check the traffic as they cruise up to the red and ride straight through if it’s clear. I’ve even had a bike go straight through a red as I was getting ready to go on my green. I had to sit at the green waiting for him to go past, lest I run his ass over.
There is rampant disregard of stopsigns and red lights by bicyclists, it’s very noticable.
I see tons of blatant disregard for stop signs, red lights, pedestrians, oncoming traffic and construction zones by bicyclists in this town. A friend of mine hit one who cut in front of his car to avoid having to stop at a red light.
I also see plenty of cars that roll through stop signs and late through yellow lights. Who do you think is going to win?
Bicyclists are hard to see. This should be taken into consideration when riding a bike in traffic, as you could (and will) die when hit by a car or, in one famous recent case here, a bus. This smart guy tried to sneak by a bus turning right… on the inside. He was crushed, and the bus driver never knew, because he was completely in the blind spot.
At the end of a busy street near where I live, there is a T intersection with a three way stop. Approximately 90% of the people at this intersection either slow down to about 10 mph and then go through the stop sign (even when there is other traffic waiting to turn) or disregard it completely, usually when turning right. As the street on which I live crosses the street onto which they turn, I have to be extremely vigilant not to be hit by a speeding driver (gathering speed to go up the hill?) tearing around the corner after not having stopped. Today, a guy not only tore through the stop sign (turning right) he proceeded to drive 55 or so (30mph speed limit) on the wrong side of the road and then tear through the stop at the end of the street turning left across four lanes of a busy road, into the far lane (also illegal and a huge pet peeve).
I’m extremely careful to stop at this stop sign and watch both ways, because I’d rather not get hit by an asshole with places to be. However, I see bicyclists ride through this intersection at full speed, head down, headphones on and have witnessed a few near misses.
I guess the point of this long rant is that both drivers and bicyclists are assholes with death wishes, but sadly, it’s up to the bicyclist to be on the defensive as they will be the ones who won’t survive the crash.
And don’t even get me started on turning LEFT on RED.