Posted on 06/27/2008 10:23:10 AM PDT by Dysart
Bicyclists should be required to have plates and pay taxes just like any other user.
But there is the rub. There are a lot of cyclists in my area, and they in a large majority expect you to share the road with them (which is fine) but at the same time have no regard for traffic laws. There is a four way stop at the corner by my house, and several times this spring/summer I have nearly run over a cyclist who made 0 attempt to stop for the sign. I also on a daily basis see them riding the shoulder on a busy road into town here and just blow through red lights like they don't exist. Once they start playing by the rules, I'll begin to respect their right to use the roads. Plain and simple, it works both ways.
There’s been a rash of bicycle fatalities here in Chicago. I steer wide around any bike on the road because you just don’t know if they will veer off. And if you splat a bike, you might as well just sign your house over to their heirs.
No, it's true. I've seen him do it.
He's an absolute madman!
You are right, but the vast majority of cyclists do not follow the rules.
When at sea, and considering right-of-way, the rule of thumb is “yield to tonnage”. I’ve always tried my best to apply this while on terra firma as well.
I'll bet he was wearing those nancy shorts too.
“When at sea, and considering right-of-way, the rule of thumb is “yield to tonnage”. I’ve always tried my best to apply this while on terra firma as well.”
Exactly. When a semi is coming through the intersection, as a pedestrian I yield to him no matter what the Walk/Don’t Walk sign says. lol
99% of cyclists do not stop for stop signs or red lights.
Got to giggle myself silly last week with the twin nuisance: a bicyclist who couldn’t follow rules AND was talking on a cellphone. I’m cruising up one of our little no account streets that only gets stoplight because of the grid, guy on a bike holding a cellphone to his ear decide to blow the stop sign, we both jam on the brakes so as to not kill the idiot but it turns out he’s holding the phone in his right hand, so he squeezes the left brake, front wheel stops and he flies over the handlebars, luckily far enough away that I don’t run him over. He got up and walked his bike away, and I laughed and laughed.
When do I get to have people arrested for people flinging stuff at me when I’m riding on the road and obeying all the rules? An object thrown from a car at 45 mph can be lethal. As you point out, notice how the woman who cut him off is not cited.
OK, as a longtime cyclist, I see both points of view.
Bikes are NOT to ride on sidewalks, those are for pedestrians. Bikes ride WITH the flow of traffic at the edge of the road or on a bike lane. Cyclists should obey traffic laws as if they were any other vehicle. Cyclists who ride like idiots all over should be corrected by cyclists who obey the laws; police should also ticket idiot bikers. Here in LA, the biggest problem is all the third-world bicyclists riding everywhere and in every direction.
That said, I have had many confrontations with autos, mainly from terrible, inattentive drivers, and I fully understand the impulse to chase down a car and throw a water bottle at the driver. I have had many fistfights with motorists right out in the street because they think it amusing to throw things at me or see how close they can ride past me. Considering how exposed you are on a bike, when a car nearly kills you, the adrenaline takes over and I don’t hesitate to chase down some idiot and give them an earful.
Biker madness.
I was on a jury in an assault case involving two drivers. One was a high school football coach, all dressed up for dinner with his wife and friends in one car, and a burly private investigator that cut them off at an offramp.
There were some hand signals passed between drivers just before a red light stopped both cars. While stopped, the coach stepped out, went to the other driver, and clobbered the burly guy.
The fury’s first vote was 6 to 6, men voting one way and women voting the other.
After about 15 minutes of deliberation, the jury was called back by the judge ... who asked how things stood.
Upon hearing that it was a 6 to 6 vote, the judge declared a mistrial.
American justice ... happened.
"What are you trying to say? Terrezzaaaa, some Freeper is making sport of my proper cycling attire!"
I share the road with bikes, but if a biker threw a water bottle at me, I’d share more than the road.
I stopped riding my bike on public roadways and, eventually, altogether because too many drivers tried to kill me. No matter how far I rode on the right side of the street, it wasn’t far enough for many drivers.
I can sympathize with the cyclist.
It’s good advice whether on land, sea OR air.
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