Posted on 03/04/2017 3:15:02 PM PST by Morgana
So bicyclists have an advantage and therefor have an obligation to be careful... and that includes stopping at stop signs.
Darwin candidates. California.... no great loss.
A coworker was badly beaten up and his expensive bike was totaled because he was drafting a truck and the truck stopped suddenly. It was his fault because he was following too closely.
Mixing w/vehicular traffic is reckless and dangerous.
I wonder how many bicyclists would encourage their kids to do what they do. “Yeah, sure, just ride with the traffic. You have a right to be there.”
I also see hypocrisy for those that ride on the street when a sidewalk is readily available.
Bicyclists should be made to act just like pedestrians in traffic. We don’t make it legal for pedestrians to walk down the road, taking up a lane of traffic. Why on earth would you do it with bikes, just because they go a bit faster.
“The cyclist was “dafting” off the car, using the pressure wave the car creates as it moves through the air to cheat a bit and go faster than he could pedal. I won’t say that when younger I’ve never done it but it is dangerous as all get out. Not only does a bicycle not accelerate as fast as a car they don’t decelerate as fast either without doing a front wheel stand.”
Have no idea what you just said. Only thing I understood was the word “Dangerous”.
” That means a cyclist can’t be looking for brake lights all the time.”
Don’t get that. Just like in a motor vehicle, one must figure the car/truck in front of you is going to slam the breaks on for anything at anytime...another car, cat/dog/deer, a child any reason under the sun. Does not mean “all the time” but it means one must be watching more so if they are going to be “dangerous” and tailgating.
Do you try to hit kids on bikes, too?
First of all kids today don’t play on bikes they play video games.
The ones that do play on bikes do those ones that do stunts down stars and such and don’t go out into the road and act a damn fool.
a group of them riding slowly by car standards spread out across the traffic lane is more obnoxious. All in their spandex. Apparently you can't ride a bicycle unless you garb yourself like you've won the Tour de France. Funny in Scandinavia there are thousands of cyclists and I do t think I saw one in spandex.
Had to look up this Drafting....Okay this is nuts. Are they out of their freaking minds???
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnYp4srEooI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iO7_Fq56g2c
“” First of all kids today don’t play on bikes they play video games.””
Mine do. They relied on the road. I sure get the sense that you have a lot of anger at cyclists. Why?
See reply 23
As your automobile moves down the road it pushes air out of it’s path. This creates a bulge of high pressure around the front of the vehicle. There is also an area of low pressure behind the vehicle. The high pressure bulge then is drawn around to the rear of the vehicle and produces a pressure wave (Think of it as a fan blowing into a vacuum cleaner) traveling at the same speed as the vehicle about 5 feet behind the vehicle. Cyclist will try and get in the pressure wave because it both sucks them forward into the low pressure area and blows them forward with the tailwind making it easier to go faster. In big road races a rider can be disqualified for drafting a support car. If are drafting a large vehicle like a semi or cargo truck the effect can be dramatic and the land speed record for a bicycle used to be one that was set when drafting behind a train!
As to watching the front wheel remember that the more ergonomically efficient and comfortable position on a bicycle (At least one setup as a racing bike) has the rider with their head down.
Also remember many of the riders are on bikes with 21mm tire that run 120psi. Those are really only designed for use on smooth roads and a crack or small bump can cause a fall. When drafting you can’t see far enough to avoid such obstacles as easily.
Both of those things mean when you are drafting you can’t see far enough ahead to look at anything except the road in front of you.
I hope this helps
Works really well on long rides and each biker in a group will rotate being first.
Just don’t stop too suddenly or you might wipe out several bikers.
Same principle as geese forming a V. It is more efficient.
Accident atty’s panting.
Because like a lot of FReepers here who feel the same I’ve almost been hit by them several times in my car once on the street. Not talking about kids, talking about adults who should know better but don’t or don’t care.
As for kids, don’t even see them on bikes these days they are so glued to those hand held what ever you call those. See a few on skateboards but that’s it. In fact will tell you this, kids who ride skateboards have much more manners than adults who ride bikes!
“...provided there was no oncoming traffic.”
Berkeley police gave me a moving violation ticket for cycling through a stop sign in 1994. That taught me to roll through intersections more carefully. No need for a lame law.
By decent accommodations, I mean a regular street grid so that bicyclists can stay off the busier streets, sidewalks so that bicyclists and pedestrians can get off the street if it's really busy, and a network of bike lanes to help keep motorists awake.
The close calls I've seen over the years have generally been due to motorists running lights or ignoring stop signs. We have our share of badly timed lights, which exacerbates the problem. I did see one bicylist pinned under a car in an intersection (apparently not too badly hurt), but I didn't see what caused that.
If a cyclist runs a red light, he does so at his own risk.
I have had three near misses, twice while on foot and once on a bike. In both of my close escapes as a pedestrian, the motorist was making a right turn on red while on a cell phone and looking to the left, obviously checking for oncoming cars because he/she was turning on red. The one on my bike involved a motorist turning right at a stop sign without checking for anyone crossing on the sidewalk.
I ride several major trails that have at-grade crossings. If there is a light, there's no problem. Several of the crossings, however, only have flashers, which some motorists seem to regard as advisory. I wait for a good window. The most dangerous situation, which I've encountered a couple of times, is when crossing with the flashing light (meaning I have the right of way), and motorists in one or more lanes stop while some idiot decides to blow on through. So I'm crossing a four lane road, two lanes in each direction. Courteous motorists in three lanes have stopped; I'm crossing, waving thanks as I go by, and some moron sails through the one remaining lane at 50 miles an hour, blowing his horn at all the stopped cars. That should be a ticket. But the better solution would be to build overpasses for major trails, or install a stop light.
Bicyclists (and pedestrians) don't want to be on busy roads any more than motorists want them there. If they're there, it's because the highway engineers and transportation planners have left them no reasonable alternative. Build roads with wide shoulders and/or sidewalks. Open up connections on side streets so people can avoid the arterial roads. Provide more street crossings with traffic lights; make these "press the button to cross" if you want to keep traffic flowing, but make it easier for pedestrians to cross when necessary without darting across busy roads. A lot of the pedestrian accidents occur when some guy (or frequently a kid) is trying to get from his apartment building to the supermarket or strip mall across the road, and doesn't want to detour half a mile on foot to do it.
As to bikes at stop signs: I will always slow to a near stop. I try to avoid dismounting. In 50/50 situations, I will usually take the right of way, and motorists are almost always very courteous about it, as they realize cyclists don't want to stop and dismount. People moving on muscle power will do that. Frankly, for motorists who want to grouse, I'd ask if they ever jaywalk on the rare occasions they get their load of lard out of the car. People on foot are better at stopping on corners, but they jaywalk at will. And if any automobile zealot here says he never jaywalks, I will assume it's because he's not walked anywhere since he was 16 years old and got his license. In other words, a typical suburbanite.
Both cars and bikes should be able to slowly roll thru stop signs, slow being enforced if needed.
You are a good writer, and I suspect a fast typist as well.
Well, that’s one way to reduce the number of bicyclists on the road.
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