I am fine with bike lanes and bicyclists. But this irritating behavior needs to stop. (insurance, law)

[toll_booth]

Let's get this out of the way right now: Given the choice between more bike lanes around town or not, between more protections for bicyclists or fewer, I'll almost always side with the bikes. For those of you who've never commuted via bicycle, it can be an exceedingly dangerous act to contend with car and especially SUV drivers who do not understand how dangerous there mere presence can be. Physical separation is often the only remedy.

But bicyclists, there are some things you need to do, too. In addition to signaling your turns, giving motorists enough room to safely pass, watching for pedestrians, and the like, you need to:

Stop passing cars that are stopped for a light or a stop sign.

Seriously. I am so damn tired of this. I get behind you, and then I have to wait to pass you, and then I come up to a red light that takes a few minutes to get through. And while I'm waiting, you zoom past all the stopped cars, roll all the way to the front of the line, and then we have to try to pass you aaalllllll over again. It's very irritating for us, and you know what? You just made it more dangerous for you by having a bigger pack of cars trying to pass you for a second time.

Stop it. That's arrogant, that incites road rage, and it does not suggest that you want to share the road as much as dominate it. Not cool. Wait in line like the rest of us.

In exchange, drivers need to treat you with more respect, because, yeah, you're in a much more vulnerable position. We need to have a discussion about that too. But right now, this is about you and how you can help do your part to keep traffic flowing smoothly and safely.

Thank you.

[AnsleyPark]

Originally Posted by toll_booth

Let's get this out of the way right now: Given the choice between more bike lanes around town or not, between more protections for bicyclists or fewer, I'll almost always side with the bikes. For those of you who've never commuted via bicycle, it can be an exceedingly dangerous act to contend with car and especially SUV drivers who do not understand how dangerous there mere presence can be. Physical separation is often the only remedy.

But bicyclists, there are some things you need to do, too. In addition to signaling your turns, giving motorists enough room to safely pass, watching for pedestrians, and the like, you need to:

Stop passing cars that are stopped for a light or a stop sign.

Seriously. I am so damn tired of this. I get behind you, and then I have to wait to pass you, and then I come up to a red light that takes a few minutes to get through. And while I'm waiting, you zoom past all the stopped cars, roll all the way to the front of the line, and then we have to try to pass you aaalllllll over again. It's very irritating for us, and you know what? You just made it more dangerous for you by having a bigger pack of cars trying to pass you for a second time.

Stop it. That's arrogant, that incites road rage, and it does not suggest that you want to share the road as much as dominate it. Not cool. Wait in line like the rest of us.

In exchange, drivers need to treat you with more respect, because, yeah, you're in a much more vulnerable position. We need to have a discussion about that too. But right now, this is about you and how you can help do your part to keep traffic flowing smoothly and safely.

Thank you.

Amen

[samiwas1]

I was behind a biker the other day who refused to stop for anything, so at stop lights, he would pull off to the left side of the lane to pass everyone. Then when the light turned green, he would signal his intent to to go back to the right, and cut off cars to get back to the right. Selfish.

[bu2]

What really gets me is when they go between cars or whiz up just after the light has changed and create the possibility of an accident with someone doing a right turn.

[evannole]

As a now very occasional cyclist, I agree with all of this, particularly the disgust at running of red lights and weaving between lanes of stopped traffic. If cyclists want to be treated as street-legal vehicles, with equal rights to use the roads (and this is indeed how I think they should be treated and how the law views them), they need to obey the damn traffic laws, too. I have also seen plenty of them blow through stop signs posted ON BIKE PATHS and collide (or nearly collide) with pedestrians and/or cars to which they were supposed to yield. Dude, even if you were legally allowed to ignore a stop sign on the road - and you're not - whom do you think the stop sign ON THE BIKE PATH is addressing? My cat?

[ATLTJL]

I've offered this advice to cyclists before and I'll offer it again:

Right or wrong, you have an extra duty to be vigilant and obey all traffic laws. Because it really doesn't matter who was at fault from the ICU or graveyard.

[MattCW]

I've gotten to the point where I'll pull as far to the right as I can at a stop just to keep bikes from pulling this stunt. And I say this as an occasional cyclist, who gets in line!

[Nodpete]

You should get a discount on your insurance everytime you knock a biker off the road.

[Gulch]

Originally Posted by Nodpete

You should get a discount on your insurance everytime you knock a biker off the road.

Screw that, how about double the discount if you simply mow them down and kill them with your car?

[arjay57]

I am very protective of cyclists and try to provide shelter for them when I'm driving. Yes, they are pesky and slow, but they are also human beings.