Bike Event on Broadway - got yelled at (Denver: buy, live in)

[ChrisFromChicago]

So I turned on broadway from dinner. As we headed to that popular area. . .


I had a green

a huge amount of bicylisit ignored their red light and turned onto broadway then cut across Broadway (I was in far left lane

I did not wait for all these bikes

I just kept going forward, which caused me to be surrounded by bikes

they yelled (not sure what)

I was kind of thinking that I stayed in my lane and go forward I would be fine

they got out of way and I continued on .


Don't think they were happy.

[robertgoodman]

Since it was a Wednesday and you were on Broadway it was most likely cruisers headed out of punch bowl towards civic center park.

The red lights I would report to the organizers either via facebook or their website Denver Cruisers. In my experience they might re-emphasize red lights next week over the bullhorn before they start or they might scatter people that they know will yell at those that ignore red lights on that route. IMO they've been doing a better job of respecting red lights lately, but I only see the group that usually heads through downtown from Five Points.

Cyclists are allowed in the far left lane that part was fine as well as cutting across Broadway (as long as they left a lane open after cutting across that was fine).

Having been on both ends of those encounters I would have either waited for them to open up a lane after cutting across or used another route. But I guarantee you they were mad at you for two seconds and went on being happy the rest of the night, so I wouldn't give it much thought.

[ChrisFromChicago]

I wasn't. . .too concerned. My wife, of course, is the one "don't you care what they think of you"

I'm like. . well, as long as they don't attack my car. . .everything is fine.

Seems like . . .shouldn't the bikes yield to oncoming traffic like everything else. . .I mean when I'm on my bike, I don't try to cut in front of a car.

[robertgoodman]

I guess I am not sure what you mean by cut in front of a car. If by that you mean should they have stopped before entering Broadway from a street or parking lot? Absolutely they should of.

However if you mean changing lanes, if a cyclist feels it is safe to change lanes based on the combination of the speed and proximity of the car in the other lane they are under no obligation to let that car pass them before changing lanes.

When Cruisers runs they usually take up one lane on a multi-lane road which is legal and motorists are expected to pass in the other lanes (which could be why they were mad at you). However when they start merging from that one lane as a group like that it may cause motorists to slow down to the point where it is safe for cyclists to merge lanes even when the car is very close by. If that merging traffic is what you drove through and not the post merge you both were legally in the right to proceed provided the cyclists yielded eventually as you slowly got closer. But it's one of those things that if I was driving I personally would have waited out the lane change then pass them on the right or tried to avoid that street if I could.

[ryanek9freak]

Originally Posted by ChrisFromChicago

So I turned on broadway from dinner. As we headed to that popular area. . .


I had a green

a huge amount of bicylisit ignored their red light and turned onto broadway then cut across Broadway (I was in far left lane

I did not wait for all these bikes

I just kept going forward, which caused me to be surrounded by bikes

they yelled (not sure what)

I was kind of thinking that I stayed in my lane and go forward I would be fine

they got out of way and I continued on .


Don't think they were happy.

I've almost gotten into fist fights with bike riders for this very reason. It's like they think because they're on 2 wheels that traffic laws don't apply to them. I almost had to lay my Harlely down once because they blew right through a stop sign as I was going through the intersection.

[dude_reino]

Live in Denver for a few weeks in the summer and you learn its just not worth driving around downtown on Wednesday nights.

[KaaBoom]

Originally Posted by ChrisFromChicago

So I turned on broadway from dinner. As we headed to that popular area. . .


I had a green

a huge amount of bicylisit ignored their red light and turned onto broadway then cut across Broadway (I was in far left lane

Monkey Dust - Cyclists - YouTube

[downtownnola]

Argh, the bike riders around this city drive me nuts! They think they are immune to traffic laws and have nearly caused several accidents that were clearly not my fault.

Last week, I was driving through Cap Hill and there was a biker that pulled up to the right of my car. I came to the stop sign and was looking both ways to cross the intersection. It was clear and I started to accelerate, only to have the bike fly out in front of my car and make a left turn. I had to slam on the brakes. When I honked my horn at him, he looked at me like I had done something wrong. I have no problem laying on my horn at those types of bike riders and I hope it makes them think twice next time.

I vote that we round up all of the inconsiderate bicyclists who think they don't have to obey traffic laws and make them drive around in NYC or Chicago for a day. Lets see how their behavior is received there

[cowboyxjon]

I was almost run over by a cyclist who blew through the red light today while I was crossing 15th Street in the crosswalk at Blake, on the Patagonia side of the street. I wasn't even in my car; I was walking! I said "red light" as he blew by, and he gave me the finger. I know that ALL cyclists aren't like this, but I'm finding it harder and harder to be tolerant.

[robertgoodman]

This scofflaw cyclist complaint comes up every single time a story runs in the DP or someone posts something on an internet forum like this. As someone who bikes and drives I am sick of the double standard implied. When everyone driving obeys the speed limit, stops texting while driving, stops driving under the influence, goes to a complete stop at a stop sign, stops behind a crosswalk at a light, yields to pedestrians in a crosswalk and consistently uses their turn signal then I will buy into this whole cyclists are the only ones breaking the law theme going around the internet. Where is the constant outrage towards people driving who break those laws that are just as unsafe if not more so?

Yes no one should be breaking the law, and yes cyclists are probably annoying other users of the road. But that annoyance goes multiple ways depending on which mode someone is taking and resulting law they are likely to be breaking; drivers speeding annoy cyclists and pedestrians, Pedestrians jaywalking annoy cyclists and drivers, etc. This cyclist scapegoating for all ills on the road is counterproductive to finding solutions to incorporate everyone safely.