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That's because no one enforces cycling rules. Think if you could just plow through intersections running over pedestrians, ride the wrong way whenever you felt like it, etc in your car because no one ever enforced the rules. It'd be pandemonium. That's beginning to shift, San Francisco prosecuted the first vehicular manslaughter case against a cyclist in the country.
My friend got a ticket for "running" a red light on his bike (basically he treated it like a stop sign). People get bicycling tickets all the time.
When I lived in Illinois, they would pull people out of the driver's license renewal line randomly to take the rules of the road test. I once was "chosen". I passed.
Are you saying drivers, at least most of them, DON'T take extra care when driving in crowded urban areas with lots of pedestrians?
Sure, it's streetsblog, but it does seem like they're a lot. Police departments classify them as a majority of them as the pedestrian's fault. Maybe, but first it's the driver hitting the pedestrian, and I supsect there may be a windshield bias.
Streetsblog is pretty extreme. I think some of their expectations are pretty ridiculous. And at least for the LA version, they are kind of ingrates, never pleased with anything.
What do you mean, treated it like a stop sign? He stopped, then felt it was clear so he ran the light? That's dangerous and stupid, on a bike.
Didn't say it wasn't stupid, just saying that people definitely get tickets on bikes.
However, in his defense it wasn't like it was a huge commercial arterial street or anything. In Los Angeles some of the much smaller residential streets have stop lights, sort of like this: http://goo.gl/maps/YtzZW
At this street, if there were no cars around, I would probably cross on red as a pedestrian. The corner near my apartment is a small lighted intersection, which I (and just about everyone else) jay-walk across daily. http://goo.gl/maps/X64je
So I don't think it was that dangerous or stupid. But I agree that if bicyclists want to be treated with the same respect as cars they will need to follow the rules of the road (and get off the sidewalk!). As a mostly-pedestrian I'm not a huge fan of cyclists, and I agree a large portion of them violate the laws, often putting me (a pedestrian) in awkward / dangerous situations. I've actually had more encounters where I almost get hit by a bicyclist than I have with cars.
I do better than 20MPH (sometimes > 30MPH, occasionally > 40MPH) on my bicycle. I'm not going that slow in my car. The idea is not to drive so slowly you don't kill the people you're hitting, the idea is to NOT HIT THE PEOPLE!!!!
Twenty is not plenty, as anyone in my neighborhood who drives will demonstrate (regardless of what they would say when asked).
I do better than 20MPH (sometimes > 30MPH, occasionally > 40MPH) on my bicycle. I'm not going that slow in my car. The idea is not to drive so slowly you don't kill the people you're hitting, the idea is to NOT HIT THE PEOPLE!!!!
If you stay on 20+ mph at flats regularly you go quite a bit faster than me (16 mph or so, sometimes less). That's a workout speed.
Anyhow, yes the idea is not to drive so slowly you don't kill people when you hit them but going slow gives you more reaction and a shorter breaking distance. As a pedestrian, I'd have to far more aware of traffic and crossing local residential streets if traffic was going at 45 mph rather than 20-25 mph.
I know everywhere is different, but here in Memphis, major thoroughfares are often residential. The idea of going down Poplar Ave, which is also US 72, at 20 mph is crazy. People have things to do and places to go. We'd never get anything done at 20 mph.
Maybe if the bicycle riding people quit trying to be one of the cars by riding on the road and rode on the sidewalks, there wouldn't be as much of a problem. But some of them are too bone headed to realize this.
I see it all the time here in my town. They choose to ride right on a busy road and the cars have to move over to avoid hitting them. Everytime I see the bike people riding like this I want to yell at them to get off the road. I just honk my horn instead and mutter "idiot" under my breath.
Last edited by CountryFisher; 07-27-2013 at 12:24 AM..
Maybe if the bicycle riding people quit trying to be one of the cars by riding on the road and rode on the sidewalks, there wouldn't be as much of a problem. But some of them are too bone headed to realize this.
I see it all the time here in my town. They choose to ride right on a busy road and the cars have to move over to avoid hitting them. Everytime I see the bike people riding like this I want to yell at them to get off the road. I just honk my horn instead and mutter "idiot" under my breath.
You should Check your local jurisdictions laws on where bikes should have the right to ride.
On 20 MPH roads its quite comfortable to share the road with cyclists as they are going close to same speed as other traffic.
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