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Bicyclists drive me nuts near where I work. There is a road that goes past my work place that has a bike path that crosses it at one point- this is not an intersection, just a random spot in the road where this bike path crosses, so the bike path has a stop sign- the road does not. But what do the bikers do? Most often I see them just blow across there as if they don't even know or care that they are crossing an actual road, or that they actually had a stop sign. I've been driving through there and had some almost hit my car, or I've almost hit some of them who blow through at the last second, having to slam on my brakes. One even had the nerve to look at me as if I had done something wrong while he was going through! And yet if one of them ever actually gets hit they will be crying a river about how poor and helpless the bicyclists are. If they would follow the rules they would not be putting THEMSELVES at so much risk!
Anyone on a conventional bike can gear down before coming to a stop sign, stop, and then start riding again in low gear, with no 'loss of energy'.
The biggest culprits of running stop signs are riders on fixed-gear bicycles who believe because of their CHOICE to ride a bike with only one gear, that they are a 'victim' of energy loss. WTF. Get a normal bike, not something that was designed for a 6 year old.
Location: Huntersville/Charlotte, NC and Washington, DC
26,700 posts, read 41,727,010 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Patricius Maximus
I honestly can't comprehend the hatred of bicyclists that some posters have exhibited . If they're not impeding the flow of traffic or posing a danger to others, I don't see what the problem is.
As for the rules of the road, the impression I always had is that bicycles must obey all the rules of the road if they are on the roadway with other cars and vehicles, but not if they are on the sidewalk or otherwise off of the road surface. A pedestrian on a sidewalk doesn't have to stop for a stop sign, for example. I haven't read the statues in any of these jurisdictions, however, so take my impression with a grain of salt.
As for the bicycles stopping, I'm of the belief that at least 98% of stop signs in North America are unnecessary - why should a driver have to come to a full stop when he can just as easily see what's coming if he crawls at 10 mph? This is supported by the fact that in most places it's accepted practice for drivers to go slowly through a stop sign as opposed to actually stopping. If it's stupid for cars to stop, it's even stupider for bicyclists to stop. Drivers just step on the gas to get back up to speed, whereas bicyclists have to pedal hard. A bicyclist can easily slow to 5-10 mph to see what's coming, and then if there's no need to stop he can pedal back up to speed; if momentum can be maintained, much less effort is needed. So, bicyclists gliding through intersections isn't a rude flaunting of the rules of the road, but rather a smart way to operate one's vehicle.
Sorry, in my suburb of Arlington, Virginia it is usually a clueless cyclist traveling holding up my commute on a major throughfare that has an average speed of 30 mph.
Since you don't think most stop signs are necessary, I'd like to challenge you to come to Virginia and go through this stop sign I stop at every single day.
It is impossible to see any coming traffic on 5th St because of all the trees but please barrel through on N Monroe and I promise you it is a mating call for being T-boned.
I guess another problem I have with cyclists is when they are in the middle of a one way street with no bike lane and a median in the center (no way to pass them), and won't get out of the way of the cars. I feel as if this is dangerous, because the car, going ten miles per hour, and usually directly behind them, if the biker falls, they could be run over. I feel like if there are no bike lanes, the biker should go on the sidewalk, or be forced to go a minimum speed limit on the street. I feel like it impedes the flow of traffic, and I occasionally run into that jerk who just won't move to the side, and it is frustrating to me because there is another car behind me and the biker is just not leaving me enough room to go comfortably past them without the possibility of running them over.
I dont like for bikers to not stop when they are behind me if I have to stop at a traffic light or sign. What if someone suddenly opened a door as they were going between 2 cars. Some jerkwads on motorcycles do it too
Obnoxious morons make up the same percentage of total travelers across all modes, I think. Maybe 35%, IMO. The difference is that obnoxious morons who are drivers are more likely to kill someone than obnoxious cyclists, pedestrians, or transit users, because of physics alone.
But nobody's questioning the physics. The physics don't justify a complete failure to obey traffic laws. And for drivers, there's as much a concern for flattening bicyclists who fail to adhere to the law as there is for cyclists crashing into an unwitting pedestrian. There's no excuse for people constantly putting themselves and others into harm's way.
But nobody's questioning the physics. The physics don't justify a complete failure to obey traffic laws. And for drivers, there's as much a concern for flattening bicyclists who fail to adhere to the law as there is for cyclists crashing into an unwitting pedestrian. There's no excuse for people constantly putting themselves and others into harm's way.
Are you arguing that cyclists do this more often than drivers? If you are ... that is absurd.
There's a 99% probability that a driver angered by a cyclist merely pausing for a stop sign will have broken a few traffic rules by the end of his or her trip. Speed limit, etc.
If we're talking about motorcycles, in some states it is legal for motorcycles to run red lights in certain instances. Oftentimes motorcycles won't trip the sensors for the lights and motorcycles can treat the red light like a four way stop.
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. If they're not impeding the flow of traffic or posing a danger to others, I don't see what the problem is.
