Rant - Bicycles not following road rules

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sciphi

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To preface this: I quite enjoy riding my Jamis Aurora road bike, and follow the rules of the road as best I am able. I also wear a helmet and lots of high-visibility gear.

I see a LOT of people on bicycles going down the wrong side of the road, often while not wearing helmets. I had a scare in my car today due to a wrong-way rider, and saw another driver slam on their brakes a minute later thanks to a helmetless kid zipping off the sidewalk to "jaybike" a well-trafficked thoroughfare. Fortunately everybody was unscathed, save possibly some underwear.

I don't get what is so hard about wearing a helmet, and sticking on the right side of the road when riding a bike. I later saw some other kids on bikes who had no problems obeying traffic laws. I obey them myself when I'm on my bike. It's not an imposition, and keeps everybody safer.

I just don't get it. Can somebody please explain this one to me?
 
One of my BIGGEST grips with bicycle riders are the ones that "think" they are "pros" (have the fancy skins on ect) but they INSIST on riding down the road in pairs side by side taking up the ENTIRE lane of the road! Like they are riding in the TdF. Blocking the ability of motorists to get past them. Even if you signal them to move aside they just ignore the motorists . Hate to say it but I have shaken a few fists and flown a few fingers at these obnoxious, arrogant, ignorant riders too!

When cyclists are riding on ordinary open roads they MUST ride single file, so that cars and other vehicles can get around them.
 
On Sat and Sun I will see people on bikes riding as a group, maybe they feel its safer in a large group with various color spandex.

I always give the riders the 'right of way' just to prevent an accident or near miss.
 
I agree that we must "share the road" but that works both ways. Too many bicyclists act like they own the road. I also think some get confused between pedestrian rights and being a vehicle.

John
 
Originally Posted By: morris
i ALLWAYS give a bicycle the FULL lane, even if i have to wait. same thing for a motorcycle.


+1
 
People who ride their bicycles on roads when there are perfectly good sidewalks not 10 feet away (which are designed for biking) should be cited for a traffic violation. Same with people who ride in the center lane when there is a perfectly good bike lane available, like they're trying to make a point. It's never the honest guy riding his bike to work, either. It's either some yuppie all dressed up like he's Lance Armstrong or a hipster with a man purse.

However, if there's no sidewalk or bike lane then they get the full lane and no awkward eye from me.
 
Originally Posted By: greenaccord02
People who ride their bicycles on roads when there are perfectly good sidewalks not 10 feet away (which are designed for biking) should be cited for a traffic violation. Same with people who ride in the center lane when there is a perfectly good bike lane available, like they're trying to make a point. It's never the honest guy riding his bike to work, either. It's either some yuppie all dressed up like he's Lance Armstrong or a hipster with a man purse.

However, if there's no sidewalk or bike lane then they get the full lane and no awkward eye from me.


You are not allowed to ride on sidewalks here. Cyclists share the road.
I really don't like riding on public roads and its one reason I pretty much went to Mountain biking exclusively. (load bike on car, go to trail ride, drive home with bike on back of car)
 
My state law says bikes have to yield to motorists if there's room

Something like a bridge with no shoulder, means no room. One has to militantly take the lane. Honking isn't going to improve anything, and cylcists have to have pretty thick skin.

An obvious, brightly colored cyclist is one who lives another day. Boo hoo, you have to press the brake pedal on your powered car, then the accellerator, while they're out there saving gas for all of us. How much later did that make you?
 
Sucks that they don't let you ride on the sidewalk up there. In my community there are wide, paved sidewalks that are laid out specifically for bikers to use. They are removed from the roads by several feet and sometimes take shortcuts through the woods. They even have underpasses under the road and separate bridges in many places. All designed to be used by bikers. AND THEN THEY DON'T USE THEM BECAUSE THEY WANT TO BE LANCE ARMSTRONG!
 
Many of the bicyclist are the most selfish people you can find on the road up here (right up there with the Outsiders' RVs going 10 miles under the speed limit).

There is a bicycle lane next to the road I take to work every morning. Inevitable a "professional" bicyclist will hog a car lane and ignore the bicycle path. Same idiot will cut across the six lane highway, instead of taking underpass built specifically for them.

Saving fuel or not, that's rude.
 
Originally Posted By: Viggen

When cyclists are riding on ordinary open roads they MUST ride single file, so that cars and other vehicles can get around them.


It depends on the state; that's not the case where I live.

I'll give you my perspective on this. Obviously I drive (a lot), or I wouldn't be on this forum. I also ride, a lot, between 7-10K miles a year, nearly all of it on open roads.

-a lot of recreational cyclists are idiots. I run into this frequently, and it knows no age group, gender or race. When I've tried to courteously explain to people that going through a red light in plain view of cars makes it harder for all of us, I'm generally told to eff off. I do it anyway, in the hopes that it'll sink in.

-bike racers tend to be more respectful of the roads than DUI cyclists, kids or people who just got a bike for father's day and will ride it twice. We spend a lot of time on the roads, so we have to live out there. But yeah, some bike racers are idiots.

-I generally never train with more than 3 or 4 people (mostly solo or with one other person). If we're riding double file, we move over when hearing cars approaching. Most of the time*

*this is the part than may anger some people, but I don't care. If there's not room for a car to safely pass me, I'm going to ride in the middle of the lane, and I'm not moving until it's safe to pass, period. I don't car how big a hurry you're in, my safety comes first. A situation when this is the case would be a twisty road with no shoulder, or a heavily-trafficked road with no shoulder. I've been riding for too many years, and buzzed by too many idiot drivers, to let someone try to squeeze by me in this situation. So keep in mind, if you're really, really struggling to find room to pass a cyclist, you shouldn't be passing.

I've said this before on this forum, but it bears repeating, my first goal is to not get killed, my second goal is to be courteous to drivers, my third goal is to get where I'm going and get in my workout--in that order. The first one trumps all.

Pros train on the roads, too--and every year there are probably 5 or 6 professional or elite cyclists killed while training. Overwhelmingly, the driver is at fault. So my own safety takes priority over all. That doesn't excuse the behavior of idiot cyclists, of whom there are many. I'd simply implore you (or anyone) to consider the conditions before you get mad a cyclist for not getting out of your way. Often, it's not the safest thing to do.
 
Skate boarders can be just as bad. Two of them cut me off. And they were oblivious. Until the horn blast startled them so much they fell off.

Then I ran over the boards.
 
Originally Posted By: Ursae_Majoris


There is a bicycle lane next to the road I take to work every morning. Inevitable a "professional" bicyclist will hog a car lane and ignore the bicycle path. Same idiot will cut across the six lane highway, instead of taking underpass built specifically for them.

Saving fuel or not, that's rude.


Generally speaking, those paths are used for mom's pushing baby strollers, roller-bladers and people walking their dogs, not cyclists traveling at what is often times near the speed limit. I don't use them either, and I certainly won't apologize for it. They aren't suitable or safe for a cyclist traveling at speed. A bike is a vehicle and it has the same right to the road as you do.
 
Originally Posted By: Ursae_Majoris
Many of the bicyclist are the most selfish people you can find on the road up here (right up there with the Outsiders' RVs going 10 miles under the speed limit).

There is a bicycle lane next to the road I take to work every morning. Inevitable a "professional" bicyclist will hog a car lane and ignore the bicycle path. Same idiot will cut across the six lane highway, instead of taking underpass built specifically for them.

Saving fuel or not, that's rude.


Sooner or later the Darwin rule comes into play for them.
 
Originally Posted By: Trajan

Sooner or later the Darwin rule comes into play for them.


vehicular manslaughter is more like it. Funny how people are so dismissive of that...
 
Originally Posted By: JOD
Originally Posted By: Ursae_Majoris


There is a bicycle lane next to the road I take to work every morning. Inevitable a "professional" bicyclist will hog a car lane and ignore the bicycle path. Same idiot will cut across the six lane highway, instead of taking underpass built specifically for them.

Saving fuel or not, that's rude.


Generally speaking, those paths are used for mom's pushing baby strollers, roller-bladers and people walking their dogs, not cyclists traveling at what is often times near the speed limit. I don't use them either, and I certainly won't apologize for it. They aren't suitable or safe for a cyclist traveling at speed. A bike is a vehicle and it has the same right to the road as you do.


Have fun becoming a statistic.
 
Originally Posted By: John_K
I agree that we must "share the road" but that works both ways. Too many bicyclists act like they own the road. I also think some get confused between pedestrian rights and being a vehicle.

John


UGGHHH....

If there's one thing that has driven me to almost get in a fight with a "cyclist", it's this... And it's this sort of behavior that causes the sort of reactions you see from some posters regarding cyclists. It's impossible for people to take you seriously as a vehicle when you arbitrarily chose to be a pedestrian half the time, riding up on the sidewalk when you get a light, riding in the crosswalk, etc.

It's funny, because I generally get a 'mind your own business' response--but it is my business when their stupid behavior results in drivers being mad at me....

Sometimes the people just don't know any better--but often times, they do and they're just being idiots. But it's funny, I've never seen a bike racer pull this move, ever.
 
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