Not only do many cyclists not think traffic laws apply to them, but where they have to share with pedestrians many display the same disregard for the safety of pedestrians that they claim drivers show towards them.
I vaguely remember a car ad, think it was Honda, and the crux was that trucks hate cars, cars hate cyclists and cyclists hate pedestrians. I can't rememeber but, maybe , pedestrians hate all of the above?
In other words, it's bullying. Today I was delayed by a lone cyclist, I didn't risk his life or risk hitting another car to get past him. I just accepted that he has the same right to be on the road as I do. I got home a few minutes later than I would have done otherwise and saved the same few minutes not being bored with nothing else to do.
I have news for you: drivers don't think laws apply to them either. I've nearly been killed several times because of it, and I know people who have been killed.
Thanks to Bicycle Colorado's advocacy, perhaps I won't have drivers intentionally trying to side swipe me next time I ride through stop signs in a safe (and legal!) manner.
I always try to give cyclists a wide clearance when passing them on the street and slow down behind them if it’s not practical to pass at the moment. I don’t really mind sharing the road with road bikers, they seem to be thoughtful about the impacts they are having on other traffic.
The cyclists that bother me are the ones riding fast and recklessly on the running trails around town. They can be a significant hazard to the joggers.
I'm just over the attitude I see from the decked-out "racing" cyclists that nearly run me over, yell at me, and generally act like the trail system was built for them and that as a pedestrian, I'm an obstacle on their turf. It makes me extremely hesitant to support changes that would encourage them to ride on the roads.
Oh, they're not all like that, I'm sure. It's enough of them that I end up just sticking to recreation areas and stay off the main line that runs through the metro area.
I live near a path like this. Its official name is the Minuteman Commuter Bikeway, which is unfortunate because it has always been multi-use. Neither the MBTA which owned the right of way at the time nor the four towns it passes through would ever have supported it as a bicycle-only resource. There are signs everywhere reminding people of the law that says cyclists must yield to pedestrians. That's Massachusetts General Law I.XIV.85.11B in case anyone is wondering.
Nonetheless, a significant number of cyclists constantly force pedestrians to yield to them, and almost always point to the name when the subject comes up in online discussions. Maybe a third or less of cyclists give audible warning when passing pedestrians, even though the aforementioned law also requires that and a pregnant woman was killed on that path after being run down from behind by a cyclist only a few years ago. (Interestingly, there's a strong gender divide on that one, and I think you can guess which gender is significantly worse.)
So anyone who tries to say claims about cyclists breaking the law are "myths" is simply not telling the truth. The vast majority of cyclists are sane and considerate. Some of them, such as the ones I've worked alongside on maintaining parts of that path, are even better than that. But there's also a substantial contingent of "bike bros" who absolutely personify the worst stereotypes. I see them every day. Real cycling activists (not those merely claiming the mantle here) don't deny that reality, or try to exclude pedestrians from the discussion. They try to educate and improve everyone's behavior, including their fellow cyclists'. That's how we'll get better bicycle-related laws and infrastructure - not by an entitled few putting their hypocrisy on display any time cyclist/pedestrian interactions come up.
I don't want to expect "true cyclists" to kow-tow to my superior vehicle. I just want to move through the sort of areas where folks bicycle without a mess and walk on the multiuser trails without a mess and drive/cycle/stumble down 50 of it comes to it, with nobody getting hurt. I've chosen a workpla e a way from my house and I take that on myself.
published some stats back in the 1980s that pointed to remarkable high risks from hitting pedestrians, parked cars, other bicycles, dogs, and everything other than the fantasy cyclists have that a driver is going to crash into them from behind either from obliviousness or as a hate crime. (My worst bicycle accident was when I was riding in a thunderstorm at 1 am had no visibility and hit a parked car.)
He was influenced by the dangerous bike lanes of San Luis Obispo and experiences in California and the Northeast.
More recent statistics seem to show that drivers in the U.S. South are astonishingly bad and really do crash into cyclists from behind.
> More recent statistics seem to show that drivers in the U.S. South are astonishingly bad and really do crash into cyclists from behind.
Yes, I stopped road biking because of them. I'd deliberately stay in the shoulder (just right of the white line) and they'd swerve into the shoulder next to me. At times they also crossed into the oncoming traffic lane to fuck with me. Not a pleasant experience to share the road with those morons.
Almost everywhere it is illegal for bicycles to ride on the sidewalk without dismounting but everybody from parents to judges and police make excuses for this behavior.
Cyclists crash into pedestrians at high speed all the time going down hills and going around corners.
In my mind it is a perfectly fair bit of judo to firmly grab the handlebars and dismount them forcibly if they are endangering the public this way.
The problem is that some people just don't feel safe riding on the street - and that's with good reason! I was riding in the bike lane probably going 25-30mph and was struck by a school bus who ran a stop sign. These drivers are supposed to be well trained.
These days, I almost always ride on the street but sometimes will cut over to the sidewalk in the case of a one lane bridge, dangerous intersection or a traffic jam. I always stop for red lights and usually wait for them to go green. In the case of rush hour traffic, there are certain intersections that are particularly dangerous. At these intersections, I often get cut off drivers who pass in the intersection and turn in front of me.
I've learned that stopping for the light and proceeding through mitigates these circumstances.
Riding on sidewalks is a lot more dangerous than riding in the street.
Cyclists imagine they get killed because somebody comes up behind them and runs them over either out of ignorance, hate or both.
That really happens in Georgia, Florida and places like that but in civilized places cyclists really get killed at intersections and when they transition from being invisible to being visible.
Bike paths were built in San Luis Obispo, CA and got a reputation for being astonishingly dangerous because from the viewpoint of cars bicyclists would "come out of nowhere" and they couldn't brake in time to stop them. Oppose that to a bicycle that is operated like a vehicle and is visible and predictable like all the other people.
The first thing many people note about the Netherlands is that they have separated bike lanes, but the most remarkably thing is that all of the intersections are designed with many different transportation modes in mind. Separate paths that connect randomly to the roads are dangerous, but separate paths that form a meaningful composition with the roads are priceless.
Right but that cyclist didn't crash into anybody. Some dude grabbed his handlebars, clearly gonna be a fight since the cyclist would be long gone otherwise. Streetfighting is stupid at the best of times. Don't do this thing. Act, don't react. Some people, I guess you might be one, live for this kind of situation. Can't you just spit at the guy?
