Quote:
Originally Posted by Bring_Back_Shantz
That's all well and good, but for the vast majority of my time on the road I do follow all of the rules (when no one is around I will zip through a stop sign), but when there's cars around I try to act like a car. I stay in my lane, I don't go to the front of the intersection and I stop at all the traffic signals. And guess what, I still amost get bumped multiple times by cars who decide I don't deserve a whole lane.
It's not just downtown either. The highway is worse. I don't know how I can be any more predictable than riding in a straight line down the highway, yet cars still decide they don't need to give me enough room to swerve to miss a pothole or something else when they pass me.
I haven't been cycling for very long, but I can see how cyclists become cynical very quickly and just say "Screw it, if cars aren't going to respect me and give me space, I'm just gonna do whatever I feel is safest for me".
It really is a chicken and egg thing, but the fact of the matter is even if all cyclists obeyed all of the rules, there would still be a lot of drivers who ignore the law and don't treat cyclists like another vehicle.
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Alright, I'll grant you that highway riding is a different animal, but you're talking about specific instances of having to leave the shoulder to avoid obstacles, an activity which is inherently unpredictable, you're looking at obstacles on the shoulder, the driver isnt because hes not driving on the shoulder.
Heres my beef: What if motorists took the same attitude with their cars? "Screw it, if cyclists arent going to respect me and give me space, I'm just gonna do whatever I feel is safest for me!"
Thered be more youtube videos like fotze's.
Everyone has to follow the same rules or the whole thing breaks down. There cant be exceptions for cyclists for the obvious reason: I dont cycle, therefore I dont care what the rules for cyclists are, therefore I have no idea if there are exceptions.
And police should be pulling over and ticketing cyclists with the same glee and relish that they do with motorists in order to enforce it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bunk
When I cycle I always make a point of obeying all traffic laws (including stop signs). I too get annoyed at cyclists that pick and choose which laws to abide by.
It's funny though that when you do obey the rules some drivers don't know how to react to it. I was at 14th street and 13th avenue SW. Waiting to cross 14th like any other car would. This one guy driving on 14th just stops and insists I go through (even though other cars are still, correctly, driving right on by). He gets mad, I yell. It was ugly.
I think the best solution is to really provide the right infrastructure for cycling to exist - both on and off street. It will clarify things. I think often cyclists are darting in and out of traffic, on and off sidewalks because there is no clear, legible or safe space for them. In places where that space is really well defined, these ped-cycle conflicts or ped-car conflicts are much reduced.
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Thats pretty well the whole point. When you know that cyclists pick and choose thier traffic laws, your only option is to stop until the guy does whatever it is hes going to do and gets lost and then go about your way.
They're just too random for you to operate normally so you have to do nothing until they leave.
I will say, thats one benefit of living in a City with some considerable winter weather conditions, this stuff doesnt happen year round.
And whats all this nonsense about helmets? Wear a freaking helmet, it just makes sense, just like seatbelts. They're hardly an inconvenience. Unless you're Sikh.