Friggin' Cyclists - We need to punish these people

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by Makarov

The City of Calgary's Traffic By-law permits the 6 year old or 8 year old to ride on their bicycles on the sidewalk. It does not permit an adult to do so. So I fail to understand how your hypothetical relates to the circumstances which prompted this thread.

In any event, the by-law expressly states that cyclists have the same rights as drivers to use highways. If drivers make exercising that right dangerous or unwise, I would suggest that we should be focusing on the behaviour of those drivers, not the cyclists.

To be fair, what are the parents supposed to do while the children are dawdling along the sidewalk on their bikes? Presumably they are riding on the road at the same speed as the children are going on the sidewalk.


It would be better if the city just allowed bicycles on the sidewalks, providing they are going under 10km/hr or something. It should be no different than children using the sidewalks to bike on.

[undercoverbrother]

Maybe it is a post holiday hangover, but I have seem better work from you Sliver

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

I dunno, I think a lot of it is quite well done. I can't believe this one didn't get more pick-up:

Originally Posted by Sliver

That's unreasonable of her to put others out like that. It's rude. It's also rude not to see that it is rude.

That is brilliant. "How dare you not see things my way!"

A+ work.

[KTrain]

Originally Posted by Wormius

To be fair, what are the parents supposed to do while the children are dawdling along the sidewalk on their bikes? Presumably they are riding on the road at the same speed as the children are going on the sidewalk.


It would be better if the city just allowed bicycles on the sidewalks, providing they are going under 10km/hr or something. It should be no different than children using the sidewalks to bike on.

I will ride on the sidewalk with my children when I ride with them. I don't want to be watching them out of the corner of my eye when I'm watching for cars as well.

10km/h is really slow though. My kids can easily go over that speed. A couple cranks on the pedals and you can coast over 10km/h.

[Lubicon]

Originally Posted by Voodooman

I think a big issue is that this city is home to both Canada's most entitled, obnoxious wannabe population of cyclists and Canada's most aggro over-bro'd jackhole population of drivers.

By far, you see more $9,000 road bikes being operated by some spandex clad Tour de Dips#*t wannabes here than anywhere else in Canada. Places like Vancouver, Montreal and even Toronto, people just ride to work in their normal clothes, or shorts and a t-shirt like normal humans. Here, it seems like a contest to show off who spent the most on cycling gear. I see so many jokers riding in a full racing singlet going from Inglewood to DT, it's just laughable.

On the other hand, Calgary is also the home to hordes of both Truck Nutz clad Ram 2500's driven by yahoos in flat billed hats AND European AWD SUV's owned by people who never leave the inner city and talk far too much about mouth-feel in craft beer (that's me!), who make it their mission to own the road.

It's just a recipe for disaster from the get-go. We're like the middle of a Venn diagram of syphilis and antimatter.

Nothing to add except to add you are absolutely correct about entitlement in this city (drivers and cyclists alike, and pretty much a large chunk of the population in general).

and also to add I love the Venn diagram analogy.

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by Makarov

The City of Calgary's Traffic By-law permits the 6 year old or 8 year old to ride on their bicycles on the sidewalk. It does not permit an adult to do so. So I fail to understand how your hypothetical relates to the circumstances which prompted this thread.

In any event, the by-law expressly states that cyclists have the same rights as drivers to use highways. If drivers make exercising that right dangerous or unwise, I would suggest that we should be focusing on the behaviour of those drivers, not the cyclists.

Well, I actually appreciate your perspective. You're right, she's following the law. In the exact same way the guy in the left lane on the number two going to Edmonton doing 110 is following the law. It's a certain type of prik that follows the law to the letter contrary to what common sense, courtesy and generally accepted rule breaking would dictate.

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by KTrain

I will ride on the sidewalk with my children when I ride with them. I don't want to be watching them out of the corner of my eye when I'm watching for cars as well.

10km/h is really slow though. My kids can easily go over that speed. A couple cranks on the pedals and you can coast over 10km/h.

The idea would be to make it safe for pedestrians and the cyclist. I think 10kph would be good for sharing the sidewalk with pedestrians. That would just be the rule if you really want to to ride on the sidewalk, otherwise you could ride on the roads or the pathways.



I don't think I would want to do pathway speeds on the sidewalk. That seems too fast if you're dealing with pedestrians and other things that might pop out at you. The risk of t-boning a car backing out of a driveway, or get tangled up with somebody's startled dog start becoming concerns.

[GGG]

Originally Posted by Sliver

Well, I actually appreciate your perspective. You're right, she's following the law. In the exact same way the guy in the left lane on the number two going to Edmonton doing 110 is following the law. It's a certain type of prik that follows the law to the letter contrary to what common sense, courtesy and generally accepted rule breaking would dictate.

I don’t think that is true. In Alberta you can be ticketed for holding up traffic and not using the right most lane.

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by Makarov

The City of Calgary's Traffic By-law permits the 6 year old or 8 year old to ride on their bicycles on the sidewalk. It does not permit an adult to do so. So I fail to understand how your hypothetical relates to the circumstances which prompted this thread.

And where do mom and dad ride in this scenario? They can't possibly ride on the sidewalk, because THAT'S ILLEGAL!!! I guess they split up and agree to meet at the ice cream parlour.

Originally Posted by Wormius

It would be better if the city just allowed bicycles on the sidewalks, providing they are going under 10km/hr or something. It should be no different than children using the sidewalks to bike on.

They effectively do. If you're doing 10k down a sidewalk in the burbs there is zero chance you'll get a ticket. Because police aren't idiots, and they recognize that regardless of the letter of the law, it's sometimes safer and more considerate for people to cycle on the sidewalk.

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by GGG

I don’t think that is true. In Alberta you can be ticketed for holding up traffic and not using the right most lane.

Can you be ticketed for holding up the right lane? If you had an absolute beater of a car that couldn't do more than 30k, could you drive it to Canmore on the TransCanada?

[GGG]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

Can you be ticketed for holding up the right lane? If you had an absolute beater of a car that couldn't do more than 30k, could you drive it to Canmore on the TransCanada?

Not sure but you are allowed to drive farm equipment on highways (don’t think the TC though) and that goes 40-50 usually

[chemgear]

Everytime this thread gets bumped I think of this guy:

[#-3]

I think the annoyance with cyclist is pretty easy to understand, and there is some willful ignorance by the cyclists here when they start reciting laws.

The frustration with cyclists starts when they don't quite leave enough space for you to pass them on the road, but once there is a gap in oncoming traffic you manage to eke past them just in time to miss a green light. That red light of course entitles them to pedal on past all of the waiting vehicles and sit there right in front of you, starting the entire process over again.

Then you both turn onto a road that has an adjacent bike lane. But you know since they are occasionally getting up to 32 KM they need use one of the road lanes, increasing the number of lane changes, thereby increasing the number of vehicular accidents.

Finally you get ahead of that guy wait in line to turn left, then the cyclist catches up, veers out of the right lane, hopping up onto the curb, peddling down the side walk for half a block, so he can use the pedestrian crosswalks once again obstructing your path, because whatever rules are convenient for them at the time are the ones that apply.

Then you tell me that it is my fault someone is unable to find a safe way to ride a bike up an icy hill around trucks trying to legally drive 50KPH.

The least cyclist could do is understand that the vast majority of them are bending common courtesy and the laws in anyway possible. And in spite of their personal experience most people don't see cycling as this grand virtue everyone should aspire to, most people are just annoyed about being cut off by another person trying to get to where they are going.

[Johnny199r]

Originally Posted by #-3

I think the annoyance with cyclist is pretty easy to understand, and there is some willful ignorance by the cyclists here when they start reciting laws.

The frustration with cyclists starts when they don't quite leave enough space for you to pass them on the road, but once there is a gap in oncoming traffic you manage to eke past them just in time to miss a green light. That red light of course entitles them to pedal on past all of the waiting vehicles and sit there right in front of you, starting the entire process over again.

Then you both turn onto a road that has an adjacent bike lane. But you know since they are occasionally getting up to 32 KM they need use one of the road lanes, increasing the number of lane changes, thereby increasing the number of vehicular accidents.

Finally you get ahead of that guy wait in line to turn left, then the cyclist catches up, veers out of the right lane, hopping up onto the curb, peddling down the side walk for half a block, so he can use the pedestrian crosswalks once again obstructing your path, because whatever rules are convenient for them at the time are the ones that apply.

Then you tell me that it is my fault someone is unable to find a safe way to ride a bike up an icy hill around trucks trying to legally drive 50KPH.

The least cyclist could do is understand that the vast majority of them are bending common courtesy and the laws in anyway possible. And in spite of their personal experience most people don't see cycling as this grand virtue everyone should aspire to, most people are just annoyed about being cut off by another person trying to get to where they are going.

I'm an avid cyclist and I agree with what you say here. It seems like the majority of cyclist disobey traffic rules constantly and then why vehicle drivers despise them. I don't understand why they think it's ok.

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

And where do mom and dad ride in this scenario? They can't possibly ride on the sidewalk, because THAT'S ILLEGAL!!! I guess they split up and agree to meet at the ice cream parlour.



They effectively do. If you're doing 10k down a sidewalk in the burbs there is zero chance you'll get a ticket. Because police aren't idiots, and they recognize that regardless of the letter of the law, it's sometimes safer and more considerate for people to cycle on the sidewalk.

I think there are some who choose to ride on the road only because being on the sidewalk as an adult is pretty frowned upon.

It’s not a good reason, but if it were more accepted then people might opt to do that instead of impeding traffic on a narrow road.

The City could also make a statement like, “until pathways are constructed in this area, you can either use the sidewalk at speeds 10kph or slower, or the road if you can maintain a speed of 20kph or faster”. Or something more catchy.

[longsuffering]

Is "Share the road, share the responsibility" still a thing?

Sent from my MIX using Tapatalk

[combustiblefuel]

"People cycling are permitted to ride on all Calgary roadways except Deerfoot Trail, and to take the whole lane if required for safety."

http://www.calgary.ca/Transportation...-pathways.aspx

"Keep a safe distance from sewer grates and roadside debris (0.5–1 m from curb).
Keep a safe distance from parked cars (1.5-2.0 m) to avoid getting “doored”.
If necessary, “take the lane”, i.e., ride in the middle of the lane, to discourage cars from passing you too closely. If a car could not safely pass you in your lane when you’re riding a safe distance from the curb, it shouldn’t, and you should not encourage them to do so by hugging the curb.
Stay out of right turn only lanes when continuing straight, and make left turns from the proper lane"

https://bikecalgary.org/resources/safety-and-the-law/

[Roughneck]

Originally Posted by Wormius

The City could also make a statement like, “until pathways are constructed in this area, you can either use the sidewalk at speeds 10kph or slower, or the road if you can maintain a speed of 20kph or faster”. Or something more catchy.

With the average urban cycling speed being ~15km/h the catchy phrase for such a rule would be: “Cyclists, go #### yourself.”

[Scroopy Noopers]

Originally Posted by GGG

I don’t think that is true. In Alberta you can be ticketed for holding up traffic and not using the right most lane.

Not if you’re going the posted speed.

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by combustiblefuel

"People cycling are permitted to ride on all Calgary roadways except Deerfoot Trail, and to take the whole lane if required for safety."

http://www.calgary.ca/Transportation...-pathways.aspx

"Keep a safe distance from sewer grates and roadside debris (0.5–1 m from curb).
Keep a safe distance from parked cars (1.5-2.0 m) to avoid getting “doored”.
If necessary, “take the lane”, i.e., ride in the middle of the lane, to discourage cars from passing you too closely. If a car could not safely pass you in your lane when you’re riding a safe distance from the curb, it shouldn’t, and you should not encourage them to do so by hugging the curb.
Stay out of right turn only lanes when continuing straight, and make left turns from the proper lane"

https://bikecalgary.org/resources/safety-and-the-law/

Literally no one is disputing you are legally allowed to cycle on any road except deerfoot.