Cyclists actually acting indignant that the police had the gaul to ticket a group that ran a stop sign. I hated cyclists with a passion before, and this isn't helping (neither is that ridiculous bicycle lane design on 7th St downtown)
All we ever hear is how cyclists annoy people in cars, people in cars piss off motorcyclists, motorcyclists piss off pedestrians, pedestrians piss off cyclists...on and on and on.
Like I said before (and got dissed for it), anywhere there are people, there are people who hate them. Welcome to our selfish little world.
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Car or bike I know I would be treating that as a yield instead of a full stop. Especially if I was familiar with the area.
It is funny how people hate cyclists because they are not one. If a driver does something wrong while driving they are a dumbass, idiot, #######, etc (all individual). Yet when it is a cyclist all of them get blamed. I guess the same goes for BMW drivers?
No offence, but you are the reason I make a clear delineation between a cyclist and bicyclist. I hope you learn different before that little sticker on the side of every car called curb weight doesn't overcome your positive attitude.
Flow and 3000 lb vehicles will kill you instantly. There is no flow.
You obviously don't know what it's like to ride a bike here. Everyone pays a lot more attention to each other, cyclists and motorists included. It's not about attitude, it's about behaviour. I'm not criticizing Calgarians for their strict, quasi-German attention to rules and order, just pointing out that things can be different without people's heads exploding. Each way of doing things has advantages and disadvantages, but more than one perspective is generally useful.
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However why on earth would I read the comments to any article? I'd rather take a nice clean bullet to the head 99% of the time than read the drivel that gets posted in comment sections.
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Car or bike I know I would be treating that as a yield instead of a full stop. Especially if I was familiar with the area.
It is funny how people hate cyclists because they are not one. If a driver does something wrong while driving they are a dumbass, idiot, #######, etc (all individual). Yet when it is a cyclist all of them get blamed. I guess the same goes for BMW drivers?
I'm going on my own completely arbitrarily evidence here, but I feel like I see thousands of cars on the road everyday, and only 2-3 a day make me think "Jesus what the hell does this idiot think he's doing?" Where as I see maybe two dozen cyclist on the roads, of which 3-4 are riding on the sidewalks, switching between the road/sidewalk or even going the wrong way down one ways.
Now, like I said, this is all arbitrary numbers I'm making up from my own experiences around the city, but it sure "feels" like a much larger percentage of cyclist are ignoring the rules of the road than there are cars doing the same.
So that could be why cyclist are being grouped together more so than "all drivers."
Honestly, I just wish people would stop riding on the sidewalks, but it's not worth the time or effort on my part to ask then not to.
There's a flipside too, cyclists that adhere to rules of the road, but travel on roadways where they can't keep pace with traffic. It gets pretty silly.
There's a flipside too, cyclists that adhere to rules of the road, but travel on roadways where they can't keep pace with traffic. It gets pretty silly.
I kind of get the hatred when cyclists blatantly disregard the rules, but now they're a problem when they do?
Maybe I'm misreading the intent behind what you're saying, but it sounds like some pretty unfair expectations. I'd be annoyed to see a cyclist doing 30kph on Glenmore or Crowchild, but on regular city streets or downtown.....sounds pretty reasonable to me.
There were many, many trade offs as I understand in placing a two way on the left side on 7th - two being laneway access configurations, and the other big one being the number of parking stalls affected. This is the difficulty when changing the configuration of a roadway, or designing it in the first place, it is rarely ideal for all users.
As a rider, the experience of the 7th street lane is excellent. It's not at all unusual to see rather small children riding it.
That said, perhaps that could be addressed with a bus-activated left signal to advance the bus ahead of the 7th street traffic?
That wouldn't help with the rest of us who need to turn left into one of the allyways on 7th. It's so much harder now that not only do I have to wait for a break in pedestrians, but hope that a cyclist doesn't come flying down the lane that I can't see. They go down that lane so fast and they don't seem to realize that their visibility profile isn't that great. I've already seen one cyclist smoke into the back of a Porsche making a turn, and I've seen one yell at and flip off a bus driver making his turn onto 7th ave because it inconvenienced him for a little bit
And who thought that ripping out an entire lane of vehicle traffic to give to bikes was a good idea? That might fly in Vancouver or cities in the US, but for 8 months of the year we have this thing called winter in Calgary and aside from a few diehards that lane will see zero use during that time. Catering to a small minority of people who only ride bikes during a few months of the year seems like a huge waste of money and resources
The problem I have with cyclists is that a lot of them want the best of every world. For every 1 that follows the rules of the road, there are 9 of them that don't.
Drive on the road and come to a stop sign? become a pedestrian and cut across the cross-walk and make the vehicles on the other road stop, red light? Look both ways and weave across the road. Slow traffic? Cut on the sidewalk and drive it for a while.
They want to analyze who has the right of way so they have the choice of blowing through it?
I suppose you didn't watch the video. It specifically addresses the notion of "blowing through". Would not embolden this kind of behavior (the example punishes such a move more severely on fact).
That wouldn't help with the rest of us who need to turn left into one of the allyways on 7th. It's so much harder now that not only do I have to wait for a break in pedestrians, but hope that a cyclist doesn't come flying down the lane that I can't see. They go down that lane so fast and they don't seem to realize that their visibility profile isn't that great. I've already seen one cyclist smoke into the back of a Porsche making a turn, and I've seen one yell at and flip off a bus driver making his turn onto 7th ave because it inconvenienced him for a little bit
And who thought that ripping out an entire lane of vehicle traffic to give to bikes was a good idea? That might fly in Vancouver or cities in the US, but for 8 months of the year we have this thing called winter in Calgary and aside from a few diehards that lane will see zero use during that time. Catering to a small minority of people who only ride bikes during a few months of the year seems like a huge waste of money and resources
Why bother dedicating any money or space on outdoor pools? Golf courses? Baseball diamonds? Parks in general? Much fewer or no users at all in winters. I don't buy the argument that winter should be an excuse not to provide infrastructure for users. Yes, fewer people will ride in winter, but the better the infrastructure and maintenance, the more will overall. Snow and ice is a much bigger factor than temperature for cyclists - if there's space that's properly cleared and maintained, many will continue to use it. Rain is a much bigger annoyance riding. Our cycling coordinator came from Arizona, where he says heat fended off more cyclists for 6 months of the year than cold fends off cyclists in Calgary.
In any event - cycle lanes will only ever be on a fraction of roadways - and its budget allocation currently stands at about 2% of the overall transportation capital budget. The issue is often blown way out of proportion.
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I'm going on my own completely arbitrarily evidence here, but I feel like I see thousands of cars on the road everyday, and only 2-3 a day make me think "Jesus what the hell does this idiot think he's doing?" Where as I see maybe two dozen cyclist on the roads, of which 3-4 are riding on the sidewalks, switching between the road/sidewalk or even going the wrong way down one ways.
Now, like I said, this is all arbitrary numbers I'm making up from my own experiences around the city, but it sure "feels" like a much larger percentage of cyclist are ignoring the rules of the road than there are cars doing the same.
So that could be why cyclist are being grouped together more so than "all drivers."
Honestly, I just wish people would stop riding on the sidewalks, but it's not worth the time or effort on my part to ask then not to.
See now here's the thing -- I ride my bike on the road and I ride my bike on the sidewalk. I never want to be on the sidewalk. The sidewalk sucks. It's too slow. I want to be on the road at all times. The only reason I'm on the sidewalk is because the road beside me at the time is too dangerous. If it's safe, I'll be on the road. If it's not, the sidewalk it is.
I do get you on that "it's not worth the time or effort" part though. Every time someone says "get off the sidewalk" to me, it's not worth the time or effort for me to stop and say "this is a two lane road at rush hour with cars parked on both sides and doors opening and people speeding and honking and not signaling and passing me then immediately turning right in front of me and doing all sorts of crazy $hit that it could kill me in an instant, so here I am shambling along the sidewalk barely any faster than you, but if it was safe for me to be out there, I'd be home by now, and I'd much rather be home now sipping a Bartles & Jaymes than here talking to you, but this is where God put us at this moment, and He has his reasons...".
It takes forever. So I usually ignore them or tell them to #### off.
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See now here's the thing -- I ride my bike on the road and I ride my bike on the sidewalk. I never want to be on the sidewalk. The sidewalk sucks. It's too slow. I want to be on the road at all times. The only reason I'm on the sidewalk is because the road beside me at the time is too dangerous. If it's safe, I'll be on the road. If it's not, the sidewalk it is.
I do get you on that "it's not worth the time or effort" part though. Every time someone says "get off the sidewalk" to me, it's not worth the time or effort for me to stop and say "this is a two lane road at rush hour with cars parked on both sides and doors opening and people speeding and honking and not signaling and passing me then immediately turning right in front of me and doing all sorts of crazy $hit that it could kill me in an instant, so here I am shambling along the sidewalk barely any faster than you, but if it was safe for me to be out there, I'd be home by now, and I'd much rather be home now sipping a Bartles & Jaymes than here talking to you, but this is where God put us at this moment, and He has his reasons...".
It takes forever. So I usually ignore them or tell them to #### off.
If you never want to be on the sidewalk, then why do you go there? Oh because the road is too dangerous? Perhaps if you weren't in a rush (which most cyclists seem to be) and showed the patience that most motorists show during rush hour then you would find yourself in far fewer "dangerous situations." As far as I am concerned, the only cyclists that should be using the sidewalk are kids.
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That might fly in Vancouver or cities in the US, but for 8 months of the year we have this thing called winter in Calgary and aside from a few diehards that lane will see zero use during that time.
It really clears up mid-March and that stays until mid-October. And changes are coming where cycle heavy areas are given the proper street cleaning throughout the other months.
You just don't understand how scared some are to cycle on the roads though. I know quite a few people that are fully capable riders, ride the paths all the time, but will not ride on the road because they are too scared to. These are guys and girls of varying ages. They do drive so it's not a lack of road knowledge that is stopping them.
Provide proper lanes such as blocked off bike lanes and many of these same people have no issues riding in them.
If a bike lane is not sectioned off between the rest of traffic and the sidewalk you may as well not even have a cycle lane. 10th ave? It's mainly a joke the amount of cars that disregard the law parking there when they shouldn't or hopping in and using it as a lane during cycling hours.
When I'm biking and I come across a busy road with a lot of traffic I admit that I turn into a pedestrian, hit the button and walk across the road in the crosswalk. There's just no way I can get my speed up to cross the road safely in the small gaps that are there. I could be there all day.
I also only stop at stop signs when there's traffic. I don't see the point otherwise. I'll coast into it so that I don't encounter any surprises that I can't react to, but I'm not going to stop.
When I'm biking and I come across a busy road with a lot of traffic I admit that I turn into a pedestrian, hit the button and walk across the road in the crosswalk. There's just no way I can get my speed up to cross the road safely in the small gaps that are there. I could be there all day.
I also only stop at stop signs when there's traffic. I don't see the point otherwise. I'll coast into it so that I don't encounter any surprises that I can't react to, but I'm not going to stop.
Flame away.
I see nothing wrong with that. Unless, of course, you actually remain on the bike when you cross the road on the crosswalk (which isn't the same thing at all).
The second part, you should be ticketed for running a stop sign, same as a vehicle. IMO
If you never want to be on the sidewalk, then why do you go there? Oh because the road is too dangerous? Perhaps if you weren't in a rush (which most cyclists seem to be) and showed the patience that most motorists show during rush hour then you would find yourself in far fewer "dangerous situations." As far as I am concerned, the only cyclists that should be using the sidewalk are kids.
Out east they ticket bikes on sidewalks that have tires bigger than 24 inches. 90 dollar fine.
Had a friend who was turning right on a green light in his car in the farthest right lane possible (no bike lane) as a cyclist was attempting to go around him in the same lane and go straight.
The cyclist went over his hood, no serious injuries or damage to the bike, but proceeded to lose it on the guy. There happened to be a cop across the street trying to turn left at the same light, he comes over, the cyclist got this look like AHA, now you are going to get it! And the cop started reeming out the cyclist. It was sweet justice, I think the cyclist even ended up getting a ticket for something because he just wouldn't shut his mouth.
I bike to work about half the time, the other half I drive because I like to work out in the mornings and my gym is quite far from my work. And I hate cyclists. I would say 1/10 are actually respectful of the road laws, the rest just give us a bad name.
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If you never want to be on the sidewalk, then why do you go there? Oh because the road is too dangerous? Perhaps if you weren't in a rush (which most cyclists seem to be) and showed the patience that most motorists show during rush hour then you would find yourself in far fewer "dangerous situations." As far as I am concerned, the only cyclists that should be using the sidewalk are kids.
Here's the thing though, and I'm not a cyclist, but in heavy traffic it would only take 1 dumb motorist who's not paying attention and then there's a good chance the cyclist is severely injured or dead.
Saying "most motorists" show patience is irrelevant when you consider the size, weight and protective disparities between motorists and cyclists.
