Driving behind cyclists...

[MaddSkillz]

I'd just like it if they obeyed stop signs. I almost killed a guy headed out to the gun club one afternoon. He had a stop sign and I didn't, he looked right at me and came on out into the intersection. I was able to unclench my butt just as he was riding peacefully away.

Actually, you cyclists tell me. Do the traffic laws apply to you as well or do you have right of way even with a stop sign.

Not being a turd, I'd really like to know.

We are to obey all the traffic laws just as a motorists... However, I break the speed limit rather frequently when riding so you can hate me for that. It's rather epic when it occurs.

And then there is the issue of my bike and myself only weighing close to 180 pounds total and the friggen stop light has to hate... Even the stop lights don't like us. So I wait.... and I wait some more and then I'm like "WTF ever!!!" and blaze through the intersection. I know, I'm a horrible human being. But what am I supposed to do?

 

[bettingpython]

We are to obey all the traffic laws just as a motorists... However, I break the speed limit rather frequently when riding so you can hate me for that. It's rather epic when it occurs.

And then there is the issue of my bike and myself only weighing close to 180 pounds total and the friggen stop light has to hate... Even the stop lights don't like us. So I wait.... and I wait some more and then I'm like "WTF ever!!!" and blaze through the intersection. I know, I'm a horrible human being. But what am I supposed to do?

You know we got the legislation alowing motorcycles to proceed or turn on a red passed right? You still have stop and wait then proceed with caution and at your own risk but it sure helps us motorcyclists that are stuck sitting at intersections where we don't have enough mass to trigger the magnetic induction loop. Same thing should apply to a bicycle.

 

[waltham41]

maby because he has every right to that lane just like you.

If they are to be given every right a car has and then some, why do they not have to have a state issued tag and liability insurance on their bike like we have to have on our autos.

Serious question.

 

[MaddSkillz]

You know we got the legislation alowing motorcycles to proceed or turn on a red passed right? You still have stop and wait then proceed with caution and at your own risk but it sure helps us motorcyclists that are stuck sitting at intersections where we don't have enough mass to trigger the magnetic induction loop. Same thing should apply to a bicycle.

Ohhhhhh, I did not know that! That's actually very good info to know! Thanks!

And honestly, I hate doing it. It's just me and a bike relying on my good judgment. And Lord knows we all make mistakes... I hate the feeling of riding through an intersection on red. I get all anxious about it so I haul a$$ after checking all directions numerous times.

 

[technetium-99m]

Makes sense, The cross street had a sign, not me.

What freaks me out, out there is the vegetation on the sides of the road makes it hard to see what may be approaching on a cross street. It's not real wide open where you can see the traffic on each road a good ways off.

Starting to ride a motorcycle around has made me notice a lot of this stuff. I think the brief time I've spent on a bike has turned my traffic awareness up a few notches. I understand the red light thing, a few lights won't even set off with me and a 500 pound motorcycle just chilling there. The good thing I guess is that the motorcycle has good acceleration.

 

[bettingpython]

Ohhhhhh, I did not know that! That's actually very good info to know! Thanks!

And honestly, I hate doing it. It's just me and a bike relying on my good judgment. And Lord knows we all make mistakes... I hate the feeling of riding through an intersection on red. I get all anxious about it so I haul a$$ after checking all directions numerous times.

Becomes law in November fyi, when all the other passed legislation becomes law.

 

[Parks 788]

It's a 'chicken or the egg' problem. Bad cyclists give us all a bad name while bad drivers do the same. Who started it? who cares. I've had full coke cans thrown at me while riding when there wasn't another car for miles around. It doesn't take me doing anything wrong for some motorists to take issue with my presence on the road.

It's funny you think the cyclists need to change, though. If they aren't breaking the law then why is it a 'them' issue? I agree that cyclists need to be respectful and courteous, but in very few places is 'driving too slowly' a crime. I've seen two semis try to pass each other going up a hill and slowed traffic down as much as a good pack of cyclists, yet it is just a normal part of driving when it's another motorized vehicle... I hate it when cyclists break the law since it reflects poorly on all of us. If police want to start pulling over cyclists for breaking the law, then i am all for it, so long as they pull the motorists over as well.

I'll never understand how a car killing a bunch of riders will do anything to change the situation, though. If someone is mad enough to want to hurt another person just because they are making them slow down, then they probably shouldn't be driving in the first place. I've never bought the motorist argument about riders being too slow. A driver would never think of plowing into a tractor or other slow moving vehicle just because it wasn't going the speed limit, but a group of cyclists is a target for their rage?

Don't know all the laws in all the counties and states regarding this topic but in many places going to slow while driving is reason for being pulled over. I assume it is a safety issue for the slower and faster cars alike. If the bikes are going too slow in a lane for motorists and the bikes have the same rights as vehicles then they should be cited.

Funny how you think a bunch of cyclist riding in a vehicle lane, doing 25mph, is not a reason for drivers to get angry. At least a tractor on the streets will have the courtesy to use a pull out to let cars pass. Generally speaking, cyclist don't have that same courtesy.

And don't get me started on the way Tractor trailer drivers drive and feel like they own the road. I'm in sales and drive approx 50K miles a year and see the piss-poor attitude they have towards motor vehicles.

 

[tm8634]

Oh, and i should add that several states have a 3-foot law now. Cars are required to give a cyclist 3 feet on any side when following or passing or risk getting ticketed.

*amn thats stupid but i do feel sorry for the people that do ride, its bad enuf driving with these *amn idiots in vehicles, even more so on anything other than a vehicle...

 

[sigsilly]

Try driving around Lake Hefner some week end where there are over 15 miles of bike paths. There will be traffic backed up behind some single bike rider riding down the middle of the road, 15 feet or so away from an empty bike trail.
Some bikers are just asking to become hood ornaments.
When I ride, I stay the hell out of the road, especially on the main thoroughfares.
I'd hate to end up going through someone's windshield and end up in their front seat.
I don't think we'd have much of a conversation that way.

 

[donner]

Don't know all the laws in all the counties and states regarding this topic but in many places going to slow while driving is reason for being pulled over. I assume it is a safety issue for the slower and faster cars alike. If the bikes are going too slow in a lane for motorists and the bikes have the same rights as vehicles then they should be cited.

Funny how you think a bunch of cyclist riding in a vehicle lane, doing 25mph, is not a reason for drivers to get angry. At least a tractor on the streets will have the courtesy to use a pull out to let cars pass. Generally speaking, cyclist don't have that same courtesy.

A bike, my legal definition, is a vehicle, though. So the bike can be in the lane. I agree that cars should be waved around when possible. I don't want to anger anyone since i know they could hit me and feel nothing more than a bump, but I also don't them to force the issue if i haven't waved them around. We've had cars try to pass up on uphill, only to realize they couldn't make it, so what usually happens? They merge back onto the cyclist and force us off the road.

Also, your premise assumes that the vehicle in question is capable of going at the speed limit. One turnpikes and such, bikes are forbidden for that reason, they can't keep up. But on your average city street, there is no such stipulation, so it's no illegal to be going as fast as you can since it's assumed that you are a slow moving vehicle.

My bigger point, though, is i don't understand why someone being delayed by a cyclist, or anyone for that matter, can get them so angry that they'd risk another person's life. Tonight is an example. We literally had someone buzz within 2 feet of us, only to slam on the breaks and make a right turn not 40 feet after passing us. Do they really need to risk killing one of us in order to get into their driveway 20 seconds sooner?

Cyclists are like motorists, some are courteous, some are a-holes.