Do bicyclists have more respect from motorists now ;-)

[cbelt3]

Well, according to Mr. Carlin... when you're in a car, cyclists are usually idiots. When you're on a bike, car drivers are usually maniacs.

I will agree with the general comment that cyclists, in the main, do not follow the motor vehicle laws. So I always wave and smile when I see one signaling, stopping at a stop light or stop sign, watching for pedestrians, etc..

In our suburban white-bread town the PD will occasionally give out 'awards' to kids they see riding their bikes legally... helmet, obeying traffic rules, etc. The 'ticket' gives the kid a free ice cream cone. My kids all got one last year.

[Kraniac]

cbelt3 wrote:
Well, according to Mr. Carlin... when you're in a car, cyclists are usually idiots. When you're on a bike, car drivers are usually maniacs.

I will agree with the general comment that cyclists, in the main, do not follow the motor vehicle laws. So I always wave and smile when I see one signaling, stopping at a stop light or stop sign, watching for pedestrians, etc..

In our suburban white-bread town the PD will occasionally give out 'awards' to kids they see riding their bikes legally... helmet, obeying traffic rules, etc. The 'ticket' gives the kid a free ice cream cone. My kids all got one last year.

Awesome, my tax dollars bought your son an ice cream cone...i wonder how much that ice cream cone cost when it hit the municipal ledger? OMG...what a horrible waste of my registration fee's proceeds..i would have hoped for a nice path down a woody lane.

: )

[davester]

This kind of polarizing argumentation is absurd. Most bike riders are also car drivers. Many car drivers are also bike riders. There are reasonable intelligent people in both clubs, just like there are reactionary morons in both clubs.

A couple of observations:

1. Many car drivers bitch and moan about bike riders not stopping at stop signs. Reality check: It doesn't matter from a safety standpoint. Also, few car drivers actually stop at stop signs. They think that they do, but it just feels that way because slowing down to 4 mph feels like a stop. Just stand at a stop sign and watch...you'll see that the cars don't stop any more than the bike riders.

2. Traffic rules are designed to stop people driving deadly 4,000 lb monsters from killing others. It is plain stupid to apply the same rules to bicycles. Also note that a car driver has 200 hp available at the twitch of a foot. The same stop and start motion for a bike involves massive energy output on the part of the cyclist. Idaho has adopted intelligent bike traffic laws that allow running of red lights, stop signs, etc if due care is exercised. Most of the country remains mired in stupidity. The law is an ass.

3. If a car driver breaks a law, chances are good that somebody else's life is at risk. If a bike rider breaks a law, chances are good that only the bike rider's life is at risk.

[Speedy]

The cones were donated by a business. The police are there to protect and serve which includes keeping kids safe.

Kraniac wrote:
[quote=cbelt3]
Well, according to Mr. Carlin... when you're in a car, cyclists are usually idiots. When you're on a bike, car drivers are usually maniacs.

I will agree with the general comment that cyclists, in the main, do not follow the motor vehicle laws. So I always wave and smile when I see one signaling, stopping at a stop light or stop sign, watching for pedestrians, etc..

In our suburban white-bread town the PD will occasionally give out 'awards' to kids they see riding their bikes legally... helmet, obeying traffic rules, etc. The 'ticket' gives the kid a free ice cream cone. My kids all got one last year.

Awesome, my tax dollars bought your son an ice cream cone...i wonder how much that ice cream cone cost when it hit the municipal ledger? OMG...what a horrible waste of my registration fee's proceeds..i would have hoped for a nice path down a woody lane.

: )

[Mr Downtown]

I ride almost entirely in downtown Chicago. Curiously, the biggest problem I have is with pedestrians who will step right in front of me (against the signal). Occasionally I get the SUV driver, infuriated that I'm occupying my lane on an uncongested four-lane street. Listen, guy, if I thought there was room for you to safely pass me, I'd be over to the right. And how am I more of an obstacle than the double-parked UPS truck just ahead?

Unless you're in a place with one-way streets, those guys you see riding on the wrong side of the road are probably Mexican immigrants used to unlighted rural highways. Sometimes they're old black guys who learned the same rule down South.

[Fritz]

I cycle. I pass some stop signs. I always signal and I keep my eye open for driving jackasses.
One guy yelled at me to get off the friggin road. WTF? He should lose his license as he hasn't any idea of vehicle laws in NYS. It's just as legal for me to ride down the road as it is for him.

In my neck of the woods, the roads are very poorly maintained. I suspect that much of populated America is in the same shape owing to political economics. I smashed the rim of my old cycle a couple years back on an unmaintained concrete roadway. Remember them? Roadways that could last 50 years but unfortunately reduce state worker jobs. Blacktop much better. Every 2 years they need a resurface. ONly problem is, except Midtown Manhattan, that don't happen.

When I drive, I give cyclists plenty of room, I slow down, and I don't mind if they pass stop signs. It's my job as the operator of the bigger, faster, etc,vehicle to keep my eyes open. I find cyclists (at least in the burbs) a lot more observant and careful then most drivers.

In Manhattan, I do notice particularly delivery cyclists with total disregard for anybody, anything.

I share Kraniacs angry view of driver, except I never, ever ride at night.
There is no entitlement to motor vehicle operation/ownership.
Pay attention. Don't be on your f'in' cell driving a Humjob, putting on lipstick, drinking coffee, yelling at the kids in the back seat, making a left turn into oncoming traffic. Driving and multi-tasking don't mix.

Davester makes good points.

When 5 way video cameras become more common, and they will, there will be many cops who lose their job and many many many motorists who will learn about walking or cycling.

I find myself using my horn a lot more often with SUVs, Mercs and Beemer drivers. Fsckin inconsiderate.

[kap]

My office worker outfit seems to make car drivers considerate 99% of the time. It's the other % that worries me even when I am in a car.

[davester]

Fritz wrote:
I find myself using my horn a lot more often with SUVs, Mercs and Beemer drivers. Fsckin inconsiderate.

Hey, that's me (except that second part).

[RAMd®d]

What does the article have to do with earning respect?

So an offender runs a STOP sign and almost hits me, and then goes to traffic school? That supposed to garner some respect? How about going to traffic school and paying a high fee as well? No respect garnered, but there is some parity. Bike or car, it's not what you drive/ride, but how you drive/ride it.


Dman...I'd bet a hunderd that that bikist had you timed perfectly...was not going to hit you..

What an idiotic statement by a self-righteous arrogant asshole. If I timed my move in a car or on my motorcycle just like, that you'd be peeing in your latex panties and screaming like a little cycle-bitch. You know you would. Don't lie. You paint with a very broad brush and a very narrow mind. You know it's true.

That said, I too see a lot more bonehead motorists than cyclists. But in the interest of truth and accuracy, I see a lot more motorists than cyclists. Around here in the city, I rarely see cyclists coming close to obeying traffic laws.

And cycling at night. It's been years since I've seen a cyclist with a headlight or taillight on their bikes. Dinky little reflectors, and sometimes flashing lights, usually not very bright. Not so bad in well lit areas, but that's not the rule around here.

I don't ride a bicycle much any more because of the heavy traffic. When I do, I obey all traffic laws accept one- I ride against traffic. You don't like it, get out of your car and we can discuss it. I don't ride fast, and I like keeping tabs on traffic far better than trying to use a mirror.

This helps me greatly with one of my pet peeves- cars making right turns while cyclists pass them on the right. Scooters do this too. A car makes a right turn in front of you with no signal and no regard for the fact that you're their legally, or not stopping for the red light or STOP sign. A cyclist tries to shoot by before you make your turn and you have to stop before picking spokes out of your tires. Another variation is a cyclist shooting off a sidewalk across the intersection while a car makes a legal right turn.

It cuts both ways. A dickhead on a bike is likely a dickhead in a car, and vice versa. It's a damn good thing [Kraniac] doesn't drive. Or maybe he does and this is just all Saturday morning posturing.

All of you hot-heads, regardlesss of what you drive, can strive for some cathartic solace by vilifying various vehicle operators. Cyclists blame everything with an engine or motor for their ills. Motorcyclists blame cars, cars blame SUVs and trucks, SUVs blame trucks, and all have very like had problems with bicyclists. Oh yeah, what about soccer moms, the scourge of the road. It's a cycle. lol.

Everybody wants to blame a stereo-typ, yet claim to be unbiased. Bias is most often a result of ignorance and intolerance. (Those people are probably racists, too. They just hide that a little better.)

Kraniac is just today's most blatant example.


When 5 way video cameras become more common, and they will,

You're dreaming. Technically, you may be correct with "more", but they will be far from common. There is always a huge outcry when a red-light camera or right turn on red camera goes up. Don't hold your breath on "common".


there will be many cops who lose their job

There are already many cops losing their jobs, but is seldom and very likely be impacted by traffic cameras.


and many many many motorists who will learn about walking or cycling

Again, a pipe dream. Unfortunately, there will be many many many pedestrians and cyclists along with motorists who will never learn.

Operating *any* vehicle without care or regard for the safety of others is never an entitlement. Idiots can blame the vehicle, but it's the idiot operating it, regardless of how many wheels it has, or how it's powered.

[kap]

RAMd®d wrote:
What does the article have to do with earning respect?

I jest ... I jest.
Seriously, since cyclists must obey the same rules of roads and subjected to the same penalties as motorists then it is only fair that cyclists deserve the same privileges and respect. Of course, all that goes out the window when both break the rules.