Do you know how to ride a bike?

[M A V I C]

Another thread here got me thinking. It seems most people in my area don't know how to ride a bike. Well, they know how, but they don't know the rules of the road.

The first no-no I see often is people riding bikes on the sidewalk. My understanding is that's illegal in this state. Bikes are to follow the same rules as cars. I find this most irritating when a bicyclist decides to ride their bike across a crosswalk like that gives them some sort of right-of-way.

Bicyclists often feel the need to run lights or otherwise disobey traffic signs and signals. They also often ignore pedestrians.

I find these things irritating. This is mainly because I bike a lot, and when other bicyclists disobey the laws and thus piss-off drivers and pedestrians, I end up getting treated like crap when I'm riding.

Do you bike a lot? If so, do you know the rules of the road in your area?

[Seacrest]

California Vehicle Code re bicycles: http://www.marinbike.org/Campaigns/Share...eCVC.shtml

http://www.marinbike.org/Campaigns/Share...ntro.shtml

[Filliam H. Muffman]

Since I have a motorcycle license and bike a lot I am pretty sure I know the rules better than average. The law I see bicyclists breaking the most is running stop signs on heavily traveled bike routes. It seems like since there are a lot of bikes in a couple of intersections, they expect people to be on the lookout for them.

There is one location where I see a lot of bikes riding on the sidewalk but it is on a bike route where the bike lane goes away for two blocks. It is a very narsty section because the car lane is very narrow and has high turnover parallel parking.

[Racer X]

Mavic, those who do obey the rules for cyclists here locally are probably well under 10%, probably closer to 3-5%.

That 95% or so make it so hard for those like my wife to commute to work safely, even when 3/4 of her commute is on bike paths.

I was riding in a friend's car about 6 weeks ago, and he was just livid about a cyclist up ahead, and the cyclist hadn't even done anything wrong....yet. Of course when he did, he proved my friend right. But, remember, my friend was pissed before anything negative had even happened. So many here are predisposed to assume that cyclists are jerks, and don't obey the law, much less common courtesy, that they have run-ins with cyclists. And the cyclists have done it to themselves, for the most part, by being arrogant. Remember, the average car driver will completely forget the one conscientious cyclist, because the other 19 they saw that day were jerks. And when they do notice a cyclist being safe and courteous, it is the rare exception, and is soon forgotten, because the next cyclist is a complete asshat.

[M A V I C]

Racer X, that's exactly what I'm saying. You know the area I bike too...

[Racer X]

what really causes problems, is when the yeahoo cyclist meets up with the yeahoo moms with the strollers, and no one understands the etiquette of the paths, like 4 abreast is idiotic.

[mikebw]

I don't know the actual laws in my area, but I walk and drive a lot and I consider biking to be a hybrid of those rules. Respect pedestrians, just like you would in a car. Watch out for yourself, just like you would as a ped or in a car. You can't count on the other guy to see you.

Riding on the sidewalk is a grey area to me. If there are peds on the sidewalk they should have first rights to it, but if the sidewalk is empty I see no reason why a bicycle can't go on it. Just go around the peds when necessary.
Reason for this is because you can't always safely ride on the same road as cars do, just a fact of life. If I don't feel safe on the road I'm getting off.

[DaviDC.]

I can't imagine someone on a bike running a red light. I always stopped at 'em but often continued on my way before the light turned green if the coast was clear. I even had a crazy man yell at me for doing this once. Was that you?

[BigGuynRusty]

I have "accidentally" elbowed several sidewalk riders in town. Oopsie!

BGnR

[RAMd®d]

.