As a long-distance road cyclist I can say the problem is SOMETIMES the cyclist not obeying traffic laws (especially bicycle messengers) but a bigger problem is inattentive automobile operators and/or those who seem oblivious to the fact that most communities have “share the road” laws.
Last time you past a cyclist in the road did you give him a minimum of 3′ of clearance? Did you slow down until you were able to provide that space? Or were you in such a rush because the chick at Starbucks messed up your Double-latte-frappa-mocha-whatever and now you’re late for work?
I’ve been knocked off my bike by trailer mirrors on the side of some gool-old boy’s pick-up.
I’ve had cars race to beat me to an intersection just to cut a tight turn in front of me because to wait for me to clear the intersection might have killed them.
I’ve had people lay on their horns because I was riding “responsibly” but taking up too much space to make it easy for them to drive with their knee while applying lipsick and talking on a cell phone.
Hello Kettle, This is Pot… watch the road or get off of it!
Roads were designed and intended for motor vehicles aka automobiles and trucks. Bicycles are an intrusion despite the many “share the road” laws. Some of the more modern roads have a designate “bike lane”. That makes good sense. But, the majority of roads, are just wide enough for a car. Bicycles are a hazard. They can be difficult to see since they’re small, narrow and on the side of the road. A car driver focues on his driving lane and to the left looking our for oncoming cars that might be drifing over the center line. Where is the car driver supposed to fing 3′ of clearance? And why should a car driver have to wait to be able to pass a bicycle? In a perfect world, cars, trucks, buses, tractors, horses, and bicycles would peacefully co-exist and share the highways. It ain’t a perfect world.
Sorry Anon, it’s almost always the bicyclist. Almost got one a few weeks ago, riding the wrong way down the street, against the light, I turned left and had my reflexes been just a hair’s breadth slower he’d have been a cooked goose. And a few days ago I almost got another riding in the center of the lane, facing in the wrong direction, going up a hill yet (so as to be totally invisible to any car coming up the other side of the hill on the correct side of the road). Again, good thing my reflexes are still fairly fast. Of course, bicyclists who do this (which is most of them) deserve to be dead for muddying up my gene pool with stupidity genes but then I have to deal with the police and possibly a lawsuit from their stupid relatives so I’d rather they just croak before they ever get on their child’s toy in the first place.
“Roads were designed and intended for motor vehicles aka automobiles and trucks”
Lets see… the Bible references people “on the road” to or from some place. Seems unlikely that you need to have a car to use a road. I’ve heard of God’s Fury before but I didn’t realize it was a Plymouth. (Get it?)
As Caveat mentioned: there’s a lot of cyclists who don’t follow the rules. But he also points out that motorists are watching their immediate lane or left for oncomming. I know when I drive I try to maintain full (or as full as possible) situational awareness. I’m not going to ignore the right of the vehicle just because I assume I’m not going to hit something there.
Then again, I also do not take phone calls, eat, apply makeup/shave, read maps, adjust radio stations, dig for something under my seat while driving… I’m not posing for saint photos here but these are all things I’ve seen motorists doing on “the roads meant for them”.
Cyclists aren’t perfect (far from it in many instances) but neither are motorists and plenty of law-abiding cyclists are killed every year by drunk and/or inattentive motorists.
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So many cyclists; so little time.
As a long-distance road cyclist I can say the problem is SOMETIMES the cyclist not obeying traffic laws (especially bicycle messengers) but a bigger problem is inattentive automobile operators and/or those who seem oblivious to the fact that most communities have “share the road” laws.
Last time you past a cyclist in the road did you give him a minimum of 3′ of clearance? Did you slow down until you were able to provide that space? Or were you in such a rush because the chick at Starbucks messed up your Double-latte-frappa-mocha-whatever and now you’re late for work?
I’ve been knocked off my bike by trailer mirrors on the side of some gool-old boy’s pick-up.
I’ve had cars race to beat me to an intersection just to cut a tight turn in front of me because to wait for me to clear the intersection might have killed them.
I’ve had people lay on their horns because I was riding “responsibly” but taking up too much space to make it easy for them to drive with their knee while applying lipsick and talking on a cell phone.
Hello Kettle, This is Pot… watch the road or get off of it!
Roads were designed and intended for motor vehicles aka automobiles and trucks. Bicycles are an intrusion despite the many “share the road” laws. Some of the more modern roads have a designate “bike lane”. That makes good sense. But, the majority of roads, are just wide enough for a car. Bicycles are a hazard. They can be difficult to see since they’re small, narrow and on the side of the road. A car driver focues on his driving lane and to the left looking our for oncoming cars that might be drifing over the center line. Where is the car driver supposed to fing 3′ of clearance? And why should a car driver have to wait to be able to pass a bicycle? In a perfect world, cars, trucks, buses, tractors, horses, and bicycles would peacefully co-exist and share the highways. It ain’t a perfect world.
Sorry Anon, it’s almost always the bicyclist. Almost got one a few weeks ago, riding the wrong way down the street, against the light, I turned left and had my reflexes been just a hair’s breadth slower he’d have been a cooked goose. And a few days ago I almost got another riding in the center of the lane, facing in the wrong direction, going up a hill yet (so as to be totally invisible to any car coming up the other side of the hill on the correct side of the road). Again, good thing my reflexes are still fairly fast. Of course, bicyclists who do this (which is most of them) deserve to be dead for muddying up my gene pool with stupidity genes but then I have to deal with the police and possibly a lawsuit from their stupid relatives so I’d rather they just croak before they ever get on their child’s toy in the first place.
“Roads were designed and intended for motor vehicles aka automobiles and trucks”
Lets see… the Bible references people “on the road” to or from some place. Seems unlikely that you need to have a car to use a road. I’ve heard of God’s Fury before but I didn’t realize it was a Plymouth. (Get it?)
As Caveat mentioned: there’s a lot of cyclists who don’t follow the rules. But he also points out that motorists are watching their immediate lane or left for oncomming. I know when I drive I try to maintain full (or as full as possible) situational awareness. I’m not going to ignore the right of the vehicle just because I assume I’m not going to hit something there.
Then again, I also do not take phone calls, eat, apply makeup/shave, read maps, adjust radio stations, dig for something under my seat while driving… I’m not posing for saint photos here but these are all things I’ve seen motorists doing on “the roads meant for them”.
Cyclists aren’t perfect (far from it in many instances) but neither are motorists and plenty of law-abiding cyclists are killed every year by drunk and/or inattentive motorists.