Share the road?

[url]www.bikehacks.com/bikehacks/2012/02/pizza-delivery-front-rack-hack.html[/url]

Lisbon, Portugal

I know when I was growing if you went to cross a street on foot or bike, it was drilled into your head by your parents to Stop, Look Both Ways, Walk.......Not any more.

you see some out jogging and they just continue on across the street with ear buds a blasting. Not sure about you but even if you are in the right....a car bumper is going to do some damage.

[QUOTE=Polarbear;775150]You want radical bicycle folk, find San Fransisico, Santa Cruz and the like! We have 'em in mass. They do have some point to their "madness", just like us bikers on mc's. Cage drivers rarely pay attention to any two wheelers, so they do their best to ignor most rules and push it! It gets ugly at times, even for us fellow bikers with engines. Randy:dance[/QUOTE]
I was driving in Palo Alto a month ago. I watched dozens of bicycle riders who regularly blew stop lights. I ride bicycles too so it sorta ticks me off when I see bicycle riders ignoring the rules of the road.

[QUOTE=David13;776889]Yes, the law requires them to give the bicyclist 4 feet of space, even if it means crossing the double yellow line with danger to the racing maniac motorist, or, he can slow his raggedy a** down and show some courtesy to someone else in this world. And wait for a safe moment to pass. Oh, no, wait, he can't. He is too big and important to do anything other than race his car like a maniac. Big and important, just like a pizza delivery boy.
Here is Los Angeles (I haven't been to PA for a few years) they drive like frantic maniacs. Like 'get this pizza over on Main Street in 5 minutes, or you have to pay for it.'
Training? Are you joking? What training or education do the car drivers get? None, as far as it showing.
dc[/QUOTE]

I live in Lancaster County, with plenty of Amish buggies, Old Order Mennonites on bicycles, and Amish on foot powered scooters, so am used to slowing my raggedy a** down for others. What frustrates me, and most people I know, are the bicyclists who are 2-4 abreast who refuse to follow the laws that they demand I follow. I gladly slow and wait due to oncoming traffic, but when there is a herd riding 2-4 abreast, and no traffic, but I can't give the required 4' to get arouind, it is frustrating. I know that my insurance will go up, but quite honestly, I won't be the one in the ER if I happen to bump one of these idiots as I try to get around them without going off the road. That seems to be the one thing they forget, my car has bumpers, seat belts, and 8 airbags. Right or wrong, they are the ones with broken bones, road rash or worse. You'd think they would be more concerned with their own safety.........

For the record, my last speeding ticket was in 1984, and I have never caused an accident, so no, I don't make a habit of bumping bicyclists.

Just sayin'

[QUOTE=glenfiddich] I figure there's nothing I can do to change the minds or behaviors of the more militant bicyclists, so I treat them all like deer. Oblivious and totally unpredictable. Getting mad at a bicyclist is about as effective as getting mad at a deer. Hitting one is probably about as painful.[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=tkbaker4;775209]
and probably more expensive. The bicyclist will hire a lawyer. :fight[/QUOTE]

Not only that but you can't hit a bicyclist and kill him, (COMPLETELY accidentally OF COURSE)
then take him home,
cut him up, and
put him in your freezer for future meals. :eat

like you can a deer.

Totally a lose/lose situation. :blush

:bolt

In my experience, bicyclists seem to think that they can behave like motorized vehicles when they want; then behave like pedestrians when they want.

I saw something so fantastic one day in Huntington Beach, Ca. that I thought I ought to post it here. Apparently, most bicyclists believe that they don't need to obey traffic laws at some locations. Like when they make right turns against a red light. Well, one day on my way home from work, this group of about 20 bicyclists blast thru a red light making a right turn. The policeman was waiting for them about 50 yards from the intersection and waved them all over. I didn't hang around to find out what happened, but was later told by a policeman that failure for a bicyclist to stop at a red light is a moving violation, same as if they were in a car.

I like to think that they all got tickets and for all of them, they got big fines and their car insurance rates went up.

[QUOTE=bmwrider88;840071]Not only that but you can't hit a bicyclist and kill him, (COMPLETELY accidentally OF COURSE)
then take him home,
cut him up, and
put him in your freezer for future meals. :eat

like you can a deer.

Totally a lose/lose situation. :blush

:bolt[/QUOTE]

Well, technically you can...it is just not going to win you a lot of friends...:laugh

My 1150 is very quiet, and it's not necessarily evident to a cyclist that I am approaching or overtaking. As a courtesy, I simultaneously scream and blow my horn as I get close. It takes a village.

[QUOTE=175781;840213]My 1150 is very quiet, and it's not necessarily evident to a cyclist that I am approaching or overtaking. As a courtesy, I simultaneously scream and blow my horn as I get close. It takes a village.[/QUOTE]

your RT is not so quiet that we can't hear it approaching (unless the cyclist has earphones in, which is tough to battle against, and kinda stupid to do on public roads). the scream and loud horn when near us just serves to startle us, possibly tweaking us in the wrong direction. (think- what happens to you on the RT when you get startled by a loud vehicle that comes up upon you unexpectedly?).
I'd advise that you make sure you use the horn (if you still insist upon doing so, even tho it's really not necessary) some several hundred yards before reaching us. a light "toot" is plenty, no big "honks", please.

You know I was kidding.


A world of twisties and elevation abounds starting at the edge of my driveway. It is very common to encounter singles, pairs, or entire postal teams of riders in my area, particularly on weekends. As a result, I've taken to strapping a Chuckie doll to my back, facing rearward, holding a video camera. I turn on my 4 way flashers and trail or move alongside the peloton. I hope, in some small way to contribute to the aire de Tour.

There are vehicle drivers that blow stop signs, stop lights, weave all over while texting and do other dangerous driving antics. There also bicyclists who disobey rules. It is hard to understand all the rage on this forum against bicyclists. Most of the ones in my area obey the rules. There are a few young racing types that don't.

It is great to see people out on bicycles that want to lead a healthy life style and not pollute the environment. Don't judge an entire group of people because of a few bad characters whether it is motorists, bicyclists, pedestrians or people of other faiths and races.

The rage I have is because the road I live on the local bike club use it for theirs group rides. This is with no regards with the other traffic. They ride in a large pack and will not let other traffic get a round. I have talked to them and they don't give a sh t. Even calling the police about this has not helped. There are soo many blind curves that if you did not know they are on the road you could hit one. Around here they act like one percentrs when it is mor like 99%.

I am also a bicycle rider was in a club many years ago. Our group rides were small packs most of the time single file.

Don

I guess eastern NC where I live is different.

In town there are few bicycles. Traffic is constant and moves prety quickly and the place has the highest accident rates in the state due to poor road planning, visual clutter and tons of kids and tourists. Bicyclists in genernal don't seem to get much kick out of riding in it and it would be insanely dangerous in many places- though there are a few bike lanes..

Outside of town, we've got lots of twisties in the country but few stop signs, lots of spots to easily pass, etc so despite the fact that one sometimes sees group rides of bicyclists and motorcyclists passing each other, tensions are pretty rare.

When I see them out in the country, I usually have sympathy for those nuts enough to want to pedal in our hot, humid summer weather and knowing that a passing spot is coming up, can leave plenty of room for everyone.

We're not totally free of those irrational urban tensions here but a lot less than some other more uptight places.

[QUOTE=nardowell;844612]There are vehicle drivers that blow stop signs, stop lights, weave all over while texting and do other dangerous driving antics. There also bicyclists who disobey rules. It is hard to understand all the rage on this forum against bicyclists. Most of the ones in my area obey the rules. There are a few young racing types that don't.

It is great to see people out on bicycles that want to lead a healthy life style and not pollute the environment. Don't judge an entire group of people because of a few bad characters whether it is motorists, bicyclists, pedestrians or people of other faiths and races.[/QUOTE]

While that seems like a reasonable summation of the situation with bicycle riders, my experience is that they, by and large, as a group, ignore many traffic rules. Colorado has a large number of healthy, fit riders who run red lights with regularity. Just sit at an intersection in the south part of the Denver Metro area and observe.

In NW Michigan last summer, there were hundreds of them on some type of multi day, group ride (in the hundreds) and they pretty much did what they wanted w/o any regard to rules of the road or the other traffic.

I have to admire their extra large testes. No protective gear (well there is a "helmet" that certainly wouldn't pass as a DOT approved helmet) spandex instead of armored jacket and pants insuring that a get off would be sure road rash or worse.

I will give you that the squid who does wheelies on I 70 in traffic in St. Louis gives motorcyclist a bad name. But they are the exception in my part of the country. We don't even lane split here.