xiyangshen

This morning while rolling through a stop sign (with no traffic in sight) a pedestrian who had just crossed the street and was already on the other side walking away calls out "stop please!"
I didn't come up with a snappy comeback till way too late. But I thought about it for the next couple miles.

I stop for cars,
I stop for pedestrians,
I stop for dogs,
I stop for cats,
I stop for kids,
I stop for other bikes,
I stop to yield the right of way,
I (mostly) stop for lights,
I stop for cross traffic,
I stop for emergency vehicles,
I stop and smell the flowers,
I stop when the bridge is up,
I stop for flats,
I stop to take in the view and take a drink,
I stop for pie,
I stop to use the phone,
I stop to pee,
I stop at work,
I stop at home,
If I come to a stop sign and it doesn't include any of the above,
I don't stop!


Feel free to add anything I forgot.

RB1-luvr

Stop! ...Hammer Time.

Seattle Forrest

I love the poem ... and the reply!

This line was interesting: "I stop for emergency vehicles," because a few weeks ago, I almost got rear-ended (on my bike) stopping for an ambulance. I was on a major artery and heart a wailing siren, then saw it was coming down the road that was about to cross my path. So, I stopped at the intersection. Cars in the next lane flew by, and actually forced the ambulance to wait; the car behind me kept trying to cut into the other lane to get by. Finally, another car stopped next to me, and the ambulance was able to get moving again. I honestly couldn't believe it - there might have been a person dieing with a heart attack in the back of that thing, but drivers refused to give up their green light.

sd790

If you want the rights of being a vehicle on the road, you must treat yourself like one.

You should change your poem to include: I stop for stop signs.

trekker pete

when you say you rolled it, can i assume this means under 5 mph? if so, you should tell mr ped to mind his own damn bidness.

we have been through this many times here.

stopping requires coming out of your cleats (assuming you are clipless). this leaves you sitting there and requires your attention to get clipped back in as you proceed across the intersection. when i am crossing an intersection, i want to be concentrating on two things, getting across quickly and looking out for someone who is really running the stop sign.

why anyone has even the slightest bit of difficulty understanding this is beyond me, especially another cyclist who realizes what is involved.

has anyone here ever been ticketed for "running" a stop sign in such a manner? if i ever am, i will have my day in court and give the same explanation to the judge

sd790

I understand your point completely. I just disagree and think that it is more important to present ourselves as law-abiding cyclists than to be inconvenienced.

dscheidt

Who, if he's feeling nice, will tell you "don't ride something unsafe on the road, then". If he's not, he'll be a lot nastier about it.

If you can't come to a stop at a stop sign, or start safely after stopping, get the hell off the public road until you've learned how to ride a bike!

Seattle Forrest

The OP obviously behaves like other vehicles, in treating some laws as optional. Riding even more "vehicularly" would involve running red lights and failing to yield to pedestrians in crosswalks.

The guy in yellow isn't a law abiding cyclist:



Section 11.44.210 MUST RIDE ON SEAT. A person operating a bicycle shall not ride other than upon or astride a permanent and regular seat attached thereto.

hairnet

I would shoot myself if I were forced to stop every block

MilitantPotato

This works, too.

KLW2

Do what you want..I stop for just a second without unclipping if there isn't any traffic although I have been surprised once by a hybrid that blended into the background.

sd790

Why are some laws optional for you? You should not run any red lights or stop signs and should always yield to pedestrians in crosswalks. When you do not, you are furthering the anger that we see all over regarding cyclists. When you run a stop sign, I am in more danger during my commute from an angry driver. Be an ambassador for our sport, not a detractor.

Nice try.
a·stride/əˈstrīd/Preposition
1. With a leg on each side of: "he was sitting astride the bike".
2. Extending across: "the port stands astride an international route".

uvbears

bikes arent the same as cars, i think they deserves road rights all to their own, not based off of a car's rights.

sd790

I agree completely. But until that happens, we still must share the road and play by the same rules.

uvbears

cars dont even obey all the rules of the road. i dont think that the "rules of the road" for bikes need to be based off of cars, esp when cars dont follow those same rules. I am in a agreement about sharing the road, but I personally enjoy taking back a portion of the streets from cars. streets dont belong to cars they belong to people.
(in my mind sharing the road is not the same as following the rules of the road)

sd790

My apology to the OP for going off-topic, but it is distantly related to the content of the original poem...

That is interesting. What does sharing the road mean to you?

uvbears

i think it just means that you should try to impede others use of the road as little as possible and expect others to impede your use of the road as little as possible as well. keeping in mind that everyones safety is paramount.
i belevie this applies to anyone using the road, bikes, cars, trikes, wheelchairs, pedestrians etc.

icebiker76

"When you run a stop sign, I am in more danger during my commute from an angry driver. Be an ambassador for our sport, not a detractor."

Bogus logic. The OP isn't the figurehead for all commuting cyclists any more than some jerk in a pickup represents all drivers, or one self righteous pedestrian represents all people walking.

I'm responsible for my actions, drivers are responsible for theirs.

sd790

No, it's valid logic. If you make a motorist angry when they see you run a stop sign, they may not give me the courtesy that I need to stay safe when they pass me. If we cyclists as a whole can think in those terms, we will ALL be safer.

mikeybikes

Doohickie

Stop Sign Haiku

I stop for people
whose right of way I honor,
but not for no one.

xiyangshen

Thank you so much

Seattle Forrest

Well, that's your hypothesis. I'll oblige you once you put an end to motorists running stop signs. While I still have to guess whether the guy who stops after a stop sign is going to kill me while I'm zooming down a hill on a main artery, I'm going to keep deciding whether it's safe to proceed based on the situation, and not on the law.

Commuting is a sport?

The photo I posted doesn't meet that definition. Is that rider putting you in danger by breaking such a silly law, too?

hairnet

duh
you can't let that other guy pass you

Seattle Forrest

^ Now that I have a road bike and a commuter, I just tell myself "I would have passed him/her if I was on the racing machine." That works pretty well, at least on the way in.