Advocacy & Safety - Blowing Stop Signs

Saw a good one today on a bike path running through a local park. A guy ahead of me was approaching a crossing where the path crosses a park vehicle road, and he was moving at a pretty good clip. I saw a car approaching from the right who was obviously not going to stop at the crosswalk stop sign, and sensed a collision course. Fortunately it was not all that close, but I could hear the guy screaming at the automobile driver “There’s a stop sign there!!,” or words to that effect.

What I wished then was that I was a bit closer to the cyclist so that I could point out to him that in fact he had just blown through a stop sign! That’s right, this intersection was set up as a three-way stop, and this guy yells at the car at the same time that he himself is flying past his own stop sign.

He was a bit of a jerk in general. He had also just about caused my wife to go off the path by passing really close to her with no warning at all, and then did the same thing with me.

It's sad that there are so many posts here about how "cagers suck " and "the cars are out to get me"...

I see more F#$*ed up cyclists ignoring the rules of the road than I do cagers.

Just another Darwin candidate.

While there are many "cagers" who believe they own the road there are plenty of cyclists who think/act the same. I certainly don't make a complete stop at all stop signs, unless there is traffic, but I do slow down to a near halt and check both ways before proceeding.

I see more F#$*ed up cyclists ignoring the rules of the road than I do cagers. Can't agree. Cagers may treat other cagers and pedestrians ok, but a lot of them behave as badly with respect to cyclists as the worst cyclists ever behave on the road.

I've seen a few cyclists do this on the Minuteman bikeway. The designers installed stop signs at the cross-streets. They're scaled down versions of stop signs on roads, as you've probably seen.

Some of the cross streets along the Minuteman are lightly traveled, some not so light. The ones I have seen blow the stop signs have been suburban type women, with their helmets perched on the back of their heads. (On, on one occasion, on backwards.)

I see more F#$*ed up cyclists ignoring the rules of the road than I do cagers.

It's sad that I have to say the same. Out of the thousands of cars that pass me, I'll see maybe one a day that blow a stop sign or light. Of the dozens of bike riders I see a day, maybe one or two of them will actually stop. Most of the cagers I see screw up are talking on their cell phone and slowly creeping into the intesection. They have the right of way, they should just go. Sure they are waving me to go, but I can't see through the tinted windows. I like to refuse their hospitality and wait them out.

I see 3 to 15 motorist blow the light after it has just turned red on a left turn every day.

He was a bit of a jerk in general. He had also just about caused my wife to go off the path by passing really close to her with no warning at all, and then did the same thing with me.

Sooner or later, he's going to catch and open his rear Q/R skewer on someone's fork by passing too close.

Darwin Awards, take note.

-Kurt

I feel much safer riding on the road with motor vehicles than I do riding on a path with a bunch of cyclists.

I'd almost bet that if one was able to conduct a study, that we'd find that folks who drive like idiots also ride like idiots, but then we'd also find that many decent drivers ride...uhhh...less than competently.

I see 3 to 15 motorist blow the light......

Isn't fellatio illegal in some States...?

Sorry, I can't help being a smart a$$ sometimes, this one I simply couldn't resist!

I see more F#$*ed up cyclists ignoring the rules of the road than I do cagers.

The majority of cyclists I saw yesterday (6/10) were riding the wrong way on the sidewalk.

The majority of cyclists I saw yesterday (6/10) were riding the wrong way on the sidewalk.


Yeah, I passed a young teen yesterday, riding the wrong way. Had is helmet on though.....all the way back behind his head.

Lack of education is all that is, parents did it, pass it onto the kids....

Good motorists ride incorrectly, just the general belief that facing traffic is safer. Plus as long as the helmet is within three feet of your head, like hanging off your handlebar, will protect you in a crash.

It's sad that there are so many posts here about how "cagers suck " and "the cars are out to get me"...

I see more F#$*ed up cyclists ignoring the rules of the road than I do cagers.

It seems a lot of you live on planet Nice Driver but the cagers here in Miami are the worst. The driver that makes a full stop at a stop sign is the exception, not the rule. Yesterday I counted, within about 3 blocks, two that did not even make an attempt to stop, just blew through at 25 mph+. And this is a residential area with a speed limit of 25-30.

A guy tried to run me over the other day because I had the audacity to prevent him from running a stop sign. We were both approaching a 4 way stop, I got to a stop sign first and asserted my right of way, he wanted to proceed though without even making an attempt to stop and when he saw I wasn't going to yield, he had to make a quick stop. He comes up in back of me, as he passes me he tries to hook me as he gets back in the lane and then stands on the brakes.

So I disagree. Car drivers in general are much worse than bikes and there are many more of them. I think since we are so attuned to bicycles, they tend to stand out in out minds more.

Next time you are out on the road, keep a tally of stupid car moves v stupid bike moves and I'll bet you the cars outnumber bikes by a large margin.

It's sad that there are so many posts here about how "cagers suck " and "the cars are out to get me"...

I see more F#$*ed up cyclists ignoring the rules of the road than I do cagers.

+1

You are dead-on the money there, my friend: I am sorry to say that about 80% of the cyclists I see are committing one stupid, dangerous, reckless or moronic stunt or another whereas, by comparison, only about 5% of the motorists I witness behave similarly. I am an avid cyclist and an active advocate, but with the number of cyclists I see blowing stop-signs and stop-lights (even when there's cross traffic!), riding their kids double and triple, zipping along sidewalks, flying down the yellow line of a busy boulevard, weaving in and around parked cars, talking on cell-phones, making sudden and unpredictable left and right turns from the wrong lane and with no signal, riding at night with no lights or reflectors and in dark clothing, carrying parcels that inhibit their ability to control their bike and a host of others I can certainly appreciate why so many cagers get angry, frustrated and resentful of cyclists.

People suck. Just keep that in mind, and you wont go wrong. Sometimes people on this forum act as if cyclists are a different breed from motorists. Guess what? they arent! The social conditions/personality traits that make a person an ass in a car make them an ass on a bike. Every see a self serving/selfish motorist who thinks they are god? Ever see a cyclist act EXACTLY THE SAME WAY???

The flip side is...

People are great. Keep that in mind and you wont go wrong. The same personality traits/social conditions that make people great on a bike make them great in a car. When people take the approach of considering the other person as being worth something, it does not matter how they get around; they will be a treat to be around since they will consider the other person and just let them be.

So what is your world view? Are you a nice dwarf or a grumpy one....

I've seen a few cyclists do this on the Minuteman bikeway. The designers installed stop signs at the cross-streets. They're scaled down versions of stop signs on roads, as you've probably seen.



I too have seen this on minuteman, but minuteman also has bollards at most, if not all of the cross streets which have the effect of significantly slowing cyclists as they approach the cross-streets. As a cyclist, I dislike Bollards which are in the travelled path. As long as you don't think of the minuteman path as being a bike path, I think that you are OK - a cyclist who goes on one of these multi-use paths should resign himself to being more of a pedestrian than a cyclist, travel at pedestrian pace, in which case bollards and stop signs do nothing to slow you down.

bollards?

bollards?
The concrete filled steel posts that make mup riding more "interesting."

bollards?

Posts in the middle of bike trails near an interestion of a road, to keep cars out... and like cc rider said, to make MUP riding more interesting. The MUP near me took them all out a few years ago.

About 3 weeks ago, I was riding on a Saturday morning on a MUP near my house. This path is used by walkers, cyclists, runners, horses, and roller-bladers. It's perhaps 6 feet wide total, and has a yellow line down the middle, dividing it in half. On weekends, it's VERY heavily trafficked.

On this particular Saturday, my son (16) & I were riding southbound, cruising single file around 14-15 mph. We were heading through a particularly busy segment, where there's a boat dock that water ski boats use to load/unload, so we slowed down to 10-12 mph to navigate.

Coming northbound was a pack of club cyclists, all dressed in their matching club kit, riding three abreast and moving 18-20 mph. They took the whole path, forced a handful of walkers to scurry to the sides, and passed within 3-4 inches of my son & I heading the other direction.

Never smiled, never slowed down, never showed one ounce of caring whether anyone else might possibly be on this path.

Collectively, they came across as a group of flaming a-holes.

And we wonder why people don't like cyclists as a group ...

Coming northbound was a pack of club cyclists, all dressed in their matching club kit, riding three abreast and moving 18-20 mph. They took the whole path, forced a handful of walkers to scurry to the sides, and passed within 3-4 inches of my son & I heading the other direction.

Never smiled, never slowed down, never showed one ounce of caring whether anyone else might possibly be on this path.

Collectively, they came across as a group of flaming a-holes.

And we wonder why people don't like cyclists as a group ...

I am sorry to say that your story is very similar to about 75% of my encounters with "club cyclists", "roadies", whatever you want to call them. I was taking the train to Seattle the day after STP and they were even obnoxious walking their bikes in the train station. I thought at least they'd turn into human beings in "real life", but not so.

To be fair ... pedestrians in groups of more than about 3 also get into the herd mentality and take up the whole sidewalk or path too. Once you're part of a big group, it's like you're expected to walk or ride beside one another, to be social, rather than single or double file. In fact, if you suggest single-file, the rest of the herd looks at you like you're crazy.

That's been my experience.

As for blowing stop signs ... I've already bored y'all with my story about the dude who blatantly blows stop signs because he feels he's entitled to special use of the road "because he's not part of the blood for oil paradigm." It's not always ignorance or the need for speed that makes cyclists do stupid stuff. Sometimes it's a sense of moral superiority combined with a sense of imperviousness. Blah.

The concrete filled steel posts that make mup riding more "interesting."

Ah, thank you. We have nasty little gates near roads on some of our MUP which cross them about 3/4 of the way. They have nothing reflective on them at all, and are evil at night.

As for blowing stop signs ... I've already bored y'all with my story about the dude who blatantly blows stop signs because he feels he's entitled to special use of the road "because he's not part of the blood for oil paradigm." It's not always ignorance or the need for speed that makes cyclists do stupid stuff. Sometimes it's a sense of moral superiority combined with a sense of imperviousness. Blah.

I'm getting so sick of that attitude. Some days I feel like I'm the only one out on a bike who developed a sense of civic responsibility and good citizenship from my grammar school education. I'm not a Pollyanna in the least and I'm certainly no angel, I just don't understand the amount of self-centeredness out there. Most of the clients where I work are hard core criminals with "personality disorders" that more or less amount to malignant selfishness directed towards others. It's scary when a good chunk of cyclists I encounter in the course of a day act a lot like these clients save for the degree of how lethal their selfish actions are to others. End rant.

Sooner or later, he's going to catch and open his rear Q/R skewer on someone's fork by passing too close.

Darwin Awards, take note.

-Kurt
Actually he will hit them with handle bars first. Besides if his QR i sin correct position, it won't happen.

People suck.

DING DING DING, we have a winner. Tell us what he's won, Johnny...

last word on blowing stop signs... Don't forget to wipe your face.

last word on blowing stop signs... Don't forget to wipe your face.

Stacey - that's just SO wrong on several levels .... ;)

last word on blowing stop signs... Don't forget to wipe your face.

Not a problem if you swallow instead of spit. :p

You sirs have feelthy minds! :roflmao:

I'm getting so sick of that attitude. Some days I feel like I'm the only one out on a bike who developed a sense of civic responsibility and good citizenship from my grammar school education. I'm not a Pollyanna in the least and I'm certainly no angel, I just don't understand the amount of self-centeredness out there. Most of the clients where I work are hard core criminals with "personality disorders" that more or less amount to malignant selfishness directed towards others. It's scary when a good chunk of cyclists I encounter in the course of a day act a lot like these clients save for the degree of how lethal their selfish actions are to others. End rant.I used to be self-centered-- the rules were for other people, not me.

Then I grew up.