Commuting - My road bike makes me hate stop signs

Don't know if it is being on a road bike instead of a recumbent or the combination of that and the speedplay zeroes but ever since moving off my glacier slow BikeE I've been rolling through some stop signs when there was no one around. Or when others were far off and slowing and I was down to like 3mph so I'd go while I had the chance.
Problem is as I have mentioned before my town has a stop sign love affair and does enforce it on all vehicles.
http://208.112.15.241/articles/2007/07/05/1837/1837.jpg
(Note: That is my little house behind the stop sign and just above that sedans hood/bonnet you can see the solar hot water heater in my backyard :D)

So today in the pitch black 1/2 a mile out I realized I sprayed teflon on my damn glasses and it wasn't just gunk in my eyes. I am flying down a 2 lane hill on a road that I can't just pull off and fix it so I am concentrating on the next road with a sidewalk I can pull off onto. At the stop sign I slow down from 25mph (hill assisted) to <5 and after seeing the oncoming car slowing I go across to the sidewalk on the other side to wipe my glasses. I think due to my blurred vision I fail to notice said car was our dodge charger stealth cop car. I pull onto the sidewalk and unclip to wipe my glasses down and the whole street lights up and off go his sirens. Well being 4AM that certainly woke me up. Since they see me every day and 99% of the time I stop at the stop signs in town I only get a lecture about stopping and they are only concerned about me getting in a wreck and all that.

I swear it's the road bike!:D If I ride my BikeE it is just so slow and low it is easier to stop and put my feet down with the SPD Shoes. My Fuji touring bike is just sooo much faster and alot more trouble to stop and start up again.

I came to the US a month ago. At home (Sweden) I had no problem stopping at stop signs, because they were placed where they were needed. Here it seems there are stop signs at every crossing, even those that see about one car per minute. IMO that makes you loose respect for the stop signs, and I find myself rolling through them slowly without stopping.

Very true and now that you mention it I myself came from Connecticut to Texas I think I can see that too. There is one place on my commute that I pass through a development that has a stop sign at ever dang intersection on the main and secondary road. I think I remember 11 of them in < 2 miles. Most times I ride my bike through I never see a car at all. When I do see cars they hardly slow down for them.

At first I was thinking hey maybe he want's to tell me how nifty my lights/reflectors are like happened to some other cyclist the other day but :( not me.

In CT stop signs were alot of places but it wasn't like texas. I keep having this urge to get a sign that says "because we let them play in the street" and put it below those "Please drive slowly we love our kids" after putting an x through the heart.

I came to the US a month ago. At home (Sweden) I had no problem stopping at stop signs, because they were placed where they were needed. Here it seems there are stop signs at every crossing, even those that see about one car per minute. IMO that makes you loose respect for the stop signs, and I find myself rolling through them slowly without stopping.

Having driven in Europe, I couldn't agree more. Where there is a stop sign it is needed at that intersection therefore people actually STOP. Here I obey stop signs just as much as the motorists. I slow down while having a glance sideways :D

Fair's fair. They slow I slow. If everyone stopped, I would stop for them too.

When there's more traffic and cars actually do have to stop, I stop too. But at 7:00 in a quiet neighbourhood I roll :)

You guys get busted for 3mph rolls?

We wouldn't have enough paper to print all the tickets.

I come to a full stop at traffic lights, but tend to roll through signs after looking carefully both ways. Sooner or later, I might get a ticket for this, but it does get frustrating having to clip in and out all of the time. My biggest problem with stop signs and lights is on my bike commute, where I have about 10 lights and just as many signs on the route. Part of the problem is that many neighborhoods convince the city to add more signs, lights and speedbumps to discourage drivers from taking shortcuts on their streets. Some of the concern is legitimate, however, because drivers drive way too fast down neighborhood streets unless there are signs and speedbumps to slow them down.

My biggest headache is traffic lights that don't change because the sensors don't detect bicycles. One of those lights is at a major intersection, so I am sometimes stuck waiting a while until a car comes along to trigger the sensor. One of the other lights is on a lightly traveled road, so I tend to run the light after coming to a full stop. Otherwise I might sit there for 5 minutes waiting for a car to come along as it's about 6:45 a.m. when I pass by there.

When I come to a full stop at a stop sign it confuses the hell out of people in cars. Then I have to clip back in and get back up to speed, which means they have to wait longer than if I rolled through. It's just not practical.

I've never tried rolling through in sight of a cop, though. That I know of.

You guys get busted for 3mph rolls?

We wouldn't have enough paper to print all the tickets.

For real. Except when there is a line of traffic, I always slow roll through stop signs. Always. I think it's safer to already have some forward momentum and be in my cleats before I'm in the intersection. I use toe clips on my commuter (I wear tennis shoes when I'm running errands), and there is nothing I hate worse than being in the middle of an intersection, trying to get my foot in its cage, and having a car right on my ass.

If there is a white ring around it you can treat the stop sign like a yield sign. {not true but that's how I treat them**

In Iowa stop signs can legally be treated as 'yields' by cyclists.

I personally think this law should catch on in more states.

when you approach a corner with a stop sign, make your way over to the far right as close to the crosswalk as possible, and go through without stopping.

If you get pulled over, you can claim that you left the road and entered the crosswalk and thus you were not on the road when you crossed the street.

LOL

I don't know if it will work, but wth, try it and see what you can get away with !

In Iowa stop signs can legally be treated as 'yields' by cyclists.

I personally think this law should catch on in more states.

WOW, that shows a little forward thinkin'. Here in Toronto the motorists would be screaming how unfair that was, the car of course being the master of the universe around here.

You guys get busted for 3mph rolls?

We wouldn't have enough paper to print all the tickets.

Our police force of 8 used to service 2 towns, about 7 square miles and roughly 3500 people.. The other town decided to go another route so now we have 8 officers for 2.18 square miles and roughly 2000 people.
While I think they do a great job at keeping the town safe and all that etc etc. The former town they used to patrol now has a county deputy drive through once a week and is safer statistic wise *shrug* There has been a rash (3 I think) of break ins lately within 500 ft of the police station which is right near where I live. The last mayoral election saw one of the candidates house vandalized with broken windows. End of the world crime spree i know :D We need more police is what all the residents are saying especially since walmart is coming in 2 miles down the road :eek::eek::eek:

I'll admit I don't do a full stop at stop signs - but I'd say your average road biker, even if he can't do a trackstand (which I can't), can keep the bike up at as low as 0.5 mph. If a cop busts you for going 0.5 mph on a bike through the stop, I give you express permission to beat him with your frame pump.

In Iowa stop signs can legally be treated as 'yields' by cyclists.

I personally think this law should catch on in more states.

Idaho has a similar regulation in place. You are required to slow down, but do not need to come to a complete stop if it is safe.

Regarding stop lights that do not recognize bikes, we can run the red after coming to a complete stop and ensuring that no traffic poses a threat to us.

I highly recommend knowing your state and local traffic laws. A couple cyclists in this area have reportedly had tickets overturned after showing the state regs to judges. Apparently, the police aren't always well-versed in the rules for cyclists and pedestrians. :(

Here in Toronto the motorists would be screaming how unfair that was..

Which is even stranger when you consider they often neither stop nor yield at said stop signs.

Trackstands people. Trackstands.

The amount of stop signs in some neighborhoods is insane. Presumably it can't be pleasant
even for the people who live on that street - having every car that drives by screech to a halt and then accelerate off. What's weird (to me, at least) is the reluctance to designate one road as major, and one as minor, or to use more min-traffic circles.

I support rigorous enforcement of speeding laws and don't mind bumps too much, but stop signs for no reason are pointless.

Which is even stranger when you consider they often neither stop nor yield at said stop signs.

Yes.... indeed, which makes it all the more irritating.

When I come to a full stop at a stop sign it confuses the hell out of people in cars. Then I have to clip back in and get back up to speed, which means they have to wait longer than if I rolled through. It's just not practical.Yeah, 4-ways are different on a bike, that's for sure! I'm with you--it seems to mess them up if I stop, so if I actually have the right of way because they're arriving after me, I don't want to come to a complete stop and make them have to wait even longer.

According to that sign, do I get paid for rolling stops? :D

My favorite route to work has a section where every other block has a stop sign for about a mile. I did a little research riding on the way home one day and found that four blocks over does not have the stop signs in my direction, but in the other direction. I have only taken the extra four block ride a couple times to avoid the signs a couple times since I always slow at every intersection in that part of my ride just to be safe, but find myself rolling the stops when nobody it coming.

Trackstands at signs and lights are easy for me due to my motorcycle trials practice. Just takes a little practice to master. Number one mistake I see most do is turning the wheel to balance. Keep the front wheel as straight as possible and use you feet to balance from side to side. Of course you have to turn a little sometimes, but the more you turn and the more violent the turn will through the overall balance off making it even harder to stand still.

I wish it was just signage around here. The B'more lighting system is the most non-synchronized I've ever encountered which can lead to 2-3 min of sitting with no traffic coming waiting for a change (and that's with cars waiting too, not just a lack of sensors.) Unfortunately, I'm now working in the building which houses the police academy as well as being in the same area as the PD main offices, the courthouse, etc, so there are city cops, sheriff's deputies and all their buddies everywhere I ride, which means no sneaking across/rolling lights or other tricks :(

Number one mistake I see most do is turning the wheel to balance. Keep the front wheel as straight as possible and use you feet to balance from side to side.

I hardly would call this a mistake. It's the only way I know how to do it. I turn my wheel about 60 degrees. And I can do it for an arbitrarily long time. Hours probably.

Ha, switching to clipless pedals made me hate stop signs

Trackstands people. Trackstands.

No bueno. They've made up a policy that states you must put a foot down to demonstrate a complete stop.

No bueno. They've made up a policy that states you must put a foot down to demonstrate a complete stop.

That seriously pisses me off.

I'd be flouting the hell out of that ridiculous law. Unless they made car drivers do the same thing. Then I'd play along.

I can put a foot down at 15mph, not sure what that has to do with a complete stop.

I tried to find the definition of a complete stop because well that is what all us vehicles are supposed to be doing.
Not having much luck but I did see this statement "The definition of a complete stop is when the car rocks backward upon coming to a complete stop" but couldn't find a reference. I do remember that from drivers ed though and also remember something about a couple seconds.
If that were true :eek: I don't know if I have stopped at a stop sign in years. I gotta try and get that bicycles treat stop signs as yield signs passed down in texas. Or this from california
"The definition of stop in the California Vehicle Code is:
587. "Stop or stopping" when prohibited shall mean any cessation of
movement of a vehicle, whether occupied or not, except when
necessary to avoid conflict with other traffic or in compliance with
the direction of a police officer or official traffic control device
or signal."

Putting a foot down is BS. I consider that to be putting myself in Park. Sorry, I prefer to stay in Drive (a little mini-trackstand). Drivers don't have to put their transmissions into Park to demonstrate a full stop, why should we have to?

"The definition of a complete stop is when the car rocks backward upon coming to a complete stop"
But in that case it would be impossible to come to a complete stop on a downward slope, or for that matter, gently. The whole thing is stupid.

When I come to a full stop at a stop sign it confuses the hell out of people in cars. Then I have to clip back in and get back up to speed, which means they have to wait longer than if I rolled through. It's just not practical..

I've noticed that as well. It's a pain because when I do stop, even though they got there much sooner than I, they wave me through. Unfortunately, I've already unclipped and have a foot down. What a pain. I feel that I have to sprint to get out of their way or risk pissing someone off.

The U.S. needs more yield signs in place of stop signs.

They've made up a policy that states you must put a foot down to demonstrate a complete stop.

That would so get me honked at (or run over) from behind.


I do like the idea of making cars open the door and put the driver's foot on the ground, but I would probably end up getting doored.

If putting a foot down is the only criterion, I'm sure most of you are perfectly capable of touching the ground with one foot while continuing your forward motion :)