Advocacy & Safety - What laws did you break today?

I made 2 rights at red lights without stopping after i visually saw no on coming traffic from any direction.

1 stop sign right at stop sign wo stopping after same inspection.

anyone else up for confession?


I should note that i stop at ALL light when not making a right on red and or there is traffic. and i make ready to stop at all stop sign incase thre is traffic. and when ever making a right on red. Ie i slow unclip on foot and hands on hoods. I NEVER blow intersections at speed.

Old, dull and boring person that I am.....none. :(

Then again, I can't ride right now until my shoulder heals enough to be able to.

Here goes: I sped. I followed too closely. I ran a stop sign. I almost hit a Chevy. I sped some more. I failed to yield at a crosswalk. I changed lanes at the intersection. I changed lanes without signaling while running a red light and *speeding*!

I guess the good news is you get to wake up tommorrow. :lol:

Seeing as how some of us live in NYC, I don't know if it counts but this morning going to work, whatever I can recall from memory...

Cut a car off going onto the street from my apartment.
Ran a red light making a left at the street corner, ran the next 5 red lights.
Cut off 3 kids from the crossing guard at the next light. Ran 2 more lights.
Made a right turn at tillary, ran that light.
Waited at the light at the adams st (like 9+ lanes of moving traffic).
Rode nice and legal for 2 blocks until flatbush, 7 more lanes of moving traffic, so I stopped at the light. Ran the red when the left turn green went on.
Kept going down that street next to flushing (3 years I still don't know what it's called), ran the red that led up to that street. Ran the next 4 red lights.
Made the left onto bedford, ran that light. Ducked pass 3 of those jewish school buses that parked themselves diagonally across like, 4 lanes of traffic to pick up kids.
Kept going, ran the next... 3 lights till I made the left onto manhattan avenue, ran that light.
Ran 3 more lights until I got over the pulaski bridge.
Ran the next 2 lights making the right to get off the bridge. Ran 3 more until queens blvd. Barely missed one of those stupid nypd traffic "police" cars on my last light making a left on queens blvd to get to work.

Keep in mind that there are so many lights here, roughly 1/3rd of those that I didn't mention were actually green, plus the 10 or so stop signs. And I also slow down to about 15 or so and check both ways before I run a red. It's really not as bad as it sounds.

EDIT: This is between brooklyn->queens.

Some of the manhattan commuters here would need like, multiple pages to list the number of traffic infractions.

Failure to stop at Stop sign - 2
Ran one red light. I did stop for it though.
Rode wrong way down a road closed for repair.
Failed to signal at least 3 turns.
Shot a man just to watch him die.







Oops, that last one is wrong. That was part of a Johnny Cash song I listened to while riding.
So I guess I'd have to add wearing headphones while riding.

Vehicular assault, multiple times.

If it counts in a car, burnout.

Shot a man just to watch him die.

fort worth to reno is a hell of a commute.

I'm sure my team of lawyers with sufficient time and research can inform me of 75 to 80% of the laws that I broke this morning. The others will just have to go undetected untill someone in the government gets around to listening to the tapes!

What is this, Catholic confession? Here's my confession, I talked back to my mother and had impure thoughts.

I'll do the catholic cyclists version of penence:

"Mea Campy, mea Campy, mea gruppissimo Campy. Will 20 Hail Marins suffice to save my soul?

Bike: Treated all stop signs like yield signs. Ran a red light at an intersection with bad sensor. Made a right on red without a full stop.

Car: 33 MPH in a 30 zone.

Yep, pretty boring.

I ran a stop sign in my neighborhood.

Then again, I can't ride right now until my shoulder heals enough to be able to.

Big bummer Tom. Perhaps a recumbent is in your future?

Today ... I took Metro. Other than certain laws of fashion, I have yet to brake any. Yesterday ... I think I was a good boy too.

None knowingly this morning's commute. I may have not come to a full 'wheel stops rotating' stop at a 4-way when making a right turn, but came very close.

I followed every law in my town since they are hard on bikes and being the only commuter cyclist I'm a big target.

Once out of my town yielded a few stop signs but stopped at a majority due to traffic
Failed to signal a lot
Didn't appropriately yell and signal you're number one to deserving traffic
Right turn-uturn-right turned a red
Rode on the sidewalk two blocks in a "business district" that is nothing more then truck depots and a 60mph+ winding road

I'm not convinced of the wisdom of bragging on the internet about one's habitual violations of the traffic laws. Just in case you get hit by a car, you know, and the insurance company is looking for evidence of your own liability. Not that I'd care much if somebody who uses his vehicle to abuse pedestrians gets some karmic payback.

I'm not convinced of the wisdom of bragging on the internet about one's habitual violations of the traffic laws. Just in case you get hit by a car, you know, and the insurance company is looking for evidence of your own liability. Not that I'd care much if somebody who uses his vehicle to abuse pedestrians gets some karmic payback.

I followed all the traffic laws to the letter, just like I always do.

Speedo

Just in case you get hit by a car, you know, and the insurance company is looking for evidence of your own liability. Not that I'd care much if somebody who uses his vehicle to abuse pedestrians gets some karmic payback.

Don't tell that to the Alleycat Youtubers. Let them videotape themselves so they get some instant karma someday...

-Kurt

Stopped at a stoplight, treated it like a stop sign, got the finger from a dude turning. The rest of my ride was on bike paths, no law breaking there.

I followed all the traffic laws to the letter, just like I always do.

Speedo

So you also take up the whole lane when you ride too, huh? If cars wants us to act just as motor vehicles and follow the "rules of the road" we should also ride in the middle of the lane. Most streets/highways don't have a minimum speed limit as interstates do. Bikes are NOT equal to cars. Stop lights are stop signs, and I roll through stop signs. This is such a tired debate, just like the helmet debate.

So you also take up the whole lane when you ride too, huh? If cars wants us to act just as motor vehicles and follow the "rules of the road" we should also ride in the middle of the lane. Most streets/highways don't have a minimum speed limit as interstates do. Bikes are NOT equal to cars. Stop lights are stop signs, and I roll through stop signs. This is such a tired debate, just like the helmet debate.Translation: "I'm tired of reality, so I've invented my own."

By the way, if in your reality, "bikes are NOT equal to cars," get on the sidewalk, because you don't have a right to the road.

Failed to signal a turn. I think.

Stop lights are stop signs, and I roll through stop signs.

Stop lights are stop lights for me - I'll sit at them 'till they turn green as the law intends. Blowing through them - even when there is no cross traffic - helps to further concrete trailing motorists' superiority complex, IMO.

-Kurt

6:00 AM ride in a residential area... I ran 2 stop signs, not another awake human within sight. Bear in mind that I slowed for both and looked all the way down the block before wheeling my way through.

yeiled 6 stop signs.
The issue is that the laws where designd for car that can stop and go as they please without reguard for momentum drop.
I think i broke the speed limit ona descent however if you avg my speed on the climb and desnt i avg'd well below the speed limit.

yeiled 6 stop signs.
The issue is that the laws where designd for car that can stop and go as they please without reguard for momentum drop.


Not this lame excuse. Traffic laws are for vehicles and pedestrians. Cars don't stop and go as they please any more or less than a bicycle.

Folks who break the law and admit they do it for selfish reasons I respect, but making up excuses justifying breaking the law...

Al

I treat about 6 to 8 stop signs as yield signs, and leave a bike lane a couple blocks before it ends, on my morning commute every day. I wait for the traffic lights when they are red.

...and leave a bike lane a couple blocks before it ends

What's wrong with that? I do it all the time when using them for left-turns, lane control at one particular fork in said road (single lane one way), passing gardeners and city maintenance vehicles parked in it, and once due to the left edge of the the road obstructed by a vehicle that had just hit a dog (a morbid onlooker in a Cadillac ahead of me effectively stopped for 2 minutes in the lane to gawk at the scene).

In that case, I took the lane behind said Cadillac - and wished to god I had an Airzound at the time.

-Kurt

there's a mandatory bike lane law in Oregon, and people have been ticketed in this area before (west end of Hawthorne Bridge) but have beaten the tickets in court. The last two blocks of bike lane are buggered up by a bus stop and traffic merging across the bike lane into a RTOL, so I move over to the far left lane of the one-way.

Ran several stop signs...slowed down enough to know no one was coming.

Stop lights are stop lights for me - I'll sit at them 'till they turn green. Blowing through them - even when there isn't traffic - helps to further concrete trailing motorists' superiority complex, IMO.

That said, I do believe in the Idaho law of cyclists treating stop signs as yields when appropriate, and I will do so for the most part - unless "Smokey" is around waiting to catch "The Bandit," if you get my drift.

-Kurt

if there "isn't traffic" then how can there be "trailing motorists."

For myself... if there is no one around... and I mean no one... then it just doesn't matter.

if there "isn't traffic" then how can there be "trailing motorists."

For myself... if there is no one around... and I mean no one... then it just doesn't matter.If there's no cross-traffic with the right of way, there may still be other traffic waiting at the light, further cementing the belief in their minds that cyclists are arrogant law-breakers who deserve no respect or rights to the road.

Not this lame excuse. Traffic laws are for vehicles and pedestrians. Cars don't stop and go as they please any more or less than a bicycle.

Folks who break the law and admit they do it for selfish reasons I respect, but making up excuses justifying breaking the law...

Al

No it is not an excuse it is a fact. when laws are made you truly think that some guys aat the civil planning office says 'Wow you know for a cycelist it is going to suck to have to stop on that hill and restart every 200 ft but in the cause of safety it must be Done."

No it is not an excuse it is a fact. when laws are made you truly think that some guys aat the civil planning office says 'Wow you know for a cycelist it is going to suck to have to stop on that hill and restart every 200 ft but in the cause of safety it must be Done."Everybody has an excuse. Even the drunk driver, or the guy who road rages you off the road.

And you know what they say about excuses.

Oh, one I forgot!

I rode a bike that was not registered with the city.

(LBS, who performs the registration for the city told me that stamping or engraving the registration number on the steel frame as required to register bicycle will void its lifetime warranty as it will be an avenue for rust to develop)

" 7-11 (a) Every owner of a bicycle, before the same shall be operated on any of the streets, alleys, sidewalks or public highways in the city, shall register the bicycle with an authorized agent of the city.
(b) This article shall apply to every bicycle owner who has resided in the city for thirty (30) days or longer regardless of whether they are a part-time or full-time resident. In the event that Arizona State University requires registration of bicycles, any bicycle so registered shall be exempt from the registration requirements of this article.
(c) It shall be unlawful for any person to operate a bicycle requiring registration and not registered pursuant to this article on any street, alley, sidewalk or public highway in the city.

...
7-18 No person shall remove, destroy, mutilate or alter any registration tag, seal or registration card. Nothing in this section shall prohibit the authorized agent from stamping identifying symbols, letters or numbers on the frame or removable parts of licensed bicycle as in their discretion is practicable. The police chief or his designee may authorize an applicant's engraving of the frame in lieu of a stamp. Such engraving must be approved by the chief or his designee."

Al

Did not stop at a red when turning right.
Sped, but for all for 3 seconds. (41mph in a 40)
Did not signal 2 lane changes.
Did not signal 3 turns.
Rode on the MUP.....

I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die. Then I ran a red light.

... Brad

if there "isn't traffic" then how can there be "trailing motorists."

I intended to say "cross-traffic," as Blue Order indicated. Poor wording on my behalf.

-Kurt

I rode a bike that was not registered with the city.

I'd like to see this pile fall on the head of whoever was responsible for coming up with that law:

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1438/1378498338_bf3b5e1d59.jpg?v=0

That said, I'd also wouldn't mind seeing their potential harassment (as if they aren't doing so already) if a cyclist living just outside said city cycled into this city every day to work.

-Kurt

I'd like to see this pile fall on the head of whoever was responsible for making that law:

That said, I'd also wouldn't mind seeing their potential harassment (as if they aren't doing so already) if a cyclist living just outside said city cycled into this city every day to work.


Agree about the pile.

note this about the law for your 2nd point:
(b) This article shall apply to every bicycle owner who has resided in the city for thirty (30) days or longer regardless of whether they are a part-time or full-time resident

However the law (section 7-11) is toothless. A part I didn't quote is this:
"Sec. 7-4. Civil sanctions.

Any person violating any of the provisions of this chapter shall be liable for the imposition of a civil sanction not to exceed two hundred fifty dollars ($250), unless another penalty is specified. There is no penalty or civil sanction for violation of section 7-11.
"

Not sure what this means in practicality. I guess it means that technically I am breaking the law, but there is no penalty for doing so?

Al

I guess you could say I always follow Idaho rules. Stop lights are treated like stop signs and stop signs are yield only?

If there's no cross-traffic with the right of way, there may still be other traffic waiting at the light, further cementing the belief in their minds that cyclists are arrogant law-breakers who deserve no respect or rights to the road.

No, when I run a sign, I only do it when there is NO ONE around... which generally means early in the morning or late at night. I mean no one, not even a dog walker.

It comes down to this old saw... if a tree fell in the woods, and there was no one around to hear it...

Or if a cyclist ran a stop sign, and there was no one around to see it...

DID IT HAPPEN? :D

I'm reporting all of you! Naughty!

Ran a stop sign on my unicycle. Not sure if that's legal or not.

I haven't broken any laws today, yet...
But I'll probably spark up an 'after dinner' fattie.
:p

No, when I run a sign, I only do it when there is NO ONE around... which generally means early in the morning or late at night. I mean no one, not even a dog walker.

It comes down to this old saw... if a tree fell in the woods, and there was no one around to hear it...

Or if a cyclist ran a stop sign, and there was no one around to see it...

DID IT HAPPEN? :DNo argument with you there. I was only explaining how there could still be other traffic present. I don't think anybody would really care what somebody does at a light when there's nobody else around, but people generally don't like line-jumpers, at least in the U.S., and when everybody's waiting at the light, and somebody else comes by and blows right through it, it annoys the crap out of everybody else who is waiting their turn. Same thing when cars are stuck in traffic, and some guy thinks that the shoulder is his own private lane to get around traffic.

The only dispute I have with the "3 AM light-blowing" argument is when it's put forth to justify blowing through lights on crowded city street.

I guess you could say I always follow Idaho rules. Stop lights are treated like stop signs and stop signs are yield only?OK, now I understand what you meant. I thought you were saying something else.

Everybody has an excuse. Even the drunk driver, or the guy who road rages you off the road.

And you know what they say about excuses.

No. What do "they" say?

No. What do "they" say?Well, first, I got it wrong-- it's what they say about opinions. But it's just as applicable to excuses. I'm sure you've heard it before.