Great Lakes - I'm really starting to hate cyclists

After another near miss with 3 guys on road bikes flying down the hill by my PD, running thru the stop sign and swinging the turn wide. That brings the total to something like 8 near misses this weekend alone, just at that intersection alone. Maybe I need to start writing some tickets..

I know there are others who will disagree with me, but I've always been of the opinion that if it is louder, faster, or bigger then me when I am riding my bicycle then it has right of way. I'll run a stop sign if I have a good view of the intersecting road and no traffic, running stop signs habitually is just a good way to become a hood ornament.

After another near miss with 3 guys on road bikes flying down the hill by my PD, running thru the stop sign and swinging the turn wide. That brings the total to something like 8 near misses this weekend alone, just at that intersection alone. Maybe I need to start writing some tickets..

I haven't been by your PD in a few weeks, but that construction has jacked up the whole area. People should be creeping through there slowly, regardless of the stop sign!

Everytime I'm in a group ride that carelessly remains 3-4 riders wide despite calls of "car back", I'm reminded of how much we do to prevent "them" from ever really embracing "us".

I'm reminded of how much we do to prevent "them" from ever really embracing "us".

Well said!

Maybe I need to start writing some tickets..


Yep. Sorry, but if cyclists insist on demanding that cars share the road with us, then we as cyclists need to follow the rules of the road just like they do.

Well said!

Indeed!

OKay, I'll be the devil's advocate, since I'm pretty much only riding on bike paths these days anyway:

What do you mean by 'near miss' ?

Maybe I need to start writing some tickets..

Do it.

Maybe I need to start writing some tickets..

Yes, maybe you should.

After another near miss with 3 guys on road bikes flying down the hill by my PD, running thru the stop sign and swinging the turn wide. That brings the total to something like 8 near misses this weekend alone, just at that intersection alone. Maybe I need to start writing some tickets..

Just kick their asses...if you write a ticket sure as shootin one or more will be BF members and we're gonna have the 'cops abused me' threads in A&S and Road. Might as well abuse em good. :D

OKay, I'll be the devil's advocate, since I'm pretty much only riding on bike paths these days anyway:

What do you mean by 'near miss' ?

Near my Police station is a short but failry steep hill. It drops for two blocks, but has a stop sign at the end of each block. At the bottom of the hill is a road that leads to a dead end, and our police parking compound but it does offer bike trail access at the end of the road. Cyclists (serious roadies and lookie lews) pick up full steam, run the stop sign while turning right, swing wide and nearly get hit. Near miss means, if I didnt stop, I would of have new hood decorations, for sure. No doubt about it, by stopping, I prevented accidents, it happens all day long, especially on the weekends. Cars too, but bikes are the biggest offenders.

I personally run stop signs without slowing down IF I can see around the intersection and I know it is clear and safe to do so.

If they are actually endangering themselves, they deserve tickets, but so do the car drivers doing the same thing.

I personally run stop signs without slowing down IF I can see around the intersection and I know it is clear and safe to do so.

If they are actually endangering themselves, they deserve tickets, but so do the car drivers doing the same thing.

I write the cars.. Tend to go easier on the bikes. Actually only wrote 1 cyclist a ticket in 22 years.

Love Travers City BTW. Spend 1 week in the summer up in Elk Rapids usually, just not this year.

I haven't been by your PD in a few weeks, but that construction has jacked up the whole area. People should be creeping through there slowly, regardless of the stop sign!

Everytime I'm in a group ride that carelessly remains 3-4 riders wide despite calls of "car back", I'm reminded of how much we do to prevent "them" from ever really embracing "us".


My god. I doubt a truer statement has ever been uttered on bf.

It's unfortunate.

I'm reminded far too often.

Yeah, this is definitely not cool. At least slow down so you can safely take a look into the intersection and then roll through the stop sign. Doesn't mean you have to dismount your bike, unless it's not your turn to go.
It's already tuff enough not to get killed riding on the streets, but I guess some cyclists are just aching to be killed.

I write the cars.. Tend to go easier on the bikes. Actually only wrote 1 cyclist a ticket in 22 years.
No problem with writing some more tickets for cyclists, but I hope that you do it with some discretion.

Seems like quite a few towns totally ignore cyclist traffic violations 99% of the time and then briefly have an enforcement campaign where they issue tickets to anyone who even rolls through a stop at 0.5 mph (i.e. better than almost all motorists do when there's no conflicting traffic).

I'm so generous when it comes to bikes that maybe I do need to get a little tougher. It has really gotten bad in my little town and the violations are so blatant. it happens right in front of me in a marked car and the cyclists dont even look twice.

Write em up Kimber, you're protecting them from themselves. I will blow stop signs but only when I confirm no car is nearby. If there is a car there, I will usually signal them to go. Often they tell me to go and I do. I never blow signs with people around or when I'm not sure.

Isn,t it customary that you gave them a oral/written warning the first time you observed the velo-scoflaws?I think that would have cleared up the situation a while ago.

Who can spot the irony in this thread?

Pull out your gun and tell them your car would hurt more than a bullet through their head.

It'll get the message across very well.

Who can spot the irony in this thread?

It smells of irony thick in here.

Hey Colorchange, wasn't there a thread this spring where you rolled into a busy intersection practically without a glance and commented later that it was because somebody else wasn't quick enough on the "car" call.

Not to necessarily single you out (although your post does make it easy). I've been on that tuesday night PRP ride. The entire group is way more geared towards "keep it rolling", than stopping to look for cops.

And I don't even think the PRP ride is that bad. The "other" tuesday ride is way less concerned with "cars back" and stopping at stop signs. Hell, there's a turn on that ride where you're expected to turn into the lane of (hopefully not) oncoming traffic if you want to stay with the group. Not that you can't see the traffic when the corn is down, though...

It smells of irony thick in here.

Hey Colorchange, wasn't there a thread this spring where you rolled into a busy intersection practically without a glance and commented later that it was because somebody else wasn't quick enough on the "car" call.

Not to necessarily single you out (although your post does make it easy). I've been on that tuesday night PRP ride. The entire group is way more geared towards "keep it rolling", than stopping to look for cops.

And I don't even think the PRP ride is that bad. The "other" tuesday ride is way less concerned with "cars back" and stopping at stop signs. Hell, there's a turn on that ride where you're expected to turn into the lane of (hopefully not) oncoming traffic if you want to stay with the group. Not that you can't see the traffic when the corn is down, though...

Now I feel guilty for singling CC out when, in reality I know we probably all do things we shouldn't. And, when I say "we" and "all", I really mean me. In an effort to make amends, I offer here a confession:

I've bombed right down that hill that Kimber is talking about. A LOT. I shouldn't (it's clearly dangerous at the full gravitational pull), and I know that. I'm going to stop doing that.

My name is Matt, and I'm a hypocrite...

I've bombed it a ton but I always stop.....I don't put a foot down but I make sure it's clear for sure. It was a part of my commute.

I only run stop signs when it's convenient for me and my moral superiority.

what do these stop sign things look like you all speak of??????

later.

I, like everone else here, have made msitakes. There is a difference between a mistake and a practice. I slow down enough that 1. I can stop if I need to. 2. I can confirm it's clear to roll through. If Kimber would have written me up for that one I would have accepted it ... And made psyco buy me beers for a month. ;)

Kimbercop: Now you have several BF members who have admitted their guilt and I think they should be made accountable for their actions to the full extent of the law! They should be the first to be ticketed for their unsafe actions! :troll:

:D

Kimbercop: Now you have several BF members who have admitted their guilt and I think they should be made accountable for their actions to the full extent of the law! They should be the first to be ticketed for their unsafe actions! :troll:

:D

An admission alone is not enough in court. He needs corroboration to make it stick!

On the advice of my lawyer, I'm not saying anything else!

On the advice of my lawyer, I'm not saying anything else!

C'mon now! You know you want to be the internet advice giving law-talkin'-guy to the Great Lakes!

I demand justice!!!!!!!

I only run the red ones with the white trim ;)

... And made psyco buy me beers for a month. ;)

As if . . . :rolleyes:

It seems like you don't really want to ticket them, so what about pulling some of them over and just explaining how they are endangering themselves and just giving a warning?

Can you blame me? Someone had to do it! :lol:

http://www.planestupid.com/files/images/stop_sign_2.jpg

http://www.freakingnews.com/pictures/32500/Stop-Sign--32624.jpg

http://www.ochog.org/images/stop_sign_500.jpg

Can you blame me? Someone had to do it! :lol:

http://www.planestupid.com/files/images/stop_sign_2.jpg

http://www.freakingnews.com/pictures/32500/Stop-Sign--32624.jpg

http://www.ochog.org/images/stop_sign_500.jpg

That last one seems to violate NHTSA regulations for traffic sineage in at least two ways.

Kimbercop,
Stop them, explain why you stopped them. Then tell them you could write them a ticket, but won't...this time. Then lean down, remove the valve cap, look them straight in the eye as you let out all the air, and say something like "and it's really not safe for you to be riding around on a flat tire." Any crap from them, and it's "oh look, it appears your other tire is about to go flat, too" as you reach down and decide whether to follow through or not.:D

Enough of this librul wussy talk..KICK THEIR ASSES! :innocent:

Instead of this constant begging for cyclists to be "accepted" by drivers and getting all in a huff when cyclists do things you feel will make this acceptance hard to win, why not just work for a world where cyclists *always* have the right of way and it is the drivers of multi-ton pollution mobiles responsibility to slow/stop to avoid hitting the more responsible travelers in our cities (bikes, pedestrians)?

Who let the Left Coast in the room?

Kimber - are you clocking their speed flying down the hill? You could get a "two-fer"!

Instead of this constant begging for cyclists to be "accepted" by drivers and getting all in a huff when cyclists do things you feel will make this acceptance hard to win, why not just work for a world where cyclists *always* have the right of way and it is the drivers of multi-ton pollution mobiles responsibility to slow/stop to avoid hitting the more responsible travelers in our cities (bikes, pedestrians)?

Who here is begging, chief?

And, maybe we don't all do that because maybe we don't all share your world view. And, maybe, that's because some of us make a living that requires us to cover huge distances by car, several times a week, and our jobs could not be performed any other way. Like cops, for example.

And, I hate to tell you, as long as more than one person is already out on the road, somebody will always be in a position where they will have to yield the right-of-way. Even if cars did not exist, Kimbecop would have nearly smoked a cyclist or two flying around the corner. He just would have done it on his trike, or whatever other wonderful pedal machine your rosy world view would have cops pedaling as fast as they can to emergencies.

I think the issue you seemed to miss in the original post is that the cyclists at that intersection are not "more responsible" travelers. It has nothing to do with what Kimbercop was in. Drillrods are drillrods if they're on bikes, in submarines, walking, or in a submarine (and, yes, I'm admitting to having been a drillrod on occassion).

I drive a car all day long for work, too. I just have no problem yielding right of way to bikes and pedestrians whether they stop at stop signs or not.

I just thought maybe that instead of trying to get cars to let bikes play on "their roads", we could transition to a society where the vehicle that is the smallest and doing the least environmental damage and carries the least potential for harming other people (these two concerns are what i meant by "responsible"), has priority at all times. That means pedestrians first, then skaters, then bikes, etc. on up to cars. When in our cars we can just slow down and let those folks rule the road.

That makes at least as much sense as giving in to the idea that cars rule and the only hope we have is to play by their rules so they let us play on their roads.

After another near miss with 3 guys on road bikes flying down the hill by my PD, running thru the stop sign and swinging the turn wide. That brings the total to something like 8 near misses this weekend alone, just at that intersection alone. Maybe I need to start writing some tickets..

Well, in Chicago, the cops just get drunk and run over cyclists. :mad:

Write the tickets. Cyclists need to follow the rules just like drivers do.

I vote for making them ride back up the hill, then walking their bike down, being sure to stop at the signs.

2nd violation, same thing except naked.

I just have no problem yielding right of way to bikes and pedestrians whether they stop at stop signs or not.

That makes at least as much sense as giving in to the idea that cars rule and the only hope we have is to play by their rules so they let us play on their roads.

Actually, when they run a stop sign and I must emergency brake to avoid them, I'n not yielding right of way, I'm just doing my best to avoid an accident. They do not have the right of way I do because I had no stop sign at that intersection. They must stop then proceed when the right of way traffic (me) has cleared. They had no right of way by simply being on bikes.

And cars do rule when they're on the road, at least over bikes. Trucks rule cars, bigger trucks rule smaller trucks, trains rule everything.. Its called kinetic energy and I see what it does to the human body far more often then most since I'm one of the guys who goes to all fatal and extremely serious accidents for the reconstruction.

This post wasnt really about whether bikes belong on the road or not, it was just my rant about some blatant violations that have nearly lead to some accidents, and my frustration with those who feel that by simply being on a bike, the rest of the motoring public must bow down to them.

Well, in Chicago, the cops just get drunk and run over cyclists. :mad:

Wow. Was wondering how long this thread would take to turn anti-cop, lasted longer than I expected it too.

FYI, 13,000 cops in Chicago, bound to be a few problem children within a group that size.

Who here is begging, chief?

And, maybe we don't all do that because maybe we don't all share your world view. And, maybe, that's because some of us make a living that requires us to cover huge distances by car, several times a week, and our jobs could not be performed any other way. Like cops, for example.

And, I hate to tell you, as long as more than one person is already out on the road, somebody will always be in a position where they will have to yield the right-of-way. Even if cars did not exist, Kimbecop would have nearly smoked a cyclist or two flying around the corner. He just would have done it on his trike, or whatever other wonderful pedal machine your rosy world view would have cops pedaling as fast as they can to emergencies.

I think the issue you seemed to miss in the original post is that the cyclists at that intersection are not "more responsible" travelers. It has nothing to do with what Kimbercop was in. Drillrods are drillrods if they're on bikes, in submarines, walking, or in a submarine (and, yes, I'm admitting to having been a drillrod on occassion).


Dude... You said submarine twice. I can no longer trust anything you post due to this horrible error.

You're just bitter because you haven't been riding as much. Admit it...you're jealous of those guys bombing that corner... :p

btw - find some time for a ride this weekend....want to head to Morton with the families?

Wow. Was wondering how long this thread would take to turn anti-cop, lasted longer than I expected it too.

FYI, 13,000 cops in Chicago, bound to be a few problem children within a group that size.

Not that I don't appreciate the CPD and the insane pressure they are under every day, but one of the things I despised most was watching them blow through stop signs without even slowing down (lights off). Add to that the multitude of times I've witnessed them turning on their lights in order to run red lights, just to see them turn off the lights and slow back down once through the intersection. It happened so regularly I came to expect it and make sure there were no squad cars coming at a four-way stop before I crossed.

If there's a reason for it, I am okay, but when they do it all the time it makes me wonder why the rest of Chicago traffic is so insane when it comes to running reds, etc.

Wow. Was wondering how long this thread would take to turn anti-cop, lasted longer than I expected it too.

FYI, 13,000 cops in Chicago, bound to be a few problem children within a group that size.

Cops and lawyers, man. If it wasn't for you or for us, the world would be perfect.

Submarinesubmarinesubmarinemotorcycle.