Originally Posted by
ndbiker
I'd have to disagree with you there. With the multiple thousands of cars on the road there would be mayhem if most weren't following the traffic laws. All it takes is one person to completely muck up traffic. I admit to making a few of my own rules while riding such as slow and go at stop signs in residential neighborhoods and I have been known to run a red light at 6:30 on Sunday morning when there are no cars on a normally busy street, however I try to religiously obey traffic laws, my life depends on it. I do see cyclists do a lot of stupid things even though there are relatively few of them. I see them riding on sidewalks, few signal, running red lights and stop signs at busy intersections, pulling up beside cars instead of staying behind them at a light etc. I truly believe that if cyclists want to be treated like the vehicles they are we are going to have obey the laws we are beholden to.
40,000+ deaths a year (down to just around 32,000 for 2009) and $170 billion dollar hit to the economy isn't mayhem? Not to mention the 5.5 million car accidents and over 2.2 million injuries... I seriously doubt you could come close to those kinds of numbers using just bicycles alone.
Aaron