Originally Posted by
Burton
If anything its both hypocritical and condescending to expect to claim equal right to motorists on the road without accepting equal responsibilities. Oh yeah - take the lane! But lets skip the stop signs and traffic signals because - thats just ..... inconvenient!
Exactly. It is inconvenient to me and so therefore I safely disregard these rules that were designed for motorized vehicles. Besides bicycling being a wonderful form of exercise, saving money, creating less carbon emissions, etc, one of the major reasons why I love my bicycle is the independence it gives me. Part of that independence is being less tied down to stop signs and red lights because my mode of transportation affords me the ability to safely go through these traffic control devices.
Originally Posted by
Burton
Yeah IMO too many cyclists are both reckless and stupid. I brought up this case before and I'll do it again - an 18 year old boy was killed by a truck this summer on a section of the bicycle path I commute on almost every day. There was a stop sign there - he ignored it. I mean - stop signs on bicycle paths are just plain stupid -right? Thing is - that was the point where the bicycle path crossed an entrance to an industrial park and no one else had a stop sign. He ended up under the wheels of a truck.
I'd like to say it was an isolated incident and couldn't happen again, but the news channel filmed that corner for a half hour and not one cyclist stoped at the sign.
Media sensationalism at its finest! Breaking news! Bicycle runs stop sign! Let's send a team right out there to count the number of other naughty cyclists doing the same thing!
I promise you that stop sign, as the 30 min news shot uncovered, is being blown 90% of the time year round. Right now as I type this some cyclist just rolled through it. And how many deaths have occurred? Probably not many. The vast majority of cyclists are able to go through red lights and stop signs because it is safe to do so. Through route experience I know which lights or stop signs I can safely go through based upon lines of sight, traffic conditions, etc. If I can't accurately see very far to my right or left, I WILL come to a complete stop and wait.
Originally Posted by
Burton
And I get EXACTlY the same treatment trying to cross an intersection at the end of my street on a bicycle. There's a stop sign on the bike path on the other side of the street and a stop sign on both sides of the street. Motorists have no problem stopping to let me cross. Cyclists? I've had three close calls because they'd rather run down another cyclist than stop for anyone.
Were you actually run down???