Originally Posted by
kendall
Among cyclists on the other hand, there is no real consensus as to whether we are vehicles with all the rights and subject to ALL the rules of the road, or pedestrians who aren't. A common phrase on BF is "if it's clear, why should I stop for a light/sign" (normally qualified with "it's harder for a bike to get back to speed) which is generally preceeded with or followed by "I have just as much right to use the road"
If you are in the road on a bike, you should expect cars to treat you as they would other cars, not as a pedestrian
Your last sentence basically answers your question. If you're on the road with the other vehicles, then you're a vehicle and you follow the same rules they do*. If you're on the sidewalk, then you act as a pedestrian and give way at every driveway.
*Of course, following the same laws as other vehicles might just as often mean breaking the same laws as other vehicles in areas where the police are unable or unwilling to enforce them.
Originally Posted by
BarracksSi
I'm used to it, but not everyone is. If you want to get more cyclists out there, you need to attract the timid and hesitant, not us crazies on BF.
If hacking up a perfectly good street costs too much, might as well do it when rebuilding and repairing them. Repaved streets around here are often getting bike lanes. Not perfect, of course, and having a triathlete mayor isn't exactly fair to other cities
, but at least it helps (at some times during the day, it's hard to find a stretch of bike lane that doesn't have a cyclist on it).
Personally I'm ambivalent about whether or not I actually want more cyclists out there. I can see just as many negatives as positives in that, but that's another argument. I did acknowledge that there are some cities that can/have managed to refit roads with bikelanes and so on, just as I acknowledge that a stopped clock is right twice a day. My own city has spent more money on that in recent years than entire states, but there are still plenty of places where it simply hasn't/can't happen for various reasons, and there are many more places (i.e. the majority of intersections) where I find it safer and easier to simply ride through with the traffic and do as they do, irrespective of what the local council have built around it.