Couraga

In your area, how many people do you see breaking traffic laws? For me, just about everytime I am out, there will be at least 2-3 occurrences, all of which are close enough to affect me. e.g. vehicles swerving out from parked positions without spot checking, drivers disobeying traffic signals, stop signs, cyclists disobeying traffic signals and stop signs.

Once (one that didn't directly affect me), a driver in an SUV blew through a red light, I had no idea why, and came screeching within inches of hitting a cyclist.

Podolak

Several. Not many actually stop for stop signs, many don't use turn signals, others will pull out in front of me with out a second though. I just try and anticipate it though. I don't live in the city so cycling isn't as big. The passing distance I get is all over the charts too. Some go all the way in the other lane and some don't give me enough room to extend my arm.

anthegreat1

I rolled a couple of stops signs this morning

bizzz111

the fact that drivers break the law so frequently, and there are so many drivers means your average american has gotten used to it. They see someone break the law, get in a huff for about 10 seconds, then go about their day, completely forgetting the incident(s).

Some guy driving to work might see one or two cyclists a day vs. 100-1000 cars during the same period.
The cyclist breaking the law sticks in their mind because it's not an everyday thing. They see a cyclist blow a red light and it sticks with them the whole day, the whole week, hell for a lifetime. They will bring up that one incident in conversation 20 years down the road.

It will never change, so you might as well get used to it.

annc

Nearly everyone breaks traffic laws. For motorists, it's usually speeding. For cyclists it's usually running stop signs and red lights. For pedestrians, it's jaywalking.

JeffS

Hundreds, why?

99% of the cars driving through my neighborhood are exceeding the speed limit.

Probably 50% of the cars on the arterials I ride are exceeding the speed limit.

If I wanted to pause for a couple of minutes as I pass over the outer loop overpass I could quickly bump that number up into the thousands because again 95%+ are over the speed limit.

DataJunkie

Almost a 100% of motorists and most cyclists.

sean000

Frequently. When I lived in Washington, DC it was pretty much a free for all. Now that I live in a quieter little city, it seems that people here abide by traffic laws more consistently. You still see violations, but on the whole drivers here show much more respect for cyclists and pedestrians than those in DC. In DC it is the rare car that will stop for a pedestrian crosswalk, but here people take them seriously. I'm not trying to dis DC...I really enjoyed living there, but everyone breaks the law on a regular basis whether it's cars that drive aggressively (speed, run stop lights/signs, fail to yield, etc.), cyclists who ignore traffic lights and stops, or pedestrians who jaywalk. Sometimes it's because people have no idea what they are doing there... it can be a confusing and busy place and newcomers often have no idea about what they are supposed to do; but mostly it's just frustration. It's a frustrating place to get around in... especially for drivers. For cyclists and peds it's actually quite nice, but still frustrating at times.

Bellingham is hardly frustrating at all, but I guess it's all relative. What passes for heavy traffic here would barely register in DC. Still, drivers here have lower frustration levels and are more patient on the whole. Cyclists still ignore traffic lights and stops, and peds still jaywalk; but cars are mostly better behaved (although there are speeders). This town does have an amazing number of stop signs, so rolling stops are frequent, and I'm guilty of that on a regular basis.

This month introduced a new cell phone law that is pretty much ignored. Drivers are no longer allowed to dial while driving, and they must use a hands-free ear-piece for talking. The problem is that it isn't a stoppable offense. It's only a secondary offense, so even if a police officer sees you violating the cell phone law...they can't stop you unless you break another law. There was an article in the paper yesterday about how the new law is having no effect since it has no teeth.

Sean

corripio

Let's limit the list to infractions that impact me:

1. Not using turn signals (or signaling when they've already started turning...this does no good to warn me or others you plan on turning!). The midwest seems to hate turn signals. This impacts me a lot at 4-way stops and on my route home when I need to turn left across 4 lanes.

2. Not actually stopping at the stop line when making a right turn (like coming to a stop halfway into the intersection, blocking the entire crosswalk)...this impacts me mostly when I'm walking, but there have definitely been times when I've almost been hit because someone didn't stop until they were in the bike lane. It's not even as though they've inched up, they don't come to a stop until they are mostly in the intersection.

3. Passing me closer than the minimum safe distance. Most of my ride is on a road that has 2 lanes in each direction (or a middle turning lane) which snakes through a series of neighborhoods and has a speed limit of 35...these roads are also not very busy. Yet still, some people can't seem to figure out how to move into the other lane or just can't be bothered...and they always seem to be traveling at a substantially higher speed than the other drivers on the road.

But in general, my ride to work isn't too bad. The other day, I was sitting on my friend's porch, drinking some beer and we noticed that after about 9 pm, no one stopped at the 4 way stop in front his house...every person just rolled through it...during the hour we watched this, there were almost 3 car accidents, and 2 cyclists almost got smashed as a result of the lack of the cars stopping (although one cyclists sort of had it coming...it was dark, he had no lights or flashers, he was hauling ass down the hill, and didn't even slow down at the intersection...he to swerve badly to avoid a car that was exiting the intersection).

CastIron

I can sit on my front porch and spend all day watching ALL road users blow the stop sign, speed to and from it, and not signal, among other things.

BroadSTPhilly

Including me?

ItoDoeblin

Almost every user of a road - whether they be a motorist, pedestrian, cyclist, or other user - will break a traffic law while they're on the road. Motorists (at least around here) almost invariably speed; on a number of roads there even seems to be an agreed 'alternate speed limit', roll stop signs, fail to signal and fail to yield. Cyclists (myself included) tend to blow stop signs/lights as mentioned. Pedestrians jaywalk.

The thing that I think is -- which traffic laws are violated that pose an actual risk to public safety? The trouble is, my answer is "all of them" thus condemning myself. (/rant)

CastIron

With proper equipment, yes.

Lamplight

All of them. Granted, I can't see their speedometers, but they all go wide open throttle all the time, so I imagine that causes lots of speeding.

Indie

This morning:

Two cyclists who didn't have bells (the law here says they have to) and didn't bother to yell either as they passed me.

A minivan parked in the bike lane with one wheel up on the curb.

A tour bus parked in the bike lane taking up all but about a foot of it.

A big moving truck taking up the entire bike lane while guys moved stuff out of it into a store.

Two taxis being morons -- one pulled half into the bike lane and idling while he talked to someone on the sidewalk, and one who did a u-turn in the middle of traffic to pick up a fare who was standing on the sidewalk on the other side of the street.

Last night when I wasn't riding, I was about to step off the curb to enter the streetcar that was already stopped with its doors open, and a small car decided he had to finish passing the streetcar instead of letting people step off the curb. Right after him, a little jerk with a backwards ball cap instead of a helmet zipped by on his bike.

bikebuddha 

Do you count the 500,000 people on the highway doing 20 mph over the speed limit?

77midget

Lotsa speeding, lotsa turns w/o signaling, rolling stops, etc. I also navigate a rotary that is like a town sanctioned bumper car cage.

I also see a lot of cyclists involved, and I must say that I am in there every morning. There is a stop sign on a bending fork on a hill that I come to. When you are driving, it is fine, because when you stop for the left turn (left turn only), you still have enough power in a car to cross the road uphill and get into the travel lane. On a bike, you are not fast enough, and since it is on a bend, it can be dangerous. You can see around the bend just prior to coming to the stop sign, so when approaching, if I see that there is nobody coming, and the left side is clear, I go right across. It is the only area on my commute where it is really safer for a biker to break the stop law than obey it. When there is traffic and I must stop, it is a bit like real-life Frogger. The intersection was designed with cars in mind, not pedestrian or bike traffic.

Here it is:
https://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&sadd...5&ie=UTF8&z=18

maddyfish

Every vehicle I see breaks traffic laws. Cars. Bikes. Every single one. Cars speed. 26 in a 25 is speeding.
Bikes don't stop for red lights or stop signs. I have seen one bike stop at a light this year.

JMRobertson

I'm a mathematic professor by trade, and I'm not really sure I could count that high.

ctwxlvr

For me lets say 50 to 1000 depending on the day .... the ones that tick me off are the very ones that should be obeying the laws the most .... police and bus drivers, both speeding blowing stop signs, using their status to "bend the laws" (using the siren to blow an intersection and then stop at the Dunkin Dognuts in the next block).

noisebeam

Everyday many times in a very predictable manner.

caloso

The absolute number varies daily, but it consistently approaches 100%.

CastIron

That might be funny if it wasn't so close to the truth in the matter.

kmac27

I run stopsigns if nobody is close and most cyclists do.

mondaycurse

I don't think anyone is entirely innocent. Rolling stops for cars and cyclists, speeding for 100% of motorists (about 50% more than 5 mph over speed limit), littering from cars that apparently don't have any space to set Whopper wrappers, fart can exhausts, bikers without lights at night (at least they stay on low-traffic streets), I'd say it's close to 90% if you exclude the speeding under 5mph over the speed limit.

But those bike riders that go through a 4-way when no cars are coming! They are a menace to everyone's safety!