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.

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".

Well said!

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.

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' ?

Do it.

Yes, maybe you should.

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

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 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.

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.

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.

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.