Everybody talks about that "Zen of Brakeless Riding" thing and I think some people mix that up with the "Pedal As Fast As Possible and Hope Nobody Hits Me" thing. I want to know what's coming at me before I make a decision. So, I slow enough that I can gauge the need for further slowing and/or stoppage. I always stop and wait for greens when there are 5-0 present.

Why is it that people are stupid enough to believe crap like this?

Stop signs and lights are designed for cars. They are designed for 2 ton vehicles driving 30+miles an hour. Even if a car and cyclist are traveling the same rate of speed, the cyclist should stop much faster than a car will.

The notion that all traffic laws should apply to bicycles is ludicrous.

first, i never blow red lights. mind you i've got maybe five routes that i ride really frequently and i've got my light timing down so i really only hit a red light maybe twice a week.

stop signs... well that's a disaster story. at least once a day i stop at a two way (foot down and all) and have the cross traffic stop and beckon me to cross like i'm a ped or something. i've taken to grabbing the centre of the lane at stop signs in an attempt to make it crystal frickin' clear that i'm a vehicle, but it doesn't do a damn thing. i usually just wait them out 'til they go.


four ways i usually do the slow-then-blow routine, but they're all in residential neighbourhoods.

My personal policy is, i won't blow a red or stop sign if someone is coming the other way and might have to slow down or even think about slowing down. As Dave Moulton says, if you must run reds be like a tree falling in the forest when no one is around.

I am not so sure that a bike can stop faster than a car--- you only a a few square inches of contact, and it takes nothing to lock up the wheels on a bike.

Secondly, why is it stupid to at least go through the motions of following the rules of the road-- if you want to be respected as a vehicle?

You believe what you want--- stop lights also seem to be designed for pedestrians... and certainly bikes.

10 pages

this is what happens when you run stops
https://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/5...081407.article

and by the way obey the law or die it is easier to slow and trackstand than it is to try and explain why you have a quarter million dollar hospital bill because your a dumb ass

oh btw I have the scars to prove that it ain't cheap

retem in all his craziness is right

i look to see if cars are going to run the signs

i still have my brain and most of my blood too

yeah, if you have any doubt at all if it's safe to hit an intersection, listen to your instincts. i can't think of anything so important it can't wait long enough for the light to go if the alternative is me getting hit by a car. sure, there are some lights it's safe to blow, and that has as much to do with you as it does with traffic, but if i'm ever in doubt, i stop and trackstand till i am sure.

the issue isnt really about cars at all. to be specific it has to do with west philadelphia four way stops. cyclists never stop at the fourways unless there is a car. my concern is mostly about cyclists hitting each other when we never stop at the stop signs.

lets see you lock up that front wheel.

this is me too. plus i have too watch for cops on campus. they love busting kids for rolling through stop signs.

I slow down and roll through, but just blowing through them? not. But hey, it's my choice to not get mangled. and to Willypilgrim: I believe it because that's what the law says.

oh cool a way out

You should get that tattooed on your forehead.

Thanks for the civics lesson. Many towns have special exemptions for bikes at certain sorts of intersections, but to say that stops should never apply to bikes is laughably ignorant.

You wanna share the road? Then share the rules. Otherwise there's plenty of room for you on MUP.

Where did i say that stops should never apply to bikes, all of you that lack reading comprehension?

I stop on occasion. I never stop on my morning commute if it is at 4:40am, because there's essentially no one on the road.

At 7ish, i sometimes have to stop at 1 or 2 lights because traffic is busier.

At Noon, is usually stop at least once, usually on snelling, unless the light is in my favor of course.

If it's safe to do so, i run lights and stops. Safe to do so means i'm not going to get hit, people i'm riding with that might follow me through won't get hit, and there are no police around.

Aparently the "civics lesson" was over your head, since you missed my point entirely.

Here's where you said it:

You derided the application of road laws to cyclists. You didn't mention your own choices or preferences, nor did you clarify your point.

My reading comprehension is fine, friend. You need to work on thinking clearly and not running your mouth before your brain has a chance to catch up. I doubt that you are capable of an argument that is "over my head," but in this instance you've made no argument at all...nor even a definable point, as near as I can see.

You accused me of saying stops should never apply to bikes, which i never did, and your little quotes prove nothing other than that i said it's stupid to obey all traffic laws at all time, in response to someone elses post. That is why i call your reading comprehension into question, which apparently wasn't unjustified, so maybe before you think i should think clearly and not run my mouth, you should do the same, and not assume that i am making blanket statements that i didn't make.

I didn't feel like i needed to write a 3 page persuasive essay on an internet forum explaining why i feel bikes do not always need to adhere to traffic laws.

Also, to the person that said "because it's the law." Have a fun life with that mindset.

If you're going to insult people and act like a jackass, folks will assume that you are a jackass. If you'd moderated your initial post, you wouldn't have to defend yourself now. If you put ill-formed, poorly-expressed opinions into a forum where people are trying to intelligently debate an issue, you're going to have a negative response, and be called on to justify yourself.

The problems in comprehension aren't on my end of the pipe, buddy. Get a clue.

Except in your first post you said NOTHING like whats in this one. You basically disregarded using stop signs and stop lights at all, saying their use on a bike is ludicrous. Nice backpedal. And what 'civics lesson' were you trying to teach there? How to sound like an antagonistic cyclist?

ooh, I didnt see this one. Look at your original post. You said nothing like "use discretion when approaching lights." what you did say sounded more like "**** lights and stop signs, that stuff only applies to cars." Our reading comprehension is fine. You need to stop being such a defensive ******* when you've been caught saying something stupid.

i stop when necessary and slow to 5mph when it's not necessary, unless i can see clearly that there are no vehicles or pedestrians and am going through/turning at the stop sign out of traffic(onto a path or sidewalk or parking lot)


basically i do what will be safest. if i can get out of the way of cars i will.

i only run through stop 'things' if i know it is perfectly clear. look both ways before you cross, duh.

I don't like the language being used in this thread. "Blow through a stop sign/light" conjures up images of cyclists flying through these things at top-speed without looking to see if there's any traffic oncoming.

Which I'm sure no one does. Unless they want to die very soon.

Rolling up to stops and then going through is something I do, but I check to see if there's traffic, blablabla.

I blow through them if nobody's there. If there's traffic, I time them so I'm 'shadowing' another car so I never stop. Otherwise, I'm a law abiding wussy.

Funny, I also never seem to get hassled by drivers. Maybe it's karma?