Went for a latenight ride yesterday--forgot about the whole drunk driving/holiday factor until a few miles in, then just became a touch more cognizant for the rest of the ride. Saw p-lenty of dudes pulled over all over the city (ride was a 13-mile loop through downtown/university etc. type areas). Anyway, I went through one stretch that has 4 way stops every block just west of downtown by the courthouse. I was keeping good pace with the pizza delivery car adjacent to me by slowing down to check for anything oncoming, then going through if the coast was clear (it was for every block, maybe 6 in a row), while she came to a stop at each one, more or less. After this stretch, as I was waiting at a red light, this voice calls out from the parking lot across the way, offering me the sage advice from the title of this thread, and also that "I've nearly hit a lot of bikers back there who blow through stop signs."

A few thoughts ran through my mind--

1, it's amazing to me that people don't realize how much more aware of the environment it is possible to be while on a bike. Unless there's a near-invisible object crossing through an intersection (a bullet, Superman, many bugs), I trust that I will detect some visible movement and stop. And a car? Kinda tough to miss, especially if it's barreling through a residential area with no regard for stop signs.

2, this is yet another instance of a motorist lumping all cyclists into some sort of imaginary club, group, society, whatever. I can only control my own actions, not those of all cyclists. Can you control the rampant bad driving I witness daily? Do I ask you to, oh pizza delivery girl? It's a strange phenomenon, drivers unloading their frustrations with all illegal cyclist behavior on a single cyclist who blows a stop sign. There is no "you guys," "bikers," etc. There is only the person that you are nervously trying to pass without hitting, sometimes quite dangerously. He might or might not obey traffic laws. I think the same thing about cars that I see blowing lights or stop signs. Some ******, probably drunk (if it's past 12 or 1, for sure). I never once think about blaming this person for all the insanely bad driving I witness constantly.

3. Was she saying that she nearly hits bikers who cross intersections right in front of her, or those adjacent to her? Due to thought #1, I find it hard to believe that a cyclist would cross directly in front of a car that is already stopped at a 4-way stop. But I guess anything is possible, and yes, those cyclists are putting themselves in great danger and of course pissing people off in the process. So is anyone with a death wish.

I've come up with a ready-made reply for these situations. Whenever anyone yells that I blew a stop sign, or a red light with no traffic, my only response is, "You're right." It seems the most appropriate thing to say, if there's a need to say anything at all.

Hope you all had a great Sunday night and are enjoying the holiday.

You are part of the bad kharma bestowed on us every day!

No he/she's not. Sounds like a perfectly aware rider riding a bicycle in its appropriate manner (and not the manner car drivers would like us to, which is based on their own jealousy: they too would like to run stop signs when the coast is clear). However, if the OP is riding a bent, as the username suggests, I think the claims of road awareness are greatly exaggerated. Much harder to see and be seen down there than on a bicycle.

I started running 4 ways after this:

Stopped at a four way. I was the last to arrive.
Three drivers in 4 wheelers were stopped chatting on cell phones.

I looked at each one, nothing happened.
Rode on through.

They were still there after I cleared the intersection.

What is really bad is when you see some schmuck riding his crappy k-mart bike cruising through an intersection with cars stopped at all 4 corners... (Generalization, I've seen it before, and I knew the person who did it)

I think a lot of people do what you do, if the coast is obviously clear, why unclip and stop, only to have to push back up to speed seconds later.

Although I usually slow to a speed where I am going very slow but still stable enough to not have to put a foot down.

Delivery drivers gain a lot of knowledge about the roads from driving around for hours on end every night. The driver has surely encountered many more cyclists from sheer mileage of being behind-the-wheel on the job.

They have a tendency to pick up on the nuances of driving habits, much like on a bike. The way drivers slightly drift in the lane for a right turn. You can tell if someone will roll a stop by the way they brake up to apex of the sign. Etc... Same goes for cyclists, which she has managed to lump in to one group.

Granted, it may have been misplaced advice but it is one of the more pleasant venting-episodes you could have encountered.

When I'm driving it really sucks having a biker on my right because I have no idea what to do when I approach a stop sign with the intent on turning right. Has he seen my turn signal? Is he going to stop behind me? Fly by me on the right and through the stop sign? Am I going to ****ing kill him? And why do I have to waste so much of my time watching out for people who don't obey the law?

Stop at stop signs.

wear a helmet

You are the driver that puts on the turn signal after you Begin turning?

Sounds like you need to get over yourself.

Wow, you can figure out what types of people will be the type of people to lump you into a catagory incorrectly based on their false assumptions of your intelligence and experience. Those silly cagers, they judge a book by its cover.

Don't filter a cyclist while approaching a stop sign.

That was me yelling at you. When you annoy someone because of your disregard for the law, that person is going to take out their anger on one of us.
Whenever I see someone riding in downtown Austin at night without a helmet or lights, I just pray that they live long enough to realize they are not really smarter than the rest of us.

you should totally go check out the helmet thread! ^_^

I don't understand how anything I wrote could possibly lead you to believe that.

The cyclist should take the lane and stop behind your car, then wait for you to make your turn. Whenever I'm approaching a stop sign or stop light and cars are stopping too, I take the lane

motoB said exactly the opposite.

People do all kinds of great things that I'm not responsible for. It is his/her choice whether to "take out their anger" on something or someone. People are not automatons such that one biker's action _causes_ a driver to get annoyed, which then again _causes_ that driver to take out his/her anger on someone else. When a driver (or anyone) takes out their anger on another person, that driver is making a choice to do so. Though difficult, it is possible to choose not to do this. Realizing that one biker's behavior is not at all related to other bikers' behavior is a good first step.

You think people who ride without a helmet or lights through downtown Austin think they are smarter than the rest of us? Why?

Yield at stop signs. Slow down even when you have right-of-way. Allow drivers to see that you are alert to the rules but modifying them for your mode of transportation.

just imagine, the same percentile amount of bad drivers exists as bad cyclists... and they all run stop signs without even looking.

I hardly ever see anyone make complete stops, car or bike, especially where I live has a stop sign at just about every street corner. Let's go to Mexico, there are no stop signs

heck, many drivers around here don't even obey yield signs. Sure, there are 6 lanes total, but you're still facing a yield sign, and that means stop until all lanes are clear.

One of these days, with a car, I'll lane change into the right lane at a point where I know drivers don't obey yield signs, just to show them it's a yield point.

If ALL vehicles would obey laws, and traffic controls, it would be better for all of us.

If you don't like the laws, get them changed - but, until then, make it easier on the rest of us.

You can not justify inappropriate behavior.

Some day you will be able to figure it out. In the meantime I am going to teach a pig to sing.

Start on this one:

You're right.