Cyclists, Explain Yourselves

[MeChaNiZ3D]

Well obviously this particular guy is an exceptionally stupid cyclist. Being a cyclist myself I would not have cut across every single lane of traffic, no. Here are my views in a nutshell:

1. Need moar bicycle lanes. Not ones with f***ing parked cars all over so I have to keep dodging back into the traffic either. Painting a bike on the ground does not a bike lane make.

2. When I'm on the road, I stick as far to the left as I feel I should be expected to. I think it's only fair, and they make the lanes wide enough to allow cars to pass by anyway. But if I'm on the left and you have a problem with me riding, f*** you. I'm not doing s*** about it, because there's only one way I'm getting home and it involves part of the road.

3. Cyclists should be allowed on footpaths. Obviously there will be more incidents of bicycles knocking people over, etc. But I have never heard of a bicycle running over a pedestrian. You see it on the news all the time, a truck's trailer was lagging behind and wiped out 4 cyclists or so. Also, pedestrians can't do s*** to cyclists who are doing the right thing (and that's how it should be), but some cars get livid at the sight of us and can easily lead to injuries. More than once I've had to stick my middle finger up at a 4WD honking its horn (as it passes me btw, plenty of space). One day I'll probably have arthritis from it.

(Funnily enough, once a Lebanese guy actually then got out of the car and was going to start a fight, but I got my keys out and he decided it wasn't such a good idea any more ^^)

So yeah. Basically, in the present situation, if cyclists are on the road, regular road rules should apply (I think they do anyway, that guy had no business cutting across lanes while cars and going).

 

[CrimsonBlaze]

The only complaint that I have is that why are there so many cyclists without helmets on the road. Now, I understand if they are on the sidewalk or at the park, but when they are on the ROAD with other much faster, much larger, vehicles that are literally inches away from the cyclists, why would head safety be a concern to the cyclist?

I swear this is like motorcycles all over again where they refused to wear helmets because it made them look "less cool" or it messes up their hair, and so they get into an accident, die and no ones the wiser. Then, they are forced [key word here is "forced"] to wear helmets for their own safety and get insurance to protect themselves in case of an accident.

And I see it all the time. Lately, there have been cops roaming around my city around the clock and the cyclists without helmets just ride right pass them. Seriously? I could have sworn there was a law in my state that strictly addressed this policy.

But no; bicycle licenses, forced helmet policies, and bicycle insurance is where we are headed because people want to look pretty when there getting from point A to point B on their bicycle.

 

[salinv]

I think what you've got here is less of a case of "Cyclists are dicks," and more of "Wow, there are certainly a lot of dicks on cycles here." Honestly, I have heard of this happening before, but maybe it is just because I live in a small town, because I've never had to deal with this.

 

[Aerosteam]

I'm pretty sure there's a lot of people on bikes who do this just to piss people off, but I don't cycle in cities because meh.

 

[Dangit2019]

In my town, most places are reached by highways and the only cyclists usually travel in suburbs. Some will actually ride on the super-long highways (for some reason), but they mostly don't cause disturbances.

Captcha: fill it up

How...erotic.

 

[SaetonChapelle]

We have morons in my towns who fully believe the cyclic lane is NOT to be used, that they have the right to drive in the car lanes, in a 45 mile an hour road, where they are only doing 5 miles. There is a large stretch of perfectly wondrous asphalt directly next to us, but nope, need to be right in the center of the road. And we have TONS of them.

Go dudes for getting your exercise. Please get the hell out of my way because I am significantly bigger and heavier than you (never thought Id like to say that...)

 

[DustyDrB]

Well obviously this particular guy is an exceptionally stupid cyclist. Being a cyclist myself I would not have cut across every single lane of traffic, no. Here are my views in a nutshell:

1. Need moar bicycle lanes. Not ones with f***ing parked cars all over so I have to keep dodging back into the traffic either. Painting a bike on the ground does not a bike lane make.

2. When I'm on the road, I stick as far to the left as I feel I should be expected to. I think it's only fair, and they make the lanes wide enough to allow cars to pass by anyway. But if I'm on the left and you have a problem with me riding, f*** you. I'm not doing s*** about it, because there's only one way I'm getting home and it involves part of the road.

3. Cyclists should be allowed on footpaths. Obviously there will be more incidents of bicycles knocking people over, etc. But I have never heard of a bicycle running over a pedestrian. You see it on the news all the time, a truck's trailer was lagging behind and wiped out 4 cyclists or so. Also, pedestrians can't do s*** to cyclists who are doing the right thing (and that's how it should be), but some cars get livid at the sight of us and can easily lead to injuries. More than once I've had to stick my middle finger up at a 4WD honking its horn (as it passes me btw, plenty of space). One day I'll probably have arthritis from it.

(Funnily enough, once a Lebanese guy actually then got out of the car and was going to start a fight, but I got my keys out and he decided it wasn't such a good idea any more ^^)

So yeah. Basically, in the present situation, if cyclists are on the road, regular road rules should apply (I think they do anyway, that guy had no business cutting across lanes while cars and going).

I agree soo much with you. Parked cars in the bike lane just fuck everything up. Because once one person does it, then you have another. And I'd also like to use the footpath. Because seriously, how can you trust drivers these days when at least half of them are very distracted? I really can't see me hitting people with my bike. I'm gonna stop or slow down for people. But if a someone in a car screws up and gets in your way? Panic. There's a number of things I might try to do, and a lot of them end up with me having a bad afternoon.

 

[Ziame]

Speaking from a driver/cyclist perspective here.

To be honest, the biggest problem lies, as always, in legislation.

For example, here in Poland, there is a set of rules for cyclists - you have to have lights front/back, wear a helmet, have a noise-making-something (a bicycle-bell or a honk). But, you guessed it, noone abides by those rules. Why? BECAUSE THEY DON'T KNOW THEM - because noone forces them to have this knowledge.

There's this saying, that 'ignorance [about the law] doesn't justify [breaking it]'. I think that schools should have some lesson/subject/class (whatever you call it) that would be forcing people to know those rules.

On the other hand, there are some rules that EVERYONE KNOWS. It's so common, especially in countries with not-so-developed bike-culture, that they don't care about signs, lights and all that... because they think they're exempt(sp?) from following "car" rules.

But it goes deeper. Another example - pedestrian-crossings. WHO THE FUCK. DECIDED. THAT CYCLISTS CAN CROSS THEM. ON BIKES. WTF^100. I mean, some of them.

Please, cyclists - imagine the following. I have to make a turn, and pass the crossing. It's semi-dark. AND YOU FUCKING SPEED THROUGH IT NOT EVEN SLOWING DOWN. How am I supposed to let you through safely?

Oh, and right-hand rule (left-hand for Brits). Remember cyclists, that guy on your right (left for brits) - you let him go first. That's the law. (In those places without set-driving-precedence).
Also, sidewalks should be open for cyclists (and are in Poland as of this year). But this also should be rule-bound: pedestrians should have priority over bicycle rider, and s/he should go like 30km/h max. *and not cross the road 60mph*


But, frankly, drivers are no better. How many times had I had a situation on a junction, that I got honked on for obeying THE FUCKING LAW. Remember drivers: you are legally bound to leave the pedestrian-crossing open. You can't stop on it. You have to stop before it. Also, you can't stop in the middle of a fucking crossroad, idiot.

TL;DR
Cyclists/drivers all the same - if the wankist/wanker doesn't think about what he does: that's where it gets fucked up.

The only complaint that I have is that why are there so many cyclists without helmets on the road. Now, I understand if they are on the sidewalk or at the park, but when they are on the ROAD with other much faster, much larger, vehicles that are literally inches away from the cyclists, why would head safety be a concern to the cyclist?

I swear this is like motorcycles all over again where they refused to wear helmets because it made them look "less cool" or it messes up their hair, and so they get into an accident, die and no ones the wiser. Then, they are forced [key word here is "forced"] to wear helmets for their own safety and get insurance to protect themselves in case of an accident.

And I see it all the time. Lately, there have been cops roaming around my city around the clock and the cyclists without helmets just ride right pass them. Seriously? I could have sworn there was a law in my state that strictly addressed this policy.

But no; bicycle licenses, forced helmet policies, and bicycle insurance is where we are headed because people want to look pretty when there getting from point A to point B on their bicycle.

To be honest, that's just fucked up. If I want to fucking die, that's my fucking problem, and govs should stay the fuck away from me. It's like seatbelts. I wear them all the time, but if someone is too stupid to do so (bar people who can't use them), then hell yeah, global IQ rises.

 

[Wintermoot]

I don,t condone it it could be fixed by laying out cycling lanes or the cyclist biking on the side of the road

 

[BloatedGuppy]

People die when drivers drive badly. People get midly inconvinienced when cyclists cycle badly.

This isn't entirely true, though. What makes traffic flow work, and generally constitutes good driving, is everyone being predictable. You turn when expected, you go the expected speed, you signal when necessary, you stop when you need to. Everyone can predict what everyone else is going to do, and as a result traffic moves along in an orderly fashion. When someone does something unpredictable...changes lanes dramatically, slams on the breaks, busts through a light...accidents and traffic jams result.

If cyclists are sharing the road with cars, they need to BE PREDICTABLE, because cars are reacting to them. If a cyclist does something stupid and unpredictable, they can cause accidents and deaths...the death of others, or their own deaths. If I have to slam on my breaks or jerk out of a lane because some cyclist decided to start improvising, I'm now putting everyone else at risk trying to keep this guy alive. It's the same principle that makes jaywalking illegal.

I overstate when I rant about cyclists and pedestrians because they make me crazy when I'm driving, and because they are MUCH more likely to behave like rules don't apply to them, when in fact rules do apply to them, they just seldom observe them. All the pressure to make sure no accidents happen is on the drivers, because they're in the cars. Perhaps you think this is appropriate, but it makes it a lot easier to keep people safe while I'm driving if those people don't insist on continuing to do reckless, stupid things.

I generally approve of cycling because it's good for the environment, but there are a LOT of cyclists out there who are ruining it for the handful of good ones.

Rather Important Edit: Don't bother quoting me. Don't bother making reference to me.

Too late. =\

 

[DT3055]

Ok we cyclist will follow the rules when you motherfuckers stop parking in the crosswalks. Seriously every single time I come to an intersection im always greeted by some idiot trying to turn right on red and he'll pull out and stop half a foot away traffic right on top of the white lined crosswalk. Then I have to pray that this guy will see me because I have the light to cross but he's got his head cocked 90 degrees in the opposite direction usually on a damn cell phone. Same goes for pulling out of a driveway or a parking lot, you drivers have to stop and look for pedestrians at the stop sign not just slow down and keep going till the edge of the road. That big solid white line is there for a reason STOP BEHIND IT.

 

[Trivun]

I came in here ready to vent, as I also love to cycle, and consider myself a cyclist. I used to cycle to work in my last city all the time, and into the city centre, and I always paid attention to my surroundings and still nearly got knocked down several times. Almost always by idiot taxi drivers (who don't obey the rules anyway, even with other cars), or by idiots parking in the cycle lanes despite rules preventing that from being allowed.

And then I recalled today. I also drive sometimes, though I prefer cycling, and in my local area (an area renowned for the number of retards it's managed to produce), I was driving today to pick up some groceries, when I saw a cyclist come off the path, straight across the road, and start cycling into the oncoming traffic (on the side though). Fortunately there weren't many cars around, but he proceeded to veer across and cycle on my side of the road (the left side, being in the UK), and then veer across to the right again driving alongside the oncoming traffic. All the while he was cycling in the same direction that I was driving.

So I can understand the OP's viewpoint. Basically, the vast majority of cyclists are fine and sensible, and don't deserve the backlash they have. But there is a small minority of idiots who shouldn't be allowed on the roads. That being said, although the majority of car drivers are fine too, the number of idiot drivers vastly outstrips the number of idiot cyclists.

My advice? Make cycling proficiency mandatory as a lesson taught in schools. I never had that when I was a kid, so I had to learn the hard way (nearly being killed) how to cycle on roads, since it's illegal to cycle on a pavement (at least over here, and I agree with that fully). Making it mandatory would promote cycling, thereby helping reduce the country's carbon footprint and obesity rates, and would also mean far fewer accidents involving cyclists on the roads. And create a few jobs in schools for cycling instructors too. I can see absolutely no flaw in this, can anyone else?

 

[Cowabungaa]

I guess I just never realized how cyclists are viewed abroad. From what I gather Holland has one of the highest cyclist ratios in the world and there's no real hostility between cyclists and motorists here at all.

Except, probably, in cities. Really, have you ever been to Den Bosch? Cyclists are fucking suicidal there, especially around Den Bosch Central Station. I'm taking driving lessons there and damn, I hate cyclists in that place. No doubt that many fellow motorists share my sentiments in that place.

 

[Suave Charlie]

Please, for the love of god, explain how cyclists produce CO2?

You apparently slept through the respiration part of biology. To put it simply, humans produce CO2 by breathing. Cycling makes you breathe heavily. Erego, more CO2 made than just walking.



Honestly I don't count the CO2 cost of making it because that can vary wildly. The same plant using the same techinques in the same building and run by the same workers can belch out hundreds of tons a day or not a wisp. It depends so much on the power company.

I see what you were trying to do but it niggled at me.. if you have a car and the driver is hyperventilating constantly it isn't taxed any higher..
And yeah you produce more CO2 cycling than walking, but both are trivial amounts compared to cars, so I'm not massively sure where this point was going anyway.

Unless you're advocating a breathing tax maybe? Could make a bit more money from the olympics I suppose..

 

[suitepee7]

What is it that makes you think that, just because you are on a bike, you are somehow exempt from the same restrictions as drivers? What gives you the right to cherry pick what piece of concrete you want to ride on, at the expense of everyone around you? What gives you the right to complain when you cut off someone else and they shout at you for not paying attention?

they don't pay road tax or insurance (in the UK anyway). so if they do cause an accident, they just scarper as quickly as possible so they don't get in trouble. what jerks...

 

[Farseer Lolotea]

So I'm riding my bike. I look both ways before I cross the street. And whaddya know: someone in a truck blazes around the corner without signaling, almost hits me, and yells at me to watch where I'm going.

A few days later, there's a whiny editorial in the local newspaper about how bicyclists think they own the road.

'Nuff said.

 

[Casual Shinji]

I guess I just never realized how cyclists are viewed abroad. From what I gather Holland has one of the highest cyclist ratios in the world and there's no real hostility between cyclists and motorists here at all.

Except, probably, in cities. Really, have you ever been to Den Bosch? Cyclists are fucking suicidal there, especially around Den Bosch Central Station. I'm taking driving lessons there and damn, I hate cyclists in that place. No doubt that many fellow motorists share my sentiments in that place.

I probably never noticed because I'm always the cyclist, never the motorist.