Another Auto Motorist Runs A Bicyclist Off The Road,..

[mmntech]

#1 Sideroad is the worst.

Only going to get worse when they finish that idiot velodrome up in Milton. The Pan Am Games are already shaping up to be a colossal mistake for a truckload of reasons.

I think the worst part about it is not so much they disobey the rules of the road. Rather, they seem to get away with it. Everybody has tales of near misses involving them running stop signs, red lights, riding in huge packs on narrow roads, riding aggressively. The laws are pretty clear about it, and the fines are the same as if you were driving a motor vehicle. Yet the police never seem to crack down on it.

Part of the problem is identifying the rider. I've been arguing for a long time that bikes should be registered and plated if they use public roads. Just like any other vehicle. I'd do it as a one time fee with the purchase of a bike, or if there's a change in ownership. Use the cash to build and maintain bike lanes. It would make it easier for drivers to identify bad riders to police, thus improving enforcement and reducing accidents. It would also help with the recovery of stolen bikes.

Full disclosure, I do ride for fitness. Though I only do so on residential streets where there's little traffic. Yes, I do obey stop signs and traffic lights. I don't have a death wish.

 

[CountZero]

Would you ram your car into another car that was 'hogging' the road??

You pretty well miss the point in why the majority of people tired of cyclists are tired of them. It is multifaceted and it is all of them combined that leads to the animosity.

When I say cyclist below I mean the annoying ones, not every cyclist acts this way. In my experience areas with less cyclists have more annoying cyclists than areas with lots of cyclists.
1) Cyclists treat stop signs and red lights as optional. I can count on one hand the number of cars I've seen completely blow through a red light or stop sign. Not rolling stop or right after a yellow when they shouldn't but going right through as if the light/sign wasn't there.
2) They want to shared the road but only follow rules of the road when convenient. Being behind a cyclist is like gambling. Are they going to dart across in front of me to turn without a signal? Do they even have a mirror to see me? Are they getting over to allow me to pass or are they just swerving around?
3) Take 1 & 2 and add the fact that at surface street speeds if a another car does something dumb the resulting accident is not likely going to be a major accident. Death would be rare and injury unlikely to be severe. Plus the other driver is supposed to be insured. An accident between a car and bike has a good chance of being devastating. I don't want to kill someone just because they don't think a stop sign or red light applies to them and they miscalculate making it across. So many people take the stance of "I'm taking the risk not you" but that risk impacts me. You do something dumb and now I live with the catastrophic results.

 

[mmntech]

Here's a video that illustrates precisely why it's dangerous for cyclists to run red lights, and why cars aren't the only hazard.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=731991506856627&set=vb.308506372538478&type=2&theater

Sorry it's Facebook. I'm honestly too lazy to try and find it elsewhere.

 

[SunnyD]

My question was did he pick up that solid 7 pin for the spare? :hmm:

 

[SandEagle]

Here's a video that illustrates precisely why it's dangerous for cyclists to run red lights, and why cars aren't the only hazard.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=731991506856627&set=vb.308506372538478&type=2&theater

Sorry it's Facebook. I'm honestly too lazy to try and find it elsewhere.

see post #49.

 

[Ns1]

ITT: drivers focus on cyclists running red lights, completely ignoring the laws that drivers regularly ignore. Including stopping at the scene of an accident, usually after maiming someone.

Yet cyclists are the menaces on the road.

 

[SunnyD]

ITT: drivers focus on cyclists running red lights, completely ignoring the laws that drivers regularly ignore. Including stopping at the scene of an accident, usually after maiming someone.

Yet cyclists are the menaces on the road.

What you fail to realize is that when faced with a congruent situation, the cyclist would do the same thing. How many times have cyclists hit pedestrians and simply rode off rather than stopped to offer aid? How many times do you think a cyclist has caused some sort of property damage when tagging a parked car or something and thought "Well that idiot shouldn't have parked there" and just rode off pissed that they got hurt rather than left a note to take responsibility for the scratches, dents, possible breakages?

The scale is smaller, but the response is identical. It's fucking human nature to flee. Cyclists need not preach any holier-than-thou when they most definitely aren't. And this most definitely isn't a defense of the auto driver either, they just happen to have the mass-and-quantity advantage on the roads.

 

[Ns1]

What you fail to realize is that when faced with a congruent situation, the cyclist would do the same thing. How many times have cyclists hit pedestrians and simply rode off rather than stopped to offer aid

I dunno, how many times have you heard of that happening?

Meanwhile, I hear a driver doing that shit everyday in LA. I guess all drivers must be murdering hit n run assholes.

 

[senseamp]

There is a witness that confirms the biker's account. So it's not he said he said situation at all. Sounds like assault with a deadly weapon to me.

 

[mmntech]

see post #49.

No, YOU see post #49.

 

[SunnyD]

I dunno, how many times have you heard of that happening?

Meanwhile, I hear a driver doing that shit everyday in LA. I guess all drivers must be murdering hit n run assholes.

The few cases where it made national news. But then again most pedestrians tend to stay off the streets in most localities.

As far as the other property damage cases, who the hell knows. Probably a similar percentage as auto drivers would be my guess. But again, the whole point of the exercise is the sheer volume of motorists versus cyclists, and the propensity for more significant injury should something happen. Of course there's going to be more media coverage and outrage of such events.

 

[DaTT]

Only going to get worse when they finish that idiot velodrome up in Milton. The Pan Am Games are already shaping up to be a colossal mistake for a truckload of reasons.

I think the worst part about it is not so much they disobey the rules of the road. Rather, they seem to get away with it. Everybody has tales of near misses involving them running stop signs, red lights, riding in huge packs on narrow roads, riding aggressively. The laws are pretty clear about it, and the fines are the same as if you were driving a motor vehicle. Yet the police never seem to crack down on it.

Part of the problem is identifying the rider. I've been arguing for a long time that bikes should be registered and plated if they use public roads. Just like any other vehicle. I'd do it as a one time fee with the purchase of a bike, or if there's a change in ownership. Use the cash to build and maintain bike lanes. It would make it easier for drivers to identify bad riders to police, thus improving enforcement and reducing accidents. It would also help with the recovery of stolen bikes.

Full disclosure, I do ride for fitness. Though I only do so on residential streets where there's little traffic. Yes, I do obey stop signs and traffic lights. I don't have a death wish.

Hey, don't knock the Velodrome. The engineering firm I work for is moderately involved in this, and I have surveyed the property a time or two. We are, however, 100% involved in the design of Louis St. Laurent.

 

[rh71]

2 wheels, manually powered, no cage, vs. crazy people in 2-ton+ vehicles. Not smart to be out there.

 

[SSSnail]

There is a witness that confirms the biker's account. So it's not he said he said situation at all. Sounds like assault with a deadly weapon to me.

Maybe the witness is also another biking asshole? Where are the dents and marks on the car?

 

[Jadow]

if you wanna ride a bike, move to Vietnam or take a spinning class.

 

[sourceninja]

Honestly, I think you should need a license to ride bikes and mopeds on the street. As a motorcyclist I am frequently appalled at how little regard for their own safety many moped kids and bicyclists seem to have. No lights, no mirrors, no signalling, and never looking when making lane changes.

I personally treat them like another vehicle on the road (as they should be treated). This means I only pass when in a passing zone and only when clear. This too seams to cause confusion as they get pissed I don't pass them on a double yellow....

If you are on the road, you follow the rules of the road!

 

[Venix]

Maybe the witness is also another biking asshole? Where are the dents and marks on the car?

Why would there be dents or marks on the car? I saw a bike get hit when a car ran a red light. The bike was totaled and the rider left in an ambulance, but the only damage on the car was a very slightly bent license plate. Running a cyclist off the road would almost certainly cause little or no damage to a car.

In fact, there were three witnesses, all motorists. They support the cyclist's claims. No available evidence supports the mayor's obviously fabricated story.

 

[Brainonska511]

if you wanna ride a bike, move to Vietnam or take a spinning class.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEUB29yU-pA

 

[alkemyst]

This and why do Cyclists think they can just run through a stop sign? You're on the road? Obey the rules of the road.

I fucking also hate when cyclists group up on rural roads taking up the entire lane making it impossible to pass.

You are just mad you don't own a muscle car and also Canadian.

Do cyclists running stop signs really piss you off like this?

If so you are definitely Canadian.

 

[DaTT]

You are just mad you don't own a muscle car and also Canadian.

Do cyclists running stop signs really piss you off like this?

If so you are definitely Canadian.

Uh oh, the bankrupt, home wrecking, crazy cat lady is at it again spewing the same old, unoriginal verbal vomit. What a cum bubble.

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

I still laugh at this.

I was at an intersection where the traffic in the oncoming direction had a green left turn arrow. So we were red. It was two lanes in my direction. I was first in line next to a guy with a custom bike. One of those $40K looking things that custom shops would make and sell.

As soon as the light went to green, this moron guns it. And had to dump it about 15 feet later because he almost smashed into a car that was making a left (probably running a red arrow at this point). The cyclist was mad but I honestly thought he was an idiot for not looking looking and thinking before blindly gunning it.

 

[BUTCH1]

Maybe the witness is also another biking asshole? Where are the dents and marks on the car?

Today's plastic bumpers are actually quite resilient, a city bus bumped my rear bumper while I was at a stop light, I motioned the driver to pull over, he did and my car had no marks/damage at all so it depends on how/where he made contact with the bike. I can't imagine why a bike has to cost $13K though, I know there are always high-end models for anything but $13K for a bike?, that's insane.

 

[PenguinPower]

Today's plastic bumpers are actually quite resilient, a city bus bumped my rear bumper while I was at a stop light, I motioned the driver to pull over, he did and my car had no marks/damage at all so it depends on how/where he made contact with the bike. I can't imagine why a bike has to cost $13K though, I know there are always high-end models for anything but $13K for a bike?, that's insane.

A custom carbon Tri bike with a full Dura-Ace groupset and a good carbon wheelset is easily 10K before tax.

 

[PenguinPower]

Honestly, I think you should need a license to ride bikes and mopeds on the street. As a motorcyclist I am frequently appalled at how little regard for their own safety many moped kids and bicyclists seem to have. No lights, no mirrors, no signalling, and never looking when making lane changes.

I personally treat them like another vehicle on the road (as they should be treated). This means I only pass when in a passing zone and only when clear. This too seams to cause confusion as they get pissed I don't pass them on a double yellow....

If you are on the road, you follow the rules of the road!

You're allowed to pass a cyclist on a double yellow road in quite a few states. Not sure where you live.

 

[sourceninja]

You're allowed to pass a cyclist on a double yellow road in quite a few states. Not sure where you live.

I might be legally allowed to, but that doesn't make it safe.

On my way to work this morning I had to follow a cyclist without lights or reflectors on a 2 lane road with no shoulder and a 3 foot ditch on each side in the dark.

I was almost rear ended twice because of hills and the fact the speed limit is 55mph....but with those hills there is no way I'm passing the guy.