Bicyclists have started doing a new thing that makes me furious

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tenpole

Senior member
Aug 21, 2013
265
1
81
I'll be driving on a busy road that has a bike lane on the side. A few bicyclists will be using the right most car lane instead of the bike line. They'll be going 15mph on a road where the speed limit is 45mph. This is very annoying as it completely screws up car traffic, but I can find reasons to explain to myself why they're doing it (maybe the bike lane isn't safe or something). But... this what makes me furious.... whenever they hit traffic or a stop light, they go back into the bike lane, and drive around the cars.

It's like they want to just to piss off drivers.

I hardly ever ride a bike but there was this time in Texas..
 

Crusty

Lifer
Sep 30, 2001
12,684
2
81
For as many bikers I see riding in the road instead of the bike lane I also see a huge ass truck with dualies driving with half their truck in the bike lane.
 

IEC

Elite Member
Super Moderator
Jun 10, 2004
14,600
6,084
136
I am no cyclist but you are so wrong. If a car driver is dodging bikes while doing 60 mph then he should slow down or fuck off the roads and use public transport. Roads are not for the exclusive right of cars and it seems specifically car drivers have this narrow minded god given right view.

A road user is anyone using the road. There are clear restrictions when certain types of road user are not permitted. As I said I am not a cyclist but if you are one who regular uses the road network good on you. But please, please the near side of a HGV, dont pass for your own safety.

Cyclists will soon enjoy their share of road taxes and bicycle licenses. Because if they use the road, they're fair game to be taxed. Right?


/s
 

xanis

Lifer
Sep 11, 2005
17,571
8
0
I agree with the OP, but it also goes both ways; if you're a car, the bike lane is not an extra lane available for your personal use. There needs to be mutual respect for bikes and cars to successfully share roads.
 

JulesMaximus

No Lifer
Jul 3, 2003
74,580
982
126
Maybe because there are parked cars and other obstacles in the bike lane..

Could be this. As a cyclist this is the only reason I can see for not using the bike lane. Cities need to clean these lanes periodically as they wind up with glass, metal debris, trash, and all kinds of crap that can puncture a tire.
 

SlitheryDee

Lifer
Feb 2, 2005
17,252
19
81
There was a huge thread on this subject a couple of months ago. I love griping about bicyclists and joggers though.

They'll do anything that makes their ride even a little bit better regardless of the impact on other people. I almost envy them because there's no way I could do that with the same self-righteous sense of entitlement they display. I take comfort in the fact that this is proof that they're horrible people and I'm morally and intellectually superior to them.
 

JulesMaximus

No Lifer
Jul 3, 2003
74,580
982
126
There was a huge thread on this subject a couple of months ago. I love griping about bicyclists and joggers though.

They'll do anything that makes their ride even a little bit better regardless of the impact on other people. I almost envy them because there's no way I could do that with the same self-righteous sense of entitlement they display. I take comfort in the fact that this is proof that they're horrible people and I'm morally and intellectually superior to them.

How's that false sense of superiority working out for ya? :colbert:
 

poofyhairguy

Lifer
Nov 20, 2005
14,612
318
126
For as many bikers I see riding in the road instead of the bike lane I also see a huge ass truck with dualies driving with half their truck in the bike lane.

Exactly.

I won't bitch about bikes on my commute because there is this one place when I cut into the bike lane almost every day to get around a line of cars turning left.

So I brake for bikes.
 

Humpy

Diamond Member
Mar 3, 2011
4,464
596
126
I've waited years for this thread to pop up on ATOT because I have a lot of new and interesting things to say about it but I have to go to work now.

On my bike. And Tuesday is use the whole lane day.
 

mmntech

Lifer
Sep 20, 2007
17,501
12
0
Denmark IIRC has a good design for cars and bicycles on main roads. You have car traffic, then parking spots, then the bike lane. So parked cars act as a protective buffer for cyclists while separating them from vehicular traffic.

It is too dangerous for cars and bikes to share the same lanes on main roads. I agree though that cyclists should bare the brunt of building these lanes. Through licensing and plating of bikes using them. Drivers (at least in Ontario) statistically bare 90% of the cost of road maintenance. The rest comes from the general revenue pot. It wouldn't kill cyclists to have to cough up some extra dough to maintain safe and proper bike lanes. I don't think it's unreasonable. Though there are many out there that do. Yes, bikes create less wear and tear on the pavement than cars do. However, the lanes still need to be built, cleared of debris, and ploughed in the winter. That doesn't exactly come free of charge.

As for the sense of entitlement they have. I see this a lot downtown. Running lights, riding on the sidewalk, etc. That kind of behaviour is the cyclist equivalent of the motorbike world's squid. It's really surprising that more of them don't get hit and killed.
 

Phoenix86

Lifer
May 21, 2003
14,644
10
81
Denmark IIRC has a good design for cars and bicycles on main roads. You have car traffic, then parking spots, then the bike lane. So parked cars act as a protective buffer for cyclists while separating them from vehicular traffic.

It is too dangerous for cars and bikes to share the same lanes on main roads. I agree though that cyclists should bare the brunt of building these lanes. Through licensing and plating of bikes using them. Drivers (at least in Ontario) statistically bare 90% of the cost of road maintenance. The rest comes from the general revenue pot. It wouldn't kill cyclists to have to cough up some extra dough to maintain safe and proper bike lanes. I don't think it's unreasonable. Though there are many out there that do. Yes, bikes create less wear and tear on the pavement than cars do. However, the lanes still need to be built, cleared of debris, and ploughed in the winter. That doesn't exactly come free of charge.

As for the sense of entitlement they have. I see this a lot downtown. Running lights, riding on the sidewalk, etc. That kind of behaviour is the cyclist equivalent of the motorbike world's squid. It's really surprising that more of them don't get hit and killed.
That's an interesting solution in Denmark, as far as cyclist footing the bill for the lanes I can't imagine it'd generate nearly the revenue to cover the costs. Not even close.

Cars not only fund the roads through state registration but also gas taxes. The sheer number of cars vs bikes and the lack of a "use tax" like gas and the system might cost more to implement and enforce than the revenue generated, much less actually pay for the lanes/upkeep.
 

robvp

Senior member
Aug 7, 2013
544
0
41
everytime i read about problems with cyclist this is one of the things that first crosses my mind:
gGHYKsC.png
 

Markbnj

Elite Member <br>Moderator Emeritus
Moderator
Sep 16, 2005
15,682
14
81
www.markbetz.net
I think that you are being overly sensitive and are just looking for anything complain about!! They have the same right to mhe road as you do!!

Whatever, not like I'm going to get killed when I plow into them. Bikes riding in the travel lane, going the same direction as motor vehicles, is insane. You can say "they have the same right to the road as you do" as often as you like, but it won't stop them getting ground into burger meat when something goes wrong. But if they are willing to die or be maimed for their philosophical commitment to the validity of alternative means of transport, more power to them. I do feel sorry for the motorists who will have to live with that last image of shiny yellow spandex sliding under the front bumper.
 

_Rick_

Diamond Member
Apr 20, 2012
3,980
74
91
The Danish solution sounds extremely dangerous to me, mostly for the same reason I don't ride on the cycling lane anywhere but where it is free of debris, and I'm going along significantly below the speed limit.

But in town, hiding the bikes behind the parked cars means that any cyclist going straight at a crossroad has to pray that the cars turning right expect something they didn't see, approaching at 20 mph. Which car drivers usually don't. On the other hand, if you're cycling at a more stately speed, this doesn't matter as much. But in town I match/exceed the speed of most cars, and therefore I feel that everyone is better off, when I use the road. Pedestrians are more dangerous to cyclists (and themselves) than cars anyway, as they are more likely to blindly change direction...

As for taxing: Every bike reduces the amount of wear actually put on a road, compared to taking the car. Taxing by weight and milage (the major impact factor on road wear) would make bike tax so ridiculously low, that there's no point in collecting.
It would be similar to taxing pedestrians for their use of the side walk. Preposterous.
 

MtnMan

Diamond Member
Jul 27, 2004
9,409
8,806
136
I think that you are being overly sensitive and are just looking for anything complain about!! They have the same right to mhe road as you do!!
Then that means that vehicles can also drive in the bike lane :whiste:
 

Imp

Lifer
Feb 8, 2000
18,828
184
106
I wish MORE bikers would do that on roads. I used to commute on roads without bike lanes, but with bikes. They would try to skim the curb all the time, nudging over a foot or two, making it impossible to safely pass without swiping into the lane to the left.

Meanwhile, drivers behind would get upset.
 

preslove

Lifer
Sep 10, 2003
16,754
64
91
I've never seen this until a few months ago. Now I'm seeing it a few times a week. Not quite sure why this is a new thing all of a sudden.

I'll be driving on a busy road that has a bike lane on the side. A few bicyclists will be using the right most car lane instead of the bike line. They'll be going 15mph on a road where the speed limit is 45mph. This is very annoying as it completely screws up car traffic, but I can find reasons to explain to myself why they're doing it (maybe the bike lane isn't safe or something). But... this what makes me furious.... whenever they hit traffic or a stop light, they go back into the bike lane, and drive around the cars.

It's like they want to just to piss off drivers.

Go fuck yourself.
 

DesiPower

Lifer
Nov 22, 2008
15,299
740
126
That's why cars come with horns and automatic roll down windows...

Austin and San Antonio are slowly becoming liberal hell holes, filling up with filth from CA and such places accompanied with uncontrolled spending on "public projects".
 
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7window

Golden Member
Nov 12, 2009
1,533
1
0
I've never seen this until a few months ago. Now I'm seeing it a few times a week. Not quite sure why this is a new thing all of a sudden.

I'll be driving on a busy road that has a bike lane on the side. A few bicyclists will be using the right most car lane instead of the bike line. They'll be going 15mph on a road where the speed limit is 45mph. This is very annoying as it completely screws up car traffic, but I can find reasons to explain to myself why they're doing it (maybe the bike lane isn't safe or something). But... this what makes me furious.... whenever they hit traffic or a stop light, they go back into the bike lane, and drive around the cars.

It's like they want to just to piss off drivers.

Don't take it personally
 

preslove

Lifer
Sep 10, 2003
16,754
64
91
Denmark IIRC has a good design for cars and bicycles on main roads. You have car traffic, then parking spots, then the bike lane. So parked cars act as a protective buffer for cyclists while separating them from vehicular traffic.

It is too dangerous for cars and bikes to share the same lanes on main roads. I agree though that cyclists should bare the brunt of building these lanes. Through licensing and plating of bikes using them. Drivers (at least in Ontario) statistically bare 90% of the cost of road maintenance. The rest comes from the general revenue pot. It wouldn't kill cyclists to have to cough up some extra dough to maintain safe and proper bike lanes. I don't think it's unreasonable. Though there are many out there that do. Yes, bikes create less wear and tear on the pavement than cars do. However, the lanes still need to be built, cleared of debris, and ploughed in the winter. That doesn't exactly come free of charge.

No, we should just tax cars more because car-centered development leads to obesity, diabetes, mutilated pedestrians & bicyclists, huge amounts of wasted money, and numerous other social ills.
 

JulesMaximus

No Lifer
Jul 3, 2003
74,580
982
126
No, we should just tax cars more because car-centered development leads to obesity, diabetes, mutilated pedestrians & bicyclists, huge amounts of wasted money, and numerous other social ills.

:thumbsup: Agreed. I commuted by bicycle for years and loved it. I was in the best shape of my life. I wish I worked close enough to commute by bike again.

Also, I can't remember the last time a cyclist did something that pissed me off when I was driving. It just never happens to me. You must all have really short fuses. :colbert:

Anyway, back to cyclist hate thread. I wouldn't want to interrupt everyone's fun.