Bicyclists have started doing a new thing that makes me furious

[Leros]

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!!

There are tons of bikers using the bike lane and one biker slows down traffic for hundreds of cars because they prefer to use the main lane. How is it overly sensitive when one person's selfish choice affects hundreds of other people?

One biker in the road can seriously back up traffic. If there is a biker in one of the main lanes, it effectively takes that lane away from car traffic.

In the situation that prompted me to make this thread, a 2 lane road effectively became a one lane road because the biker was using the rightmost lane. Traffic got backed for at least a 1/4 mile. All because one biker preferred not to use the bike lane that all the other bikers were using.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Sorry, but it's alot more difficult and dangerous for a car to dodge a biker than it is for a biker to dodge a traffic cone.

No, it really isn't. I was driving down a 2 lane road this morning on my way to work (one with no bike lane) and came up behind a cyclist who was right on the edge of the roadway. I saw her way before I got to her, judged the location of traffic coming the other way and had plenty of room to pass her safely by hugging the yellow line.

It's called paying attention and you should be doing it at all times when you are driving a car.

 

[bignateyk]

To answer the OP, if it's an area where it's just the normal road and there isn't a bike lane, I pull my car over enough at traffic lights so they can't go by me on the right. Nothing worse than passing a biker, only to have to re-pass him 30 seconds later.

 

[preslove]

: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.

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

No, they're just being entitled asshole drivers. I bike commute to work 10 minutes and go home for lunch. There is not a single day where some piece of shit isn't going 45 mph on the 30 mph road I need to cross. This speeding often makes me spend more time waiting at the road.

Hear that assholes? Asshole drivers interfere with my commute EVERY DAY.

Who's entitled, now?

 

[highland145]

I'm voting for this guy

Why? You and me both would be dead.

 

[bignateyk]

I should make my own video of me in my car driving over pedestrians, bikers, construction workers, parked cars, and children boarding school buses to illustrate how rough us cars have it.

 

[Platypus]

is this the thread where assholes from both extremes posture and cluck back and forth and never change their opinions?

There are asshole cyclists and asshole motorists, I see both extremes daily (I take the subway/train everywhere). There are also a lot of totally rational and normal people using both methods of transportation.

 

[Brainonska511]

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?

Road construction and maintenance, particularly in NYC, is not covered exclusively by a specific vehicle taxes. It all comes out of the general fund, which all NYC tax payers pay into. And regardless, there are good externalities that come out of encouraging more bike traffic: lower vehicle traffic, lower pollution, reduced noise.

everytime i read about problems with cyclist this is one of the things that first crosses my mind:

Yeah, because cars never do that... Having a license and a car in NYC is like having a license to kill and maim. Vehicles speed everywhere in cities with little regard to pedestrians and cyclists. But that doesn't mean all cars are bad. Every group has its problems. You only notice the assholes.

This is fucking retarded. Clearly I should be able to drive into places like oncoming traffic, sidewalk, parks or grass because occasionally the regular right side of the road has things that would get in my way.

Clearly, you missed the point. People clamor for cyclists to use the bike lanes, but then you get all sorts of obstructions in the bike lane.

As an occasional cyclist, I have no problem with rolling stops for red lights (provided there is no oncoming traffic or pedestrians trying to cross). I can't stand people going the wrong way, pedestrians using the bike lane as a sidewalk extension, trucks parking in the lane, turning traffic failing to yield to bike-lane users (how hard is it to look in your mirror). And as a pedestrian, I can't stand vehicles speeding and the few that cycle on the sidewalk. And as a driver, I can't stand unpredictable behavior and entitled pedestrians who think "Don't Walk" means "Cross Whenever you feel like it".

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.

Usually, there is a cut-out turn lane, so you have the turn lane immediately adjacent to the bike lane. It isn't hard for vehicles to see bikes that want to go straight. They merely need to pay attention and slow down.

 

[Capt Caveman]

is this the thread where assholes from both extremes posture and cluck back and forth and never change their opinions?

There are asshole cyclists and asshole motorists, I see both extremes daily (I take the subway/train everywhere). There are also a lot of totally rational and normal people using both methods of transportation.

While riding my bike to work in the bike lane with the green light, some asshole in a car ran the red and almost took me out. Maybe, I'll create a thread about it. Nah.

 

[Brainonska511]

While riding my bike to work in the bike lane with the green light, some asshole in a car ran the red and almost took me out. Maybe, I'll create a thread about it. Nah.

<entitled driver response> Your fault: bikes don't belong on the road. blahblahblah

 

[JulesMaximus]

is this the thread where assholes motorists posture and cluck back and forth and never change their opinions?

There are asshole motorists and asshole motorists, I see them daily (I take the subway/train everywhere). There are also a lot of totally rational and normal people using both methods of transportation.

FTFY

 

[IGBT]

all the more reason to license them and require a vehicle ID plate. Bicycles are vehicles and should be subject to licensing / plate ID / registration just like they do in the UK and Europe.

 

[Brian Stirling]

I like Asian driving rules. Biggest vehicle has right of way.

Honestly if there's a open bike lane and you feel that you deserve to cycle in a driving lane instead of the bike lane, then you're knowingly putting yourself in danger of traffic.

And in that case, you can't really complain when someone checks you with a mirror. Just saying.

Actually, that aint an Asian driving rule it is the defacto rule in the USA. Owners of big ass SUV or duallies seem to believe others on the road need to defer to them.

As someone that cycles from time to time I can tell you it's pretty common for folks driving big vehicles to be more likely to act aggressively to cyclists -- I can't say I know for sure why that is except to say that the position of power a bigger vehicle gives you seems to lead many to abuse that power because they can. When I've been hassled while cycling it's usually young men in a beater pickup truck that are the worst followed by folks in big SUV's.


Brian

 

[W.C. Nimoy]

You don't OWN the road.

Cyclists own the road, AND the bike lanes, AND the sidewalks. BOW DOWN to your peddling masters!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3nMnr8ZirI

 

[preslove]

all the more reason to license them and require a vehicle ID plate. Bicycles are vehicles and should be subject to licensing / plate ID / registration just like they do in the UK and Europe.

What the fuck are you talking about? You don't need a license to ride a bike in England.

Road maintenance $ comes out of the general fund, which is supported by my taxes. Since I bike commute, I subsidize the roads for drivers.

Jesus fucking Christ you are an idiot.

 

[SlitheryDee]

all the more reason to license them and require a vehicle ID plate. Bicycles are vehicles and should be subject to licensing / plate ID / registration just like they do in the UK and Europe.

That goes against their M.O. though. Anything that slightly inconveniences cyclists for even one moment is to be completely avoided regardless of how it affects anyone else. Going to the DMV is highly inconvenient. Don't even mention PAYING for a license plate. That's preposterous.

 

[preslove]

That goes against their M.O. though. Anything that slightly inconveniences cyclists for even one moment is to be completely avoided regardless of how it affects anyone else. Going to the DMV is highly inconvenient. Don't even mention PAYING for a license plate. That's preposterous.

When there is no reason to force them to do so, it is quite preposterous.

You entitled drivers are just whiny little bitches.

 

[cubby1223]

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!!

No, bicyclists have become complete jerks. I enjoy biking a lot, but I wouldn't pull the crap they pull. Drive downtown Chicago at any time and you're sure to see a few bicyclists blow through red-lights without even slowing down. They turn on one-way streets the wrong way and ride down the middle of the lane. Weave in & out of cars stopped at red-lights.

They have the same rights to the road but none of the responsibilities that go along with being safe.

... and then there is this new trend of texting while riding a bicycle ...

 

[etrigan420]

You entitled drivers are just whiny little bitches.

You finna' get your cape caught in your rear spoke there, Two-Wheeled Avenger.

 

[tynopik]

They have the same right to mhe road as you do!!

As long as they can maintain the minimum speed

. . . which is 15 mph less than the posted speed limit under normal conditions

 

[schmuckley]

A fairly busy road near here has a bike path next to it. Road is 5 lanes (2 each way with center turn). Bike lane is not on the road, the road has basically no shoulders (basically the concrete curb/drainage channel, so only a couple feet at most).

It's always some spandex clad dude who thinks he is too fucking cool for the bike path who wants to ride down a 50 mph road at 15 mph.

Shit, it's the same in the park system near here -- MILES AND MILES of bike trails and these same spandex clad assholes love to clog the 2 lane (1 each direction) road winding through it. Worst part is that one has very wide shoulders, but they couldn't possibly scoot over for a car to go by.

AND why is it never a group of hot spandex clad women!??!? Yes, yes guys, it is just awesome to have your spandex clad muscular buttocks flexing repeatedly in unison at my windshield while my wife ogles you, but you could get some new riders of the female persuasion to ride with you? Please?

edit: die spandex die

I LOLed.Nothing makes me happier than blowing by some spandex-wearing putz (on a bike)

 

[SlitheryDee]

When there is no reason to force them to do so, it is quite preposterous.

You entitled drivers are just whiny little bitches.

That's funny. Every time a thread like this comes up I imagine all the people defending cyclists as that particular nasty breed of toddler who figures out exactly what his elders want from him for the sole purpose of doing the opposite.

You KNOW that what you're doing is extremely irritating and inconvenient for a large number of people, but your childish "I don't wanna do it and you can't make me" attitude won't let you do anything about it.

 

[TechBoyJK]

People who ride bikes on public roads are idiots.

 

[Wreckem]

Asshat bicyclists who mow down pedestrians and then try to continue on like nothing happened give bicyclists a bad name. Fortunately someone in a car blocked his path and prevented him from being able to flee.

Same goes for those that run stop lights and stop signs. Or turn left from the far right lane and cutting across/cutting off a moving automobile going straight.

As well as those who run stop signs, get chased down by bicycle cops, then proceed to argue with the bicycle cops and subsequently get arrested for failure to identify. Ticket for failure to stop, ticket for failure to id, and bike impounded. Welcome to the real world asshat. Now cough up your $600+ for your own stupidity.

I my experience(which is limited to 7 years at my undergrad/grad instiution) most bicyclists are entitled asshats that do not obey traffic laws. I loved that my university enforced the laws on them.

 

[W.C. Nimoy]