Harvard University is in a class of its own....

[Ricemarine]

are you fucking serious?

I don't think the blind spots to your left and right qualify as "looking at the rear."
Then again... if you meant using the side mirrors... you have a point.

 

[thepd7]

it's all of Cambridge, bikers and pedestrians. I was there yesterday...horrible.

 

[bhanson]

When I ride in the street there's always some dude going 10MPH over the speed limit holding his hand on his horn while passing me 1-3 feet to my left.


*HOOOOOOOOOOONK* WOOOOOOOOOSH*

 

[spacejamz]

I don't think the blind spots to your left and right qualify as "looking at the rear."
Then again... if you meant using the side mirrors... you have a point.

We are talking about making a turn, not changing lanes. Please explain why would you check your side mirrors or your rear when turning...

Is another car going to zip past your on your right while you are in the right hand lane making a right turn?

Or maybe another car will try and pass you on the left while you are in the left lane making a left turn...

 

[destrekor]

I was just going to say that. Bikers think they have both the rights of a vehicle and a pedestrian, depending on when it's convenient.

That about sums it up.

Down at OSU, I lost count of the number of bikers I witnessed ride on the road, see a red light, then kind of duck into the pedestrian crosswalk at the corner, and then continue on down the same road.
Or, hell, just blow through an intersection and turn whichever way they wish, though thankfully going that/I] far they usually have judged traffic is dead enough.

But yeah, they forget that to actually ride on the road... they are actually a vehicle. And they must follow the same laws, and are at risk to receive all the same penalties.
I personally know someone who got thrown in the drunk tank for riding a bicycle drunk. Speeding, hard to do. But reckless driving and public endangerment are real enough, though it seems everyone says the officers who cite tickets to bikers are pissed-off assholes... instead of actually seeing how it is.

Honestly, Darwin is just laughing at these folk while hiding in the alley down the street. And I couldn't give two shits what happens to them, so long as it's only them and no motor vehicle driver is cited for a biker's wrongdoing. Which, they often get screwed in the case of insurance... so I still hate the lot of 'em.

They were terrible down in Columbus. So many goddamn yuppies and hipsters. I disliked most of their breed.

 

[sactoking]

UC Davis is the WORST. There are more bikes there than cars, since many students don't own a car. I stopped driving through downtown altogether, since you could spent 8 minutes sitting at a stop sign at a four-way stop, watching bikes cross in front of you en masse without stopping.

I will credit the Davis PD though; they seemed to LOVE handing out BUI tickets.

Oh, and it was fun watching the freshmen in the fall get stuck inside the bike traffic circles on campus, ride around for a few minutes and then try to crash through all the bikers on the outside, causing a big calamity.

The bicyclists in downtown Davis are not the problem, it's the goddam pedestrians there that are the issue. Pedestrians in Davis enter crosswalks and intersections without looking all the time. You can easily get stuck at some of the intersections on 2nd and 3rd streets (2nd & C, 3rd & C, 2nd & D, etc) for 10 minutes as an endless stream of pedestrians just steps off the curb in front of you without looking at all.

Yeah, when push comes to shove, you were the one in the car and they were the vulnerable bicyclist, so you'd be up shit creek.

Not necessarily. When I worked claims I got bicycle v car claims that I denied all the time. I had a guy in the car turning right out of a parking lot, he nosed out and a bicyclist hit him on the right front fender. The bicyclist filed a claim and I denied. He said he was in the bike lane and the car pulled out without looking; if I denied he'd sue. I looked at him and said:

"You hit the right front fender of the car. The only way for that to have happened is if you were headed south in the northbound bike lane. You were riding against the flow of traffic which was the proximate cause of the accident."

Unless there's gross negligence on the part of the car, a bicycle v car can easily be denied if the bicyclist is sanctimonious and doesn't follow the rules of the road.

 

[AreaCode707]

The bicyclists in downtown Davis are not the problem, it's the goddam pedestrians there that are the issue. Pedestrians in Davis enter crosswalks and intersections without looking all the time. You can easily get stuck at some of the intersections on 2nd and 3rd streets (2nd & C, 3rd & C, 2nd & D, etc) for 10 minutes as an endless stream of pedestrians just steps off the curb in front of you without looking at all.

True true true. The bikers and pedestrians are the same individuals (college students) and they seem to take the same approach to traffic courtesy and laws no matter which form of transportation they're using at the moment.

 

[SandEagle]

Dude, no. A bicyclist is a vehicle on the road just a like a car and needs to obey all vehicle rules. Nothing at all like a pedestrian. As far as I know, it's like this in the entire United States.

those bicycling bastards need to start paying registration fees and carrying insurance too. if some ho like that banged on my car, I'd go ape cray-zay. glad my H2 has tinted windows and oversized tires to protect me from bicycles.

 

[sactoking]

those bicycling bastards need to start paying registration fees and carrying insurance too. if some ho like that banged on my car, I'd go ape cray-zay. glad my H2 has tinted windows and oversized tires to protect me from bicycles.

In most "bike-friendly" towns you're required to license and register your bicycle. Fail to do so and it can be impounded.

Bicyclists who cause property damage or injury to others would be covered under their personal liability insurance on their homeowner's or renter's policy.

 

[GoSharks]

In most "bike-friendly" towns you're required to license and register your bicycle. Fail to do so and it can be impounded.

Like anybody actually does that.
San Jose to end bicycle licensing

 

[Kreon]

Yeah, Boston is terrible.

I go to school in Boston, and I have to cross Huntington every day. I've been hit by bikes sailing through red lights (and my walk light) twice. I would have asked them what the hell they were thinking, but both times I've had to be somewhere very soon.

I don't understand the lack of foresight required to sail through a red light, where traffic (and sometimes the T if the cyclists turn) are crossing.

EDIT: I will saying Cambridge is far worse though

 

[AreaCode707]

Like anybody actually does that.
San Jose to end bicycle licensing

Bikes parked on the UC Davis campus without displaying a license will be impoundeed.

 

[Tweak155]

Dude, no. A bicyclist is a vehicle on the road just a like a car and needs to obey all vehicle rules. Nothing at all like a pedestrian. As far as I know, it's like this in the entire United States.

This could be confusing then. Isn't it sort of like turning into the other lane then and the lane is already occupied by a vehicle?

I'm not sure I have the right picture in my head.

 

[PieIsAwesome]

Last night I had the most wonderful dream involving a tractor trailor and a horde of cyclists.

 

[Howard]

We are talking about making a turn, not changing lanes. Please explain why would you check your side mirrors or your rear when turning...

Is another car going to zip past your on your right while you are in the right hand lane making a right turn?

Or maybe another car will try and pass you on the left while you are in the left lane making a left turn...

If I've been moving slowly, I always check my right side rear and right blind spot for fear of hitting an oncoming cyclist or a fast-moving pedestrian. If I'm moving quickly, obviously if there's a biker I'll have passed him and known about it.

 

[Farang]

Worst are cyclists who ride on the sidewalk and blast through crosswalks. I almost ran a guy over in downtown Seattle while taking a right turn. Drivers can't anticipate pedestrians coming into a crosswalk at 20mph.

 

[Gibson486]

Yeah, Boston is terrible.

I go to school in Boston, and I have to cross Huntington every day. I've been hit by bikes sailing through red lights (and my walk light) twice. I would have asked them what the hell they were thinking, but both times I've had to be somewhere very soon.

I don't understand the lack of foresight required to sail through a red light, where traffic (and sometimes the T if the cyclists turn) are crossing.

EDIT: I will saying Cambridge is far worse though

LOL....crossing Huntington Ave is a suicide note during rush hour.

 

[The Boston Dangler]

Yeah, Boston is terrible.

I go to school in Boston, and I have to cross Huntington every day. I've been hit by bikes sailing through red lights (and my walk light) twice. I would have asked them what the hell they were thinking, but both times I've had to be somewhere very soon.

I don't understand the lack of foresight required to sail through a red light, where traffic (and sometimes the T if the cyclists turn) are crossing.

EDIT: I will saying Cambridge is far worse though

don't forget somerville for the traffic nightmare trifecta

 

[BeauJangles]

don't forget somerville for the traffic nightmare trifecta

Somerville and Waltham are two of the worst. Both come to dead stops beginning at 4:15.