a good friend of mine was riding his bike on to college campus and was on the side walk so it was his fault crossing a street car turns in and now he is parallelized and wheelchair bound this ended me road riding / co muting ii do ride on the wide empty park thurowfairs but use a strob light even during the day
Trailers are dangerous
- Thread starter czechsonofagun
- Start date
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FlaDon
Platinum Member
As a former bike rider, the current attitude of many is partly to blame. Stop signs apply to all and that is the most common infraction down here. For the bike riders own safety, they should stop at 4-way stops/stop signs/stop lights.
20 20
Elite Member
As the saying goes "one rotten apple can spoil the batch!". This goes for anyone, vehicle, bicycle, motorcycle, truck driver, etc etc etc.
TractorRob
Silver Member
Having been an avid cyclist pretty much my entire life, I can't let this thread pass without commenting. Let me start by saying that some of the following "quotes" are simply paraphrases of what somebody said instead of going through the trouble of copying the exact quote.
"Bicyclists don't belong on the road because they don't pay taxes." First of all, I do pay wheel taxes on the cars that I own. Also, a portion of the roads are paid for out of general taxes, not exclusively from wheel, automobile and fuel taxes, so even if I did not own a car, I would still be paying for the roads. Truck drivers pay a lot more towards the road than cars, does that mean they have more right to use the roads?
How many of you that say bicylces don't belong on the road would think nothing of driving a tractor on the road? "Tractors use the road for necessity." Get a truck and trailer and haul your tractor and quit driving it on the road! Before I ever owned a car, my bicycle was my method of transportation, including riding 20 miles one way to a job. Personally, I considered that a "necessity."
"Cyclist need to obey traffic laws." Absolutely! So do motorists - a red light does not mean "only two or three more cars can go through" - a stop sign does not mean "slow down and if you can make it just drive right on through." Just like motorists, there are cyclists that obey the laws, and cyclists that don't.
"Cyclist like to take up a thrid of the road." And with good reason. If you ride to the far right, you are not as visible to motorists. If you ride to the far right, inevitably some idiot WILL try to squeeze pass you with traffic in the next lane. If you ride to the far right, you have no "wiggle room" to the right when someone does try to pass you to close. When I ride on the road, I always ride in the lane of trafffic unless traffic is heavy AND there is an adequate shoulder to ride on(although the shoulder is not very safe because that is where all the junk that motorists throw out their windows ends up). I try to avoid roads with heavy traffic and no shoulder, but that is not always possible. Case in point, a road near where I live that used to be two lanes each direction with a very wide shoulder has been converted into three lanes each way with no shoulder. When I am riding on the road, anytime traffic backs up behind me(even if just one car) I will pull off and let it by any chance I get. The safest place to ride is about one third to halfway into the lane of traffic, the next safest place is on the shoulder, if it is adequate, and the most dangerous place is to the far right of the lane or on the shoulder if it is not adequate.
"Cyclists should stay on bike trails." I wish we could. There's not enough of them and many of the "multi-use" trails, while fine for recreational riding, are not conducive to being used for training or tranportation. In fact, the Greenway Trail near here used to have a 15 mph speed limit(although it has been dropped) and I have heard of others with a 10 mph speed limit. Even without these speed limits, many of them have places where you can not safely ride faster. Very limiting for people who average 20 mph or more and regularly top 30 on the road.
"Cyclists should have to get a license to ride on the road." Actually, I think this one is a good idea!
I may think of some more, but that's all for now!
"Bicyclists don't belong on the road because they don't pay taxes." First of all, I do pay wheel taxes on the cars that I own. Also, a portion of the roads are paid for out of general taxes, not exclusively from wheel, automobile and fuel taxes, so even if I did not own a car, I would still be paying for the roads. Truck drivers pay a lot more towards the road than cars, does that mean they have more right to use the roads?
How many of you that say bicylces don't belong on the road would think nothing of driving a tractor on the road? "Tractors use the road for necessity." Get a truck and trailer and haul your tractor and quit driving it on the road! Before I ever owned a car, my bicycle was my method of transportation, including riding 20 miles one way to a job. Personally, I considered that a "necessity."
"Cyclist need to obey traffic laws." Absolutely! So do motorists - a red light does not mean "only two or three more cars can go through" - a stop sign does not mean "slow down and if you can make it just drive right on through." Just like motorists, there are cyclists that obey the laws, and cyclists that don't.
"Cyclist like to take up a thrid of the road." And with good reason. If you ride to the far right, you are not as visible to motorists. If you ride to the far right, inevitably some idiot WILL try to squeeze pass you with traffic in the next lane. If you ride to the far right, you have no "wiggle room" to the right when someone does try to pass you to close. When I ride on the road, I always ride in the lane of trafffic unless traffic is heavy AND there is an adequate shoulder to ride on(although the shoulder is not very safe because that is where all the junk that motorists throw out their windows ends up). I try to avoid roads with heavy traffic and no shoulder, but that is not always possible. Case in point, a road near where I live that used to be two lanes each direction with a very wide shoulder has been converted into three lanes each way with no shoulder. When I am riding on the road, anytime traffic backs up behind me(even if just one car) I will pull off and let it by any chance I get. The safest place to ride is about one third to halfway into the lane of traffic, the next safest place is on the shoulder, if it is adequate, and the most dangerous place is to the far right of the lane or on the shoulder if it is not adequate.
"Cyclists should stay on bike trails." I wish we could. There's not enough of them and many of the "multi-use" trails, while fine for recreational riding, are not conducive to being used for training or tranportation. In fact, the Greenway Trail near here used to have a 15 mph speed limit(although it has been dropped) and I have heard of others with a 10 mph speed limit. Even without these speed limits, many of them have places where you can not safely ride faster. Very limiting for people who average 20 mph or more and regularly top 30 on the road.
"Cyclists should have to get a license to ride on the road." Actually, I think this one is a good idea!
I may think of some more, but that's all for now!
sld
Veteran Member
Riding thru downtown bikes aren't that big of a deal. When the speed limit is only 30 bikes can pretty much keep up.
Where riders get a bad rap around here is on the rural blacktops. The speed limits are 55-60 and the bikes are doing at best 20 right in the middle of the lane. Then they give you finger when you pass them.
The speed differential is what is dangerous. There probably is no good solution but several bike riders each year die around here because of the above scenario. That is enough for me to pick and choose where I ride.
What really gets me is what happens on the dirt roads. Speed limits are 50 and when you pass a biker in a big dust cloud they have been known to throw rocks at you. What do they expect when they are riding on a 50 mph dirt road? For vehicles to patiently wait behind them forever?
Where riders get a bad rap around here is on the rural blacktops. The speed limits are 55-60 and the bikes are doing at best 20 right in the middle of the lane. Then they give you finger when you pass them.
The speed differential is what is dangerous. There probably is no good solution but several bike riders each year die around here because of the above scenario. That is enough for me to pick and choose where I ride.
What really gets me is what happens on the dirt roads. Speed limits are 50 and when you pass a biker in a big dust cloud they have been known to throw rocks at you. What do they expect when they are riding on a 50 mph dirt road? For vehicles to patiently wait behind them forever?
TractorRob
Silver Member
So do you blow past them just inches away without even slowing down? I don't know, maybe cyclists in other parts of the country really are just a bunch of jerks, but I have NEVER, not even once, been given the finger when I pass a cyclist. Of course I slow down if I think it is necessary and I make sure to leave plenty of room between me and them.
OP
czechsonofagun
Elite Member
Just to add a story; last Sunday a biker on Harley pushed his way round me a foot from me. Scared the bejesus out of me, you would think two wheels he would know better
The truth is majority of drivers I meet are nice and careful while passing.
The truth is majority of drivers I meet are nice and careful while passing.
pitt_md
Veteran Member
I drive about 20 miles to work one way. Since I start very early its often dark along my route. For the most part i don't have problem with bike riders. There is one fool that rides my route that is going to wind up dead. The road I drive has a nice paved shoulder about 3 feet wide. This guy does not wear any reflective clothing and the only reflective thing on his bike are the back of his pedals. Does he ride on the paved shoulder? Nope. He has rights!! He rides right down the middle of the lane. Its like he is just asking to be hit.
tlbuser
Veteran Member
I'm sorry, I didn't know we were using 2 dollar words. Narcissistic and uncooperative, nice. Was that from your first or second semester at the junior college? You have no clue who I am, yet you're attacking me for writing my opinion about bicyclists on the roadway. AND you really didn't bother to read what I wrote, you interpreted what you wanted to hear.
tlbuser
Veteran Member
And people like you wonder why things go bad. That was the really adult thing to do, show him that bicyclists have rights too.