Trailers are dangerous

   / Trailers are dangerous #11  
Well, while we're ranting, maybe bicycles should be on the bike paths and not the roadways. Md, Va and D.C. have spent tons of money creating "safe harbors" for bicyclists to enjoy their sport/hobby........the Va. crowd that drives over to scenic So. Md. to ride bicycles on our roadways irks me quite a bit. They believe riding in packs gives them "special privileges" to control one lane of a two lane road. Ooh, I know, let's impose a bicycle tax/tag for use on roadways

I have to agree 100%. I see it the other way because I never will ride a bike on any road made for moving vehicles. What I see hundreds of times any time I take a road trip is bicycle riders taking up 1/3 of the roadway and expecting vehicles to nearly stop to safely pass as not to move into incoming traffic. Furthermore I always see bicyclists grinding up a mountain road and nearly being hit by traffic due to them being in a blind corner.

Why am I so vocal - Locally a few people and one great highs school coach was killed by a hit and run riding his bike in the dark early one morning on a busy highway.

Sorry bicyclists as mush as I agree with your "right" to be on the road it is just the most foolish thing a person could ever do.

I will never let my wife or child who are avid bike riders ride where there are moving cars, there are too many safe place to go to ride to chance a 3000lb vehicle going 30-50mph to not drift toward a rider is putting a whole lot of faith on the "driver" seeing you, not being drunk, not being too old to drive, not on the cell phone, not texting, not paying attention and on and on and on. Sorry I do not have that much trust in my fellow drivers - I've been around too long to have that trust.
 
   / Trailers are dangerous #12  
I can't count the number of times I've been forced to swerve over the line into oncoming traffic to avoid injuring a bicyclist who often appear to have an over inflated sense of entitlement and an under inflated respect for "might is right"

I totally agree with this reply, we often times have hundreds at a time through our area,stretched out over several hours, you might just as well give up your driving privleges until the cyclists are out of the county because 99% of them could care less if you are traveling at a blistering pace of 5mph. or not, the other 1% might, I say might, get out of a vehicles way due to common sense or maybe a road rage experience. I guess if I were dressed in spandex with a little seat up my bottom side I might want to get to my destination ASAP and not have to stop or pull over either!! Also, keep your Insurance policies up to date just in case you have an accident trying to "share'" the road
 
Last edited:
   / Trailers are dangerous #13  
Of Note on this subject:

When I was younger back in North Dakota. There was an incident were a very nice man was pulling a cultivator on a trailer with the hitch hanging off of the right side of the trailer. He accidently hit a young woman who was either riding a bike (could have been jogging?) and it killed her instantly.

I was a young driver at the time, but since then I've always given plenty of room to bikers / joggers when I'm driving anything. I'll even pull as far to the right when I'm in the other lane to give oncoming cars passing bikes on their side more room.

Be carefull out there.. it's amazing how a split second can change your life.

Carry on,
Phill
 
   / Trailers are dangerous
  • Thread Starter
#14  
I feel I go out of my way not to be in the way. Of course there are bicyclists who behave like morons, I saw one on Saturday doing tricks on VA 29 you would not believe.

As a matter of fact,bicycles are allowed to bike on the road, most of them do their best to stay out of the way of cars, they should be treated with the same respect. I slow down behind a bicycle till it is safe to pass, and I will do the same for tractor or truck pulling a trailer or little old lady in Buick driving 25 in 45 miles zone. Just imagine you are in a traffic court, there is a serious injury or death in question and you are trying to justify passing in too high speed because .... you saved 15 seconds on your 2 hour drive. How absurd! You will waste more time when you have to stop to go pee.

It does not really matter if the driver with a trailer passes a bike, motorcycle or a pedestrian. If you pull a trailer and forget the trailer is there, you are a bad driver and there is nothing else to say about it.

And I never heard of a bicycle who tried to run a car in a ditch, but it happened to me twice last year when the driver decide I could do with a little poke by the passenger side rear view mirror.
 
   / Trailers are dangerous #15  
I love to ride my bike but where I moved 12 years ago is not conducive to it so I hardly ride anymore.

Bikes do not belong on the road with cars for anything that has over a 30 mph speed limit. To me, they don't have rights because they pay no money for the privilege. Even if they did, how smart is it to play chicken with 5000 lb vehicles. It is just not worth it with all the bad drivers today. Heck, that is why I quit riding motorcycles. I don't want to die that bad.

I would seriously consider where I ride, if for nothing else, because there are too many distracted drivers out there.
 
   / Trailers are dangerous #16  
Okay, time for me to chime in.

Looking at the behavior of bicyclists here in my "area", sometimes I wonder if they consider themselves motor vehicles or pedestrians!!! I see bicyclists way too often on the sidewalk and don't even bother to look at traffic when coming up to intersections! Are they thinking that while on the side walk, motorists are to consider them pedestrians and treat them as such (ie yielding)???

Now for the story....
I was driving my work vehicle (yellow school bus). I was in town on my normal part of my run, on the outside line of a multi lane road (two directions each, with a center turn lane)... big road. Any how, I was puttering along at 35MPH with hardly any cars in front or behind me. I noticed a bicyclist on the sidewalk going the same direction as I was, nearly keeping pace, just a a hair under (ended up passing him), didn't think nothing of it. I came up to a slow car that was making a right turn, so I slowed, bicyclist passed me on the side walk (still on side walk). Car completes turn, so I hammer the throttle and start to get back up to 35MPH. I'm probably about 15 feet or less from the biker (he's still on the side walk!) Any how, a car wanting to pull out into traffic pulls up and stops on the side walk, blocking the bicyclist at a large driveway... lots of room for him to slow down to stop. Guess what the dumb guy does!!!! Instead of going BEHIND the car, which there was plenty of room, he swerves AROUND the front of the car and goes into MY lane! At this point, I"m nearly dead even with the rear of his bike and have to step on the brake. He didn't even look back when he went around the car... but he did when the heard the air release from the brakes. Just casually looked back like I was at fault.... rode in my lane for about 50 feet and then went back on the sidewalk.....


If all possible, I usually go all the way over to the other side when passing SMV's in the country. IE walkers, bikers and tractors. I tend to drop down about 10MPH from the posted limit when passing..... (ie if posted 50, I pass at 40). If I'm driving the big farm truck, I tend to go slower due to the air I whip up when passing walkers and bikers.
 
   / Trailers are dangerous #17  
I feel I go out of my way not to be in the way. Of course there are bicyclists who behave like morons, I saw one on Saturday doing tricks on VA 29 you would not believe.

As a matter of fact,bicycles are allowed to bike on the road, most of them do their best to stay out of the way of cars, they should be treated with the same respect. I slow down behind a bicycle till it is safe to pass, and I will do the same for tractor or truck pulling a trailer or little old lady in Buick driving 25 in 45 miles zone. .....
.


Let me guess....do you wear a "Slow moving Vehicle" orange/red triangle thats at least 12" in height???like tractors must have in VA??? I doubt it....dot you have orange flashers which are also required??? I doubt it....I've seen so many bikers just go thru stop lights when the rest of us are obeying the rules of the road that I could just spit...get a life and get on the bike path from Alexandria to Leesburg...as I pay insurance and gasoline tax to legally be on VA's paved roads (as well as the dirt ones...how come you never ride on them???) I'm sorry for the rant, but I'm tired of cyclists leaving the "city" and going to the country where I live year round to have their 7 hour get togethers...BobG in VA
 
   / Trailers are dangerous #18  
Bicycles SHOULD be subject to the same requirements as a car/truck as far as inspection sticker, registeration, insurance, licensed driver if they want to be on a road that was built for vehicle traffic.

You would not go out and walk down the middle of a roadway where vehicles are coming up behind you at 6-70 mph; why would you expect to be able to ride a bike at about walking speed on the same roadway?

I do agree with the OP though on the way a vehicle pulling a trailer should allow additional room when passing bicyclists. That would apply even if they were licensed, insured, inspected, etc.
 
   / Trailers are dangerous #19  
I agree with all that have said NO to bicycles on public road ways. It's just an added problem that drivers do not need.
After the 3rd time of getting run off the road by some soccer-mom who thought making a right turn in front of me was somehow OK
So what makes it not OK? Do you somehow feel entitled to the same right-of-way that vehicles have on the roadways that those automobiles pay for? Can you believe the nerve of that "soccer-mom" not yielding to you, a bicycle on an automobiles roadway. :rolleyes:
This is the kind of attitude that makes me want a law to keep all bicycles off of public roadways.
 
   / Trailers are dangerous #20  
"The Cyclist on the road debate" is always amusing.

The "Don't pay taxes" is always good for a chuckle or two or even three.

It would indeed be very surprising if only the money paid by Motor Vehicles was the only money spent on highways???

Now I'm thinking maybe there should be separate roads for each category. One road for trucks as they are heavy requiring a much more expensive road. The truck drivers would probably even like this.

Then a road for private vehicles. This one does not the need near the expensive requirements that truck do.

The farmers will also need their own road. This need only be well drained gravel road. Not that high on the cost factor.

Pedestrians require a walking path. If it is built properly it can easily be shared by skaters, joggers, cyclists and all the other man powered devices of transportation. This road will also be very inexpensive to build but should have a hard surface.

Next we need a roadbed for the railway tracks so the trains can travel hauling goods and people. Train tracks would be much cheaper to build and maintain than the Truck and private vehicle roads.

So, one can note all could be happy and accommodated.:thumbsup::thumbsup: Very costly of course but all the egos can be satisfied.:D

Next one should stand back and look at these systems. It's intriguing no less!
We take the Truck, Private vehicle, Pedestrians and others and place them on the train. All being transported by one roadway!!:thumbsup: All these driver's, walkers and cyclists can spend time relaxing, watching scenery and may even sit in the bar car if that is their fancy.:thumbsup:

With enough of these rail lines the distance to transport heavy goods would be limited to mostly towns as would the needs of other occupants of the train.

So, we then have to go through the same cycle again in town and low and behold there will be a public transportation system that really works. The populace will be able to ride public conveyances. The urban community will become centralized. Urban Sprawl will be a thing of the past. Less fossil fuels and resources used as the need for the beloved vehicle is reduced. Transportation cost's should nosedive as the very costly network of roads is not required. Acres and acres of double or triple overpasses and intersections could be converted to Housing areas or reacreation land.:D

And believe it or not it's coming. Many big cities are in planning stages for better public transportation to eliminate personal vehicles from the core!:thumbsup::thumbsup:
 

Tractor & Equipment Auctions

2017 JOHN DEERE 6120M TRACTOR (A51406)
2017 JOHN DEERE...
2004 Stage Line SL-250 Mobile Folding Stage Trailer (A50322)
2004 Stage Line...
UNVERFERTH 330 - 22-INCH EXTENTSION TUBE FOR BASE AND WING ASSEMBLY FOR RIPPER (A52748)
UNVERFERTH 330 -...
2010 Ford Edge SE SUV (A51694)
2010 Ford Edge SE...
2018 Wacker Neuson WL 38 (A52748)
2018 Wacker Neuson...
2018 E-Z Beever M12R Towable Brush Chipper (A51691)
2018 E-Z Beever...
 
Top