Steve Jaeger, with a quick rant about bicyclists who don’t follow the rules of the road.
—
First, let me establish my bona fides. I am an old tree hugging hippie. I have been driving the same first generation Prius for over ten years. I do not use paper napkins or paper towels in my home, much to the chagrin of my children. I buy Dr. Bronner’s by the gallon. I stopped drinking bottled water, take public transportation when I can and if possible I don’t buy products packed in plastic.
All that said one might think I am a great proponent of bicycles but I am most emphatically not. I don’t object to bike riding in principal, I think it’s great exercise and a wonderful way to get out of doors but when you start messing with my commute and endangering you and me both, you have crossed a line. Living where I do, just outside the city limits of Washington, DC there sometimes seems to be an equal number of cars and bikes on the road. There are bike lanes and “Share The Road” signs everywhere. There are days when I think I’m driving amidst an Italian Racing Team.
Back when I was a kid and rode my bike (a Schwinn Stingray with banana seat and sissy bar) everywhere. We didn’t wear helmets or uniforms. These days it seems like you can’t get on a bike if you don’t dress like Lance Armstrong. That in itself is ok, if you have that much disposable income to spend hundreds of dollars to wear a specially designed bike outfit, more power to you. I may think you look ridiculous =but that’s your business not mine.
What really gets under my skin though is the flagrant disregard for traffic laws that so many cyclists are party to. If we car drivers are supposed to obey laws and share the road with bike riders why doesn’t this go both ways? The other day I almost struck some jackass on a bike who sailed through a red light and didn’t even give a glance when I had to slam on my brakes. I drive to work on a lovely old byway that runs along the Potomac on the Maryland side. It’s a curvy, narrow old road with nowhere to pass the entire length. Every morning I encounter a large group of men heading in the opposite direction from me with a long line of cars trapped behind them. The other morning I got stuck behind one guy meandering along at a brisk fifteen MPH on a thirty-five MPH road. What really, really sticks in my craw is that there is a nice wide hike and bike trail running along side the road. There are usually a handful of runners and a couple of people riding bikes (completely out of uniform, not a single US Postal Service form fitting shirt). At one intersection in the road below the Stop Signs there are signs on both sides that read, “Bike Riders Dismount and Walk Across”. I have never seen a single rider do that and they usually don’t stop either.
As a licensed driver I am allowed to operate my car and public roads as long as I obey the rules and act responsibly. If I do not I will get stopped by the police, given a ticket, pay a fine and if this happen often enough I will lose my right to drive. What give some person on a bike the right to impede my commute, put themselves and other at risk and put themselves above the law? I see letters to the editor and hear callers on radio talk shows bemoaning their status as bike riders at the mercy of cruel car drivers on the street. I don’t condone any sort of car on bike road rage but if you weave in and out between cars and sail through intersections like you have a magic suit you can probably count on getting hurt at some point. If you take up a lane and are going 10 to 15 MPH under the speed limit, someone is eventually going to try and pass you and you might lose out if the car has to swerve back to avoid oncoming traffic.
As far as I am concerned if you want to dress up like Lance and pretend you’re making your way up the Pyrenees, knock yourself out. Train for the triathlon, get all the exercise your heart desires but if your fancy three thousand dollar bike can’t get up to thirty MPH on the road, stay on the bike path.
It seems you need to start campaigning for better cycling infrastructure.
Wouldn’t it be better if cars didn’t have to avoid bikes, and cyclist didn’t run the risk of death for just trying to get to their job.. Segregated cycle lanes, like in Holland or Denmark would entirely solve your problems.
Do the rules of the road allow motorists to do the same? Because they break the law too. Why does it only bother you when a cyclist breaks the law? The only person a cyclist is likely to hurt is themselves. You’re apparently OK with someone breaking the law in a car when if they hit someone they will cause an injury and possibly a death. The rule is that if you are holding up traffic you must yield at the next intersection to traffic behind you.Realistically how much time are you losing? And if it were a slow-moving motor… Read more »
I never said motorists have any more right to be assholes on the road. My point was if a person on a bike wants to use public roads the same rules and laws apply to them. Stop at lights don’t weave in and out between cars and if you can’t ride without impeding traffic stay on the bike path where you belong
Chopper – do the rules of the road allow cyclists to run red lights and stop signs? What if there is no place on the road to yield safely? I’m sure you are an absolute prince when you are out riding so maybe you could come to DC and give some lessons
You are neither a cop or a lawyer and you don’t know the rules of the road as they pertain to cyclists. If the lane is not wide enough you can take the lane and then yield as allow traffic to pass when it is safe to do so. If there are two lanes in the same direction you can take the lane. Maybe instead of getting pissed because it’s a bicycle you can pretend it is a backhoe on it’s way to a construction site or other slow-moving motorized vehicle. If a cyclist needs to make a left turn… Read more »
Nick – cops will indeed give tickets to people who drive to slowly on the interstates, obstructing traffic. Bike riders who ride on roads with nowhere to pass are also obstructing traffic. Bike riders who do not stop at red lights or stop signs are breaking the law.
I am neither a cop nor a lawyer, what I am is one of thousands, perhaps millions who are sick of being inconvenienced and put at risk by people who think the roads are their own personal training track. Those of us with jobs just want to get there
Since your stance is ostensibly based on the law – what law is a bike rider doing less than the speed limit breaking? And what law is one riding on the road instead of the shared-use path breaking?