Bicycles have the right of way?

[oldguy]

Only way to solve the problem is bike lanes only, on rural roads it is a death wish riding bikes on blind curves, I feel unsafe on a motorcycle in current traffic but a bicycle no way, license,insurance, inspection for bikes would perhaps help pay for lanes, certainly unsafe under our current system.

 

[Charley]

Shouldn't matter.

The assertion made by the bicycle haters is that the motorist are all upstanding, law abiding citizens being inconvenienced by the renegade, bicycle riding criminals. So, if they are right, there will be very few laws broken by motorists.

You work for the government, don't you. Nobody in the private sector would dream of doing a statistical analyisis this way.

 

[M. Sage]

Only way to solve the problem is bike lanes only, on rural roads it is a death wish riding bikes on blind curves, I feel unsafe on a motorcycle in current traffic but a bicycle no way, license,insurance, inspection for bikes would perhaps help pay for lanes, certainly unsafe under our current system.

Trust me, bicycle lanes don't help. The cyclists' and automobiles' paths of travel have to cross eventually, and if there's on-street parking in an area with a bike lane... and there are bicyclists who will ignore the presence of the lane, just as there are a (very few in my experience) drivers who will, too.

My experience with bike lanes is that bicyclists wind up thinking that no car should ever, in any circumstances enter that lane for any reason. Well, the way they're set up, if you're turning right at an intersection, things can get interesting. In an auto, if the light is red and no bicycles are in the way, you're supposed to merge into the bike lane and wait for your opening or for the light to turn. I can't tell you how many times I almost hit some moron because they ignored the fact that I'd angled the vehicle and signaled a turn and went flying by me on the right side (usually yelling at me that I'm an asshole when they almost hit me).

I'm a motorcyclist, and cagers scare the crap out of me most of the time. However, I've had more issues with bicyclists, but that was mostly in San Francisco where more than half the population is retarded.

 

[Texasjack]

Do they really think buying all those expensive tights makes them pedal like Lance Armstrong? Or that they'll live through a crash with a truck?

I worked in a chemical plant that had train tracks through it. We had a tech on a bicycle who nearly ran into a train, crashing bike at the last second to avoid the collision. The train was moving at maybe 5 mph and the middle of the string of cars was at the intersection. He thought no one saw him, but there was a security camera in the area and he got in trouble for not reporting a 'near miss'.

There are some people that make me wonder who dresses them in the morning and who feeds them, because they are surely too dumb to do those things for themselves.

 

[android]

For those of you who continue to advocate assaulting cyclists with a motor vehicle, here's what can happen. 5 years in jail of which 85% must be served.

Times are changing, you can't just kill people and get away with it anymore because you happen to be driving a car.

Doctor sentenced to 5 years in prison for assaulting bicyclists in Brentwood | L.A. NOW | Los Angeles Times

 

[android]

You work for the government, don't you. Nobody in the private sector would dream of doing a statistical analyisis this way.

Come up with something better then. I've made an offer, nobody has the guts to accept it or even propose a counter offer. That pretty much makes it obvious the cagers are full of hot air and have no guts to prove their point. It's easy to talk trash on the internet. Somebody come and count infractions with me or shut up, stay in your lane, stay off the cell phone and drive attentively and safely.

 

[android]

Only way to solve the problem is bike lanes only, on rural roads it is a death wish riding bikes on blind curves, I feel unsafe on a motorcycle in current traffic but a bicycle no way, license,insurance, inspection for bikes would perhaps help pay for lanes, certainly unsafe under our current system.

Just wrong.

I have driven, motorcycled and ridden bicycles all my life. I have encountered squirrels, cows, horses with riders, horses without riders, dogs, goats, javelinas, turtles, children, pedestrians, drunks, boxes, boards, mattresses and broken down cars and probably other stuff I can't even remember all in the middle of the road.

Guess what. It is ALWAYS my responsibility to NOT run over stuff in the road no matter what. If I hit something, I was going too fast for road conditions. Period, end of discussion. The rider, horse, cow or kid chasing a bouncing ball did not create an unsafe condition, the driver going too fast for the road did.

For a bunch of gun owners, I find it hard that you can't see your responsibility. It's just like keeping your finger off the trigger and treating the gun like it's loaded. Same prinicple, same mindset. If you can't get your head around that, maybe you shouldn't be driving, you're just a danger to everyone else on the road, regardless of what vehicle they are using.

 

[M. Sage]

So bicyclists never create unsafe situations through their behavior? I know a lot of drivers and motorcyclists do, and I promise you that a lot of bicyclists do, too.

You can create an unsafe situation for others on the road.

 

[saltydog]

So bicyclists never create unsafe situations through their behavior? I know a lot of drivers and motorcyclists do, and I promise you that a lot of bicyclists do, too.

You can create an unsafe situation for others on the road.

this is the same mentality that the anti gun, take away your second amendment right liberals use. odd that i would see it on this of all forums.

 

[Eli]

For those of you who continue to advocate assaulting cyclists with a motor vehicle, here's what can happen. 5 years in jail of which 85% must be served.

Times are changing, you can't just kill people and get away with it anymore because you happen to be driving a car.

Doctor sentenced to 5 years in prison for assaulting bicyclists in Brentwood | L.A. NOW | Los Angeles Times

That's fruit-and-nuts California not Texas. In TX the bicyclists would be cited for failure to control speed!

Eli

 

[M. Sage]

this is the same mentality that the anti gun, take away your second amendment right liberals use. odd that i would see it on this of all forums.

How so? You generalized and stated that any time anybody gets into a crash, it's their fault. It's pretty obvious that this cannot be a true statement, since there are many exceptions that I can think of to that rule.

I know that I've lived several of these. One that pops into my mind was in San Francisco where I came very close to flattening some kid (who was riding a bike) when he popped out from between a couple of parked cars as I was driving by. Something just "didn't feel right" and I was already on the brakes before I even saw him, so he got to live another day. My boss in San Francisco actually had a moron on a skateboard ride into the rear quarter of his MR2 one day. He got rear-ended by a skater, 100% not his fault.

Sometimes someone will throw themselves into your path in a way that leaves you with no way to avoid them or they'll simply hit you from another direction.

 

[Big country]

Just wrong.

I have driven, motorcycled and ridden bicycles all my life. I have encountered squirrels, cows, horses with riders, horses without riders, dogs, goats, javelinas, turtles, children, pedestrians, drunks, boxes, boards, mattresses and broken down cars and probably other stuff I can't even remember all in the middle of the road.

Guess what. It is ALWAYS my responsibility to NOT run over stuff in the road no matter what. If I hit something, I was going too fast for road conditions. Period, end of discussion. The rider, horse, cow or kid chasing a bouncing ball did not create an unsafe condition, the driver going too fast for the road did.

For a bunch of gun owners, I find it hard that you can't see your responsibility. It's just like keeping your finger off the trigger and treating the gun like it's loaded. Same prinicple, same mindset. If you can't get your head around that, maybe you shouldn't be driving, you're just a danger to everyone else on the road, regardless of what vehicle they are using.

So you are going to tell me that out of the drivers going the speed limit on a road and a bunch of bicyclist going 10mph or less on a road with a posted speed limit sign that says 55 mph, the driver going 55 on a sunny day no rain, sleet, hail, flooding, or anything that would be adverse conditions. The driver of the motor vehicle or "cagers" going the posted speed limit are the safety hazard and the cyclist riding four wide and not going single file on the straight aways are perfectly innocent? If that is the case then you need to go have an MRI as you must have had some kind of trauma to the head!

 

[Big country]

For those of you who continue to advocate assaulting cyclists with a motor vehicle, here's what can happen. 5 years in jail of which 85% must be served.

Times are changing, you can't just kill people and get away with it anymore because you happen to be driving a car.

Doctor sentenced to 5 years in prison for assaulting bicyclists in Brentwood | L.A. NOW | Los Angeles Times

By the way. By the quote I've already made of one of your comments, about the drivers being the unsafe ones on the road, the cyclist were the ones at fault here as they were either following to close or not paying any attention to there surrounds if they were in the incident in the first place. So they were in the shoes of the driver and the driver was in the shoes of the cyclist. And I hate to tell ya this would only happen one place in Texas and that is Austin anywhere else and the cyclist would have been cited as previously stated.

 

[Major Woody]

No one "has the right of way" in Texas, ever. Texas law prescribes when one person/motorist must yield the right of way to another. It means something entirely different. A bicycle does not have any more right of way than an ambulance running "code 3" or a garbage truck does. Austin has an incredible problem with the interaction between bicycles and motor vehicles. Many bicyclists act as though none of the rules apply to them. In return, many drivers have no respect for bicyclists. They would all coexist peacefully if ALL of the bicyclists obeyed ALL the rules of the road. If Austin PD was truly interested in making the roads safer, they would issue a few thousand citations to the bicyclists for their stupid behavior. I have cited numerous bicyclists for a variety of violations from running red lights to speeding. Yes, speeding. 45 in a 30 zone. That guy was happy to have proof he was going 45 MPH on his bicycle. Bragging rights I guess.

Great post! Now this is the voice of reason here! And yes I love my mountain bike, but I avoid down town traffic, just to many tight roads, with too many distracted 'phone to the ear' drivers. I think you have to be a distance of three feet from them now, even if they are halfway in the road, so a person has to stop or slow down which could cause a rear ender. Bicyclists need to be taught the laws, just like drivers, and drivers can't be bullies and vice versa. A warning and a guide book handed out to either party first, then a ticket would be a good idea. If they would connect all the bike trails into and through the many parks around here, people wouldn't see as many bikes on the streets or sidewalks. Planning future roads should require a side walk/ bike easement on each side.