Cycling etiquette

kaned_ferret

What's up with the hating on cycling? Do you really feel this is helpful?

It IS funny though - the meme could be used with any picture... Giving way at junctions? using only one lane? E-co-nom-ic fuel use? These things do not apply to us chosen ones (queue picture of a 4x4 driver - and yes, I am one of those, doesn't mean I suddenly think there's 4x4 hate going on!)

I don't want this thread to be about cycle hate, just about rudeness / lack of etiquette peeve :flowerforyou:

mmapags

What's up with the hating on cycling? Do you really feel this is helpful?

Of all the cyclists I've ever encountered, 95% of them disobey basic traffic laws (i.e. stop signs, turn signals). When they stop acting like rules don't apply to them, I'll change my opinion.

Of all the people who make blanket statments condeming a whole group I've ever encountered 95% of them are ignorant of the real facts. When they stop displaying thier ignorance, I'll change my opinion.

mmapags

I don't want this thread to be about cycle hate, just about rudeness / lack of etiquette peeve :flowerforyou:

I perfectly understood and apprecaited your intention and agree with you! There are rude cyclist....and runners....and drivers and on and on. I thought you've taken a balanced approach throughout. I think the attitude displayed by the poster of the photo and thier subsequent post reflects poor judgement at best and ignorance at worst! Hope puppy is doing better.:flowerforyou:

Elizabeth_C34

That really sucks about your dog! I hope he's alright!

I would love to bike more in the city here, but I'm not too keen on it. There've been numerous incidents where cyclists have been killed on the road into my office this year (3 in the last 12 months). One of which was killed by a hit-and-run drunk driver. I almost killed someone driving to my office last week because he swerved into my lane without looking to pass another cyclist. I had to pull my emergency brake to avoid killing him. It really scared me and shook me up. I wasn't even speeding or doing anything wrong. He just yanked right into my lane about 30 feet ahead of me. I have a 4500 lb SUV that doesn't stop on a dime unfortunately. Thankfully most of the cyclists along that road are very good about staying in the bike lane and not scaring me to death, but it's unnerving to see that.

To those of you who cycle, please stay out of the vehicle lanes as much as possible. We can't always see you especially if you're on a bend, and we can't stop as easily as you can even if we're not speeding.

I do enjoy cycling in parks though where I can not be around traffic.

IronmanPanda

What's up with the hating on cycling? Do you really feel this is helpful?

Of all the cyclists I've ever encountered, 95% of them disobey basic traffic laws (i.e. stop signs, turn signals). When they stop acting like rules don't apply to them, I'll change my opinion.

I've found that 95% of cyclists I know obey all traffic laws and because I know more cyclists than you your theory in invalid.

When drivers stop acting like they own the roads maybe we'll see a change for the better.

SueGremlin

And here we have the crux of the problem. People are territorial about the road, bike or car. Until that changes, it will be too dangerous to cycle, IMO. So my bike sits and collects dust.
It is much safer in Europe because drivers respect cyclists and vice versa. Why isn't it the same in the US?

I find this very sad.

Elizabeth_C34

And here we have the crux of the problem. People are territorial about the road, bike or car. Until that changes, it will be too dangerous to cycle, IMO. So my bike sits and collects dust.
It is much safer in Europe because drivers respect cyclists and vice versa. Why isn't it the same in the US?

I find this very sad.

I find it sad too. I wish the US had more bike lanes on major roads to make it safer for cyclists and less stressful for drivers who worry about accidentally hurting a cyclist.

heybales

What's up with the hating on cycling? Do you really feel this is helpful?

Of all the cyclists I've ever encountered, 95% of them disobey basic traffic laws (i.e. stop signs, turn signals). When they stop acting like rules don't apply to them, I'll change my opinion.

I've found that 95% of cyclists I know obey all traffic laws and because I know more cyclists than you your theory in invalid.

When drivers stop acting like they own the roads maybe we'll see a change for the better.

Very true. Sadly the 5% out breaking the laws are also out more often. I know I've had some like that tell me directly it's because of the drivers not obeying either.

When we are coming up to a 4 way stop intersection, and watching all the cars up their blow through with rolling stops if even that much, it's hard to picture why the cyclist doing the exact same thing would be seen as worse.

So they unfairly skew the observations of many.

Elizabeth_C34

When we are coming up to a 4 way stop intersection, and watching all the cars up their blow through with rolling stops if even that much, it's hard to picture why the cyclist doing the exact same thing would be seen as worse.

The sad fact is that in a situation where a cyclist does it, drivers are not expecting it and often don't see it since cyclists are much smaller than cars, and when that happens, there's a very real possibility of an accident. Any accident involving a <50 lb bike and a person vs. a vehicle is going to end very badly for the cyclist. I deal with a lot of cyclists on the way to work every day, and I know to look for them, but not everyone does. In the end, the cyclist needs to be more careful than the driver simply because of physics and that whole "playing chicken with something bigger than you" problem. Thankfully, most cyclists on the road into my work are great. There's a designated bike lane that is very wide, and most stay in there and obey the traffic laws. It's just the few that make it very stressful for me as a driver.

I am an excellent driver, but there have been times that I've almost run over people on the road on bikes because they either pulled out in front of me without looking or did something stupid (failed to stop at a red light when I was turning, etc.). It's not easy to stop a vehicle traveling at 30-40 mph no matter how big. I have no interest in killing someone, and I just wish that both drivers and cyclists would be more careful.

heybales

When we are coming up to a 4 way stop intersection, and watching all the cars up their blow through with rolling stops if even that much, it's hard to picture why the cyclist doing the exact same thing would be seen as worse.

The sad fact is that in a situation where a cyclist does it, drivers are not expecting it and often don't see it since cyclists are much smaller than cars, and when that happens, there's a very real possibility of an accident. Any accident involving a <50 lb bike and a person vs. a vehicle is going to end very badly for the cyclist. I deal with a lot of cyclists on the way to work every day, and I know to look for them, but not everyone does. In the end, the cyclist needs to be more careful than the driver simply because of physics and that whole "playing chicken with something bigger than you" problem.

I am an excellent driver, but there have been times that I've almost run over people on the road on bikes because they either pulled out in front of me without looking or did something stupid (failed to stop at a red light when I was turning, etc.). I have no interest in killing someone, and I just wish that both drivers and cyclists would be more careful.

Very true, and those that are riding like they own the road, usually don't look around and confirm things.

I always get eye contact all the time for like the intersection scenario, and I don't blow through, I'll do rolling stop just as much as everyone else is doing, and during my turn. I figure they are all used to this and want it, I'll play along.
I also make my intentions very obvious, if I'm at the beginning of a line of cars because I was there first, I'm still to the side, and as I cross the intersection, I go slow and to the side, usually obvious to that line of cars I'm letting them go first. I figure it does no good me in front riding waiting for them all to try to get around me. Get it over with in 15-20 seconds, then I can hammer it with no traffic waiting on me.

Elizabeth_C34

When we are coming up to a 4 way stop intersection, and watching all the cars up their blow through with rolling stops if even that much, it's hard to picture why the cyclist doing the exact same thing would be seen as worse.

The sad fact is that in a situation where a cyclist does it, drivers are not expecting it and often don't see it since cyclists are much smaller than cars, and when that happens, there's a very real possibility of an accident. Any accident involving a <50 lb bike and a person vs. a vehicle is going to end very badly for the cyclist. I deal with a lot of cyclists on the way to work every day, and I know to look for them, but not everyone does. In the end, the cyclist needs to be more careful than the driver simply because of physics and that whole "playing chicken with something bigger than you" problem.

I am an excellent driver, but there have been times that I've almost run over people on the road on bikes because they either pulled out in front of me without looking or did something stupid (failed to stop at a red light when I was turning, etc.). I have no interest in killing someone, and I just wish that both drivers and cyclists would be more careful.

Very true, and those that are riding like they own the road, usually don't look around and confirm things.

I always get eye contact all the time for like the intersection scenario, and I don't blow through, I'll do rolling stop just as much as everyone else is doing, and during my turn. I figure they are all used to this and want it, I'll play along.
I also make my intentions very obvious, if I'm at the beginning of a line of cars because I was there first, I'm still to the side, and as I cross the intersection, I go slow and to the side, usually obvious to that line of cars I'm letting them go first. I figure it does no good me in front riding waiting for them all to try to get around me. Get it over with in 15-20 seconds, then I can hammer it with no traffic waiting on me.

Sounds good. Hopefully you won't have any problems or accidents. Sounds like you are doing everything right.

Don't get me wrong though. I don't think it's all a "cyclists need to pay more attention and be more careful" issue. I see a lot of drivers doing stupid things too. It's just that when something happens between a cyclist and a car, the car usually comes out unscathed or only lightly damaged while the cyclist can end up dead fairly easily. The consequences are different. I don't think anyone wants to actually harm someone else on the road either. It's just that drivers don't always think to look for cyclists especially on roads where cycling is uncommon.

klmnumbers

As a commute cyclist I always get so furious when I see bikes on the sidewalk or going against traffic. So many cyclists want to be cars with pedestrian privileges.

This has been my experience as well. Bikes in my city are supposed to drive on the road as they are a vehicle, but they can go on sidewalks in areas with less heavy traffic, except they are to yield to pedestrians on the sidewalk. It's difficult to cycle in my city because there are ZERO bike lines. It's an old town, and the roads are simply not wide enough to accommodate it.

In my experience, bicyclists on the road, will bob and weave through cars are red lights to get to the front of the line, blow through reds, and cross through an intersection when pedestrians have walk signs. In that same vein though, I also see lots of cyclists who DO care, signal, observe traffic rules, and more power to them because cycling is really hard in my city. But when they don't, It's both terrifying and infuriating to be driving, put on your turn signal and start to turn right, and then realize that there is a bike directly next to your car, attempting to blow by you on the right. This is how people get hurt.

I can't tell you how many times I've also almost been hit walking to school.

heybales

Don't get me wrong though. I don't think it's all a "cyclists need to pay more attention and be more careful" issue. I see a lot of drivers doing stupid things too. It's just that when something happens between a cyclist and a car, the car usually comes out unscathed or only lightly damaged while the cyclist can end up dead fairly easily. The consequences are different. I don't think anyone wants to actually harm someone else on the road either. It's just that drivers don't always think to look for cyclists especially on roads where cycling is uncommon.

I think the current distracted driving makes it so much worse too, texting, updating social sites, ect. I watch people while I'm driving all the time swerving around, in full traffic. I'm sure there are more willing to attempt it when the road seems more clear. And my concern is, there I am on bike now. Add to that a slight swerve for some road hazard I'm avoiding (I usually see it coming up and don't "swerve") and very bad combo.

It'll also interesting to watch drivers coming up on cyclist. Or cones, or any thing different on the side of the road. I almost always see the car drift that direction first before they pull farther out.
The ole dad driving looking at the scenery syndrome and swerving all over when you were a kid.

Elizabeth_C34

Don't get me wrong though. I don't think it's all a "cyclists need to pay more attention and be more careful" issue. I see a lot of drivers doing stupid things too. It's just that when something happens between a cyclist and a car, the car usually comes out unscathed or only lightly damaged while the cyclist can end up dead fairly easily. The consequences are different. I don't think anyone wants to actually harm someone else on the road either. It's just that drivers don't always think to look for cyclists especially on roads where cycling is uncommon.

I think the current distracted driving makes it so much worse too, texting, updating social sites, ect. I watch people while I'm driving all the time swerving around, in full traffic. I'm sure there are more willing to attempt it when the road seems more clear. And my concern is, there I am on bike now. Add to that a slight swerve for some road hazard I'm avoiding (I usually see it coming up and don't "swerve") and very bad combo.

It'll also interesting to watch drivers coming up on cyclist. Or cones, or any thing different on the side of the road. I almost always see the car drift that direction first before they pull farther out.
The ole dad driving looking at the scenery syndrome and swerving all over when you were a kid.

Distracted driving is a problem for everyone, not just cyclists. It's scary how many people get killed by cell phone usage during driving every year. It's now exceeded the deaths from drunk drivers.

CoderGal

Next time, bring a rock.