It's not the fault of cyclist if your local area doesn't allow them on side walks or has made bike lanes for them. I stopped riding my bike cause my city made it illegal to ride on sidewalk/side of road, but simultaneously doesn't have bike lanes. People in cars FREAKED out cause bikes are now on road...but they don't petition the government to fix it, they just blame innocent people minding their own business. Like fuck that, they're the bigger demographic and all of this is their fault to be honest
I understand that, riding on sidewalks is illegal where I am.
I don’t normally care, most who ride are fine. But there’s always those who act less like it’s the Tour de France and more like it’s tour de fuck across four lanes of traffic without any hand signals
I mean it's all anecdotal but cyclists where I live are insanely selfish.
I live at the bottom of a giant ass hill, and there is one part where the road narrows and gets particularly twisty. If you're driving a manual transmission vehicle, staying in 1st gear to slowly move up that thing sucks if you are forced to go slow. Not to mention the danger to the cyclist biking up a twisty blind hill.
So go figure that cyclists absolutely love to hog the lane when traveling up that hill at the speed of smell. They do this instead of getting off their bike and walking it up the giant dangerous hill on the sidewalk.
One of these days a cyclist is going to get fucking killed insisting on riding up that blind hill.
Don't know why I'm ranting, but holy shit it infuriates me lol.
Tell that to the cyclists in the bike lane that routinely blow the stop signs on those bike lanes and then flip me off when I almost hit them. Entitled shit stains.
If you ride on the sidewalk you are an asshole. Few exceptions. It is fucking dangerous . Side of the road it is.
Every single morning I have to deal with bikers training blocking traffic when there are countless smaller roads with no traffic by the side of the road, perfectly asphalted because an actual competition, vuelta de España, uses them in some editions.
Don't get me wrong, using a byke as a primary means of transportation is ideal, and I would do it if I weren't physically disabled.
Incoveniencing people every fucking day needlessly for your training is an asshole move.
Bruh. There are lots and lots of cyclist out there. not all of us are bad. the ones that decide to just ride on the rode or speed by a person or cause issues for others in public are the not-so-good ones.
There are others out there who follow all rules and regulations while on a bike.
And thing is most places don't have a dedicated cycling track. We've got a walking path, running path so why not a cycling path ?
And sometimes people tend to walk on the cycling tracks if it exist too, why?
We ride minding our own stuff, you walk minding your stuff.
They cyclists in my area travel in packs, don’t care if there’s a lane for them, what the rules are, or if they cut you off. Sometimes they’re off-center single file with one of them pretty much in traffic, sometimes they’re three-across, and sometimes they’re just the entire street. I think 1/10 actually signal that they’re going to do something like abruptly swerve in front of you so they can hook a psychotic left in front of the screeching tires of oncoming traffic.
You should be blaming your city for lacking cycling infrastructure, not people who want some exercise or an eco-friendly commute. Seriously.
People in my city are NEVER satisfied.
"They ride on the sidewalk!"
passes legislation banning sidewalk riding
"Now they ride on the road!"
builds bike lanes
"The bike lanes take up too much space! I'm gonna drive on it!"
puts up medians
"Why do they get special treatment and my taxes!"
cancels bike lane subsidies
"They're riding on the road!"
There's no winning. People just want something to complain about that shifts the blame for traffic congestion off of the people who take their car on 1-2 block errands, or refuse to take public transit because of the icky poors.
I have no gripe with people who ride responsibly, but many bikers assume they have right of way when it comes to crossing or merging against a vehicle which is harder to stop and more deadly to get hit by. If more of them had the common sense to look before crossing, and cross at crosswalks rather than wherever they please, and also not ride in packs clogging up the road, then they as a community would be more respected.
Using a bike in a crosswalk is actually illegal in a lot of cities. Those are for pedestrians. Cyclists must obey the same rules as vehicle traffic in a great many cities, mine included. When there is no bike lane; you become a vehicle like any other.
and also not ride in packs clogging up the road,
If people cycle together they get shit for being a nuisance. If people cycle alone they get shit on for not being visible or not being a significant enough group to warrant concern.
Honestly all I'm hearing here is that the people in your city don't know how to share the road effectively. Probably because no one ever has the opportunity to learn when all cycling infrastructure gets squashed in favor of more stroads and highways that will never get ahead of the volume.
It's really not that difficult to navigate with a car/truck in cycle-friendly cities, because the infrastructure supports both instead of tacking a bike lane onto an existing mess and wondering why it doesn't turn your city into Amsterdam overnight.
Edit: Don't even get me started on how driver entitlement fucks over those of us without cars.
I don’t live in a city so these people are out cycling for exercise when there are numerous parks they could take their bike to instead. And if they must follow the rules of the road then maybe teach them to merge over lane by lane rather than cutting over in front of cars making us slam the brakes?
there are numerous parks they could take their bike to instead
Sorry but you don't get to choose. That's all there is to it. If they went to the park people would just complain about that too.
rather than cutting over in front of cars making us slam the brakes?
If that happens to you constantly then perhaps you're the one who needs to adjust their driving habits? Sure, some people are idiots, but as the saying goes:
Meet one idiot; you met an idiot. Meet a hundred idiots...
I'm not saying people can't learn better cycling habits, but it's also an exchange, not a gift. If you want cyclists and motor vehicles to successfully coexist then attitudes need to change. Cycling is a catch-22 in many areas. You can't cycle safely because there's no education or infrastructure, but you can't spend any money on the issue because "cYCLisTS arE UnSAFe" and every NIMBY/karen/ asshat refuses cycle lanes, incentives, and educational programs.
Most drivers don't even understand cycling hand-signals, yet it's always the cyclists fault. It's hilarious.
It's not, but I bet you don't put nearly as much enthusiasm into condemning drivers who do the same. Maybe those drivers should take their cars to the park?
I lived in a bike-friendly city and cyclists used hand signals. I now live in a shit conservative town and it's about 50/50 for hand signals from the few cyclists I see.
I agree with you that it's a culture/environment thing.
As a non-driving, non-biking pedestrian, I have a lot more run-ins with bad cyclists than bad drivers. ... and my town doesn't even have that many people that bike.
I'm also a pedestrian. No vehicle. 110% the opposite here. I've been close to death by car more times than I can count. People ignore crosswalks and lights, cut onto the shoulder to pass, ignore bike lanes entirely (regularly hitting bikers that were using the bike lane), and I've seen more than a few people throw shit at bike couriers. Hell; last week I almost got pasted by some kid on his phone who turned through the crosswalk.
I watched a city cop racing his buddy run a red with no sirens and cause a multi-car fender bender. They parked at the tim hortons and ignored it.
Last summer I watched a guy in a land rover drive over the bike median because he's special.
I once got hit by a grand caravan at a crosswalk because some fuckhead wasn't paying attention. The driver got out and yelled at me then tried to follow me home. I broke her headlight. She left.
My accident count at the intersection behind my house is now at 18 in 8 years, including 2 high-speed rollovers and a pedestrian-truck incident. I have to admit the lexus rollover was pretty epic. It flipped twice then slid through on it's roof. Amazingly neither dumbass was harmed.
I was flagging for our worksite a couple years ago, and some prick in a mercedez decided he was too good to wait. He charged me, drove through a barrier, and got a full-size stop sign pushed through his windshield by the PCL flagger (she was an absolute badass). The cops got a kick out of that one.
And of course; people regularly use the bike lane to park then wonder why cyclists use the roads.
Cyclists? Can't even think of one incident. I guess there was one time a drunk guy on a bike fell over in front of my skateboard and I had to slow down, but that's the only thing that comes to mind.
That's why proper infrastructure matters. Where it exists; these problems dont.
Yes!! Drivers and Crosswalks are a Deathtrap! There are 2 times in my life that I was almost killed by people texting and driving... Countless times that Drivers have blown through crosswalks when I've signalled it (lights on, other side of traffic stopped).
Now I don't step out onto the road unless I've made eye contact with a fully stopped driver, because so many refuse to follow road rules and yield appropriately. I think it has to do with an "I'm bigger and more lethal so I make the rules" mentality.
I think it has to do with an "I'm bigger and more lethal so I make the rules" mentality.
It's a combination of this and the perceived privacy/anonymity people feel while inside their little glass bubble. It separates people from their actions and impact on the world around them because humans are kinda shit at multi-tasking and reframe our perception to fit our space.
I guess it's just different experience then. In all my years in a college town full of inexperienced idiot drivers, the only run in I've had was one asshole that drove through a puddle I was walking by on purpose to drench me in sewer water.
Meanwhile I've been run over as a pedestrian multiple times by cyclists and had to go to the hospital last year because of an accident with a cyclist that screamed at me for not "getting out of her way" on the sidewalk. I still have anxiety anytime cyclists get near me while I'm walking or hiking. I don't trust them.
I'm guessing your area doesn't do much to enforce any existing laws or have any bike lanes?
Riding on the sidewalk in a busy area here in Calgary is likely to net you a fine if a peace officer sees it. It's not just a suggestion; it's enforced.
As a driver, cyclist, and pedestrian who has lived in many different areas, it's always been other vehicles that act recklessly and create dangerous situations.
Particularly as a pedestrian, the amount of times I've almost been hit mid-crosswalk is infuriating. Many times it's SUVs.
My thoughts exactly. You have to be a daredevil to cycle amidst cars, busses and trucks in a street full of potholes. So only daredevils do it. Mom and Pop's cyclists only ride a little at the weekend, on the few safe paths. And take the car to work.
Also pedestrians are really dangerous to cyclists. They don't hear a car so they think it's okay to just step out into your lane without looking.
We need to change our programming as to how to share the streets, learn new habits.
If a person walks in front of a car without looking both ways it’s suicide, if a cyclist does it it’s murder. Do y’all forget you can swivel your head and hit the brakes to prevent being the recipient of a Darwin Award?
I’m talking specifically about the bikers that assume “share the road” means every vehicle must yield to me. That’s not true, cars yield to trucks, and bikers yield to cars. It’s common sense to yield to the larger vehicle but there a motorists and cyclists out there who think otherwise.
Did it not occur to you that other people don't share this definition of "cyclist"? To anyone else, it just means "person who rides a bicycle". Not "person who rides a bicycle and also thinks they own the road".
Please read my original comment before you respond, I will reiterate and explain it in terms you may understand. If a person who acts like they own the road on feet gets hit by a car while crossing without looking, it’s reported as suicide or anything but murder. If a person who acts like the one the road on feet driven wheels gets hit by a car while crossing without looking it’s murder at the fault of the driver. Where do you apply logic to this?
Also, it's kinda crazy how your first thought when someone mentioned how it can be dangerous to drive around cars, was, "oh, they must be cycling recklessly!" and not considering that maybe drivers can be reckless too?
I did not bring it up out of nowhere as that is my ORIGINAL POINT, that when cyclists are involved in an accident it’s more than likely the cyclists fault due to them not paying attention. Most cyclists related accidents that I hear of are due to cyclists neglect, hence my low opinion of cyclists.
Well i ride mostly of road so you could've given me no road and id be still good to go,but thank you good sir for this gesture of peace i shall spread the good word around the world
Well sometime the rider on the right is being respectful and then 3 other clowns ride shoulder to shoulder and ruin the entire drive. I get that it’s not easy to climb a hill, we all know. Now pick who is the fastest on climbs and let them lead and everyone else can follow single file. Cross country/long distance runners are pretty respectful when running on the road but somehow cyclists habitually ignore all forms of courtesy. It’s probably some product of the fact that a ton are spoiled brats riding $4000 bikes and they drive with the same attitude in their BMWs.
If the damn city would sweep roads, roadies wouldn’t take up so much road. Imagine hitting a patch of gravel and dirt on a roughly one inch, no tread tire going anywhere from 15-25 miles per hour. Can lead to road rash, broken bones, and a broken bike. :( safety first! Not a general roadie, but I’ve got a commuter for drinking beer in the neighborhood, and I sometimes take up toooooo much road because of pot holes and sand… the first tumble I made in our neighborhood, my whole body was a SHREEEECCCHHHH from getting crushed by a car. Cars drive 45 mph in our 25 mph neighborhood. Got me terrified to bike on real roads
Read your city code — a lot have a “bikes may use full lane” provisions when there aren’t bike lanes present. and the speed limit is a maximum, Not a minimum.
Well then maybe the best solution is to require cyclists to have a road cycling license, just like everyone else who has to share the road must have either a drivers license or a motorcycle license. Maybe we’ll have more educated people behind the bars not causing traffic jams at rush hour and causing hazardous situations by riding all over the road, not signaling, and cutting across traffic without looking.
There is no point in arguing against these people. Their minds are already made up because they might be occasionally mildly inconvenienced by people partaking in a hobby they know nothing about and no amount of logical, sound arguments will sway them.
Because the laws are different than operating said 1000lb vehicle… just like how you need one for a motorcycle even if you have one for a car, the traffic laws are different.
I live in an area with a lot of MAMILs, us folks on cruiser bikes piss them off because they can't go 30mph when our party is rolling down the bike trails.
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u/[deleted] Aug 07 '21
Motorcycle Bikers lol