I don’t have a problem with the 3 feet rule. What I have a problem with are bikers who are ignorant to the fact that they are held to the same rules of the road as auto drivers. That means no blowing through stop signs without stopping, not driving against the flow of traffic, etc.
I rode a bicycle across this country of ours and can report that only kindness, consideration, and plenty of passing space were extended to me by motorists 99.44% of the time. There was even an apology for a long load nearly squeezing me off the road on a particular downhill turn.
The problems usually appear on a local or urban basis. On one lunchtime ride with a coworker, we were physically assaulted on a freeway frontage road just outside of town when an overtaking car sped by at 40 to 50 mph and dangerously close. The passenger’s startling catcall was accompanied by a projectile – one of those monster cups filled with ice, but drained of the cola – which hit my riding partner in the back at the speed of the car from which it was flung.
I support any and all laws that criminalize such actions. The warped attitudes leading up to such heinous behavior are, sadly, outside legislation’s power to control.
To Rliyen: Because bicycles are powered by an engine of way less than one horsepower, stopping and starting consumes an inordinate percentage of the available energy. (Compare that to a couple hundred horsepower drawn from gallons of fossil fuel.) While I do not advocate “blowing through stop signs,” I very much support the idea of legislating “stop sign as yield sign” for cyclists, which means stop with foot down if traffic requires.
It’s hard to say whether the original article is serious or not.
At any rate, I don’t think it’s an overcriminalization. A sudden loud shout at a bad enough moment can easily result in a loss of balance and a fall (which can be fatal).
So, yes, shouting (let alone throwing anything) at bicycle riders at the very least deserves a fine (and, possibly, loss of a driver license).
“stopping and starting consumes an inordinate percentage of the available energy….I very much support the idea of legislating “stop sign as yield sign” for cyclists, which means stop with foot down if traffic requires.”
Hard to get rolling – yeah, that’s tough. Get an engine or shut up.
We all should have noted via right-turn-on-red laws how well any slacking of ‘STOP means stop’ works on the road.
I am a motorcyclist. While 4-wheel vehicle owners simply appear not to care about my well-being, it is bicyclists who seem completely unaware that asinine interaction with motorcycles (such as rolling through stop signs) can result in my death or injury or less importantly their own.
As am I. I also am a driver of a 4 wheeled vehicle and a cyclist.
Your experience is different than mine. I have never been run over or close to being hit by a cyclist.
I have, on the other hand, been hit twice by a car while I was riding legally. In both cases, the driver’s excuse was “bikes shouldn’t be on the road.” I have had things thrown at me, and had a car attempt to push me through a stop light while I was stopped.
Frankly, I think this may be a regional thing. How one is treated on a bike or how riders of bicycles treat others may depend more on where you live and the attitudes of everyone on the road in that area.
Come within three feet of me and I shall taunt you once again, you cycling pig-dog.
As for “rolling” stops, cyclists have chosen their energy source, so they have to live with it. In my neighborhood, it seems more like “not even slowing down” stops are the most frequent. There is a 4-way stop at the end of my block. I have never seen a cyclist stop in either direction there unless there was a motor vehicle actually in motion through the intersection. And yes, that includes situations where there is a motor vehicle at the intersection that has already stopped and is preparing to move.
That being said, I give much more than three feet to a cyclist when I pass one (an entire lane seems appropriate to me. Permitting a pass that puts two vehicles in the same lane is unsafe).
roadkilled: Stop means stop. The bicyclist who ignore this are forgetting the what we at sea called the law of maximum tonnage. You might have the law on your side but you’ll still be dead. And of course sympathy for the driver who has to live with your death because of your stupidity. It might take a lot of energy to stop and start a bike but as they say, choose life.
My annoyance with bicyclists came a while ago when I lived in Seattle. A place where they had to put cops on mopeds on the bike/walk path back in the early nineties to stop the terrorizing of children by the fools on their thousand dollar racers. When walking along the path, the bikers usually few past without any clearance. A state easily solved by carrying a walking stick with the threat of creating a thousand dollar pile of junk. And of course, kicking gravel on the path as well since the gravel had no impact on the kids’ bikes but was of concern to the inconsiderate on their sleek racers.
Of course, you shouldn’t taunt the bicyclists but if they can’t follow the rules, no reason to save them from their chosen fate.
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I don’t have a problem with the 3 feet rule. What I have a problem with are bikers who are ignorant to the fact that they are held to the same rules of the road as auto drivers. That means no blowing through stop signs without stopping, not driving against the flow of traffic, etc.
Isn’t this law a hate crime against the cyclist-taunting community?
I rode a bicycle across this country of ours and can report that only kindness, consideration, and plenty of passing space were extended to me by motorists 99.44% of the time. There was even an apology for a long load nearly squeezing me off the road on a particular downhill turn.
The problems usually appear on a local or urban basis. On one lunchtime ride with a coworker, we were physically assaulted on a freeway frontage road just outside of town when an overtaking car sped by at 40 to 50 mph and dangerously close. The passenger’s startling catcall was accompanied by a projectile – one of those monster cups filled with ice, but drained of the cola – which hit my riding partner in the back at the speed of the car from which it was flung.
I support any and all laws that criminalize such actions. The warped attitudes leading up to such heinous behavior are, sadly, outside legislation’s power to control.
To Rliyen: Because bicycles are powered by an engine of way less than one horsepower, stopping and starting consumes an inordinate percentage of the available energy. (Compare that to a couple hundred horsepower drawn from gallons of fossil fuel.) While I do not advocate “blowing through stop signs,” I very much support the idea of legislating “stop sign as yield sign” for cyclists, which means stop with foot down if traffic requires.
So can I still taunt other cyclists while riding my own bike? Otherwise the college cycling team would not have been much fun.
It’s hard to say whether the original article is serious or not.
At any rate, I don’t think it’s an overcriminalization. A sudden loud shout at a bad enough moment can easily result in a loss of balance and a fall (which can be fatal).
So, yes, shouting (let alone throwing anything) at bicycle riders at the very least deserves a fine (and, possibly, loss of a driver license).
“stopping and starting consumes an inordinate percentage of the available energy….I very much support the idea of legislating “stop sign as yield sign” for cyclists, which means stop with foot down if traffic requires.”
Hard to get rolling – yeah, that’s tough. Get an engine or shut up.
We all should have noted via right-turn-on-red laws how well any slacking of ‘STOP means stop’ works on the road.
I am a motorcyclist. While 4-wheel vehicle owners simply appear not to care about my well-being, it is bicyclists who seem completely unaware that asinine interaction with motorcycles (such as rolling through stop signs) can result in my death or injury or less importantly their own.
I am a motorcyclist.
As am I. I also am a driver of a 4 wheeled vehicle and a cyclist.
Your experience is different than mine. I have never been run over or close to being hit by a cyclist.
I have, on the other hand, been hit twice by a car while I was riding legally. In both cases, the driver’s excuse was “bikes shouldn’t be on the road.” I have had things thrown at me, and had a car attempt to push me through a stop light while I was stopped.
Frankly, I think this may be a regional thing. How one is treated on a bike or how riders of bicycles treat others may depend more on where you live and the attitudes of everyone on the road in that area.
Come within three feet of me and I shall taunt you once again, you cycling pig-dog.
As for “rolling” stops, cyclists have chosen their energy source, so they have to live with it. In my neighborhood, it seems more like “not even slowing down” stops are the most frequent. There is a 4-way stop at the end of my block. I have never seen a cyclist stop in either direction there unless there was a motor vehicle actually in motion through the intersection. And yes, that includes situations where there is a motor vehicle at the intersection that has already stopped and is preparing to move.
That being said, I give much more than three feet to a cyclist when I pass one (an entire lane seems appropriate to me. Permitting a pass that puts two vehicles in the same lane is unsafe).
roadkilled: Stop means stop. The bicyclist who ignore this are forgetting the what we at sea called the law of maximum tonnage. You might have the law on your side but you’ll still be dead. And of course sympathy for the driver who has to live with your death because of your stupidity. It might take a lot of energy to stop and start a bike but as they say, choose life.
My annoyance with bicyclists came a while ago when I lived in Seattle. A place where they had to put cops on mopeds on the bike/walk path back in the early nineties to stop the terrorizing of children by the fools on their thousand dollar racers. When walking along the path, the bikers usually few past without any clearance. A state easily solved by carrying a walking stick with the threat of creating a thousand dollar pile of junk. And of course, kicking gravel on the path as well since the gravel had no impact on the kids’ bikes but was of concern to the inconsiderate on their sleek racers.
Of course, you shouldn’t taunt the bicyclists but if they can’t follow the rules, no reason to save them from their chosen fate.