Bicyclist pulled over for running a red light

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Okay grammar police, by now I think the OP has caught the grammatical error; no need to flog a dead horse. But in response to the last PP, the point is motorists DO get ticketed when breaking the law; which is okay as no one should be breaking the law. I believe the point the OP and several PPs are making is that cyclists DON'T often get ticketed for breaking the law and it was nice to see the police stopping a cyclist who could have endangered himself and others by running a red light. And by others, before I hear the immediate defense that a cyclist cannot "hurt" a driver; a driver could swerve to avoid the cyclist and cause injuries to another.
I agree with the PP who stated that I want to like cyclists. I admire the fact that what they do is environmentally friendly. What I don't like is the number of a**holes I come across who are cyclists. It is an odd phenomenon. I don't see the same thing with runners, but cyclists seem to have a huge chip on their shoulder and are very aggressive. I too ride, but I feel that I need to be safe not only for myself, but for others as well. I ride on bike paths. If I wanted to "race" I would find a location outside the city to ride in the road. I used to take my bike out to Harpers Ferry and ride, but that was before kids. I haven't cycled like that in a while.

And of course, this is absolute bullshit. Go stand out on the GW Parkway and calculate what percentage of drivers are speeding (The answer is "all of them"). Now calculate what percentage of those drivers are ticketed. (The answer is zero).

[Anonymous]

Oh, and as far as the question of "Who is the more entitled asshole": When our kids had Bike to School day at the beginning of the school year, we marshalled at the local park. When it came time for everyone to cross the street, a police officer was there to actually somehow get drivers to stop at the fucking crosswalk (which, y'know, is something they can never seem to manage--and which they're never ticked for). So the officer stopped traffic. The elementary school children started across...and withing 40 seconds, the queued drivers started honking. Honking at elementary school kids trying to cross the street.

Pretty much anytime I ride on the streets of DC, I end up with some suburban commuter getting behind me and honking because I'm "in her lane".

So, yes, suburban drivers can go fuck themselves with their accusations of "entitlement and arrogance". It's laughable. You have no standing whatsoever.

[Anonymous]

I didn't say motorists are always CAUGHT breaking the law; however, when caught, they are often given a ticket. Unless you are cute and blonde - then you get a warning. What I don't see is cyclists being ticketed or stopped when they break the law of the road. Alsmost every morning on my way to work I see some motorist pulled over to the side of the road getting a ticket for whatever reason. I have NEVER seen a cyclist get a ticket. That is the point that was being made. I didn't realize I had to be so specific. Do you understand now?

[Anonymous]

It's bikers like 10:27 that piss me off. I'm sorry if it incoveniences you to stop at a stop sign, but you are breaking the law when you don't. Let's not sugar coat it.

Living in Old Town, Alexandria, I get that most bikers are inconvenienced by all the stop signs they have to go through. But I can't tell you how many times I've had to SLAM on my breaks for a biker FLYING through a stop sign. This is after having stopped, looked both ways and then proceeding through the intersection. Bikers going 20+ mph just fly through, and even get pissed off that I was even near them.

Totally ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

I didn't say motorists are always CAUGHT breaking the law; however, when caught, they are often given a ticket.

This is just fatuous.

Cyclists aren't always CAUGHT breaking the law; however, when they are caught, they are often given a ticket.

I've never seen a driver ticketed for ignoring a pedestrian right-of-way in a crosswalk. I've never seen a driver ticketed for not coming to a full stop at a stop sign. Or coming to a full stop before turning right on red.

What do all these have in common? They're laws that protect non-drivers. And they're never enforced. The idea that drivers are ticketed consistently is laughable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oh, and as far as the question of "Who is the more entitled asshole": When our kids had Bike to School day at the beginning of the school year, we marshalled at the local park. When it came time for everyone to cross the street, a police officer was there to actually somehow get drivers to stop at the fucking crosswalk (which, y'know, is something they can never seem to manage--and which they're never ticked for). So the officer stopped traffic. The elementary school children started across...and withing 40 seconds, the queued drivers started honking. Honking at elementary school kids trying to cross the street.

Pretty much anytime I ride on the streets of DC, I end up with some suburban commuter getting behind me and honking because I'm "in her lane".

So, yes, suburban drivers can go fuck themselves with their accusations of "entitlement and arrogance". It's laughable. You have no standing whatsoever.

The people honking were probably your neighbors, not the suburbanites. But it is amazing how you just *know* exactly who these people were.

You absolutely are entitled if you think that the traffic laws don't apply to you (a biker).

[Anonymous]

To the bike guy who ran the 4 way stop sign yesterday in Bethesda

you got really lucky that you didn't get hit, not to mention the finger you gave the others at the intersection and almost caused an accident. keep it up and you will eventually not be as lucky.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's bikers like 10:27 that piss me off. I'm sorry if it incoveniences you to stop at a stop sign, but you are breaking the law when you don't. Let's not sugar coat it.

Living in Old Town, Alexandria, I get that most bikers are inconvenienced by all the stop signs they have to go through. But I can't tell you how many times I've had to SLAM on my breaks for a biker FLYING through a stop sign. This is after having stopped, looked both ways and then proceeding through the intersection. Bikers going 20+ mph just fly through, and even get pissed off that I was even near them.

Totally ridiculous.

How's this for a compromise? We get rid of all stop signs, traffic lights, etc... on surface roads and residential areas. Then we lower the speed limit to 20 mph. If you hit someone, you go to jail, regardless of what you're riding/driving.

All of this stuff is there for the convenience of drivers, to allow them to speed, and to keep everyone else the Hell out of their way. The idea that you erect 80 years of traffic laws designed with this purpose, then turn around and say, "Everyone needs to obey these laws" is just silly.

I don't really give a shit about "breaking laws" any more than I would as a pedestrian. I do care about the safety of others, then about my own safety, though. So that's the compass I use.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh, and as far as the question of "Who is the more entitled asshole": When our kids had Bike to School day at the beginning of the school year, we marshalled at the local park. When it came time for everyone to cross the street, a police officer was there to actually somehow get drivers to stop at the fucking crosswalk (which, y'know, is something they can never seem to manage--and which they're never ticked for). So the officer stopped traffic. The elementary school children started across...and withing 40 seconds, the queued drivers started honking. Honking at elementary school kids trying to cross the street.

Pretty much anytime I ride on the streets of DC, I end up with some suburban commuter getting behind me and honking because I'm "in her lane".

So, yes, suburban drivers can go fuck themselves with their accusations of "entitlement and arrogance". It's laughable. You have no standing whatsoever.

The people honking were probably your neighbors, not the suburbanites. But it is amazing how you just *know* exactly who these people were.

You absolutely are entitled if you think that the traffic laws don't apply to you (a biker).

Easy to tell who's a neighbor and who's a suburbanite when you live in the city. There are these things called "license plates"...

[Anonymous]

A friend's father got a speeding ticket while riding a bike. The speed limit was quite low, 25 or maybe even 15, and he was going much faster. He had the balls to complain about it in the local newspaper (this was many years ago in Georgia), but did not gather much support.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
You absolutely are entitled if you think that the traffic laws don't apply to you (a biker).

Fine, you can define it that way. In that case, every driver is entitled because they don't think traffic laws apply to them (e.g. speed limits). Same with pedestrians, all of whom will jaywalk if safe and convenient (and sometimes if not). Entitlement means nothing if defined so broadly.

Heck, there's a 3-foot passing law in MD and DC. I see about 10% of drivers comply with that. Obviously they're considerably more arrogant and entitled than cyclists.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To the bike guy who ran the 4 way stop sign yesterday in Bethesda

you got really lucky that you didn't get hit, not to mention the finger you gave the others at the intersection and almost caused an accident. keep it up and you will eventually not be as lucky.

Unlikely. Statistics show that it's incredibly rare for a cyclist to be hit by a car at a stop sign, so long as they're not riding in a contra-flow direction. It's ever so exciting for drivers to feel like they've "almost killed someone" every time they get in the car, but things don't work that way. When a cyclist is hit, it's almost always because a driver has done something wrong: whether it's a right-hook, or turning left across the cyclists path without giving clearance.

If cyclists were as careless as area drivers claimed, you'd see a lot more dead and injured cyclists. You don't, so they're not. I guess the alternative is that DC area drivers are *just* that skilled and attentive. Which is laughable on its face.

[Anonymous]

Food for thought: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article1695668.ece

[Anonymous]

Wow, this is the poster who said I "wanted" to like cyclists.

First of all, I was actually hit by a cyclist. I've never been hit by a car! But of course, that does not a pattern make.

That said, c'mon now. The cyclists who are saying they flagrantly do not have to follow any laws are just part of the problem. If you want to be integrated into traffic, don't create an unsafe environment. I am SUCH a careful driver. I go out of my way to accommodate cyclists, pedestrians, other drivers. I'm always the guy who will stop and let you out of a parking lot, let you get over, etc. So please don't act like I'm some kind of jerk who just wants to feel the "thrill" of almost hitting a cyclist.

I don't really worry that a cyclist is going to hurt me or my kids while we are in a car (though I suppose if I swerved to avoid hitting someone I might myself get hit). But, I'm worried about YOU. And yes, by extension, me. If you skirt out in front of my car out of nowhere, and I don't see you until it is too late to stop, and I hit and injure you or kill you, my life is in shambles. How would someone recover from that?

I do my part, by driving carefully, focusing on the road (never my cell phone, etc) and genuinely attempting to share the road. The problem is not respectful cyclists, who are probably the majority of cyclists in this area.

But based on these comments, it appears we have a sampling of the "other" cyclists, the ones who are weaving in and out of traffic, almost causing an accident, then darting out into the intersection with the middle finger blazing. I guess these people just hate cars and probably don't think much of us for polluting the environment, etc. But dang, man, what are you doing to help matters if you're going out of your way to be aggressive or antagonizing?

PP above, just because you would like to rewrite the law doesn't mean you can carry on like you've done so. And besides the law, there's the social contract to consider. Do you want your teenager to get ready to proceed with the right of way you have carefully taught her, after looking both ways, only to nail a cyclist who barreled out from the sidewalk against the light? Do you want her life to be over because a cyclist's mistake (especially if it was intentionally aggressive or flagrant) to ruin your child's life?

Man, I don't get this attitude. What can you possibly achieve with this? I'm a huge supporter of cyclists and this thread is really turning me off. I do hope this isn't representative of the attitudes of most cyclists.

PS. the drivers who were honking at kids? Total assholes. I get that. I get that many drivers are assholes. and there are more drivers than bikers, so that makes more assholes than ever. But man, don't go out of your way to inflame.

[Anonymous]

Bloody hell! What's with the holier than thou attitudes? I am appalled at the attitude of drivers here so would hardly expect cyclists to be paragons of road rule virtue. It seems the friendly, polite and considerate manner that locals use in face-to-face encounters is discarded the moment that hop behind the wheel. Almost nobody obeys speed limits, most deliberately speed up when you indicate to change lanes, few stop at crosswalks and don't mention the number of people chatting on cell phones while turning corners and parking! So it seems like cyclists just break different rules to drivers but at least they are mainly endangering their own lives.