Reply to Are bikes allowed to go through red lights on major roads?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Are bikes allowed to ignore every single traffic law? [/quote]

Legally, no.
But the law is rarely applied, and sometimes it's safer for cyclists to cross an intersection when cars have stopped. 
Perhaps you're not mature enough to understand this, or the fact that there are a ton of laws in every state that for various reasons are not enforced.
[/quote]

It's not that it's safer for cyclists to go through stop signs and traffic lights -- that's obviously crazy. It's that it would suck if they had to stop and start at every single intersection. That would be really tiring and be so slow. [/quote]

The worst is when it's rush hour, and you have a slow biker blocking traffic, but due to oncoming traffic it takes you forever to pass them.  You finally get past, then hit a red light, and the biker blows by you again as they completely disregard the light, and then you are stuck driving 10 mph yet again as you struggle to get around them once again in traffic.[/quote]
Yes--this is absolutely the worst. Happens all the time- not just during rush hour. Some cyclists behave as if the rules don't apply to them.[/quote]

If you're in traffic, how much of an advantage are you really thinking you will gain by swerving around a biker between traffic lights?[/quote]

By definition, when you're in traffic, you're being held up [u]by other people in cars[/u]. "The traffic was terrible" means lots of cars in your way, slowing you down. But somehow it's that person on a bike who's the real problem...[/quote]

Was I only one who thought their anecdote actually demonstrated that biking is often just as good if not superior to driving in a relatively small, congested area?  By their own admission the cyclist was making just as much, if not more, progress than they were.[/quote]

Yeah, I think that's the true reason for the annoyance. How dare this person on a bike be going as fast or faster than me in my car?! “Why don't you buy a car, loser!”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KwAJGxkdfxk[/quote]

I'm almost always a bike rider, but I had to drive and pick up a friend the other day and was getting so annoyed by how slow everything was. Thankful that this city is no longer building car - first infrastructure![/quote]

This is the real problem here, the expectation of speed vs the reality. Modern cars can easily hit 100+ MPH on the highway, and many people spend extra for vehicles that are even faster. But because of traffic, they can get passed by people on bikes, and sometimes scooters. Its a violation of expectations.

You also can't really build your way out of congestion. Cars are big and getting bigger, don't move many people (~1.5 people per vehicle) and require massive amounts of infrastructure space (roads and parking).

Its really insane when you think about it.[/quote]

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