Reply to City council voted today to allow bicyclists to ignore stop signs

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]So bicyclists can blow through stop signs but they aren't required to wear helmets? It seems like the city's policy is really just "bicyclists don't have to follow any rules." [/quote]

They have to follow the rules- the rules are that they yield at stop signs and don’t have to wear helmets. You don’t seem to LIKE the rules but that doesn’t mean they aren’t following them.

When I drive I prefer cyclists doing the Idaho Stop- I generally prefer that they clear the intersection as fast as possible.  If I am coming up to an intersection a second or two after a cyclist it is to my benefit that they go right through- I will stop and be able to proceed knowing I won’t hit them. There is more room for error in an intersection with a bike- if two cars go at the same time they can stop more easily.[b] A cyclist making a sudden stop is more likely to wipe out or fall.[/b]

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If it's that hard to stop, maybe the cyclist is just going too fast. [/quote]

It doesn't matter how fast you're going, if you make a sudden stop on something balanced on just two wheels, you're likelier to wipe out or fall. Has to do with balance, not with speed.

But I disagree with the PP whose post you're responding to, though they're defending cyclists and you're not -- it's not actually true that cars can stop more easily or more safely. They tend to be going significantly faster than bikes, they weigh thousands of pounds, and they need a lot more space to stop safely than bikes do. And even if a bike crashes or wipes out when trying to stop, odds are, the only person injured in the process will be the cyclist. (Especially if they just fall over.) That is not the case if a car fails to stop in time.[/quote]

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