Its not bull at all, it's frustrating to hear them complain about motorist not following the law but have zero inclination to do so themselves. You obviously have no issue with these actions which leads me to believe you partake and therefore are part of the problem. You may be able to ticket " almost" every car but you could ticket every bike so statistically bikes are far worse than motorist. ( I know thats a weak statistic but you threw them out so I figured I would too) From the laws I'm seeing the cyclist are not entitled to a full lane and no they can't travel at whatever speed they choose. Ironically the only thing you got right was the one sentence that was bordering on indecipherable. People have no right to treat them poorly nor should they hate them.
maybe you aren't capable of understanding, but I will give it one more time at least call you out for butchering my points. I will say it again, I don't believe in cycling on heavily trafficked roads. Just because I'm telling you what other cyclists are thinking when they ride 2 abreast, foot and half left of right line, not on the shoulder, "California" stop, or pack going through 4-way together doesn't mean I condone it dip ****. Most that are anti-cyclist on this thread would get 10x more respect from me if before they hammered the cyclists would also hammer the motorists for buzzing, throwing things, honking to startle, and cutting off to brake check and turn. For all the evils cyclists have done with minor violations there have been major violations and deaths caused by motorists.
Sure sounded like you were doing a back handed justification on why it's ok and why you feel its safer and just. BTW hey dip**** look at my post right before yours where I say "People have no right to treat them poorly nor should they hate them."
what laws are being broken by the cyclists? 90% of the conversation against cyclists has nothing to do with the laws, it is that cyclists shouldn't be slowing down cars on the roads! the fact is that is not breaking the law! cyclists irritate all impatient motorists, which is everyone including me! cyclists have the legal right to be on the road though, can't go the same speed as cars, and cars have to make a safe pass which means waiting for section of road where they can safely move over into oncoming traffic. cyclists are mainly in the right BECAUSE cars are making arguments that have no legal grounds!
This thread was started about oncoming cyclists who were preventing safe passes in legal passing zones. Pulling out into traffic on a bike to block an oncoming car is indeed stupid and suicidal (hence the thread title), and deserves contempt.
wrong, driver pulled out into oncoming traffic where the cyclist coming the other direction had the right of way (dumb yes, but not at fault). the OP was the at fault party for making an unsafe pass into oncoming traffic.
please tell me the logic of passing a car in a lane with any oncoming traffic, even cyclists. so passing a car you have to get completely in the other lane, not a little half pass like if just going around a cyclist. so if you have to get completely in the other lane is it even safe if the cyclists were to the right? maybe this cyclist was doing a precautionary maneuver to keep the car from passing. maybe they had been getting buzzed before. a car and a bicycle do not fit side by side in a single lane whichever way each is going.
OK, if there was a bike lane then my argument isn't valid. was cyclist making a pass themselves? a cyclist doesn't make an aggressive move like that just to be ******, they do it for the safety of themselves or the other cyclists. something was up and not sure we'll ever know.
That utopia does not exist. Bottom line is when roads get crowded people go nuts whether on a bike or in car. No one wants to be impeded but that is what happens. Bike hate and car hate increase as traffic density increases. When traffic increases cyclists exert their rights to slow traffic even more. Cars exert their right to buzz past bikes at the 50mph legal limit at now 3ft plus a wisker. It is hate on hate no one is happy.
In cali the argument will be the passer gave the cyclist 3ft. . Maybe not ethical but certainly just as legal as 2 cyclists taking the lane instead of riding single file. Cyclists just are not that smart. They tend to be younger fit people trying to be even more fit. They don't realize they share the road with my patient base of old relics who still legally drive with things like macular degeneration and cataracts which ckoud thier vision. A cyclist in the lane looks like a stick that blends in real well with roadside trees. Don't worry the old guy will figure it out when he hears the cyclist thump on his hood.
I mostly agree with that. The fact that I anticipated bad behavior is why the several cyclists who did that aren't dead. But given there was literally a several miles long string of bikes, all in their bike lane on the other side of the road, am I really expected not to ever pass in a legal passing zone just because a few guys might decide to pop out and commandeer the opposing lane? And your other suggestion, that I should have taken another road (where no doubt I would still have encountered some cyclists) doesn't seem very practical, or fair. You are expecting me to give up scenic highway 1, just because I might encounter a cyclist behaving as these few did? For what it's worth, I was trying to get home to the SF Bay Area. Yes, I could have taken back roads and added a few hours to my trip. Or taken the gridlocked freeways and also added some hours. Tell me, would you really have done that? Just because a few cyclists might come at you head on after you started to pass in a passing zone when the dotted lines are on your side of the road? So sorry this topic brought out such strong feelings on both sides. I am also a cyclist, and I think it unfair to over-generalize. But really, it seems at least some of you think I ought not have passed at all (for the 20 miles or so of bikes in the opposite direction). For those of that opinion, let me add that this was not a stretch of highway where there was only one lane on the other side. There was an amply wide designated bike lane on the opposite side of the road, wide enough for 2 or even 3 bikes to ride abreast and a car/truck sized traffic lane. In other words, even with me in opposite lane to pass, the cyclists had more than 3 ft clearance. Way more. The cyclists who popped out on me easily were safe if they stayed in the bike lane, but instead they popped into the middle of the car lane taking me head-on. After I began my pass. I suppose you would say I was still in the wrong and should have just never passed, right? But if you were out in your Ferrari, would you really have done that? It truly seemed to me these guys were trying to force me to swerve back in a dangerous game of chicken. It's not like a Ferrari makes no noise when they pull out to pass. They knew I was coming and did this on purpose.
Thank you for not killing any fellow human beings no matter how badly they might have deserved it. Some thoughts: Let me reiterate. "Sunday on PCH. When isn't it frustrating????" With an organized bike rally/race. Omg, avoid at all costs! Down here in SoCal, they put up signs a week+ in advance of any marathons, cycling events, triathlons, etc. In fact, most of the time the road is closed for the event. I'm sorry that every available stretch of pavement in NorCal is a parking lot. Not the cyclists' fault. I sincerely doubt they were daring you into a game of chicken. A truly suicidal person isn't out for a bike ride. Since you are also a cyclist, you ought to understand that perhaps that person was just lost in their own head after 40? 80? 100? miles in the saddle and thinking about how bad their taint hurt. Maybe they were dehydrated and not thinking clearly. Maybe they heard you, maybe they didn't. Was it windy along the coast? Maybe the doppler effect of your roaring engine hadn't hit them yet to 'get the hint' and make way for the guy in a hurry. Why aren't you pissed at the lackadaisical drivers going below the speed limit? Were they, in fact, going below the limit?? I've crawled at 30-35 mph behind a caravan of slow moving vehicles on PCH before - rarely yielding in the turn off spots. So I know what it's like. It's enough to make you scream...at them...not the cyclist who did nothing wrong but unintentionally give you a "check your underwear" moment.
It needn't be as bothersome as it's being purported to be. All the analysing and frustration over such a trivial event. I'd have been happy to realize it could have been worse...that it wasn't a flood and washed out bridges, or fires, or........ Treat circumstances like this as a personal challenge. Treat every minute on public roads as a challenge to be the better person and to do the right thing, the better thing...to take the higher road. Act responsibly regardless of what you encounter or what others do. Then you can go about your way feeling better about yourself and how you handled a situation. You may actually feel like you were a professional driver at that point.
I still don't think the majority is understanding the hate of the cyclists. Most motorists hate cyclists because they don't think they should be there, as I said cyclists can follow the laws 100% and still piss off 100% of the motorists because riding pace even to the far right single file still impedes traffic. I haven't heard a single cyclist ever say they want to ban cars from roads! Cyclists just want motorists to know they have the legal right to be there and don't want to be buzzed, yelled at, honked at, run off the road, or cut off for doing nothing illegal. Most of motorists don't know how to stay to the right, do a 4-way stop, merge, enter a round-a-bout, red turn on red, or use a blinker so not sure why any cyclist thinks they will ever figure out how to share the road with cyclists. Every single day I drive cars on the road it is proven to me the human race is mostly stupid.
Whether the law is on their side or not, cyclists are taking their lives in their own hands if they don't yield to motor traffic... 5 killed, 4 injured after bicyclists hit by pick-up driver | WWMT
dude, that was a drunk or incapacitated driver! the truck drove over someones foot that was walking! either the walker or another motorist knew something was wrong and tried to warn everyone before the cyclists were hit. how do you yield to this, the drunk motorist was in the right? man that's all kind of stupid. the stupid part on the cyclists is exposing themselves to idiots in 5k pound cars no matter what the law says.
Most traffic laws are universal. Across the U.S. and Canada, yes we all have posted speed limits, they are subject to road conditions though, including traffic. Sure bikes have a responsibility to themselves to ride safe. Fact is by law they don't have to yield, motor vehicles do. In certain conditions, rain, snow, fog and traffic (pedestrians, vehicle, cyclists), even if you are doing the speed limit. Police can still give you a ticket if the conditions warrant caution. The main road to town for me is 70km/h posted. I have two schools a private and public elementary that become 30km/h zones. After 3pm lots of pedestrian and kids on bikes. Even out of the school zone I stay within a safe quick stop speed when I see groups of bikes or kids walking. A few weeks ago, a family of about five people was walking. One kid about 8 years old suddenly darted across the street without looking. If I didn't slow down before approaching the group. I would have hit the kid. I'll admit I'm a speeder. Normal for me on this road even in spots it drops to 50km/h, I'm at 80km/h to 100km/h. But when I see joggers, walkers, cyclists and even people on horses, I slow down. Fact is in pretty much every jurisdiction even at the speed limit because you didn't use caution passing these, they can get you for manslaughter. I don't want to kill someone or get into an accident. So although I speed, its only when safe to do so. On passing most jurisdictions the rule is the lane you are passing in must be unobstructed and the conditions safe to do so. Sorry follow these rules or don't pass, doesn't matter cyclist, pedestrian, etc. Its 100% your fault for driving dumb if you hit someone passing against these rules.
No WAY the motorist was "in the right." I just can't conceive of how 5 bikers could be killed & more injured be all hit without having the chance to swerve off the side of the road & ditch, unless either he was going REALLY fast, or they weren't riding near the edge of the road.
My entire post and every example I gave had to do with bicyclist breaking laws. Also I specified IN THIS AREA. I have no problem waiting until its safe to pass but after I do and I get caught by a light they shouldn't run up to the front to make me wait to pass again. Bicyclist in this area are not mainly right BECAUSE I AM making arguments that have legal ground.
Went out for a ride with the top down. A truly beautiful day. Stayed off the highway and on paved back roads as is normal for me. Not too many cyclists out today. It's a weekday and the touristas are not here yet. Glad to report most cyclists did well but there were some exceptions. Please note these are very winding mountain roads...it's difficult to see more than one turn ahead after you get to the apex. Going downhill l thought l saw something through the trees...so l slowed down. After l got past the trees there was a gal who was making a u-turn in my lane. I stopped. One foot was not in the stirrup and she was having trouble. So l just waited until she got going again, saw that it was safe to pass and did. She was wearing a white top. That helped. I don't believe she did this on purpose. She just didn't pick a good spot to make a u-turn. But maybe she was having bike trouble and could go no further. Perhaps she could have walked to bike to a safer place to turn around. I was glad nothing serious happened. A little farther down the road it looked like a bike ahead and it looked like the bike was coming at me in MY LANE. He saw me and moved back over to his proper lane. After l passed by l looked in the mirror and he had moved back into the wrong lane. The road is equally good in each lane. The road is a dead end so he has to travel in the other lane coming back. So he's going to get the view either way. The road was recently paved and is in excellent shape...l just don't get it. Maybe he's English and misses home. Almost to the bottom. There is a young man about college age in front of me riding with no hands on the handlebars...and he is weaving to the center line but l never saw him cross it. For the first time today l gave a brief toot on the horn because l could not tell if he knew l was behind him. So he moved over a little and l passed safely. He never did put his hands on the handlebars. Thankfully no one was hurt. These are some good examples just today about how some cyclists just don't use their heads. Out of 9 bikers, 3 were foolish. As the summer wears on bike and auto traffic will increase dramatically...much the pity.
Agreed! And that is why you and I make a great living and drive ferraris. Don't be stupid and get hit, on your bike, by someone stupid.
