Speaking as a cyclist (though off the road for a few years after a near fatal hit from a car)....what a stupid idea! Especially for traffic lights. I mean really, cyclists deserve way more respect and clearance and patience, but in return we ought to be able to stop at a damned red light. If you're either too clumsy to do it right, or in too much of a racing flush to waste the time, you should be doing something else. i rode for many years with old fashioned toe clips and cleats and straps, and I still managed the (relatively minor) skill of unclipping when I came to a stop light, and clipping back in as I left! Whatever your pedals, toe clips, "clipless" or flat, if you can stop for anything you can stop without falling off you can do it at a red light. "Share the road" is a mutual agreement.
I realize there's probably a case to be made for blowing a stop sign in a remote area where nobody is around anyway, and I wouldn't mind some guideline for enforcement that advised cops not to target such activities, but the annoyance of doing it is far less than the danger of changing the law, I think.
Cyclists, are able to stop. They are no longer required to. It's freedom, liberty, and such things. As for deserving more respect, respect is earned. Not given. Cyclists are crunchy, and they either realize they are one hit away from death, or, they are too stupid to be on the road with cars. That's why we made side walks, velodromes, biking paths and trails. I have 27,500 miles on my 10 speed before my hips, knees, and ankles couldn't take it anymore, and I started at age 7, ended at about 37. Started blogging. Still have the bike, Raleigh, titanium seat post because the aluminum one broke, boke the chain, the crank, replaced the gear set, brakes, rims, tires... even the head set and handle bars. Only thing left of the original is the frame. I didn't use clips, just regular jogging shoes, and I some kind of cage thingy that kept my shoes on the pedals. There is no mutual agreement, drivers are unaware cyclists exist, they didn't sign it, we didn't sign it, and it wasn't in drivers ed. There is stay the hell away from cars, they will kill you, and then if we don't, we die. We disagree a lot on sharing the roads, because I am certain we have had mighty different experiences over vastly different riding areas, and maybe even a decade different amount of riding. I got about 2 decades, biked on and off base, in Honolulu, San Diego, and 1 decade of biking in a small town in the middle of nowhere Michigan where it was safe, there were no cars. I used to bike 100 miles a week from Pearl Harbor to downtown Honolulu and Waikiki, partly on bike path, then city streets. San Diego had no bike paths back then, and I biked around the areas around the bases a lot, and across the city a couple times when dropping off my Super Bee for upgrades. Anyway, stand by for a lot of my other moronic opinions on many things... as I firmly stand on cautioning cyclists, motorcyclists, and pedestrians to stay the hell away from where cars move. Streets, roads, and parking lots. Mass and gas will kick your ass, if its law of gross tonnage or inertia, the bigger the vehicle, the more might makes the more right. The bigger the vehicle, the more you will lose when it ignores your existence and never looks back after rolling over a biker. I'm sympathetic your collision that took away your joy of cycling, Umm, not sure if I said that right, I'm sorry to hear you stopped riding because of some asshole driver. Again, no one took away the cyclists ability to stop at lights or signs, they took away the requirement, because just like jaywalking, the archaic circumstances that initiated those laws, no longer apply. There are no more horse wagons and carriages, no stage coaches on the roads either. Moving on... I hope you get back to riding, on bike trails, or paved paths. It's wonderful. It would be damn excellent if someone made those elevated bike paths I posted about years ago, the one from Pasadena that was a spec job to LA to see if cyclists would use it. https://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2013/07/forgotten-history-of-what-might-have.html The same way they bike in Copenhagen https://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2016/01/they-figured-it-out-and-it-would-get-so.html
The Coppers never have ticketed them anyway. I came 1' from Killing two of those idiots last summer when they ignored a stop sign and were speeding on a bike path.. They then gave me dirty looks. I do have Dash cameras!
A dash cam is a must, I have one too, you might have seen my posts about my commuter getting clipped, and the dash cam making the difference and the insurance company only covering it's client because he was busted on my dash cam video
Well... This is also a way to get more organs for transplantation. 8-(
ReplyDeleteSpeaking as a cyclist (though off the road for a few years after a near fatal hit from a car)....what a stupid idea! Especially for traffic lights. I mean really, cyclists deserve way more respect and clearance and patience, but in return we ought to be able to stop at a damned red light. If you're either too clumsy to do it right, or in too much of a racing flush to waste the time, you should be doing something else. i rode for many years with old fashioned toe clips and cleats and straps, and I still managed the (relatively minor) skill of unclipping when I came to a stop light, and clipping back in as I left! Whatever your pedals, toe clips, "clipless" or flat, if you can stop for anything you can stop without falling off you can do it at a red light. "Share the road" is a mutual agreement.
ReplyDeleteI realize there's probably a case to be made for blowing a stop sign in a remote area where nobody is around anyway, and I wouldn't mind some guideline for enforcement that advised cops not to target such activities, but the annoyance of doing it is far less than the danger of changing the law, I think.
Cyclists, are able to stop. They are no longer required to. It's freedom, liberty, and such things.
DeleteAs for deserving more respect, respect is earned. Not given. Cyclists are crunchy, and they either realize they are one hit away from death, or, they are too stupid to be on the road with cars. That's why we made side walks, velodromes, biking paths and trails.
I have 27,500 miles on my 10 speed before my hips, knees, and ankles couldn't take it anymore, and I started at age 7, ended at about 37. Started blogging. Still have the bike, Raleigh, titanium seat post because the aluminum one broke, boke the chain, the crank, replaced the gear set, brakes, rims, tires... even the head set and handle bars. Only thing left of the original is the frame.
I didn't use clips, just regular jogging shoes, and I some kind of cage thingy that kept my shoes on the pedals.
There is no mutual agreement, drivers are unaware cyclists exist, they didn't sign it, we didn't sign it, and it wasn't in drivers ed.
There is stay the hell away from cars, they will kill you, and then if we don't, we die.
We disagree a lot on sharing the roads, because I am certain we have had mighty different experiences over vastly different riding areas, and maybe even a decade different amount of riding. I got about 2 decades, biked on and off base, in Honolulu, San Diego, and 1 decade of biking in a small town in the middle of nowhere Michigan where it was safe, there were no cars.
I used to bike 100 miles a week from Pearl Harbor to downtown Honolulu and Waikiki, partly on bike path, then city streets. San Diego had no bike paths back then, and I biked around the areas around the bases a lot, and across the city a couple times when dropping off my Super Bee for upgrades.
Anyway, stand by for a lot of my other moronic opinions on many things... as I firmly stand on cautioning cyclists, motorcyclists, and pedestrians to stay the hell away from where cars move. Streets, roads, and parking lots. Mass and gas will kick your ass, if its law of gross tonnage or inertia, the bigger the vehicle, the more might makes the more right. The bigger the vehicle, the more you will lose when it ignores your existence and never looks back after rolling over a biker.
I'm sympathetic your collision that took away your joy of cycling, Umm, not sure if I said that right, I'm sorry to hear you stopped riding because of some asshole driver.
Again, no one took away the cyclists ability to stop at lights or signs, they took away the requirement, because just like jaywalking, the archaic circumstances that initiated those laws, no longer apply. There are no more horse wagons and carriages, no stage coaches on the roads either.
Moving on... I hope you get back to riding, on bike trails, or paved paths. It's wonderful.
It would be damn excellent if someone made those elevated bike paths I posted about years ago, the one from Pasadena that was a spec job to LA to see if cyclists would use it. https://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2013/07/forgotten-history-of-what-might-have.html
The same way they bike in Copenhagen https://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2016/01/they-figured-it-out-and-it-would-get-so.html
The Coppers never have ticketed them anyway. I came 1' from Killing two of those idiots last summer when they ignored a stop sign and were speeding on a bike path.. They then gave me dirty looks. I do have Dash cameras!
ReplyDeleteA dash cam is a must, I have one too, you might have seen my posts about my commuter getting clipped, and the dash cam making the difference and the insurance company only covering it's client because he was busted on my dash cam video
Delete