Pedal vs. Metal

The bottom line is this, do the math. 4000lb car minus 40lb bike. Biker loses. When you ride bikes in the hood like I do you learn that being mugged by a gang or a car doesn't make any difference. I'm not about to get my ass run over because I think I have some sort of rights or right of way. I just want to arrive in one piece.

I didn't even bother reading all the other comments here, it's all the same, the other guy's fault. Cyclists blame motorists, and vice versa. BOTH SIDES -- GET OVER YOURSELVES!!! YOU DON'T RULE!!!

BOTH sides are REQUIRED to follow the law, and WHEN, NOT IF, they don't they have no cause to bitch. License plates on bikes? Why? You can't get any action by reporting your fellow drivers by their car plates! And cyclists -- why o why do you think the laws in place for riding on the road are just suggestions, and that your fitness/socializing/convenience takes precedence? WHO CARES if it's 'a pain' to stop at a sign or light? IT'S THE LAW!!! and no, it's not only illegal if you get caught!!!

I commute by bike, have for 8 years; I've been run off the road, buzzed, and honked, cussed at, targeted for trash and evian bottles; three broken-bone incdents, two on commutes, one my own fault (not due to disregard of the law, just circumstance). I've gotten into one fight along the road, and plenty of verbal exchanges. But I have a harder time blaming morotists when I see what cyclists do -- riding on the wrong side of the street, 3-4 abreast in the road, left turns without regard for traffic...you have responsibilities on the road,as well -- not just rights!!

So, everybody -- shut up and do right yourself, else you can't blame the other!

I live in Boulder county, Colorado. If you think you've got problems in Oregon try moving to Boulder! Here the bicyclists think they own the roads and flaunt the laws at every opportunity. Try driving up or down a mountain canyon when you come across a pack of gaudily-dressed idiots (who seem to think strength of numbers gives them god-like powers) clogging the roads and making driving dangerous for every car unfortunate enough to come near them. Look, when I'm driving I'm just going to work or the store, puttering along, not pretending I'm Lance Armstrong hopped-up on illegal drugs riding the tour de France!
There's a simple solution to this: make these bubblehead idiots get licensed and stick a great big license plate on the back and front of their bicycles just like us automobile drivers have to do. Then, at least, we could report their bad driving habits to the police!

I live in Boulder county, Colorado. If you think you've got problems in Oregon try moving to Boulder! Here the bicyclists think they own the roads and flaunt the laws at every opportunity. Try driving up or down a mountain canyon when you come across a pack of gaudily-dressed idiots (who seem to think strength of numbers gives them god-like powers) clogging the roads and making driving dangerous for every car unfortunate enough to come near them. Look, when I'm driving I'm just going to work or the store, puttering along, not pretending I'm Lance Armstrong hopped-up on illegal drugs riding the tour de France!
There's a simple solution to this: make these bubblehead isiots get licensed and stick a great big license plate on the back and front of their bicycles just like us automobile drivers have to do. Then, at least, we could report their bad driving habits to the police!

At hnesbit:

In Portland we usually have bike lanes, or cyclists try to go down slower traffic streets in residential areas where drivers are supposed to be going slow anyway as you've got kids playing in yards, and cars parked everyplace. I usually block them for, at most, 15 seconds before I am easily passed. On wider, busier roads, cars have absolutely no trouble passing me. They don't usually slow down much at all. You seem to be fixated on speed. Maybe cyclists are a blessing in disguise because they force you to slow down and smell the roses. This culture of speed is getting us nowhere in a hurry. That said, I think, despite these stories, Portland is a good example of how we can mix cars and bikes. I follow traffic laws on my bike for my own safety. Anyone who doesn't should be at fault if they get in an accident, just like if you blew a light in a car. If we want to be respected like cars, we need to follow the same laws. (Unless engaged in critical mass like demonstration).

The problem is two way, new cyclists need to respect and obey all traffic laws. Bicycles are vehicles. Auto drivers need to respect cyclists a lot more than they currently do. I'm a avid cyclist (predominantly mountain biking) and know that I'm supposed to follow traffic laws, but some of the new crop of cyclists that have recently started riding due to high gas prices have a hard time adjusting to bikes, or believe that they don't have to follow proper road rules because they don't view bikes as normal vehicles. On the other hand, car drivers need to respect bikes as equals on the road. I've had many drivers ignore me, or almost hit me, because they believe that I am in their way, and should move to let them go where they want. Point: new cyclists need to follow the traffic laws, and drivers need to pay attention and respect cyclists.

The problem is two way, new cyclists need to respect and obey all traffic laws. Bicycles are vehicles. Auto drivers need to respect cyclists a lot more than they currently do. I'm a avid cyclist (predominantly mountain biking) and know that I'm supposed to follow traffic laws, but some of the new crop of cyclists that have recently started riding due to high gas prices have a hard time adjusting to bikes, or believe that they don't have to follow proper road rules because they don't view bikes as normal vehicles. On the other hand, car drivers need to respect bikes as equals on the road. I've had many drivers ignore me, or almost hit me, because they believe that I am in their way, and should move to let them go where they want. Point: new cyclists need to follow the traffic laws, and drivers need to pay attention and respect cyclists.

Bikers here in Utah are a HUGE problem, so i can feel for other states. We have no bike lanes, and the winding mountain roads are often filled with Lance Armstrong wannabe's. But when they start driving exclusively in the roads instead of the bike lanes, running read lights, turning from the middle lane or going straight in the right lane, etc, it gets out of hand. I wish there were more specific and strict rules to protect both parties- its grey area's that get people in to these kinds of prediciments... or just not following the laws in general....

Both motorists and cyclists are responsible to obey all traffic laws. More significantly, both are responsible to a higher standard of mutual respect, consideration, and helpfulness to one another as cohabiters of their communities. We all lose when we damage one another in various ways, and we all win when we are mutually helpful. I am a road cycllist and a high mileage driver. It agers me when another cydlist I may be riding with unecessarily inconveniences a driver, and it also angers me when a driver unecessarily endangers a cyclist. The first is foolish; the latter stupid and short sighted. Education/awareness could go a long way toward easing this tension. I have seen a greater awareness of cycling safety in eastern Pennsylvania and Delaware since "Share the Road" highway signs have been posted on many highways in the last decade.

Nothing new here. There have always been and always will be bad actors on both sides, but in general we're looking at cyclists literally fighting for their lives while motorists get upset about perceived wrongs as they sit coddled in their climate-controlled luxo-yachts. That's a simple observation after 22 years of being one of those Lycra-clad, smooth-legged racer-types everybody hates by virtue of his existence.

Regarding ' wiseroption ' comment: "After all, it is a somewhat elitist sport & most of the lawmakers & law shakers are the very ones on the bicycles." I am a walker and find runners to be somewhat of an elitist group. They rarely stop in crosswalks, ignore red lights and 'don't walk signs' and besides they tend to be skinny, happy and are type A personalities.

Much of this discussion reveals the result of 50-60 years of virtually nonexistant education regarding the use of bicycles. Many adults will say "I know how to ride a bike, I don't need instruction." Actually, they may know how to stay BALANCED on a bike, but not really have clear understanding of the laws and methods of safe operation of bicycles, This goes for motorists as well - motorists who inevitably pass their "understanding" of bicycle operation on to their kids.
For example, many posters have complained about cyclists riding two abreast. Examples shown are from Oregon & Arizona statutes:
OREGON: Improper use of lanes; exceptions; penalty. (1) A person commits the offense of improper use of lanes by a bicycle if the person is operating a bicycle on a roadway at less than the normal speed of traffic using the roadway at that time and place under the existing conditions and the person does not ride as close as practicable to the right curb or edge of the roadway. (2) A person is not in violation of the offense under this section if the person is not operating a bicycle as close as practicable to the right curb or edge of the roadway under any of the following circumstances: (e) When operating a bicycle alongside not more than one other bicycle as long as the bicycles are both being operated within a single lane and in a manner that does not impede the normal and reasonable movement of traffic.
ARIZONA:28-815. A. A person riding a bicycle on a roadway at less than the normal speed of traffic at the time and place and under the conditions then existing shall ride as close as practicable to the right-hand curb or edge of the roadway, except under any of the following situations: If the lane in which the person is operating the bicycle is too narrow for. a bicycle and a vehicle to travel safely side by side within the lane.
B. Persons riding bicycles upon a roadway shall not ride more than two abreast except on paths or parts of roadway set aside for the exclusive use of bicycles.
So riding two abreast is permitted in many situations - watch traffic long enough and you'll see that every situation is different.
Road use taxes and bicycles. The right to use the roadways is not a function of any fee/tax structure. Use of roadways is only a function of the responsible use of the road. In theory, irresponsible users are stripped of their rights. If fees/taxes were a factor, trucks would have more rights than motorcycles. Convicted drunk drivers who owned many vehicles would not lose their right to drive, because they would "pay enough to keep using the road" .Driver's licenses requiring knowledge & ability would be worthless, since all that would matter would be payment of fees. Foreign tourists would be denied access to our roadways, since they do not "pay their fair share".
Cycling Safety: Many posters comment on whether cyclists wear helmets or not. The point is moot. Although some states requ

what about the morons in 4000lb hunks of metal driving: drunk, inattentively, openly hostile, etc.? This article started with a cyclist acting poorly, reprehensible yes, but a cyclist riding like a moron causes property damage or the cyclist's death. A driver of a car acting similarly is sure to cause death or serious injury to a cyclist in cycle/motor vehicle conflicts. I ask drivers: is being inconvenienced by a stupid bicyclist a reason to kill or permanently injure him?

Only in the make believe of America can someone state with religious conviction that "roads are made for cars??? and that cyclists have no place on them. Ever been to Japan, Europe, China? It???s rather simple: The roads are for people and products, not cars, and there are a whole lot more ways of moving them around than one finds in the states. Guess what's going to happen as oil supplies inevitably decline and a few hundred million cyclists in Asia get behind the wheel of their own 4 wheelers? As gas prices break family budgets in the US, all these whining road-entitled ???victims??? of cyclist wild abandon will reevaluate their opinions - well, maybe not completely. They'll probably opt for a moped ;).