This weekend I saw cyclists fly through stop signs and red lights almost causing accidents twice. Had they caused the accident, they would have lost the flight between their puny little bikes and the cars/SUVs that would have taken them out. And in doing this, the drivers of the cars probably would have been cited for something or other and then felt bad for the unintended squishing of the bikers. But really? I saw both of these situations and the bikers would have been 100% responsible for their own accidents and potential maiming.
The first was at a 4-way stop light. The light turned red. All cars were stopped in both directions that were red. The crossing traffic started to go and then the bikers blew through in their bike lane and a lady had to slam on her brakes to avoid them. What if someone was behind her? They might have then rear-ended her? Or what if she hit her head in the brake-slamming? Oh but who cares because the bikers have the right of way no matter what (NOT!)
Second instance was a 3-way stop sign. Everyone stops. Car that is *supposed* to now go is about to turn left. BUT, here comes 2 bikers who blew through their stop in their quest to not lose momentum going down hill. A**holes. The car has to make a sudden stop mid-turn. WHY? Take the jerks out. That’ll teach ‘ em.
No – I don’t actually believe that (the taking them out part or the that will actually teach them anything part is your guess.)
Living in the SF Bay Area I hear all about how riding bikes is so much better for the environment, better for traffic and smog, blah blah and the bikes have the same rights as auto drivers on the roads blah blah. Well, if you want the same “rights” – act like it. You get the same rules too then jerks. I cannot count the times I have seen bikes sail through stop signs, red lights, cross out of their lanes into traffic just so they can ride next to their biking buddy. Umm..no!
I live on the coast. Only way to or from there are a couple of 2-lane highways with teeny-tiny “bikes lanes” at best. I have seen auto drivers drive half way into your “bike lane” (it’s the emergency lane as their is no indication of it being a bike lane) going around the turns of Highway 92. Frankly, I consider the bikers on Highway 92 a safety-hazard. Have you seen the drivers on that road ? And the amount of large trucks that use it daily? You MUST be crazy if you are doing that for any type of “fun”.
Driving home on 92 tonight I saw a biker riding ON the line separating the “bike” lane and the real traffic. The car 2 cars in front of me had swerved about 5 times so far (I’m going with retarded or drunk) and I didn’t really want to have to stop and give my witness account of your splatting. I needed to get get home – I was hungry.
And the bikers who use Highway 1/Devil’s Slide – you guys have a death wish. And you are also a huge safety menace there.
Look, you are not a car. You cannot keep up with cars. And you will likely die if hit by one. Stick to areas/routes where you can safely ride without being a hazard to yourself OR OTHERS.
And even on those routes you are a hazard and can’t follow simple rules. I hike a lot. One of my favorite trail systems has BIG signs….signs with words, pictures and arrows for even the biggest dolt to understand. Bikers yield to hikers and horses, hikers yield to horses, and horses get to go. This is common etiquette on all trails but there it is in black, white and color to remind you…but…
On one of my long hikes, I was hiking on a trail where 2 downhills poured out into an “intersection” and then various trails continued on from there. 2 people on horses were a little lost and asked me to help them with their trail map. We were over to the side of the one trail, and basically stopped in the middle of the converging trail ends at the intersection – so off to the side of the trail and not on either of the trails.
This woman biker comes blazing down and yells at everyone to look out, which startled the horses (and all of us) and one of the horses almost threw their rider. She yells “you can’t stand there” and “yield to oncoming bike traffic”. So I yelled back “NO – YOU have to yield to everything standing here – read your trail map and signs.” She said there were more bikers coming and that we needed to watch out on the downhill. I said “no – they need to watch out.” Again reminding her of the giant yield signs and the order of yield on these trails (thinking to myself ‘or I’ll accidentally push one of you over…’) She just gave me a dirty look and continued on. One of the horse riders looked at me and said in their oh so proper English accent “well, she’s a bit of a testy bitch isn’t she?” I laughed out loud because yes – she was.
I know not all bike riders are like this. I know plenty of people who ride and have never seen any of them pull this type of crap (on the few rides I have done with them anyway.) But there are enough of them out there to really sully the reputation.
And don’t even get me started on the jack-asses who participate in the “everyone ride their bike days” in SF (not sure if only for Spare the Air days or if for others too.) Unbelievable what news stories you see about them and their crappy antics (hitting cars on purpose, kicking cars, etc.) If they tried that with me I’d get out of my car and whack the mf-er with my maglite flashlight kept in my car for just such an emergency…But it’s SF so what do you expect…(it’s a pretty city but FULL of whack jobs.)
Anyway…if you ride a road bike and are sharing the road with automobiles – use the same lessons you apply when driving your car (on 2nd thought, use the same lessons you learned when getting your license because most drivers around here are idiots so I am assuming one of those idiots is you.) And if you are on a mountain bike and sharing the trails with hikers and horses – key word there is you need to SHARE the trails and follow the yield rules.
Oh, and by the way, yes you DO have to stop for pedestrians in crosswalks just like cars jerk. Next time, I am shoving a stick through your spokes…
