Cyclists, Explain Yourselves Pages PREV 1 2 3 4 NEXT | |
Flatten them, you outweigh them a thousand to one. I've seen a driver jump out of the car, caught up to the guy, yank the handlebar to the cyclist's groin, push him off and throw the instrument of despair to the ditch. | |
When I bike, I try to stay on sidewalks whenever possible (and always shout to announce I'm passing by someone if I'm coming behind them). When forced on the road, I try to stay as close to the curb as possible. That said, when I'm driving, cyclists do really piss me off at times (but then, so do other drivers). | |
We've got lots of cycle lanes here in the Netherlands. Nobody complains about cyclists. | |
Swing and a miss dude. The fact that cyclists produce low CO2 (they produce CO2 unless you are some form of super human who doesn't expel CO2 when he breaths) has nothing to do with them not paying road tax. A low or no CO2 vehicle still requires a tax disc even if it is free or a low pay value one and to be able to apply for one of those the vehicle must have valid insurance and a valid MOT certificate saying it is safe for the road, two things that NO cyclist has.
Maybe I missed something, I've been driving for 10 years I have covered a fair bit of the country in that time and the number of times I have seen a driver choose to ignore a red light and pass through a junction, once, I;ve seen plenty of amber chancers but someone who clearly sees the light turn red, pulls up to it as if they are going to stop and then decides to just go through! I could go out today, since it is nice and sunny and guarantee that I would see a cyclist jump a red light. So I am passing through a junction and some dick head on a bike decides that the red light doesn't apply to him and as a result we come together, his stupid ass puts a massive dent in my car. How is he going to pay to get it fixed? The funny thing is that you can go out for a drive and for the most part you would have to look really hard to find a driver doing something massively stupid. Yet it is a guarantee that you see a cyclist and I bet you by the time it is all over and done he will have done one of these 3 things. 1). Ignored a red light or taken to a pavement to avoid stopping for a red light To put that in perspective if I went out now the only things I could guarantee I would see a driver doing are 1). Some form of speeding | |
Cyclists/Bikes should be on mountains... Where we belong On a more road related note...I commute on one of mine every now and then and I obey the laws...But fuck me, the amount of times I've nearly had offs because cars thinking fuck it they can stop they're on a bike and pulling out...Or are a bus... ...Buses in general have nearly killed me more times in my life than anything else... Also pedestrians stepping out in front of me, are annoying. Not sure where I was going with this...So yeah more people on bikes less cars FIGHT THE POWA! | |
I like china's way of doing it. Mainly get out of thee way of whatever can kill you! Drivers should be able to knock cyclaists on their asses if they get in the way! | |
I'm all for cyclist lanes. But in places like Britain, that isn't always possible, as the roads are narrow enough as it is. So legalize cycling on the pavement. Nobody fucking walks anywhere any more. And even if they do, it's what I'd call 'light pedestrian traffic' anyway. Anything to stop cyclists from cutting me up, resting their sweaty body on the side on my car, slowing my entire day down, being faggots, and inevitably falling off, thus grinding the entire road network of great Britain to a screaming halt. True story. | |
Here's my theory why it happens: | |
Yesterday I nearly got hit by some jackass in a Honda trying to pull a U-turn on a small one way street (rather then just heading the 40 meters to the end of it where there's space to turn around.) Since there's not enough space he hops up onto the sidewalk and nearly runs my ass over. Where the hell do all drivers get off eh? Best option is just to let cyclists ride on the sidewalk if there's no bike lane, ped-cyclist injuries are both rare and minor. Vehicle-cyclist ones tend to be neither.
Do this for me: Mark out a line on the road using chalk or something. Stand two inches to the right of it facing the same direction as road traffic. Have buddy with a car (A truck or SUV is even better) hug that line and pass you doing 60 km/h. Change underwear. That's riding on the shoulder. Try to keep in mind that for every jackass on a bike there's at least one behind a wheel, but when a cyclist does something stupid around a car it's annoying, a driver doing something stupid around a bike can put someone in a box several decades ahead of schedule. | |
What pisses me off more is when there are a group of them that INSIST on cycling abreast rather than in a line. Cause why not take up the entire road and force rush hour traffic to watch your asses go along at 10mph (along a 60mph road) when you could so easily just go in a line and let everyone past? | |
That sort of selfish ass-backwards logic is usually only carried by Tory's. Please, for the love of god, explain how cyclists produce CO2? I am astounded by your logic. Unless you are factoring in the cost to produce a bike with regards to CO2 emissions. In that case, cars should cost a hell of a lot more than they do. Then again, most humans wear clothes, those clothes are usually not hand-made, ergo pedestrians should pay road tax because of CO2 emissions? Eh? Whut? As for the actual debate? it is pointless. People die when drivers drive badly. People get midly inconvinienced when cyclists cycle badly. The reason cyclists do not need a licence? If they fuck up, the chance of them killing someone is negligible. If a driver fucks up, the chance of them killing someone is rather high. And as for insuring cyclists? Hell, unless you are advocating every form of transport requiring dumbass amounts of insurance (Including walking) your logic is flawed. Pedestrians regularly do dumbass things that cause drivers to do emergancy stops and whatnot. And if you plow into an old lady at 15mph, you are still going to fuck up your beautiful car. Finally, where it comes to passing a cyclist? The rule of thumb is to give them enough room to fall off, into the road. Most people give cyclists less then half that. Hell, one of the times I was knocked down was due to a wingmirror cracking me in the spine. Main reason I dont cycle any more is due to asshat motorists thinking they are kings of the road. Rather Important Edit: Don't bother quoting me. Don't bother making reference to me. This entire debate boils down to "Cyclists are annoying" and "Motorists dont give us enough space and sometimes kill us". Both arguments are correct. Neither side will give ground to the other side. This debate is pointless. It has MP's making fallacious statements about who pays for roads, it has entire websites devoted to it and, frankly, it bores me to tears. It doesn't matter. I have no interest in dragging myself further into this debate. I have better things to do. | |
Well obviously this particular guy is an exceptionally stupid cyclist. Being a cyclist myself I would not have cut across every single lane of traffic, no. Here are my views in a nutshell: 1. Need moar bicycle lanes. Not ones with f***ing parked cars all over so I have to keep dodging back into the traffic either. Painting a bike on the ground does not a bike lane make. 2. When I'm on the road, I stick as far to the left as I feel I should be expected to. I think it's only fair, and they make the lanes wide enough to allow cars to pass by anyway. But if I'm on the left and you have a problem with me riding, f*** you. I'm not doing s*** about it, because there's only one way I'm getting home and it involves part of the road. 3. Cyclists should be allowed on footpaths. Obviously there will be more incidents of bicycles knocking people over, etc. But I have never heard of a bicycle running over a pedestrian. You see it on the news all the time, a truck's trailer was lagging behind and wiped out 4 cyclists or so. Also, pedestrians can't do s*** to cyclists who are doing the right thing (and that's how it should be), but some cars get livid at the sight of us and can easily lead to injuries. More than once I've had to stick my middle finger up at a 4WD honking its horn (as it passes me btw, plenty of space). One day I'll probably have arthritis from it. (Funnily enough, once a Lebanese guy actually then got out of the car and was going to start a fight, but I got my keys out and he decided it wasn't such a good idea any more ^^) So yeah. Basically, in the present situation, if cyclists are on the road, regular road rules should apply (I think they do anyway, that guy had no business cutting across lanes while cars and going). | |
The only complaint that I have is that why are there so many cyclists without helmets on the road. Now, I understand if they are on the sidewalk or at the park, but when they are on the ROAD with other much faster, much larger, vehicles that are literally inches away from the cyclists, why would head safety be a concern to the cyclist? I swear this is like motorcycles all over again where they refused to wear helmets because it made them look "less cool" or it messes up their hair, and so they get into an accident, die and no ones the wiser. Then, they are forced [key word here is "forced"] to wear helmets for their own safety and get insurance to protect themselves in case of an accident. And I see it all the time. Lately, there have been cops roaming around my city around the clock and the cyclists without helmets just ride right pass them. Seriously? I could have sworn there was a law in my state that strictly addressed this policy. But no; bicycle licenses, forced helmet policies, and bicycle insurance is where we are headed because people want to look pretty when there getting from point A to point B on their bicycle. | |
I think what you've got here is less of a case of "Cyclists are dicks," and more of "Wow, there are certainly a lot of dicks on cycles here." Honestly, I have heard of this happening before, but maybe it is just because I live in a small town, because I've never had to deal with this. | |
I'm pretty sure there's a lot of people on bikes who do this just to piss people off, but I don't cycle in cities because meh. | |
In my town, most places are reached by highways and the only cyclists usually travel in suburbs. Some will actually ride on the super-long highways (for some reason), but they mostly don't cause disturbances. Captcha: fill it up How...erotic. | |
We have morons in my towns who fully believe the cyclic lane is NOT to be used, that they have the right to drive in the car lanes, in a 45 mile an hour road, where they are only doing 5 miles. There is a large stretch of perfectly wondrous asphalt directly next to us, but nope, need to be right in the center of the road. And we have TONS of them. Go dudes for getting your exercise. Please get the hell out of my way because I am significantly bigger and heavier than you (never thought Id like to say that...) | |
I agree soo much with you. Parked cars in the bike lane just fuck everything up. Because once one person does it, then you have another. And I'd also like to use the footpath. Because seriously, how can you trust drivers these days when at least half of them are very distracted? I really can't see me hitting people with my bike. I'm gonna stop or slow down for people. But if a someone in a car screws up and gets in your way? Panic. There's a number of things I might try to do, and a lot of them end up with me having a bad afternoon. | |
Selfishness is not an indicator of a given political party.
You apparently slept through the respiration part of biology. To put it simply, humans produce CO2 by breathing. Cycling makes you breathe heavily. Erego, more CO2 made than just walking. Honestly I don't count the CO2 cost of making it because that can vary wildly. The same plant using the same techinques in the same building and run by the same workers can belch out hundreds of tons a day or not a wisp. It depends so much on the power company.
People die because of asshat cyclists too. People swerve to avoid them and get into nasty head-on crashes, spin and hit a tree in the driver's door, etc etc.
Bullshit. Honestly I think they should need a license, it would cut down on the idiots that can't even fathom basic physics.
ANY road user can cause a fatal crash. IT doesn't matter what they're on.
First of all I don't know where you've stuffed your head, but people walking aren't using the road. Anyone who is using the road should be subject to road laws, this includes cyclists. Liablity insurance isn't pricey anyway.
I give them half a lane and slow to 10-15MPH. If they can't manage to stay upright for the ten seconds it takes for me to get by at that distance they don't need to be on a bike in the first place.
Good riddance. One less cyclist on the road.
I'll quote and reference whoever I damn well please. If you don't like that, tough shit.
Then go do them. I don't have anything to do. It's a lazy saturday with the Monaco qualifying on the TV in the background. | |
You were in the sweet spot for a bicycle.
Got a helmet? Sensible brain in your head? Respect the laws of physics? Pop yourself in the slow lane and have fun, traffic ain't gonna be going more than 20-25mph anyway.
Let them use whatever they want to use. If they want to wear out their engine 60-70% faster by driving short distances that don't let it warm up let them. It's their money. | |
Speaking from a driver/cyclist perspective here. To be honest, the biggest problem lies, as always, in legislation. For example, here in Poland, there is a set of rules for cyclists - you have to have lights front/back, wear a helmet, have a noise-making-something (a bicycle-bell or a honk). But, you guessed it, noone abides by those rules. Why? BECAUSE THEY DON'T KNOW THEM - because noone forces them to have this knowledge. There's this saying, that 'ignorance [about the law] doesn't justify [breaking it]'. I think that schools should have some lesson/subject/class (whatever you call it) that would be forcing people to know those rules. On the other hand, there are some rules that EVERYONE KNOWS. It's so common, especially in countries with not-so-developed bike-culture, that they don't care about signs, lights and all that... because they think they're exempt(sp?) from following "car" rules. But it goes deeper. Another example - pedestrian-crossings. WHO THE FUCK. DECIDED. THAT CYCLISTS CAN CROSS THEM. ON BIKES. WTF^100. I mean, some of them. Please, cyclists - imagine the following. I have to make a turn, and pass the crossing. It's semi-dark. AND YOU FUCKING SPEED THROUGH IT NOT EVEN SLOWING DOWN. How am I supposed to let you through safely? Oh, and right-hand rule (left-hand for Brits). Remember cyclists, that guy on your right (left for brits) - you let him go first. That's the law. (In those places without set-driving-precedence). But, frankly, drivers are no better. How many times had I had a situation on a junction, that I got honked on for obeying THE FUCKING LAW. Remember drivers: you are legally bound to leave the pedestrian-crossing open. You can't stop on it. You have to stop before it. Also, you can't stop in the middle of a fucking crossroad, idiot. TL;DR
To be honest, that's just fucked up. If I want to fucking die, that's my fucking problem, and govs should stay the fuck away from me. It's like seatbelts. I wear them all the time, but if someone is too stupid to do so (bar people who can't use them), then hell yeah, global IQ rises. | |
I don,t condone it it could be fixed by laying out cycling lanes or the cyclist biking on the side of the road | |
This isn't entirely true, though. What makes traffic flow work, and generally constitutes good driving, is everyone being predictable. You turn when expected, you go the expected speed, you signal when necessary, you stop when you need to. Everyone can predict what everyone else is going to do, and as a result traffic moves along in an orderly fashion. When someone does something unpredictable...changes lanes dramatically, slams on the breaks, busts through a light...accidents and traffic jams result. If cyclists are sharing the road with cars, they need to BE PREDICTABLE, because cars are reacting to them. If a cyclist does something stupid and unpredictable, they can cause accidents and deaths...the death of others, or their own deaths. If I have to slam on my breaks or jerk out of a lane because some cyclist decided to start improvising, I'm now putting everyone else at risk trying to keep this guy alive. It's the same principle that makes jaywalking illegal. I overstate when I rant about cyclists and pedestrians because they make me crazy when I'm driving, and because they are MUCH more likely to behave like rules don't apply to them, when in fact rules do apply to them, they just seldom observe them. All the pressure to make sure no accidents happen is on the drivers, because they're in the cars. Perhaps you think this is appropriate, but it makes it a lot easier to keep people safe while I'm driving if those people don't insist on continuing to do reckless, stupid things. I generally approve of cycling because it's good for the environment, but there are a LOT of cyclists out there who are ruining it for the handful of good ones.
Too late. =\ | |
Ok we cyclist will follow the rules when you motherfuckers stop parking in the crosswalks. Seriously every single time I come to an intersection im always greeted by some idiot trying to turn right on red and he'll pull out and stop half a foot away traffic right on top of the white lined crosswalk. Then I have to pray that this guy will see me because I have the light to cross but he's got his head cocked 90 degrees in the opposite direction usually on a damn cell phone. Same goes for pulling out of a driveway or a parking lot, you drivers have to stop and look for pedestrians at the stop sign not just slow down and keep going till the edge of the road. That big solid white line is there for a reason STOP BEHIND IT. | |
I came in here ready to vent, as I also love to cycle, and consider myself a cyclist. I used to cycle to work in my last city all the time, and into the city centre, and I always paid attention to my surroundings and still nearly got knocked down several times. Almost always by idiot taxi drivers (who don't obey the rules anyway, even with other cars), or by idiots parking in the cycle lanes despite rules preventing that from being allowed. And then I recalled today. I also drive sometimes, though I prefer cycling, and in my local area (an area renowned for the number of retards it's managed to produce), I was driving today to pick up some groceries, when I saw a cyclist come off the path, straight across the road, and start cycling into the oncoming traffic (on the side though). Fortunately there weren't many cars around, but he proceeded to veer across and cycle on my side of the road (the left side, being in the UK), and then veer across to the right again driving alongside the oncoming traffic. All the while he was cycling in the same direction that I was driving. So I can understand the OP's viewpoint. Basically, the vast majority of cyclists are fine and sensible, and don't deserve the backlash they have. But there is a small minority of idiots who shouldn't be allowed on the roads. That being said, although the majority of car drivers are fine too, the number of idiot drivers vastly outstrips the number of idiot cyclists. My advice? Make cycling proficiency mandatory as a lesson taught in schools. I never had that when I was a kid, so I had to learn the hard way (nearly being killed) how to cycle on roads, since it's illegal to cycle on a pavement (at least over here, and I agree with that fully). Making it mandatory would promote cycling, thereby helping reduce the country's carbon footprint and obesity rates, and would also mean far fewer accidents involving cyclists on the roads. And create a few jobs in schools for cycling instructors too. I can see absolutely no flaw in this, can anyone else? | |
Except, probably, in cities. Really, have you ever been to Den Bosch? Cyclists are fucking suicidal there, especially around Den Bosch Central Station. I'm taking driving lessons there and damn, I hate cyclists in that place. No doubt that many fellow motorists share my sentiments in that place. | |
I see what you were trying to do but it niggled at me.. if you have a car and the driver is hyperventilating constantly it isn't taxed any higher.. Unless you're advocating a breathing tax maybe? Could make a bit more money from the olympics I suppose.. | |
they don't pay road tax or insurance (in the UK anyway). so if they do cause an accident, they just scarper as quickly as possible so they don't get in trouble. what jerks... | |
So I'm riding my bike. I look both ways before I cross the street. And whaddya know: someone in a truck blazes around the corner without signaling, almost hits me, and yells at me to watch where I'm going. A few days later, there's a whiny editorial in the local newspaper about how bicyclists think they own the road. 'Nuff said. | |
I probably never noticed because I'm always the cyclist, never the motorist. :p | |
once this guy was running across the street on the yellow light, and this guy in a car waited for the light to change, followed the yellow light runner, stopped him, got out of his car, and roundhouse kicked him in the face. he leaned down, and said to the guy : " youve just been owned!!!! " true story, saw it on my way to school. | |
My sister's boyfriend was run off the road by a taxi whilst cycling perfectly normally and legally. He lost half his teeth. Forgive me if I'm lacking in sympathy for some mild inconvenience some drivers experience as a result of stupid cyclists - the damage stupid drivers cause is just a tad more serious, and as a result they should hold their actions to a better standard of behaviour and responsibility. But yeah, bad behaviour on the road is bad, whether it's a cyclist, motorist or pedestrian. Just don't try to act like any of those groups is infallible and we won't have any issues. | |
I'm just trying to make the hippies squirm a bit :3 I honestly don't know why people are so up in arms about the CO2 of cars when power plants put out so much more it's laughable. Do something about the coal power plants around the world and we can all have a V8 while putting out less CO2 overall. 'sides, plants breath co2 in. Plant some motherfucking trees and let everyone enjoy a stonking great V8.
Nah. | |
Cyclists here can fuck off. I literally watched one get brained and - I'm not kidding - killed on the spot last year because he zipped through a roundabout past cars which were stopped, waiting for the GARBAGE TRUCK which had the right of way, which - again, true story - shattered his helmet and split his skull open on the road. They don't obey traffic laws, most here don't even wear helmets, most don't make the effort to be easy to see and avoid, and they'll pedal merrily the fuck away on the most dangerous STATE HIGHWAY ROADS, through roadworks and intersections and don't even give a fuck. Last week there was one who was riding between a roadworks barrier which was encroaching onto the road already, and as a result he was holding everyone up. So I deliberately swerved in front of him, he swerves and hits the barrier, then climbs over and takes his bike with him. What was on the other side? Fuck all cyclists. I don't want to start killing them but dammit they're trying. I hate to sound like an asshole motorist but they really are that bloody stupid and as much a danger to themselves and others as I describe, I swear. | |
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Funny, when I was living in Hot Springs, I was like, 1 mile from the local Kroger, 2-3 miles form the local Wal-Mart, and plenty close to plenty of other useful places.
But no place decent to bike or even walk. And what I'm saying is, even if there's reason to be able to walk or bike, it often is not facilitated enough. A lot of urban places in the United States that it would be feasible to have bike paths, don't. And places in the United States that at least deserve a decent sidewalk, do not.
People aren't encouraged to use non-motored transportation like they ought to. If they live out in the woods, the rural areas, plenty understandable. But for those that can, alternative transportation should be encouraged.
And what I'm trying to show, is that even in little old undeveloped Arkansas, biking and walking is feasible. And would be a lot more so if there was proper facilitation.