Bicycles on the road

He said he wasnt speeding. Cant you read?

Do you also tell bicyclists taht they are at fault when they get car doored because they should be able to stop?

Who the hell tries to sell Hondas with the hoods open? Ain't nothin' to see under there

Key word "said" If he could not stop in time then he either needs to stop riding (because he can't control his bike well enough to ride) or he was indeed SPEEDING.

Or at least not paying attention.

I must agree with Gummee and the others, if you cant avoid a stationary object in the road, you're over riding/driving your line of sight or skill level.

Automatic fail.

But like others, and I have said, stopping in the middle of the road is stupid too.

Also an automatic fail.

This is what cyclits do to people who they think caused a crash.

http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/1787786/Urine-thrown-at-Cavendish-on-Tour-de-France

Apparentlyyou better be able to stop.

That is what a SPECTATOR did to a racing cyclist on a closed course. The racing cyclist had a racing incident (that some people viewed as wrong) that was judged by the racing authority after viewing video footage and talking to those involved .. less than 12 hour later... and no action was taken .. judged as a RACING INCIDENT.

The spectator was taken away by the police.

Apparently you 'd better be able to behave and accept official judgements.

Nevermind

Read your local cycling-related laws. Betcha that the cyclists are obeying the spirit if not the letter more often than you'd like to think.

You making this stuff up? 3sec? Seriously?! If I tried that on a bicycle I'd be stopped (and in your way!) for much longer than anyone would be willing to put up with. As it is, I get people that don't want to 'get stuck behind that cyclist' coming up to the stop sign, much less wait for me to have a 3sec window available to merge.

According to the safety officer for the PW Co. fire department I ran into at the LBS the other day, they've had zero people run down from behind on bicycles. They've had many more people hit from the side (as in going across an intersection) or turned in front of (SMIDSY or right hooks). I can see if I can't track the guy down and get better stats, but for the most part, the cyclist 'merging' to his/her left is a non-issue around here.

M

I do know the road rules. There is no rule that allows cyclists to change lanes with no regard to traffic in the other lane. Why would there be? If a cyclist was in the otehr lane would you expect them to give way to someone wanting to change lanes.

3 seconds is a standard safe following distance, leaving less room than that is foolish. Thats how much i leave when pulling out on traffic (including cyclists). I expect the same from cyclists, what is your rush, if you have to wait for a bit safety of all road users should take precedence over you travelling at your desired speed.

I had a cyclist pull into my lane the other day, i swerved around him, then he yells at me because apparently motorcycles dont get to use the whole lane (even though the only reason I was so close is because i was about half a second from him when he swerved into my lane with no signal I didnt actually want to risk both our lives but he gave no warning or time).. I seriously doubt that there are no side swipes, why do they go on about leaving a metre? That is a sideswipe but they are educating the wrong group.

I have an ongoing project in a rural area that is frequented by cyclists. Along their riding route there are numerous places where the roads drops below the pavement horizon enough to hide them from following autos. I have learned when I see their parked cars at a church they are likely to be on the road, but others drive 50 to 55 mph and come up on these riders unexpectedly.

I don't know what the law says but if you are riding where you can disappear on the highway from those following you, you shouldn't ride two abreast, out in the middle of the road. Before I became fully aware of the riders, I had two instances where I nearly hit a rider because there is no place to go if you happen to meet another vehicle at the time you come up behind the cyclists.

The place I am working is right beside the road. It is near a military installation and trucks use the road quite a bit. I often see young men and women riding by, side by side having a casual conversation and the place I am working is one of the blind spots.

Just because the law gives you a right doesn't mean it makes sense to exercise that right at all times. Protect yourself and leave room for the cage to get around.

Link

Clearly the solution is for everyone to drive/ride/pedal at 15mph or under always.

...and there's a difference between say cyclists on the road and a tractor? ...a mail truck? ...a farm animal? ...rocks? ...a downed tree?

Why single out cyclists?

If you come over the crest of a hill/around a blind corner and don't have time to avoid any of the above, it isn't the fault of whatever you're encountering.

You need to look at the face staring back out of your bathroom mirror and recognize that 'shit happens' when you're on the road and its up to you to not outdrive your sight distances. Yes, that may mean slowing down in corners/over hills.

If you're constantly surprised at something 'appearing in your path' its says to me that you need some RTR on your driving skills.

...AND... if you're in a situation where you 'happen to meet another vehicle' you're obviously passing in the wrong spot. Stop and think. If I'm going around this obstacle (rock, cow, tractor, cyclist, whathaveyou) am I going to have enough time/sight distance to get back over if I didn't see something coming?

If the answer's no, wait till its safe.

Easy concept. Nicht war?

That 'happen to meet another vehicle' thing gets my goat. You don't get a pass to automatically pass another vehicle in unsafe spots. That applies as much to someone slowing to turn into a driveway as it does a cyclist JRA.

You wouldn't pass someone slowing/stopping and dropping little Jr off at daycare into oncoming traffic so WhyTF would you do that to someone riding a bicycle?!

M

When a bicycle must use the travel lane on main roads where legal and reasonable, any vehicle coming up on them should slow and pass when safe. If traffic starts backing up behind the cyclist, then they should pull clear at the first reasonable opportunity..
A Vehicle of any type merging or entering a roadway in a way that forces traffic to react to the vehicle in a significant way is always wrong. Waiting a few extra seconds for a safe opportunity is not an unreasonable expectation. Vehicles may still have to slow, but not as an evasive maneuver.

It seems so simple, but unfortunately a few cyclists and motorists find excuses to not do the right thing, turning it into a guessing game, and pissing contest.




Yesterday I was on a 35 mph 2 lane levy road with no shoulder that parallels a river. Coming the opposite direction was a cyclist "riding wide" with about 8-10 vehicles backed up behind him. He chose to not pull clear on a side road as the majority of cyclists do on this popular cycling road, and cars started passing him.
As fate would have it a woman in a SUV proceeded to pass after the window for safe passing had closed and threaded the needle between me and the cyclist.

So what I encountered was an epically stupid driver being reckless and irresponsible endangering others, a thoughtless cyclist pressing his his "rights" too far without exercising his responsibilities, and I came close to being a hood ornament.

This is the first time in years the choices of a cyclist have had a significant safety impact on me, and the cyclists failure was a minor one, but he obviously was aware he was creating a situation yet chose to not mitigate it. After failing to pull clear, his choice to "ride wide" rather than keep right did not deter vehicles from passing him, but it did slow them and increase the time and distance needed to pass.

A reminder that if you feel compelled to try controlling the actions of others, you might want to at least reconsider what your options and responsibilities are.
Questionable choices can escalate into a dangerous situation..



When I saw the cyclist pass the side road with a line of cars behind him I slowed up, I had a feeling................

Some people have a hard time with the basics, always ride/drive within your line of sight and skill level.

Evidently!

98% of this thread can be summed up with: 'so there I was, driving too fast for conditions and tried to pass some cyclists in an unsafe spot. They're assholes for being in the road!'

M

Most likely because one or two cyclists did something to piss them off...ten plus years ago.


You riding today in the heat?

Today, back road, 45-55mph speed limit. About 25-30 bikes riding 2 to 4 wide from white stripe to yellow stripe refusing to move over. Ever. For anyone. No matter what the sight lines were. And SCREAMING at anyone passing them that it's "their road too".

Fine. You want to claim that? Abide by ALL the rules, not just the ones that make your ride easier. NO riding more than one across. No following too close. No impeding the flow of traffic. Complete stop at all stop signs, etc. It's dipshits like this that are getting FAR more prevalent around here and causing most/all the problems for the bicyclists who are NOT asshats.

Why would anyone intentionally set out to bother as many folks as possible?

You have a phone don't you? Call the law.

I can't imagine why they would be yelling at people passing unless they were passing too closely.

Making a ride easier(at least for cyclists) usually involves making it safer too.

Do you really want 25-30 bikes coming to a compete stop in front of you at every stop sign? You would definitely...

Call the law? Really?
They were yelling because they apparently set out to be provocative today. There was a case where a bicyclist was killed recently and the driver was sentenced this week here.

Do I want them coming to a complete stop in front of me? If need be. I want common sense, as rare as that seems to be these days. How about they realize that if they're going to insist on riding two lane roads with no shoulder to speak of and a 55mph speed limit, that THEY are very likely going to be causing problems. Ride the white stripe in single file. I'll be courteous as hell getting around them. If they want to escalate this, I imagine it's going to end with bicycles being banned from roads with anything greater than a 35mph speed limit.

Does such a law even exist in NC?