Traffic Violations Of Cyclists

[Froze]

Let me just add a very dangerous stunt that bikers here usually do. They ride against the flow which we call counter-flow. Imagine if you are driving a car on the outer lane and suddenly here is a bike coming towards you. Would you stop? Naturally you would unless you intend to hit the biker. And in case you stop and yell at the biker for that dangerous stunt, he would yell back at you. Well?

We have a lot of counter flow riders in my city, every now and then I'll yell at them, they either don't respond of flip me off.

I think most states if not all states have now legalized a car or a bicycle can turn R on red AFTER they stop first. In fact in Indiana, and probably most states too, if I'm on a one way street and want to turn left onto another one way street I can turn on red after I stop first.

 

[Corzhens]

We have a lot of counter flow riders in my city, every now and then I'll yell at them, they either don't respond of flip me off.

I think most states if not all states have now legalized a car or a bicycle can turn R on red AFTER they stop first. In fact in Indiana, and probably most states too, if I'm on a one way street and want to turn left onto another one way street I can turn on red after I stop first.

Personally, I don't mind bikers making a turn during traffic stops as long as they are cautious with their action. And yes, they have to stop first and size up the environs before moving on. But what gets my goat are those bikers who move in a counter flow fashion that sometimes I feel that they want my car to change lane in order to give way to them. And there are times that I would get sharp stares from those rude bikers when I would sound the car's horn.

 

[Sunflogun]

That's totally crazy... I can't believe that's a common practice there. Can't the police get them?

 

[Froze]

That's totally crazy... I can't believe that's a common practice there. Can't the police get them?

The police can get them but they are told not to.

When I talked to an officer here once about cyclists going counter flow, running red lights and stop signs, using cell phones, riding on the sidewalk, riding at night with no lights or even reflectors, riding recklessly why they don't ticket them and his answer was that it's not worth the hassle because the courts haven't increased the fine on cycling tickets past $5 and it would cost the city a great deal more than that to process the ticket, so they're told not to bother ticketing cyclists.

The other weird thing he said was it makes accident reporting easier if a cyclist for example if riding at night with no reflectors or lights, and even if riding legally in their lane, or stopped for a stop sign then went, that if a car hits them and would have normally been at fault during the day it's automatically the fault of the cyclist at night because they were riding without legally required equipment and thus impaired the ability of the motorist to see them.

Fortunately some cities are starting to wake up and have raised their fines on cyclists to match those of vehicle fines and police are now pursuing bad cyclists, but so far only a handful of cities are doing this but it's on the increase and hopefully on the fast track. Tickets for bad cyclists should have been going on a long time ago, if law enforcement had been doing this all along we wouldn't have anywhere near the number of bad cyclists, more cyclists would be alive, and more people would probably commute by bike though that would probably would not be a significant change from current figures.

However the flip side also needs to be enforced too, and so far at least where I live the police haven't done their job at enforcing the 3 foot law. I had a car the other day pass with about 6 inches of space from me with a police car right behind them and the cop never did anything. Most motorists are being respectful to the 3 foot law, again at least where I live, but like anything we get the occasional law breaker.

 

[Damien Lee]

Unfortunately this behavior among certain cyclists is far too common. It absolutely annoys me and gives the rest of us law-abiding cyclist a bad reputation that we never earned. I've never had a problem at giving a fellow cyclist hash criticism for breaking road rules when I caught up to him. It was for a similar offence of skipping a red robot. I explained to him the dangers he is putting himself and other road users with this violation.

 

[Froze]

Unfortunately this behavior among certain cyclists is far too common. It absolutely annoys me and gives the rest of us law-abiding cyclist a bad reputation that we never earned. I've never had a problem at giving a fellow cyclist hash criticism for breaking road rules when I caught up to him. It was for a similar offence of skipping a red robot. I explained to him the dangers he is putting himself and other road users with this violation.

Exactly, and this is why some motorists treat cyclists with disrespect because of a few (around here more than a few) cyclists ruined the respect issue with their behavior on the road, this has been going on for years though, and some forum isn't going to stop it.

 

[Corzhens]

Have you seen cyclists nearing a traffic stop with no hands on the handle bars? We call them exhibitionists although that's not the appropriate moniker. They are like stuntmen showing off their cycling skill. And what happens when there is a pebble on the paved road and they lose their balance? It's an embarrassment not only to the rider but to his group as well since he is wearing the emblem on his shirt.

 

[CrowdedHighways]

I am new to biking, so I try to follow the rules religiously. I do not want to cause any trouble to myself or other people on the road.

 

[kylerlittle]

There is, but it's not that common though.

 

[Froze]

I am new to biking, so I try to follow the rules religiously. I do not want to cause any trouble to myself or other people on the road.

Don't ever lose that behavior as you become more experienced and the years go by because you will see others doing the opposite and someday may get tempted because they get away with it and you think your skills are up to par so why not?

 

[Sunflogun]

The police can get them but they are told not to.

When I talked to an officer here once about cyclists going counter flow, running red lights and stop signs, using cell phones, riding on the sidewalk, riding at night with no lights or even reflectors, riding recklessly why they don't ticket them and his answer was that it's not worth the hassle because the courts haven't increased the fine on cycling tickets past $5 and it would cost the city a great deal more than that to process the ticket, so they're told not to bother ticketing cyclists.

The other weird thing he said was it makes accident reporting easier if a cyclist for example if riding at night with no reflectors or lights, and even if riding legally in their lane, or stopped for a stop sign then went, that if a car hits them and would have normally been at fault during the day it's automatically the fault of the cyclist at night because they were riding without legally required equipment and thus impaired the ability of the motorist to see them.

Fortunately some cities are starting to wake up and have raised their fines on cyclists to match those of vehicle fines and police are now pursuing bad cyclists, but so far only a handful of cities are doing this but it's on the increase and hopefully on the fast track. Tickets for bad cyclists should have been going on a long time ago, if law enforcement had been doing this all along we wouldn't have anywhere near the number of bad cyclists, more cyclists would be alive, and more people would probably commute by bike though that would probably would not be a significant change from current figures.

However the flip side also needs to be enforced too, and so far at least where I live the police haven't done their job at enforcing the 3 foot law. I had a car the other day pass with about 6 inches of space from me with a police car right behind them and the cop never did anything. Most motorists are being respectful to the 3 foot law, again at least where I live, but like anything we get the occasional law breaker.

$5 fine is totally ridiculous, so now it's understandable why they don't pursue them. This is clearly an aspect of the law that needs to be changed or else it might simply get worse and worse.

 

[Catsyo]

We have a lot of counter flow riders in my city, every now and then I'll yell at them, they either don't respond of flip me off.

I think most states if not all states have now legalized a car or a bicycle can turn R on red AFTER they stop first. In fact in Indiana, and probably most states too, if I'm on a one way street and want to turn left onto another one way street I can turn on red after I stop first.

haha, I do the same thing. Counter flow riders are my biggest biking pet peeve. I'm not really sure why people do it. Are there any advantages? It seems like it would be more of a hassle than just riding along the general flow of traffic and it's definitely not safer. Do they teach people to ride this way? When I was younger, I took a safety class on biking, and we were always told to ride as if we were cars. I see people do this way too often.

I wonder if increased traffic citations for cyclists would do much good though. I mean, speeding is against the law and most people in my town do it in their cars. Everyone drives 5 to 10 over.

 

[Froze]

I did manage to talk to a rider once, he thought that because it's safer to walk counterflow that the same was true with bicycles, so I had to educate him on why it's not safer for a cyclist. I think a lot of cyclists have this same thinking process going on.

In my town it's the same thing, people driving 10 over and no tickets being issued, heck they drive 10 over in school zones and there's no cops patrolling these areas! My town is real lazy about issuing tickets, in a car I'm not so concerned if you're on a wide open road marked 45 that someone is doing 55, but doing 50 in a 30 densely populated residential area, or 45 in a 25 school zone is way over board. Personally I think 25 is too fast in school zones, they should be at 20 and residential at 25, but even with new lower speed limits if the cops don't care then it won't matter.

 

[Catsyo]

Oh, yeah, I didn't think of the connection that some might draw to walking counterflow. I never walk in the street long enough for that to matter so I never considered that. I just wish we could get it in everyone's minds that bikes are vehicles. We gotta start treating vehicles the same. The other day I saw someone zipping down the sidewalk one of those 49cc scooters. He actually got pulled over and I heard him trying to explain to the cop that what he was doing was okay because he wasn't driving a real vehicle. People are dumb sometimes.

 

[Froze]

. People are dumb sometimes.

Sometimes?

 

[Corzhens]

It is noticeable in our streets that some bikers are very aggressive such that they seem to be in the racetrack. When you are a rider, you are after your well-being and safety so I wonder why those daredevils drive like that. I usually see that when I am driving my car. Here is a photo that I took just yesterday. Do you think it is safe to ride like that?

PS. I cannot upload the photo, error said too big file. But it is only 89kb with pixels of 800x600. I wonder.

 

[ambal]

Have you seen cyclists nearing a traffic stop with no hands on the handle bars? We call them exhibitionists although that's not the appropriate moniker.

Have personally never seen that actually. People on bikes know they will die if they get hit by a vehicle. Riders like you describe must be off their head on drugs or something, in which case surely you'd be thanking your lucky stars they are on a bike and not in a farking car.

 

[Sunflogun]

That is why we need to be very careful, we are not in a car, we have no protections, it's just us.

 

[Froze]

That is why we need to be very careful, we are not in a car, we have no protections, it's just us.

We have protection, we have to use our brains, our senses, and follow the rules of the road and then we stand a far greater chance of staying alive.

 

[Corzhens]

Have personally never seen that actually. People on bikes know they will die if they get hit by a vehicle. Riders like you describe must be off their head on drugs or something, in which case surely you'd be thanking your lucky stars they are on a bike and not in a farking car.

Riders doing exhibition stunts on the road is not common but not rare either. I usually see them and it's just unfortunate that my camera was not ready. They usually do that when nearing a traffic stop that's why when you are driving a car and you see those stuntmen nearing your car, you will be scared because the probability of your car getting a scratch is high with that stunt. Worse, sometimes they would stop by holding to the tail of your vehicle.