Bicycle Safety - a rant
May. 20th, 2012 01:47 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mary_j_59Okay - I am also going to try for one more six sentence Sunday, if I have time. But first, I am going to express a little puzzlement and confusion. I have been so baffled by what I've seen a couple of bicyclists do recently that I actually went and looked up the traffic laws to see if what I remembered was right.
What did I see? Up in Morris, I saw a cyclist come to a four-way stop and just fly right through it. He barely even paused to look, and certainly didn't stop. It was the second time I'd seen that at that same intersection. And - I don't think I'm making this up - down in NY, I saw another cyclist turn when the "walk" signal was blinking and people were trying to cross the street. He, too, never even stopped at the red light. I thought: Wait a minute! When I was a child, I was taught that, when on a bike, you are either a (very lightweight) car or a pedestrian. If you choose to get off your bike at intersections, you may walk it across as if you were a pedestrian. That's what I do, these days, as I am re-learning to ride. But, otherwise, you act like a car and follow the rules of the road. You must stop at stop signs and red lights. This is not optional. As to right-of-way, pedestrians always have the right-of-way, followed by bikes, followed by cars. That's what I remember.
And I'm not far off. I looked up bike rules for NYC and this is what I found. A bike must act like a car*. Bikers have the duty to look out for their own safety and that of pedestrians, just as they have the right to share the road with cars. This means they must stop at all red lights and stop signs. The law states this clearly, in so many words. If this is true in the city, I can't believe it isn't equally true in the suburbs, or in rural Connecticut.
Since I got my folding bike and began riding again, I've visited a couple of bike boards. I've seen comments on how difficult it is to ride in the U.S. (unfortunately true, in most places. I'd hoped to commute by bike, but wouldn't dare.) I've seen comments on how rude drivers are, and how people don't look out for bikers. All true. But here's the thing: some bikers, like that guy up in Morris, are rude, too. Some do stupid and dangerous things. We ought to have more bike lanes in this country, definitely. We ought to have more education on sharing the road. But bikers ought also to do their part by obeying the rules of the road. I am not even getting to a colleague's experience when, trying to get to work one morning, she found the road blocked by a pack of 20 cyclists. That's, perhaps, another rant.
What do you think? Several questions here: do you think cyclists in the U.S. ought to be more courteous or better educated? Do you think drivers should be? Would you dare commute by bike?
I'd personally love to see more bike lanes, especially for novice riders like me who aren't comfortable riding alongside cars.
My two cents!
What did I see? Up in Morris, I saw a cyclist come to a four-way stop and just fly right through it. He barely even paused to look, and certainly didn't stop. It was the second time I'd seen that at that same intersection. And - I don't think I'm making this up - down in NY, I saw another cyclist turn when the "walk" signal was blinking and people were trying to cross the street. He, too, never even stopped at the red light. I thought: Wait a minute! When I was a child, I was taught that, when on a bike, you are either a (very lightweight) car or a pedestrian. If you choose to get off your bike at intersections, you may walk it across as if you were a pedestrian. That's what I do, these days, as I am re-learning to ride. But, otherwise, you act like a car and follow the rules of the road. You must stop at stop signs and red lights. This is not optional. As to right-of-way, pedestrians always have the right-of-way, followed by bikes, followed by cars. That's what I remember.
And I'm not far off. I looked up bike rules for NYC and this is what I found. A bike must act like a car*. Bikers have the duty to look out for their own safety and that of pedestrians, just as they have the right to share the road with cars. This means they must stop at all red lights and stop signs. The law states this clearly, in so many words. If this is true in the city, I can't believe it isn't equally true in the suburbs, or in rural Connecticut.
Since I got my folding bike and began riding again, I've visited a couple of bike boards. I've seen comments on how difficult it is to ride in the U.S. (unfortunately true, in most places. I'd hoped to commute by bike, but wouldn't dare.) I've seen comments on how rude drivers are, and how people don't look out for bikers. All true. But here's the thing: some bikers, like that guy up in Morris, are rude, too. Some do stupid and dangerous things. We ought to have more bike lanes in this country, definitely. We ought to have more education on sharing the road. But bikers ought also to do their part by obeying the rules of the road. I am not even getting to a colleague's experience when, trying to get to work one morning, she found the road blocked by a pack of 20 cyclists. That's, perhaps, another rant.
What do you think? Several questions here: do you think cyclists in the U.S. ought to be more courteous or better educated? Do you think drivers should be? Would you dare commute by bike?
I'd personally love to see more bike lanes, especially for novice riders like me who aren't comfortable riding alongside cars.
My two cents!
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no subject
Date: 2012-05-21 12:27 am (UTC)When I was interning with the Town Justice, there was a dude who was trying to argue his way out of a ticket for running a red light on a bicycle. Best part? He ran it right next to a cop car. So yes, it is the same law up in the burbs.
no subject
Date: 2012-05-22 03:57 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-05-22 04:16 am (UTC)