About pedal cyclists.

Do you have the same problem in the USA ( or elsewhere ) with some cyclist
behaviour that we see in the UK ?

Notable examples are....

Most cyclists do not stop at red lights.

Some cyclists also cycle on the footpath and cycle across pedestrian crossings.

Many cyclists do not bother with lighting when riding at night and don't even
wear light / bright clothing to even try to compensate for their lack of
visibility.

Graham

Eeyore wrote:
> Do you have the same problem in the USA ( or elsewhere ) with some
> cyclist behaviour that we see in the UK ?
>
> Notable examples are....
>
> Most cyclists do not stop at red lights.
>
> Some cyclists also cycle on the footpath and cycle across pedestrian
> crossings.
>
> Many cyclists do not bother with lighting when riding at night and
> don't even wear light / bright clothing to even try to compensate for
> their lack of visibility.

Yeah, we do have the same problem here, but there are a number of
cyclists who do follow the rules of the road. In fact, several of them
post here

I was reading an article on the subject several months ago where people
were complaining about cyclists riding on the pavement in the UK. Since
the phrase "pavement" doesn't have the same connotation in the US, what
were they referring to?

Arif Khokar wrote:
> Eeyore wrote:
>> Do you have the same problem in the USA ( or elsewhere ) with some
>> cyclist behaviour that we see in the UK ?
>>
>> Notable examples are....
>>
>> Most cyclists do not stop at red lights.
>>
>> Some cyclists also cycle on the footpath and cycle across pedestrian
>> crossings.
> >
>> Many cyclists do not bother with lighting when riding at night and
>> don't even wear light / bright clothing to even try to compensate for
>> their lack of visibility.

Yes, yes, and yes.

Not to mention, ride on the crosswalks expecting drivers to yield for
them. The same is true for bicycle crossings, where they're legally
required to yield for traffic on the road, yet they just keep going
forcing drivers to brake hard to avoid hitting them.

Of course, the only reason they get away with it is because there are
enough drivers who don't know the law.

>
> Yeah, we do have the same problem here, but there are a number of
> cyclists who do follow the rules of the road. In fact, several of them
> post here
>
> I was reading an article on the subject several months ago where people
> were complaining about cyclists riding on the pavement in the UK. Since
> the phrase "pavement" doesn't have the same connotation in the US, what
> were they referring to?

Sidewalk IIRC.


Ulf

Eeyore > wrote in
:

> Do you have the same problem in the USA ( or elsewhere ) with some
> cyclist behaviour that we see in the UK ?
>
> Notable examples are....
>
> Most cyclists do not stop at red lights.
>
> Some cyclists also cycle on the footpath and cycle across pedestrian
> crossings.
>
> Many cyclists do not bother with lighting when riding at night and
> don't even wear light / bright clothing to even try to compensate for
> their lack of visibility.
>
> Graham

In america nobody rides bikes except kids. We've all been brainwashed into
thinking cars are the answer for everything. Even walkers are considered
nuts - or dodgy as you teabags would say.

In article >, Scott en Aztlán wrote:

> **** YEAH! And they're especially obnoxious when they get together in
> large swarms. For example, if the first part of their group makes it
> though the light on a yellow, the rest will blow through even though
> the light is red - as if being separated from the rest of the group
> were a worse crime than running a red light.

And we've never seen a conga-line of drivers plow through the red... oops
that's practically every busy intersection!

In article >, Scott en Aztlán wrote:
> (Brent P) said in
> rec.autos.driving:
>
>>In article >, Scott en Aztlán wrote:
>>
>>> **** YEAH! And they're especially obnoxious when they get together in
>>> large swarms. For example, if the first part of their group makes it
>>> though the light on a yellow, the rest will blow through even though
>>> the light is red - as if being separated from the rest of the group
>>> were a worse crime than running a red light.
>>
>>And we've never seen a conga-line of drivers plow through the red... oops
>>that's practically every busy intersection!

> True, but irrelevant.

> If you would like to discuss *cars* that run red lights, don't hijack
> this thread - start a new one. I can contribute complaints to that
> one, as well.

Only pointing out that the entire troll against bicyclists is nonsense.
People do the same things regardless of the vehicle they are using. Hell,
they do the same MFFY stuff walking.

Arif Khokar wrote:

> Eeyore wrote:
> > Do you have the same problem in the USA ( or elsewhere ) with some
> > cyclist behaviour that we see in the UK ?
> >
> > Notable examples are....
> >
> > Most cyclists do not stop at red lights.
> >
> > Some cyclists also cycle on the footpath and cycle across pedestrian
> > crossings.
> >
> > Many cyclists do not bother with lighting when riding at night and
> > don't even wear light / bright clothing to even try to compensate for
> > their lack of visibility.
>
> Yeah, we do have the same problem here, but there are a number of
> cyclists who do follow the rules of the road. In fact, several of them
> post here
>
> I was reading an article on the subject several months ago where people
> were complaining about cyclists riding on the pavement in the UK. Since
> the phrase "pavement" doesn't have the same connotation in the US, what
> were they referring to?

It's the sidewalk/footpath.

Graham

Brent P wrote:

> Scott en Aztlán wrote:
> > (Brent P) said in rec.autos.driving:
> >>Scott en Aztlán wrote:
> >>
> >>> **** YEAH! And they're especially obnoxious when they get together in
> >>> large swarms. For example, if the first part of their group makes it
> >>> though the light on a yellow, the rest will blow through even though
> >>> the light is red - as if being separated from the rest of the group
> >>> were a worse crime than running a red light.
> >>
> >>And we've never seen a conga-line of drivers plow through the red... oops
> >>that's practically every busy intersection!
>
> > True, but irrelevant.
>
> > If you would like to discuss *cars* that run red lights, don't hijack
> > this thread - start a new one. I can contribute complaints to that
> > one, as well.
>
> Only pointing out that the entire troll against bicyclists is nonsense.
> People do the same things regardless of the vehicle they are using. Hell,
> they do the same MFFY stuff walking.

Cars running red lights is almost unknown here. It's frowned on big time.

There was one occasion where some guy drove through a red in the town centre where I
live at quite low speed ( it's a busy but small junction with pedestrian crossings at
the lights ) despite the fact I was already crossing the road. I turned to face him
and he had to stop but was gesturing me to get out of the way so I thumped the front
of his stupid car ( probably BMW ). To this day I wonder what the wife and kids must
have thought.

Graham

Scott en Aztlán wrote:

> I submit that there are people who would stop for a red light or a
> stop sign while driving their car but will not hesitate to blow
> through that same traffic control device while riding their bike. The
> justification they give is that it takes a significant amount of
> effort on the part of the pedalcyclist to regain momentum after a
> stop, so they cruise on through whenever they can.

When I ride, I'll run the same stop signs I do when I drive (yes, I know
those particular stop signs are not necessary). Stop signs I do comply
with, I'll slow down to a near stop and coast up to the intersection on
my bike so that I can take my turn when I get there. I wait for red
lights regardless (which works out since I can trigger the sensor to
change the light with my bike).

My theory about cyclist non-compliance with traffic control devices is
that they don't think the rules apply to them at all, rather than them
worrying about losing momentum.

In article >, Scott en Aztlán wrote:

>>Only pointing out that the entire troll against bicyclists is nonsense.
>>People do the same things regardless of the vehicle they are using. Hell,
>>they do the same MFFY stuff walking.

> I submit that there are people who would stop for a red light or a
> stop sign while driving their car but will not hesitate to blow
> through that same traffic control device while riding their bike. The
> justification they give is that it takes a significant amount of
> effort on the part of the pedalcyclist to regain momentum after a
> stop, so they cruise on through whenever they can.

If that is their logic, then you'll see it somewhere in their driving
behavior. Maybe they want you to slow for their turn signal or other
demands that keep their momentum up. Maybe they'll stop for the red
signal but instead are sloth coasters.


> The smarter ones
> will at least slow down and check for cross traffic before proceeding,
> as if a red light means "stop" for cars but "yield" for pedalcyclists.
> And, like any other sort of MFFY behavior, they do it because they can
> get away with it 99% of the time.

So do drivers.