Sorry, but I must reply - EVERY GROUP has IDIOTS! I do ride my bicycle everywhere I can and the money that I save is part of what I donate as a MONTHLY FR Donor. I signal and stop like you say I should.
I have been rear-ended by idiots on cell phones and just plain blind. I have had vehicles swerve into me because they could get away with it. I have had coke and beer cans thrown at me. I have had 3 helmets cracked because I would rather take the fall than swerve into traffic.
I do not approve or participate in any of those IDIOT bicycle protests, I share the road and am ever cognizant that even the lightest car outweighs me by a ton. Remember that every gallon of gas that I don’t use is there for you to use and that does count. I do SHARE the road, don’t let your feelings change our shared values, PLEASE.
I would never think about trying to harass or injure a bicyclist. In fact, I try to give them a wide berm even when they’re being idiots.
But I’m an observer. I have yet to see a single bicyclist signal their intentions before turning or stopping, stop at a stop sign or stop light unless there was so much cross traffic they had to, or have the common courtesy (as I do when I’m towing a trailer and can’t go the speed limit) to pull out of the way when there is a line of other traffic stacked up behind them.
Granted, the sample size is small. Most people in the northern Ohio won’t even attempt to bicycle for a good part of the year because of the weather, and nobody wants to live in the cesspool central cities where the jobs are.
And what is it with bicyclists having to use main roads? If you’re commuting, I can understand, but I see bicyclists who are obviously out for recreation or exercise on four-lane main roads with curbs and no space when there are parallel side streets with virtually no traffic. The downside of side streets is the stoplights, but since those appear to be inapplicable to bicyclists, that would seem to be a non-issue. So why is it that bicyclists feel the need to put themselves in a dangerous situation when there are alternatives?
Not to use the same example, but when I tow a trailer and have to go slow, I take as many backroads and side streets as possible so I’m not a nuisance blocking traffic. Is it unrealistic to expect bicyclists to do the same? I have every “right” to use the main roads and tie up traffic, but I don’t if I can avoid it. I certainly don’t make an effort to tie up traffic so I can demonstrate “travel trailer rights”.
Sure, every group has idiots, but with bicyclists nowadays, especially in urban areas, the idiots must outnumber the decent ones by a hundred to one. I’m not going to go out and run over a bicyclist though, I just have no more patience for them. It’s gotten to the point where I will yell at them like a crazy old man when I see them pulling their stunts, and I am only 33 :)
>>Sorry, but I must reply - EVERY GROUP has IDIOTS! I do ride my bicycle everywhere I can and the money that I save is part of what I donate as a MONTHLY FR Donor.<<
Hey, calm down. I have purchased, used and donated bicycles at many venues. I enjoyed it (well, the uphills kind of are a problem...). When the N. Texas weather calms down (I think we’ll have a window between October 2 and November 24), I’ll be back on a bike to enjoy my area.