Having lived in mountain communities and beach communities with riders, I find they are a pain in the ass. They do not obey traffic laws, they ride in clumps impeding traffic (when paths are provided) and generally obnoxious sots.
I have little sympathy for them when for years I have seen how they “obey the law” - they don’t.
“they ride in clumps impeding traffic (when paths are provided) and generally obnoxious sots.”
They scuff your paint job when you swat them with a fender as well....
I speak from experience as I had one dart right in front of my car when I was going 5 miles an hour with the light and he was riding in the crosswalk, not on the road. Luckily he was not seriously injured, tried to flush marijuana and was not wearing a helmet. In addition, many observers in the area told the police that I was a total victim. Of course, he was a minor and I had to handle the repairs to my car with my insurance only.
I personally think that bicyclists need to learn to share the road, or get off the road. I could not live with myself if I seriously hurt a bicyclist, but they must learn to be responsible or they will die. It is as simple as that.
I'd like to stand at a stop sign and see how many cyclists stop for the stop sign. It's been my experience very few cyclists stop. I've lost count of the numbers of cyclists I've seen peddling furiously towards a stop sign and then kept on going after making a perfunctory sideways glance to see if traffic was coming.
Every time some bicyclist starts chatting about how car drivers don’t look or don’t make room, blah, blah, blah, I ask, “Should bicyclists pass on the right?”
The worst areas here are irvine newport beach