Drive Carefully.

[peewee_RotA]

Yeah. They've made a positive contribution by using pedal power. I just hate when they decide to get together and shut down traffic for a few hours while they ride en masse(several thousand) through busy streets for some contrived idea that the roads belong to them every last friday of the month or whenever they do it. It's an event that is meant to disrupt. Was on Broadway in Vancouver trying to cross the street from the restaurant to the lot across the street. Well it was packed curb to curb with these fuckwits. So I just started waking when the crosswalk beacon was lit and a few of them fell off their bikes while they shouted at me and my party. I'm all for communal events until it interferes with my rights to enjoy my self and walk where I want as a pedestrian.

Cycling is a sport and an exercise activity. At least on this Hemisphere. Do football players and weight lifters get to play and pump iron on the road? I'm sorry but I've never seen a cyclist on the road that wasn't just exercising. Well as opposed to children who don't ride their bikes on busy streets because... well it's dangerous.

I'm not saying they should be run over at all chances possible or that no-one does it for transportation. I'm just saying that it's unsafe to share the roads and it's not common enough in the US for people to justify sharing the road. It's what we like to call changing the 99% for the sake of the 1%.

[Om3ga]

I must say, South Louisiana is NO fucking place for a cycler. they dont build enough bike paths, the roads need an upgrade  and shitty, and every now an then you have drunk and rude drivers, and then traffic congestion.

[QwazyWabbit]

Sounds like an educational problem. There is no room for militant bicyclists on the road. There is also no excuse for licensed drivers and licensed or unlicensed bicyclists not knowing the rules of the road. Namely, both are entitled to use the road and must respect each other and obey all traffic laws and signals.

Recently in California: http://content.usatoday.com/communities/driveon/post/2009/11/620000851/1

A Los Angeles jury convicted an emergency room doctor for assault with a deadly weapon today for swerving his car in front of two cyclists, causing them to crash into the back of his Infiniti sedan.

The case was closely watched by bicycling advocates as an example of how the growing popularity of the sport is arousing road rage among drivers. Drive On wrote about it last month. Christopher Thompson of Los Angeles, 60, was also convicted Monday of battery causing serious injury, reckless driving and mayhem in the July 2008 incident, the Associated Press reported.

Thompson contended that the bikers were taking up the full road, refused to move to the right and one yelled an obscenity at him. One of the bicyclists dislocated his shoulder. The other broke his teeth and has scars on his face. At Thompson's trial, the prosecution called another biker who testified that Thompson ran him off the road on a previous occasion.

Thompson could face 10 years in state prison.

The cyclist with scars went thru the back window and partially severed his nose.

http://www.velonews.com/article/99513/-i-wanted-to-teach-them-a-lesson---road-rage-trial-resumes

I have little doubt the cyclists aggravated the car driver. They insisted on riding side by side taking up the full lane, against California law. They probably impeded traffic in assertion of their "rights" and definitely taunted the driver. Testimony in the case shows the driver pulled along side the cyclists and exchanged words with them before overtaking and eventually stopping in front of them. A civil case is pending.

Page 47 of the 2009 California Drivers Handbook: http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/dl600.pdf

Bicyclists on public streets have the same rights and responsibilities as automobile drivers. Respect the right-of-way of bicyclists because they are entitled to share the road with other drivers. Here are some critical points for drivers and cyclists to remember:
Drivers must:
- look carefully for bicyclists before opening doors next to moving traffic or before turning right.
- safely merge toward the curb or into the bike lane.
- not overtake a bicyclist just before making a right turn. Merge first, then turn.
Bicyclists:
- are lawfully permitted to ride on certain sections of freeways, in some rural areas where there
- must ride in the same direction as other traffic, not against it.
- must ride in a straight line as near to the right curb or edge of the roadway as practical not on the sidewalk.
- must ride single file on a busy or narrow street.
- must make left and right turns in the same way that drivers do, using the same turn lanes.
- must signal all their intentions to motorists and cyclists near them.
- may legally move left to turn left, to pass a parked or moving vehicle, another bicycle, an animal, or to make a turn, avoid debris, or other hazards.
- may choose to ride near the left curb or edge of a one-way street.
- may use a left turn lane. If the bicyclist is traveling straight ahead, he or she should use a through traffic lane rather than ride next to the curb and block traffic making right turns.

Similar laws prevail in all other states. Cyclist and drivers MUST YIELD to pedestrians in crosswalks in all 50 states.

[Om3ga]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KwJsEuImMy4

dumb shit like this, NOT cool.

[|iR|Focalor]

Cycling is a sport and an exercise activity. At least on this Hemisphere. Do football players and weight lifters get to play and pump iron on the road? I'm sorry but I've never seen a cyclist on the road that wasn't just exercising. Well as opposed to children who don't ride their bikes on busy streets because... well it's dangerous.

I'm not saying they should be run over at all chances possible or that no-one does it for transportation. I'm just saying that it's unsafe to share the roads and it's not common enough in the US for people to justify sharing the road. It's what we like to call changing the 99% for the sake of the 1%.

Hopefully one day people with your degree of reasoning DISability will be prevented from breeding.

Yes, football players and weight lifters use roads for jogging, just like pedestrians use roads for walking.

Yes, there are plenty of people who ride bicycles as a means of transportation to and from work because they can't afford a car. But yeah, you're right, fuck the poor. Sit and starve, motherfuckers.

[peewee_RotA]

Cycling is a sport and an exercise activity. At least on this Hemisphere. Do football players and weight lifters get to play and pump iron on the road? I'm sorry but I've never seen a cyclist on the road that wasn't just exercising. Well as opposed to children who don't ride their bikes on busy streets because... well it's dangerous.

I'm not saying they should be run over at all chances possible or that no-one does it for transportation. I'm just saying that it's unsafe to share the roads and it's not common enough in the US for people to justify sharing the road. It's what we like to call changing the 99% for the sake of the 1%.

Hopefully one day people with your degree of reasoning DISability will be prevented from breeding.

Yes, football players and weight lifters use roads for jogging, just like pedestrians use roads for walking.

Yes, there are plenty of people who ride bicycles as a means of transportation to and from work because they can't afford a car. But yeah, you're right, fuck the poor. Sit and starve, motherfuckers.

LERN 2 REED newb. I was trolling

Peewee: 1
Focolor: 0
 

Of course I didn't mean any of that. A drunk driver killed a cyclist in my home town just outside my house. One of the most senseless and horrible things I ever saw. Although i do stick by the statements that it is dangerous for the cyclist yet that's a fact that most people like to ignore. A bike can't do the minimum speed on most roads, and blind turns is a complete deathtrap. Smart cyclists will ride on the shoulder, or stop when in these situations, and I wish all of them had this precautionary mindset. In my car I don't trust the drivers behind me as far as I can throw them, much less if I were riding a bike.

[|iR|Focalor]

LERN 2 REED newb. I was trolling

Peewee: 1
Focolor: 0
 

Oh, HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, you were trolling, HAHAHAHAHAHAHA, I guess I just didn't read what you wrote, HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, silly me, HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

NO. This is not called trolling. It's called backpedaling, shithead. How poignant that a term for what you're doing refers to bicycling as well...

You are too stupid to live on my planet. Leave or die.

[QwazyWabbit]

A bike can't do the minimum speed on most roads...

There is no such thing as a minimum speed on any road. The only highways that have a minimum speed are the freeways and it is posted as such. Bikes are not permitted on freeways. Any fool who rides his bike on the expressways will be subject to a Darwin award.

There is such a thing as the "basic speed law". This states that any speed that can be construed to be "too fast for conditions" is in excess of the basic speed limit. This limit can be zero in some conditions. When the road ahead is filled with bikes, you slow down and wait for conditions to improve before passing safely. You don't greet each other with the finger of greeting.

Defensive driving is always the law.

[Om3ga]

Any fool who rides his bike on the expressways will be subject to a Darwin award.

Done it briefly before on interstate 10 westbound, but only briefly to the next exit. 

would be nice for a safe way bicycles can share the expressways with cars, with the only risk involved is the traffic.

[peewee_RotA]

A bike can't do the minimum speed on most roads...

There is no such thing as a minimum speed on any road. The only highways that have a minimum speed are the freeways and it is posted as such. Bikes are not permitted on freeways. Any fool who rides his bike on the expressways will be subject to a Darwin award.

I'm not suggesting that it is illegal. I'm suggest that if you drive 5 miles per our around a blind turn, then you are asking to be rear ended. I live in Western PA and I've been driving on roads like that for years to and from work. Look up PA Route 910. That road is a death trap waiting to happen. So bad that people will drive 30-45 minutes out of their way to avoid it in the winter.

Put a cyclist on that road, doing no more than 5 MPH up one of those inclined blind turns and watch what happens to him. The last cyclist I encountered did this. THANK GOD I was the bastard behind him first because I drive so defensively that I average 5 under. The thing that ticked me off is that the stretch of road he was on was the only one on this entire stretch of road with a shoulder wider than 3 feet. So he refused to pull over regardless of the road layout.

When people do this, they are asking for it. Which is not uncommon for idiots driving cars to pull stupid stuff. But when you pull stupid stuff on a bicycle, there is nothing but your helmet to protect you when you get yourself hit by a vehicle traveling 35 MPH, or a tractor trailer doing the speed limit who cannot physically stop in time by the time they see you around that bend.

So yes there is a such thing as a minimum safe speed driving on certain roads. It may not be illegal to ignore the concept, but it sure is stupid. Just wait till you see how dangerous it gets when they place stop signs for construction just before these blind turns and cars start to line up at the "crest" of the blind spot.

[The Happy Friar]

there's no legal min speed in most states but most (all?) states have the "speed "not reasonable and prudent" for existing conditions" law.  Basically, if it's a blind curve @ the road's 55, you're getting a speeding ticket if you go 35 & loose control.  But also, if you're in fog & you stop or go excessive slow (IE 5mph vs 25 in a 55) you can get a ticket for impeding the flow of traffic.  However, most state troopers/sheriff in NY won't ticket you in bad weather for going to slow, but they will pull you over to ask why.

Applies to bikes too: if you're on a blind corner & you stop & get it, it's legally your fault.  Only thing is juries won't side with the law, they'll side with the idiot.

[Om3ga]

especially here (louisiana) where everyone just pay for their first drivers license and pass the test.

[Th0m@s29]

How did the other driver not notice a car slowly turning into the other lane coming at them and playing chicken with them.....

[[BTF]Sigma]

They were fiddling around with the indash touchscreen GPS feature looking for the closest 711 for munchies.

[Om3ga]

or circle k.