Originally Posted by
Paul Barnard
I suspect the reason you don't see more chalk outlines is because the riders exercise a modicum of care before they "blow through." I have found that most riders do not want to get hit and don't routinely make decisions that could result in them getting hit. Of course some make mistakes, but I don't reckon it happens often that they say "eff it" and blast through leaving everything to chance.
I work at a large university and there are a small percentage of student riders who appear to ride with little caution. On more than one occasion I've been momentarily shocked by a rider coming out of nowhere and dashing in front of me. But these are all places where traffic speeds are low and I would expect the riders really are calculating their moves. They don't get hit often or at least don't get hit hard enough to get injured. If they did I'd see the report and they are infrequent. Pedestrian accidents are more common.
Reckless riding isn't appropriate and it isn't safe, but it's probably generally less dangerous than it appears to startled drivers.
(But University police will ticket them if they can. Tickets to cyclists are rare in the city except in and around the campus, where they are frequent. You can run a stop sign elsewhere if you do it with caution, but on campus even a cautious roll can earn a ticket.)