Originally Posted by
Falkon
Disregard? No, I have full regard for traffic laws. I just don't always follow every one if it's not practical to do so. I'm not going to sit there waiting at a red light that does not detect my bike there and change just to be in compliance with the law. I'm not going to necessarily come to a full stop at a four way stop if I can clearly see that there are no other cars coming. I otherwise stay within the law.
Pretty much this. Traffic laws are geared towards motorists for the most part. So as a cyclist, you will find many of them unnecessary. In a car, you're cocooned in a sealed chamber where your view and sound are attenuated.
A cyclist, on the other hand, is "out in the open" and therefore, has an unobstructed clear view of everything around him. In addition, he can hear any hazards that might come his way but not yet be in view.
If I'm approaching an intersection, and can clearly see down the road in both directions, coming to a complete stop would be unnecessary. I do however, obey all traffic signals.
Now that you bring up the topic, one ride I decided to try an experiment. I would follow the traffic laws 100% according driver ed. specification. The ride turned out to be one of the most arduous and time wasting rides I'd ever been on.
A full 90% of all the intersections where I came to a complete stop had no cross traffic on it at all. It felt so peculiar when I'd stop completely and unclip even though I could clearly see ahead of time that it was just me alone on the road.
BTW, I tried this same experiment while driving once, and you wouldn't believe all the people that got pissed off. Suffice it to say, there were brights being flashed, horns, a couple of people tried to run me off the road, and more than anyone's share of obscenities received. But that's what you get for following the speed limit...exactly.