Thread: Do you ever...
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Old 08-19-19, 07:38 AM
  #28  
livedarklions
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Originally Posted by sfh
If I understand the OP's explanation, this isn't a case of "would you roll a stop sign".


The cyclist in question here put himself in danger and behaved as if it was someone else's job to keep him safe.


That's really different than your example of the right-turn lane in my opinion. I'll take the lane specifically so the slow moving vehicle behind me will see me and not pass me during the turn. All that vehicle has to do is follow traffic laws, and no one gets injured (and I'm not bothered at all by the 2-3 second delay I may have created for the driver). That's a big difference from a fast-moving cyclist assuming that the driver of a pickup was going to waive right-of-way at a 4-way stop.
For a bicyclist, "would you endanger yourself by running a stop sign" and "do you ever roll a stop sign" are two entirely different questions. The OP may or may not have confounded the two issues, depending how you read the post.

I roll lots of stop signs, I never endanger myself doing so. For example, at a three way intersection, where there is literally no traffic lane crossing the breakdown lane I'm riding on, I will do this right in plain view of drivers. In that situation, I might as well be riding on the sidewalk as far as my relevance to the drivers' operations of their vehicles. I have decided I am marginally safer keeping my momentum and balance rather than having to stop and put down a foot for no good reason. Occasionally, a driver will let me know of their disagreement with my decision. I have decided not to care about that because frankly, I think it just shows they haven't really calculated the value of my making sure I'm going to remain out of their way. I'm not an ambassador, I'm traffic trying to get through the day in one piece.

I mention the right hand turn lane issue precisely because that's an area where I constantly get honked at, yelled at and even threatened because I'm actually following the law and the safest practice. It demonstrates the futility of trying to enact your riding as if it were some sort of morality play to show drivers cyclists aren't bad.
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