Bop Gun

I don't know why, but I see this fairly often and it really bugs the crap out of me. I've never seen a serious cyclist doing it, of course....I feel the urge to educate these folks for their own good but have never had the opportunity. Besides being terribly unsafe it is also against the law I think.

Anybody else feel the same way? Has anyone ever said anything to a wrong way cyclist in a tactful, non-threatening way?

GuitarWizard

Riding against traffic is more dangerous than riding with traffic.....although I see you live in south Florida, so I guess you're screwed whichever way you go.

Silverserpent

Just two months ago we had a man killed on his bike he was riding the wrong way up the street and was run over by a car making a right turn the driver of the car never saw the guy. I've seen it too many times to count people making right turns don't look right before they turn and if your going the wrong way up the street guess who's not going to see you when you pull out in front of them.

merlinextraligh

First, fewer than 10% of bike car accidents occur with the bike being hit from behind. Second, riding the wrong way causes a ton of problems. Number 1, is closing speed. If you're doing 20mph on a 45mph road,the closing speed against traffic is 65mph. With traffic its 25mph, a huge difference in reaction time and delta V in the event of an accident. Second, you force cars to pass whether its safe or not. They don't have the option of waiting until its safe. Third, cars making right turns will turn into you and never even look for you. I could go on an d on.

What you're doing is illegal, and it endagers my safety. A bike going the wrong direction in traffic creates a very dangerous situation for cyclists riding with traffic. 2 cars, 2 bikes going opposite directions on the same side of the road equals nightmare. Some one with a fancy italian bike ought to know how to ride it. I really hope you can drive your porsche better than you ride.

(Y(L|S+

Just gettng back into cycling and I still ride WITH the traffic flow. I know it is the "correct" way. But I think to myself that I really am putting a lot of faith in drivers. The same drivers I see gabbing on the cells, eating a whopper, or putting mascara on in the mirror. Kinda scary huh? But still, I go with the traffic. I see both points of view. A cyclist riding against traffic may be able to avoid a wandering motorist. Either way, a cyclist on the road is very vulnerable no matter which way they are going.

merlinextraligh

No,learn to ride. It's one thing for a guy on abeach cruiser at 7mph to ride the wrong direction, its another for someone doing 25mph on a De Rosa. You set a bad example, give cyclists abad name, and endanger other riders.

DrPete 

+1. And if beach cruiser guy sees a "hard core" cyclist riding with the traffic, maybe he'll start riding the right way too.

Part of why bikes are still on the road is because in most states they are still considered "vehicles." Try defending yourself in court after a crash when your VEHICLE was going the wrong way on the road. There'd be nobody fixing up your De Rosa for you then... You'd be SOL from a liability standpoint because YOU were the one breaking the law. You'd even have to pay for the damage to the car!

At least in the unfortunate event of getting hit from behind, there's recourse under the law in most places and I know that the driver would pay. Also, from a trauma/applied physics standpoint, I'd much rather get hit from behind than head-on if I had to choose.

DrPete

khuon

Riding the wrong way endangers other cyclists too. There's one guy around here who constantly rides against traffic. We've nearly collided several times. Everytime I see him, I yell out, "wrong way!"

rickkko

Most cyclists I see around here riding "the wrong way" are homeless types with huge garbage bags full of recycleable material hanging off their bikes.

Doesn't matter to me how people ride as long as they don't impede or the normal flow of traffic or unsafely distract drivers.

That said, I have noticed drivers don't take to kindly (use their horns or squeeze their space) to anyone, cyclists, skateboarders, inline skaters, etc. that don't go with the traffic even if they aren't a hazard.

..rickko..

celticfrost

As opposed to people who choose to get hit?
And the deadbeat driver w/out insurance ain't paying whether you're riding with or against traffic, so don't you think you'd be better off riding w/ traffic for the reasons stated in the above posts?

You probably do know how to ride your bike and car just fine, but it seems like your increasing the odds of hurting yourself or someone else --- even if you're out early. Be careful.

Bop Gun

Why ride against EARLY if there is no one on the road? If you say you ride WITH when there is normal traffic, it must mean that you feel it is safer, since cycling is logically riskier when there IS traffic. Therefore, riding WITH must also be safer when there is less traffic. So why, then, do you ever ride against? That makes no sense.

TheDTrain

Here we go again. Still won't listen will you carbonissimo?

I'm pretty it was you who started the same damn argument on a thread last year! I still remember how stubborn that guy was and how he still wouldn't listen with 30 member all telling him he's wrong.
Not to mention the govt cited information, it's illegality, and the concesus of every cycling organization, safety organization, govt lawmakers, and educational organization out there.

You really are an idiot. You got hit once from the back and suddenly you have the warped idea that's much safer riding against traffic. Sure it's much safer doing the exact thing everyone says you shouldn't do. Sure it's much safer doing the thing the drivers in the huge, thousand pound metal machine doesn't expect you to do. Sure it's much safer to risk your life playing chicken with ignorant drivers on their cellphones. Sure it's much safer cutting your collision time in half.

Hanzo

There's a lot of that here too. Many are just hilarious in the fact that they go out of their way to be a nuisance to motorists. They'll just randomly swerve across like 4 lanes of traffic, ride down the very middle line dividing the roads, rest aganist cars if they actually stop at lights. I'm amazed there isn't more fatalities then there are really. And whenever a car does honk at them they get all indignant and flip them off and yell obscienties at the driver or throw things at them. I was riding one time and some suv honking at two transcients on bikes that were way out in the lane so one of them rolls over and starts kicking the side of the suv as he was riding! I don't know why but I found it quite funny at the time.

TheDTrain

Go ahead and laugh it off with idiotic one phrase comments.

It's rich, arrogant ***holes like you who think you're smarter than everyone else who are giving cyclists a bad name and ending up in the hospital room, or even worse, the cemetary. Don't be giving us teen cyclists a bad example to follow. One day that nice carbon $3000 bike is going get wrecked.

ElJamoquio

Then why do you need to operate your vehicle on the wrong side of the road?

No, different flavored coffee makes the world go 'round. Anarchy on the streets is what makes people go dead.

Wrong way cyclists force me out into traffic about once a month; thankfully, they're less stupid in Michigan.

operator

This is a very good troll. And all of you have fallen for it.

ElJamoquio

Yeah, I was thinking that about five minutes after I replied. No one is actually this stupid.

catatonic

I've seen a serious (full kit, and a nice bike) doing this...I have no idea why, but it was annoying me....he just waved and gave a howdy as he went past.

...it annoys me to no end, but at least most of them have the decency to hit the sidewalk when they pull this crap.

pinkrobe

We get guys like this all the time in the Commuting forum. Sometimes they're actually serious, but most of the time they're just stirring the pot. I think there are 3 active Sidewalks vs. Roads threads going on right now...

Retro Grouch 

This is a fun topic because there are people who hold strong opinions on both sides of the issue. Most people haven't figured out why it's safer to ride with the flow of traffic.

As another poster indicated, only a small percentage of automobile/bicycle accidents are rear enders. By far the lion's share occur at intersections. If you ride opposite traffic, every single time that you approach an intersection (an intersection can also be a driveway or parking lot exit), you are coming from a direction the other road users don't expect.

BikerJoeP

Yea...it is like taking candy from a baby isnt it?

nemonis

You are still better off riding with traffic. If you are worried about the drivers coming up behind you, just get a mirror. Then you can check behind you and still have the benefits others have cited (closing speed, predictability, etc.). Not to mention, it is the law. If you are worried about drivers not seeing you, you can always wear obnoxiously visible clothes (I wear bright yellow on top). You may look like an idiot, but if they are laughing at you, at least they saw you.

God bless!
Wayne J.

barba

The intersections, as Retro Grouch said, are the key. Drivers check for traffic coming from one way when making that right turn. If you are going the wrong way, there is a very good chance you are going to get smashed and it will be your fault.

H1449-6

Correct.

cooker

What the....??

Anyone see a ghost?