gremlin76

Today while out driving with my wife, we passed a couple on road bikes. I had a feeling that they were not locals, probably tourists out for a training ride in Vermont. As we came up to a red light, I bet her that they would pass the line of stopped cars on the right along the curb, instead of stopping at the end of the line of cars.

There are two lanes at the red light, one going straight or right and one left turn only. Amazingly I watched as they got behind me in the center of my lane, like a good cyclist should.

But then they suddenly swerved over and split the lanes, not even slowing down, completely blowing the red light and flying through the intersection. No idea how they didn't get run over.

We live in a little small town (9,000 people), and obviously ride on the road. It's idiots like these that the locals see, and then project their bad feelings onto us local law abiding riders. Sucks that tourists make us look bad. My wife and I work at the high school, and have had students yell at us on the road and tell us in school that we should ride on the sidewalk, when we ride safely and obey all laws.

And yes I mention the locals vs. tourists thing. You can tell the difference quite easily. Locals are having fun and in no hurry, and tourists are riding like they still are in heavy city traffic. There are only 2 traffic lights in town, so it's not like you'll lose the race if you have to stop and wait 30 seconds once or twice.

10 Wheels

Guessing you have never been rear ended waiting in a line of traffic 5 times like I have.

NCbiker

I'm guilty of filtering to the front of the thru lane if there is a right turn lane. I know it's against the law to pass on the right, but I just can't help but believe I'm safer doing this as everyone in my lane see me as I'm passing so they expect me ahead of them when the light changes. Also any cars coming from the opposite direction wanting to make a left hand turn see me as I'm out front. It seems to me that if I take the lane and wait in line with traffic, I risk getting hit from behind and as I approach the intersection I'm blocked from view by the car in front leaving myself open to the left cross as I enter the intersection.

If my logic is flawed, I'm open to argument, but as it stands now, this approach seems the safest to me and I've not encountered any problems doing this.

10 Wheels

You got it right...

MattFoley

Okay, blowing lights is one thing, but filtering is not only safe, but perfectly legal in most places (although I concede that VT may not be one of those places).

brianogilvie 

I ride in western Massachusetts, and I have had college students yell things like that at me. It has nothing to do with whether I, or other cyclists, am law-abiding; it's about college students being jerks and thinking it's funny to harass people who look different, and because now that they can drive, they think bikes are for kids.

I suspect it's the same with the high school students you mention. If they say that to you in school, though, where you can respond to them, you've got a great opportunity to teach them otherwise: if it's illegal to ride on the sidewalk in your town, tell them that. If it's legal, explain why it's usually a bad idea (pedestrians feel threatened by bikes going 15-20 mph, drivers don't expect fast-moving vehicles to be crossing driveway cutouts, sidewalks are often in poor shape, etc.). Point out what the Vermont Driver License Manual says: "Under state law bicyclists have the right to operate on all roads, unless they are specially prohibited, such as on limited-access highways like the Interstate.... It is important to remember that bicyclists have the same rights and duties as motor vehicle operators" (p. 40), and in the instructions for bicyclists, "Always ride with through traffic on the right side of the road, not on the sidewalk" (p. 41). Tell them that they may well be tested on this when they take their driving license exam!

In short, treat it as a teachable moment.

CB HI

Good to know that there are two other people, besides myself that have never exceeded the speed limit when motoring and obey every single other law.

PS - when visiting VT, it is pretty easy to tell the locals by their self righteous attitudes.

Stealthammer

I agree completely. Blowing stoplights or failing to stop at stop signs is arrogance in search of a reckoning, and it gives drivers a clear indication that you have no regard as to the traffic laws, so why should they? Also, filtering to the front at a stop and staying to the right and out of the main flow of traffic is simply a necessary survival technique. Placing yourself directly between two cars while waiting for everyone to move forward is foolhardy, and in my experience drivers are happy to have you move out of their intended path.

krobinson103

I tend to filter to the front even on my motorcycle here in Korea. The only time I didn't I got rear ended by 10 tonne dump truck. If you're on 2 wheels avoiding cars is a survival tactic.

rebel1916

Somebody call a waaaaaaaaaaaaambulance.

shokhead

Plenty of those on this fourm. Are they all from VT?

bluegoatwoods

Count me in...I won't say that I've never exceeded the speed limit. But it's pretty rare for me; the posted speed limit is usually fast enough for me.

Something that bothers me is how other motorists behave toward those of us who respect the speed limit, stop at stop signs, etc. They fling their cars at us perhaps more than they do it toward bicyclists.

It's one of the reasons that I just don't want to drive anymore.

dpeters11

Just don't come into Ohio. Every driver violates the law. You must use your horn whenever you pass someone. And it's not one of those archaic laws that's still on the books, it's in the driver education manual for the driving test.

Flying Merkel

Stay out of the way of cars! Setting yourself up to get rear-ended might make you feel good inside, but the feeling will fade fast.

Beware of the "teachable moment". That's another term for "pompous ass gets teeth knocked down throat"

k7baixo

While we're at it......

...."Get off my lawn!"

XR2

All you can do is follow your own conscience and leave others to theirs. If drivers use one experience to guide their feelings there's little you can do about it. In the US we tend to view choices outside our own experience as "weird,strange and unusual." Americans seem to be kinda narrow minded for living in "The Land of the free...."

Digital_Cowboy

Just recently I had a not so dissimilar "conversation" with an individual along these lines. He passes me too closely, cuts me off, and continues to violate my right of way. I give him a quick little toot on the ole air horn and figure that that's the end of it. I see him make a right and really figured that that is/was the end of it.

Only to have him loop back around to chew me out. Trying to tell me that the road we were on where he passed me too closely has a bike lane and that I needed to ride in it. It does not have a bike lane it is too narrow to have a bike lane. The second road that we were on does, but is in the door zone.

The thing I had to "laugh" at is that even though I was acting both safely and legally that he accuses me of being the one to give cyclists "a bad name." When sadly the reality is that "cyclists" like him who hug the curb/ride in the gutter pan are the one's who make life hard for those of us who ride all the time.

I'd also talked with a friend of mine who is an LCI Cycling Savoy instructor as well as the police and they all agreed with me that there is no bike lane on the road that he was going on about.

CB HI

It is even more fun when they are in court under oath and claim the 1' broken up shoulder is a bike lane.

Digital_Cowboy

Isn't it though, or they want to pull over and actually get into a fight over it. Those are the drivers who I transition over to the sidewalk to put as much space between them and me as I possibly can.

And that's pretty much what he was referring to as being a "bike lane."

rebel1916

Why don't we take this to A&S where you all can chew it to death in the manner to which you are accustomed.

kjmillig

I'm pretty sure he was referring to a teachable moment while at school talking to students. So if a student decides the tacher is a "pompus ass" who needs his "teeth knocked down his throat", he will be arrested and charged with assault very quickly. If on the road, road ragers in cars should be very careful when confronting others. That ass on the bike (or other drivers) might be a lot stronger then them, might be trained in mixed martial arts, might be carrying a concealed firearm, and might have a lot hotter temper and less patience.

SnowJob

Why do "us good ones look bad"? And who the hell are "us good ones"? I'm confused.

gremlin76

Wow the replies. I was just wondering why somebody on a bicycle would ride between two lanes of stopped cars and fly through an intersection with a red light. Especially in a small town in Vermont with two traffic lights, in a place which he is not aware of the local practices- IE we so seldom see cyclists splitting lanes so we never look for them.

Here's an interesting observation by me. Often when a pick-up truck is stopped at a red light, the driver will open his door to spit his dip into the road, or empty his dip spit cup, or empty his ashtray. Do you think he checks to see if a cyclist is riding between lanes before he does this? If this happens, the cyclist is going to ride into a door. And we have very very few almost none cyclists who split lanes so we never check for them first. That is the locals vs. tourists. The locals know just to hang back and ride with traffic.

I also ride a motorcycle, which is obviously different than a bicycle, but I know on either one when to take my lane, and when to get out of the way of cars. So basically, why not do as the locals do, or "When in Rome, do as the Romans do?"

david58

CB HI