JoeyBike

Every community seems to be unique with how commuting cyclists view the Rules of the Road. If you respond here, it would be helpful if you qualify a few things before giving your answer:

1. List the Town/City and State/Province (where you commute).

2. Is your commute rural, urban, or a combination?

3. Do you commute by bike daily, often, or seldom? (if you commute daily in the summer only, you should still mark "daily").

4. OK. You are the Emperor of the world! What would you change about traffic laws in your community?

fietsbob

>> people have to get out of their cars and stand next to them at stop signs and lights.

treadtread

1. List the Town/City and State/Province (where you commute).
Bay area, California

2. Is your commute rural, urban, or a combination?
Subarban

3. Do you commute by bike daily, often, or seldom? (if you commute daily in the summer only, you should still mark "daily").
Daily

4. OK. You are the Emperor of the world! What would you change about traffic laws in your community?
What fietsbob said - except I was going to say, allow cyclists to stop at stop signs without putting a foot on the ground.

FenderTL5

1. List the Town/City and State/Province (where you commute).
Nashville Tennessee

2. Is your commute rural, urban, or a combination?
combo - suburban/downtown urban, always inside the city limits

3. Do you commute by bike daily, often, or seldom? (if you commute daily in the summer only, you should still mark "daily").
daily, every work day since May (save for a couple)

4. OK. You are the Emperor of the world! What would you change about traffic laws in your community?
FRAP would be a thing of the past. Cycles would use the lanes just like any other vehicle - all the time. Passing in the same lane would be considered unsafe and a traffic violation in every instance.Move over into an adjacent lane for safe passing.

colleen c

1. List the Town/City and State/Province (where you commute).

Bay Area



2. Is your commute rural, urban, or a combination?

Combination



3. Do you commute by bike daily, often, or seldom? (if you commute daily in the summer only, you should still mark "daily").

Daily


4. OK. You are the Emperor of the world! What would you change about traffic laws in your community?

Adopt the Idaho Stop Law for bicyclist. Along with having motorist requring to take a seperate test for their driver's license at the DMV that is more about bicycle rights and safety for sharing the road. Maybe than they will learn we can be on the road.

windhchaser

respect people need to learn to respect other this is for the entire usa.and there should be a tax incentive for us bikers

Burton

1. List the Town/City and State/Province (where you commute):
Montreal, Quebec, Canada

2. Is your commute rural, urban, or a combination?
Urban

3. Do you commute by bike daily, often, or seldom? (if you commute daily in the summer only, you should still mark "daily").
Daily - all year long.

4. OK. You are the Emperor of the world! What would you change about traffic laws in your community?

I would abolish all fines and tickets for moving violations - obviously they don't work. What I WOULD initiate is an immediate permit suspension for ALL infractions and a requirement to retake the driving exam with a 100% score in the area of the offence. Secondary offences would result in both vehicle seizure and the requirement to retake the exam. More than three offences would result in seizure of all vehicles and a lifetime denial of the right to own or operate any vehicle, as would being found to be at fault in any accident causing death or serious injury.

Bicycles would have the same rights and responsibilities as any other vehicle when being operated on a public road.

Yeah I know - I'm a despot. But 35,000 auto related deaths in the US every year is completely unacceptable and clearly - not everyone should be allowed to drive.

But if you think thats totally unreasonable - you should check out the requirements for a pilots license and the impact your driving record can have on your right to fly an airplane.

JoeyBike

Can you imagine the number of fatalities without seat-belts, airbags, and anti-lock brakes?

Statistics show that each year,43,000 or more of the United States’ population die due to vehicular accidents and around 2.9 million people end up suffering light or severe injuries. In a certain five year period, there had been recorded a 25% of the driving population who encountered or were involved in car accidents. - https://www.usacoverage.com/auto-insu...each-year.html

Like you said - less people should be allowed to drive.

agent pombero

1. List the Town/City and State/Province (where you commute)

Portland, Oregon

2. Is your commute rural, urban, or a combination?

Urban.

3. Do you commute by bike daily, often, or seldom? (if you commute daily in the summer only, you should still mark "daily").

Daily, 365 days a year rain or shine.

4. OK. You are the Emperor of the world! What would you change about traffic laws in your community?

a) Bicyclists would be allowed to treat stop signs and red lights as yield signs.

b) Fines for using a cellphone would increase from ~$142 to $950 for motorized vehicles. Second offense is $2500. Third offense is loss of driving privileges for 10 years and a $8000 fine. Law enforcement for cellphone use while driving would be a top priority.

c) A DUI conviction without a crash/"accident" would lead to 7-10 years loss of drivers license.

d) A DUI conviction involving injury/death to another road user would lead to permanent revocation of a drivers license.

e) For people under 60 years old who want to drive a car: Mandatory eye exams every 5 years; retake the written exam & driving exam every 5 years.

f) For people 61 and older who want to drive a car: Mandatory eye exams every 2 years; retake the written exam & driving exam every 2 years.

nashvillwill

Not my current commute, but my hometown.

Nashville, Tn.

I would get rid of all center turn lanes. Making a left turn, mid-block, would not only be illegal, but impossible due to proper road design.

Also, parking lot entrances would only be allowed from mid-block alleyways. No curb cuts.

exit: I guess my wishes aren't exactly traffic laws, but more like urban design ordinances. I don't think we can ever remove stupid drivers from the road, but we can certainly limit their opportunities to make stupid decisions.

superfred

I agree with nashvillwill. There will always be stupid and inattentive people and enforcing laws won't make people any less stupid or inattentive. I would require all new roads and developments to consider how to route bicycle traffic like how they already have considerations for pedestrian and car traffic. Also increase in budgets to create bicycle superhighways with footpaths running parallel so people wont be compelled to use dedicated bike paths as sidewalks.

B. Carfree

Done! Read your state's vehicle code. Cyclists and motorists alike are only required to come to a complete stop behind the limit line at stop signs. Neither cyclists nor motorists are required to place a foot on the ground in order to do this.

Telly

1. List the Town/City and State/Province (where you commute).
Southern coastal suburbs - Athens, Greece

2. Is your commute rural, urban, or a combination?
Urban

3. Do you commute by bike daily, often, or seldom? (if you commute daily in the summer only, you should still mark "daily").
Daily (year long)

4. OK. You are the Emperor of the world! What would you change about traffic laws in your community?
Enforcement: Traffic laws exist here, and although they're not perfect, if they were fully enforced things would be much better for everyone, not just cyclists.

Worknomore

Since I am Emperor I would wave my majic sceptor and make it so cops actually ENFORCED existing laws.

tsl

I'd go one better and make it so so people OBEYED the laws. No need for police or the police state then.

It's not about more laws, it's about more obedience.

fietsbob

Can I have a WABAC machine to change land use and zoning and other planning ,

to build the world, Infrastructure, not paved over, to deify thru Land Use,
the private automobile..?


Then there is Taxation feed the sparrow by passing everything thru the Horse.
Oil Company Ownership of the common treasury and state and 'defense' department?

.. hey its time to pony up more Taxes , or go to jail time..

the Fiscal Bluff is in the news now..

I-Like-To-Bike

Is this thread now opened up for posting non-bicycling related political rants?

getyourcrayon

1. List the Town/City and State/Province (where you commute).
Tampa, FL

2. Is your commute rural, urban, or a combination?
Mostly suburban

3. Do you commute by bike daily, often, or seldom? (if you commute daily in the summer only, you should still mark "daily").
Seldom to work, often elsewhere

4. OK. You are the Emperor of the world! What would you change about traffic laws in your community?


make the idaho stop reality. Drivers have to retake exam every 5 years (or less).

Ekdog

Speed limits of 30km/h (20mph) save lives.

European Citizenīs Initiative "30kmh – making streets liveable!"

enigmaT120

I like Burton's, as at least with his rules it would become illegal to run down and kill other road users.

Zorba

Easy. There are certain roads that bicycles have no business on (outside of posted, special events). I don't ride my bike in these places (think very narrow, very windy, very rough, heavily traveled rural road with absolutely no shoulders whatsoever.), and bicyclists on these roads are a hazard to everyone, especially themselves.

Jonathon94

1. List the Town/City and State/Province (where you commute).
High Falls (Jackson/Forsyth Ga)
2. Is your commute rural, urban, or a combination?
Rural
3. Do you commute by bike daily, often, or seldom? (if you commute daily in the summer only, you should still mark "daily").
Often
4. OK. You are the Emperor of the world! What would you change about traffic laws in your community?
Bigger fines on littering! There is a small path beside the road that I used to be able to travel in just to allow traffic to more safely pass me. Now it is littered in broken beer bottles that there is no way that I can ride it. When it gets warmer, I am considering going to clean the path up.

Burton

LOL Thanks but I think I fell down on the job - there really should be some jail time thrown in there too. With the cost of all the advances in science - I'd like to think shortening all those extra years of life we worked so hard for is a serious crime! We need all those people to pay off the national deficit!

Ekdog

Those roads are often the only way to get from point A to point B. How about a solution that doesn't put the onus exclusively on cyclists?

treadtread

This isn't true - or at least, is open to interpretation. A guy in my office got a ticket for track standing - the officer just said that he didn't wait long enough. Apparently, if he had kept his foot on the ground, that would have been long enough.