CB HI

Seriously, some of you guys are as bad as cops trying to make up laws to put cyclist in a jam.

Maelochs

The idea is "Share the road," not "Drive like you are the only person on the road who matters." Cyclists always complain that drivers treat bikes as (at best) second-class road users, or as impediments, or opposing forces, or ignore us altogether.

When a cyclist does the same ... we support him?

I have been riding on the road for about five decades. I have never had much problem at all. As I have gained experience, I have gotten better at safely interacting with cars so that all of us get where we need to be with minimal delay or impediment.

This guy apparently has chosen a different path---and it has left him where it has left him. If he is happy in jail, then he is wise to have persisted. If he would rather be riding his bike, then I'd say he has handled this matter badly.

People can argue all they want. I have yet you see one bit of sense explained here, which would make me or others safer while cycling. So ... what are you all fighting about? It obviously isn't about making cycling safer.

How is it that so many of us can cycle so often and cover so many miles and not end up in either the hospital or in jail? How is it that this guy cannot?

I am pretty sure that when it comes to following examples, I don't want to follow a path that leads to incarceration.

This guy Mr. Smith, who seems ot be a hero to some posters, will be eating prison food today. I will be safely and happily riding my bike in traffic.

We all make choices.

rydabent

What a huge crime. Riding his bike on a road. Will they arrest joggers for jogging on their sidewalks. B'crats as useless as an ice box at the north pole.

unterhausen

He did used to post here, IIRC

Hoopdriver

Thanks for the balanced post. The key is whether his riding style is motivated more by interest in personal safety or instead by some fervor to force his life principles on others. I think there may be some of the former at play, but certainly too much of the latter. I hope Mr. Smith finds his balance.

Lemond1985

The article lost me here. Riding a bicycle on public roads does not require a license and permission from the state like driving a car does, and so there's no "privilege" that can be taken away. Could the judge also forbid him from eating and drinking, under threat of jail time? What about walking along these same roads while pushing a bike?

Maelochs

This also caught my attention. I would like to see the actual wording ... in one of the articles I read, it seemed he was prohibited from Blocking the Road ... for which he had been arrested ... not prohibited from riding altogether.

I have not read the court papers, but from the articles I read it seemed that after he was arrested for deliberately blocking traffic (and apparently harassing drivers) he was ordered to stop doing that ... but he persisted in deliberately blocking the road.

I can well understand a judge saying, "You are free to keep riding until this comes to rial, but do not continue to ride in the fashion for which you were arrested until it is determined, at trial, if this is a crime or not." That would not be unusual---a judge saying, "You are free but do not continue to commit this offense until your trial." Sort of telling someone who is out on bail for drunk driving not to drink---it is a condition of parole or bail. basically, "We will let you go while awaiting trial, but don't go screwing up again."

As @Hoopdriver notes, It does seem that Mr. Smith is exaggerating his riding style to make a point, not merely to maintain safety and make use of the road along with other users. From the articles I read and the video I saw, he actually went out of his way to make it hard for cars to pass him, pulling further left while cars were going by. This is Not for safety---safety would dictate easing Right to let the cars go by to create the largest possible buffer---a little room for error.

In one video, he slows when cars are passing, and almost topples into the oncoming traffic lane because he is trying so hard to be an obstacle--he almost got himself hit while supposedly trying to increase his own safety.

As I said above, there are ways to deal with roads like this and most of them use those ways and Don't end up in jail. I am sure plenty of us have had to commute on roads like this, because they were the only route linking two destinations---and I bet every one of us came up with better solutions than this guy.

He very much seems to want to make a point, and to be a dick about it. I do not see where safety is purely and totally the point of his riding style. In fact, from everything I have read ans watched, his attitude seems to be "Screw you, drivers! I can do this and I will do this, and I am glad it makes you angry!" And to me, even as a cyclist who takes a lane whenever I need to regardless of what drivers think ... he is abusing the law, lowering general respect for cyclists, and creating road hazards.

As far as I am concerned, when people behave badly, and deliberately strive to upset and offend other people ... I don't care if they walk, ride a bike, ride a motorcycle, drive a car, fly a hovercraft,. or fly with surgically grafted wings ... they are in the wrong. Using the letter of the law as an excuse to be a dick is being a dick. And being a dick does not improve society.

Ask yourselves this---after this guy's antics,, how would you like to be a cyclist along that stretch of road? Because every person he deliberately pissed off is going to see you, and think of him. How are those other cyclists safer now?

I went out late last night for a quick spin, and as often happens along a couple of stretches of lumpy, curvy road, a car got behind me and had to wait to pass. As I usually do, I took the lane when it was not safe for the driver to pass, and edged over as soon as it was. I have been doing this for a long time---sometimes I add hand signals---and I find that drivers don't get impatient, don't tailgate, don't buzz me when they can pass. It seems that a little communication and cooperation works wonders.

When I used to commute along one very high-speed road (posted maybe 45, actual speeds, significantly higher) which had crappy outside-edge pavement and often flooded during heavy rains, I would routinely back up a dozen or 15 cars---I had to ride at rush hour, and the road was too narrow for cars to pass if I took the lane, which I had to do because of the surface and sometimes, the puddles.

I didn't find it to be a problem to pull over after I stacked up a couple dozen cars. I would leapfrog down that stretch of road like that, preventing causing the kinds of traffic jams which lead drivers to do crazy things. And for some reason, nobody ever yelled at me or threw things at me or buzzed me ... things much more common in that city and in that time period. The people who did react badly to seeing a cyclist seemed to react badly regardless of what I did---I have had people coming toward me in the other lane throw stuff---I surely wasn't impeding their progress.)

Makes me think this guy just doesn't want to get along.

Maybe he is doing a good thing by pushing the law. Like the guy in Colorado who had to go to the Supreme Court to get his cycling rights affirmed, maybe this guy will bring some progress. But the whole thing would work better if he didn't go out of his way to be a self-important, egotistical a-hole while doing it. He is doing as much harm as potential good.

But hey ... he chose to be in jail, he is in jail. Me, I'd choose to ride a little more considerately until my case went to court. We all make choices---and we all pay for them. He pays by being in jail for two years. I pay by riding my bike. Whatever option others choose ... I will still choose to safely, and enjoyably ride my bike.

livedarklions

We didn't put him in anything. He was convicted by a jury.

Rollfast

Ugh. This is a habit to break like smoking. Even I got bugged by a cop about it and I saw the light.

livedarklions

I have a totally different take on this. I've literally never heard of anyone getting arrested for riding a bike unless they have actually hit someone. That makes it pretty obvious that this guy was deliberately trying to provoke this sort of thing. By violating a probation condition, he's put himself back in jail.

I've had one cop yell at me once over a bs violation in the course of several decades of riding, and that was a student cop in training who was obviously over-zealous. The violation, btw, was I proceeded before the pedestrians had completely cleared the crosswalk - not sure how my proceeding in the extreme right of the right lane while they were already on the far left side of the street was supposed to be a failure to yield, but he didn't force the point.

CB HI

You do not list your location. Location can be a huge difference. I went a couple decades without any problems, transferred to the Washington DC area for two years and the problems were daily. Transferred out of the Washington DC and the problems went away. My cycling style did not change one bit.

So the range of problems can go from zero to daily based on ones location.

Please do go to his county and ride for a year and then report back.

Chris0516 sounds like a constant complainer on BFs, but then again, he rides in the Washington DC area.

CB HI

You mean a jury of motorist with a county judge. You should read about Blackhawk, CO.

CB HI

There have been a couple of threads here about people banned from riding on highways and certain towns/counties.

CB HI

Roads Were Not Built For Cars | Beak wants bike ban on many A-roads
https://www.thewashcycle.com/2012/07...k-parkway.html
https://www.bozemandailychronicle.co...90a9e2910.html
https://www.adventure-journal.com/20...untain-biking/
https://www.mercurynews.com/2015/12/...-on-highway-9/
https://www.mcall.com/news/mc-xpm-19...451-story.html
https://www.thirteen.org/metrofocus/...d-much-ground/
https://www.weeklyregistercall.com/2...icycles-again/
https://www.denverpost.com/2013/02/0...bikes-in-city/

And Lafayette Colorado also banned cyclist from outside the city. Only residents allowed to cycle. No articles found.

The county in this thread is not there yet, but harassing and jailing legal cyclist is the start of the process.

JoeyBike

I used to participate in group rides out in the country. Anywhere from 20 to 100 cyclists - touring and roadies. There were three guys in particular who were jerks and thought they owned the road. The bike club had a helmet rule, so those three guys wore helmets but never buckled them in protest. They would bike 3 abreast on 2-lane quiet or busy roads and never give an inch to auto traffic. Wouldn't care if 100 cars backed up behind them. I always figured that a Bubba would educate them on manners one day. I quit the club eventually. No clue what became of those azzhats.

The "victim" in the OP story may be one of them!

Rollfast

Really, this thread is just beating a dead probation.

Maelochs

Really sorry but that is so patently untrue and actually ridiculous that i have to comment.
A bicylist is Much slower than a car. This is always the issue when people discuss riding on roads ... the huge speed differential. Bikes block auto traffic.
Actually the situation here seems to be that one road-user refuses to cooperate with all the others. We ALL have the right to use the road---together.
There is no difference between a cyclist deliberately blocking traffic and a motorist not giving a cyclist safe space. Both are cases of one road-users abrogating the rights of others.
I point out again and again---most of us have been uin similar situations and managed those situations with minimal friction and no arrests.

@CB HI---I agree, situations vary with locale. I have ridden across the nation from west to east and south to north, so I have seen a fair variety of situations. I have cycled in cities from LA to Jacksonville, Orlando to Washington D.C., with stints in several locations in New England. I still have never been ticketed or arrested.

I understand that maybe people in this particular region did not understand cycling laws. I propose that Mr. Smith actually made matters worse. Not only did he deliberately block the road, he did it obviously to annoy people---very successfully. he did nothing to accommodate fellow road users, and he was verbally abusive toward drivers.

When I rode (I think it was) Daetweiler Road in South Orlando, people acted like they had never seen a cyclist---and probably many never had, on that stretch of road, because it was so dangerous. I used it because the alternative was adding a lot more miles to my commute, and many of those miles would have been just as dangerous or worse. There were no bike lanes and a general disrespect for cyclists prevailed in that city at that time. (The next Mayor, Glenda Hood (I think) made a big pro-bike push and it made a difference.)

I had no choice but to take the lane in a steady stream of 45-60 mph single-lane each way traffic with very few spaces between cars. Road conditions Forced me to take the lane because i would have crashed into traffic otherwise---the outer two feet of the road was a combination gutter/sewer and the next two feet was a moonscape. Yet I don't think i got more than one or two people even honking at me in all the time I road it (four to six days a week for a year, perhaps.)

This is because I (A.) refused to be worried (much,) (B.) was very clear in my signalling, and (C.) pulled over after a sufficiently long line of cars baked up behind me.

I did Not insist on taking the lane All the Time---just when it was the safest option. I tired to let cars pass if they could coordinate with gaps in oncoming traffic.

This guy (Smith) rode as if he was the most important road user and the only one whose rights mattered---which is anti-social and anti-community behavior. He could probably have been cited for disturbing the peace, as he was deliberately interfering with the operations of every other person he could---and verbally accosting them the whole while (which is also a crime, simple assault, in some states.)

I understand that sometimes the people who are bold enough to break ground are not the nicest folks ... but this guy is a screaming idiot (almost literally) who was not working on behalf of the community or trying to benefit the community.

If he had ridden rationally, he probably could have gotten folks to ride with him, which could have made his point even more strongly. if he had ridden considerately, he probably could have trained drivers to interact sensibly and safely with cyclists.

As it is, he pissed off everyone and got himself locked up. if his goal was to make the roads safer for cyclists, he failed. If his goal was to make the roads safer in any way, he failed. If his goal was to piss off everyone he could and get himself jailed, he succeeded like a hero.

But he will never be seen as a hero or a martyr, because his actions were selfish, unnecessarily aggressive and deliberately obnoxious. He is not paying a price because he tried to help everyone. He is paying a price because he went out of his way to hurt people.

Your scare stories about a few towns in this vast country do not scare me because I know that in all of those locales, Rational people with Rational plans will eventually restore justice. Loud-mouthed egotistical idiots who like to show off and mouth off will not do that.

downhillmaster

Paul Barnard

Can you give me a link to that video and tell me at what time mark in the video you are seeing bad behavior?

downhillmaster

Lemond1985

I hope my earlier post didn't make it look like I supported this clown. Whether he realizes it or not, he's the best friend that the Bicycle Haterz Automobile Club of America ever had. Angry, alcoholic, disgruntled men driving beat up, late model pickup trucks ought to be hiring dozens of lawyers to help him fight his case. His selfish narcissism. sanctimonious pride, and "I AM EXCEPTIONAL, THEREFORE YOUR SILLY TRAFFIC LAWS DON'T APPLY TO ME" attitude is gonna single-handedly set back cycling on public roads in the US by least 100 years.

He ought to be the sworn enemy of every sane, considerate, law-abiding, reasonable person who ever lifted a leg over a top tube. He doesn't need a mental exam, he needs an IQ test. And if you wanna know what I REALLY think, don't ask.

Paul Barnard

It is often mentioned that he would have numerous cars stacked up behind him. Are there any videos that demonstrate this? Does PA bike law prohibit cyclists from riding with no hands on the bars?

downhillmaster

Paul Barnard

That's the way discussion forums work? You are required to do exhaustive research before asking questions? My questions were does PA have a law that prohibits bicycling with no hands and is there any video of cars stacked up behind him? If riding without hands is captured under reckless (or wreckless in your jurisdiction) driving laws, then I guess unicycling is illegal in PA.

downhillmaster