Slow-Moe

I'm new here (as of today), so I hope I might be forgiven for replying to an "old" post. I could not help but notice how many of hotbike's comments also hold true for motorcylists...especially the parts about cars. Any veteran motorcylist learns to ride as if he (or she) is invisible to cars...you just assume that they don't see you. In most car/motorcycle collisions, the car driver exclaims, "I never saw him!" A car driver isn't looking for motorcycles or bicycles as they turn their head to check oncoming traffic...they are looking for cars or other large motor vehicles. Their minds are in such a state that they can literally look straight at you, and yet fail to "see" you. Twice I have plowed into passenger-side car doors because a driver overtook me and made a sharp right hand turn in front of me, such that even strong braking was not enough to avoid contact. Both times the driver swore they never even saw me. Oh, and that was on bicylces...plenty of mishaps about motorcycles and car drivers for some other forum.

There is a very strong and vocal cycling community here in Austin. It serves us poorly when motorists see someone on a bicycle blow straight through a red light or stop sign...and yes, I do realize it is very tempting to do so when you see that there is no oncoming traffic. But just think about the public's perception the next time we are trying to get a local ordinance passed to protect cyclists' safety.