Leisesturm

I understand the general crankiness due to the ongoing lockdowns across the land. I do not understand taking out our frustrations on one another. If you are a road cyclist then other road cyclists are our brother and sisters in arms. Do not utter slander (or is it libel) against them. Has there ever been a cyclist who was careless or foolish on a particular day and time at a particular intersection or crossing? Of course. Could ANY cyclist make a habit of being this way? Of course NOT. S/he would QUICKLY be cut down en flagrante and that would be that. The widespread scofflaw behavior some of you see is all in your minds. Clarification: the behavior may be real. The practitioner is not as 'clueless' as you suppose.

NYC, Philadelphia, PA, Chicago, IL; Portland, OR; Seattle, WA; these. and a FEW other places in the U.S. are places where the average driver might see one or two cyclists per WEEK running a red light. At all. To see a cyclist running a red light such that a driver had to take emergency action to avoid hitting them. In those places it might happen one or two times per YEAR. Anywhere else in the U.S. and you simply don't have enough cyclists regularly riding in the street for scofflaw cycling to be an issue. This forum wouldn't be the place to reach them anyway. Y'all's preachin' to the choir up in here. You know it's bad when 20 something year old WOMEN blast past you through a standing red. Happens to me now and then, in Portland. When it does, I don't get mad at them. I cuss and fume at MYSELF for blowing an opportunity. It is a sure sign that I'm slipping. I feel better when I've put a couple of toasted stop signs behind on my own initiative. Try it. You'll feel much better.

P.S.next time you're pulling away from that fresh Green and a cyclist sails past in front of you ... DON'T panic. Don't even take your foot off the gas! It's all good. God's got you (and them) fully covered. I know it's hard but trust me on this. Only in action movies do people launch themselves into active intersections without scanning and survive. If it simply was their time and ... ... well, you can console yourself with this: the law can't lay a finger on you or make any claim against your insurance. Yes, you have entered a very small club (even smaller than the one you are in as a road cyclist) but at least when you come back here to tell us about it, it won't be speculation ... you will KNOW that you were right.