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Cyclist Blows Thru Stop Sign

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Cyclist Blows Thru Stop Sign

Old 01-16-21, 07:10 AM
  #76  
Paul Barnard
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Originally Posted by Clyde1820
Good way to get killed. He'll get nailed, at some point. Probably inevitable.

One would think there's limited demand for going the double-hip replacement route, with titanium skull plate accessorizing.

I've had too many close shaves in poor-visibility areas where their aren't perfect sight lines. (In cars, on bikes.) A lifetime of that has taught me to be astoundingly cautious in those situations. Every month or two I experience yet another such spot where some other fool comes "blowing through" with nearly no regard for the fact nobody else can see him there. Honestly, I'm surprised I don't see far more chalk outlines all over the streets, with how frequently that sort of thing is seen.
Titanium skull plate? That would match my bikes.

I suspect the reason you don't see more chalk outlines is because the riders exercise a modicum of care before they "blow through." I have found that most riders do not want to get hit and don't routinely make decisions that could result in them getting hit. Of course some make mistakes, but I don't reckon it happens often that they say "eff it" and blast through leaving everything to chance.
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Old 01-16-21, 11:52 AM
  #77  
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If I'm within twenty yards of an empty intersection, there's no way I'm stopping, even if someone else technically beats me there because of the benefit of a motor. If someone's already there, I'll wave them through. I almost never come to a full stop. Not while commuting and especially if there's bad weather. Cars can wait, especially in a climate crisis.
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Old 01-16-21, 12:18 PM
  #78  
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Originally Posted by Paul Barnard

I suspect the reason you don't see more chalk outlines is because the riders exercise a modicum of care before they "blow through." I have found that most riders do not want to get hit and don't routinely make decisions that could result in them getting hit. Of course some make mistakes, but I don't reckon it happens often that they say "eff it" and blast through leaving everything to chance.
I work at a large university and there are a small percentage of student riders who appear to ride with little caution. On more than one occasion I've been momentarily shocked by a rider coming out of nowhere and dashing in front of me. But these are all places where traffic speeds are low and I would expect the riders really are calculating their moves. They don't get hit often or at least don't get hit hard enough to get injured. If they did I'd see the report and they are infrequent. Pedestrian accidents are more common.

Reckless riding isn't appropriate and it isn't safe, but it's probably generally less dangerous than it appears to startled drivers.

(But University police will ticket them if they can. Tickets to cyclists are rare in the city except in and around the campus, where they are frequent. You can run a stop sign elsewhere if you do it with caution, but on campus even a cautious roll can earn a ticket.)
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Old 01-16-21, 05:04 PM
  #79  
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Originally Posted by work4bikes
Cyclist blows through stop sign.
The more the merrier!
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Old 01-17-21, 01:35 AM
  #80  
Leisesturm
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Originally Posted by Comfort is King
If I'm within twenty yards of an empty intersection, there's no way I'm stopping, even if someone else technically beats me there because of the benefit of a motor. If someone's already there, I'll wave them through. I almost never come to a full stop. Not while commuting and especially if there's bad weather. Cars can wait, especially in a climate crisis.
The sarcasm is getting completely out of hand in here ...
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Old 01-17-21, 01:55 AM
  #81  
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Originally Posted by Clyde1820
Good way to get killed. He'll get nailed, at some point. Probably inevitable.
Tell us how you really feel. Your dire predictions notwithstanding, if that cyclist was going to get nailed, it probably would have happened already. Most people get crapped on early in their cycling careers. The more accident free miles you rack up, the less likely your chances of ever seeing the inside of an MRI machine. I never have, and I've toasted more stop signs and red lights than you have had hot meals. Uncountable hundreds if not thousands, over a more than 40 year cycling centric lifestyle, in mainly big city metro's. I'm getting a bit long in the tooth to be hanging it over the edge daily like I did in my prime, but I can still blast through a standing red if the cross traffic is right. What surprises me is that it surprises you that more cyclists don't get hit. Why should that be? You've got the same eyes. The same ears. Use them. Free your mind and your bike will follow.
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Old 01-17-21, 05:24 AM
  #82  
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Originally Posted by Leisesturm
The sarcasm is getting completely out of hand in here ...
Actually, no. I couldn't care less about what the law says. I care only not hitting pedestrians, my personal safety, and not usurping someone's ROW. That's it. I'd argue that cyclists have a moral obligation to disobey all 4-way stops and especially 3-way ones. Those are there to slow down heavy machines. And, since a bicycle isn't one, it renders them moot. I don't care it a cop is sitting there. Guess what? They don't care either because it is a bike. I also lane split, draft, filter, jump reds, and even roll through if I have clear lines of sight. Often, I'll take a hard right if I can't go, then a hard U-Turn and a quick right. That's how you boss an intersection.

The OP is a trolling post. This is why I feel obligated to explain my scofflaw behavior, which is completely justifiable from an ethical standpoint, since bikes effectively do not cause harm. Since I'm one of the mileage leaders in the region every year, haven't had a car in a quarter century, and have toured around the country, plus I used to be a bike messenger, I come from a place of experience. Experience yells me that momentum equals safety.

Last edited by Comfort is King; 01-17-21 at 05:34 AM.
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Old 01-17-21, 06:31 AM
  #83  
Clyde1820
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Originally Posted by Leisesturm
Your dire predictions notwithstanding, if that cyclist was going to get nailed, it probably would have happened already.
Perhaps. Likely, he's probably pretty good at it by now. Who knows. But in a fight between a 30lb bike plus rider against a 4500lb vehicle + driver ... my quarter's on the car. If the "wrong" situation arises and he still takes the shot, due to his being "so good at this by now," ...

Originally Posted by Leisesturm
... but I can still blast through a standing red if the cross traffic is right.
Sure. Wasn't about your situations. Was about the "out of nowhere" situation described above. Different animals.

I'm with you, on the "perfect" opportunity, where there are clear sight lines and little to no risk. It's unlikely someone taking that chance (if can even be called "chance") when all's well and traffic-less at an intersection is going to result in a crash or worse. Reference to this sort of thing is even in the driving laws, at least in the U.S. (with heading through a red light, for example, though only after stopping as required).

Originally Posted by Leisesturm
What surprises me is that it surprises you that more cyclists don't get hit. Why should that be? You've got the same eyes. The same ears. Use them. Free your mind and your bike will follow.
Have them. Use them. But in the situation described earlier, I also don't ride or drive like a self-important egotistical idiot without regard for those around me. Not saying you do. I don't. And likely 95% or better of those we witness "blowing through" an intersection also don't. But those types do exist, irrespective of the rest of us having eyes, ears and, apparently, closed minds.

Again, the situation being describe earlier and commented on by others was different. Not the idyllic different circumstances you're describing in other situations.
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Old 01-20-21, 02:57 PM
  #84  
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Originally Posted by Trevtassie
4 ways stops are an invention of the devil.... why would anybody even come up with the idea?
Agreed. The local construction around here has been awful lately, but fully 4 previous 4 way stops are now roundabouts, which are much better for both bikes and cars.
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Old 01-21-21, 02:39 AM
  #85  
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There used to be a fellow hereabouts who early in the morning whilst it was still dark would ride out of a one way street whilst riding the wrong way, turn left onto the main road without stopping and then ride the wrong direction on that road. A short distance from the road he exited from there was an on-ramp type of thing for traffic coming off another main cross road onto the main road he was riding the wrong direction on. I just missed hitting him a couple of times on my bicycle. I told him what he was doing was exceedingly dangerous.

He doesn't ride anymore. Early one day his luck ran out.

Cheers
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Old 01-21-21, 10:21 AM
  #86  
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When cars do wait for you to go through what hand gesture if any do you give to express thanks? high five? Thumbs up? Both sequentially?
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Old 01-26-21, 04:33 PM
  #87  
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Originally Posted by Gresp15C
The crimes of drivers and cyclists tend to be crimes of convenience and opportunity. For cars, it's speeding, rolling through stop signs, and not paying attention. For most cyclists, speeding is not an option, but blowing through stop signs and taking questionable shortcuts are.
But my Strava avg speed!!
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Old 01-26-21, 04:33 PM
  #88  
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/s obviously
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Old 02-03-21, 02:55 PM
  #89  
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I've noticed that since bicycle riders are harder to see, drivers don't see us when we do make legal stops. I'll make a full stop at an intersection. Then I start to move forward, see more traffic and hold. So now I might be 1 or 2 car lengths past the stop sign. I finally get a chance, so I move thru. Now a car approaching the intersection sees me moving, but never saw me stop and wait honks at me. They are still far from the intersection and they still have to make their stop. This has happened to me a couple of times.

I've also had the opposite happen. I was a few seconds from a 4-way stop. A car has just stopped in the perpendicular direction. I stop and since the traffic is light, I swap my empty and full water bottles. I hear the driver honk at me. I am surprised he is still there. He could have moved on before I even got to the intersection. Once I stopped and put both my feet down, it should have been clear he still had plenty of time to drive away.

Another one was a couple I saw walking at a different 4-way stop. I made a full and complete stop. The couple was not at the intersection when I started to move forward. By the time I got to the other side of the intersection, the couple got to the corner and walked into the street directly in front of me. The man said something I won't repeat here. I just wished them a good rest of their day and continued.
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Old 02-05-21, 06:50 AM
  #90  
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It is actually quite ironic that cyclists are more vulnerable to potential accidents, and yet they treat streets like its a park, lol
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Old 02-08-21, 11:56 PM
  #91  
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Originally Posted by peterlewis
It is actually quite ironic that cyclists are more vulnerable to potential accidents, and yet they treat streets like its a park, lol
Why did you say that? You know it isn't true. I've cycled on both coasts and in the middle and I've never been anywhere where a majority of cyclists were @$$h@ts. Behavior like described by the o.p. and a few others is the exception.
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Old 02-09-21, 08:36 AM
  #92  
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Originally Posted by Leisesturm
Why did you say that? You know it isn't true. I've cycled on both coasts and in the middle and I've never been anywhere where a majority of cyclists were @$$h@ts. Behavior like described by the o.p. and a few others is the exception.
Yeah, the only place I've been where I would say an actual majority of people on bikes (most were not 'cyclists' in the sense that we generally think of them) were terrible was NYC. I had several almost run into my van while I was stopped....
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Old 02-09-21, 02:30 PM
  #93  
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Originally Posted by Notso_fastLane
Yeah, the only place I've been where I would say an actual majority of people on bikes (most were not 'cyclists' in the sense that we generally think of them) were terrible was NYC. I had several almost run into my van while I was stopped....
I also see a lot of non-cyclist bike riders around here, because I live in a beach town, so you get a lot of people that get the hankering to ride a bike.

P.S. To anyone that thinks I'm an elitist, because I refer to others as non-cyclists, nothing could be further from the truth.
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Old 02-16-21, 05:07 PM
  #94  
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There is a right way and a wrong way to run stop signs safely.
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