One Reason Cyclists Are Disliked

[Mr. Bloom]

Fidlfreek+1

I can think of several scenarios where a rolling stop is best... But, there are many more where a hard stop is a requirement.

My frustration comes at a four way stop, where I've stopped and the car waves me through. I expect to follow the rules and this totally breaks my rhythm

[Crankin]

OK. Mr. S. I agree with your assessment of the 4 way stop... the same thing happens here with cars! No one seems to understand the person who arrives first goes first. It worked like clockwork in AZ, but I guess drivers in MA are so indecisive, they can't handle it. We actually have cars stop dead in the middle of main streets to let approaching cars from the side street turn onto the main street. They don't get you never just stop dead in the middle of the road that has the right of way.
I do come to rolling stops on country roads with few cars. I always unclip and could stop fully. Mostly I do. I ride a lot around areas with tourists (downtown Concord), kids, etc. I get in the lane and act as predictable as I can.
TC Trek, my husband has run into a similar situation as you describe. Every Friday there is a group of riders who assemble to ride at about 6:15 AM, in the lot by Walden Pond. They are obviously serious racers who are training. If my husband is driving, he has to blow his horn every time, as they absolutely will not get into a single file line to let a car pass. They give him the finger, etc. Now, this is on a narrow, heavily travelled road that is in terrible condition (pot holes). If it is a day my husband is riding, he usually goes by their route a bit after they have come through. He notices a distinct change in the behaviors of the drivers because they are pissed at group, see another cyclist and take it out on him.
This is all so upsetting. Police here are beginning to ticket, also. Last Wednesday, my dh got in an argument with a guy on our ride who was bragging about being ticketed in the neighboring town. He felt he should NEVER have to yield to cars, just because he has the right to be on the road. When I asked him about common courtesy, he sneered.

[Becky]

Fidlfreek+1

I can think of several scenarios where a rolling stop is best... But, there are many more where a hard stop is a requirement.

My frustration comes at a four way stop, where I've stopped and the car waves me through. I expect to follow the rules and this totally breaks my rhythm

Agreed re: the rhythm thing. I have the same issue with being waved across by a driver when I'm signalling to make a left hand turn. If I was a car, you wouldn't stop to let me across. Waving, though done in good faith, is just plain confusing for both parties.

[Crankin]

Exactly. This is what drivers here do to cyclists and cars. They think they are being nice, but what they are doing is actually wrong and confuses people.

[Pink Diva]

I live in a county that has two major cities in its borders. One city has so many stop signs, if you live there you know how to handle intersections like that. This same city has golf cart paths going EVERYWHERE...the people living here are used to seeing joggers, cyclists, golf carts, and walkers so they know to watch for something other then cars. The other city has people that blow through stop signs, red lights, and those areas in parking lots where you know you should stop to see if a car's coming (I've almost gotten T-Boned in my car hundreds of times from people just breezing through w/o looking). If you ride a bike here, you're going to get shoved to the side...not a very bike-friendly city, but there is a very limited amount of sidewalks or areas that even have a wide enough road to cycle with the cars without them having any choice but to get too close to you. Can you tell where I ride ?

Anyhow, after years of driving in the one city with scary drivers, I've been taught to stop or do a rolling stop at every single intersection while I'm cycling to save myself from a dangerous situation since my favorite ride goes through both city's back roads. I would NEVER blow through an intersection regardless of where I'm at since I seem to have the luck that if there's a car anywhere in the area that I'm cycling even if they are miles away, they will be meeting me at that intersection without a doubt!

LOVE the story about the entire team getting a ticket! Bwa ha ha!!!

[Aiacha]

I was actually shocked by this on one charity ride. We had come up on a light at a potentially busy intersection, near the end of the ride. There were probably 5 ot 6 of us stopped and waiting for the green light, when two others just zoomed right by us and went through the red light. (I say zoomed because we were standing still; we caught up to them quickly and, if I remember right, my friend gave them an ear-full) Up to that point I had never seen someone just out and out run a red light unescorted.

I'm guilty of taking rolling stops through rural stop signs, but not before I look and check to see that I'm not about to get squished like a bug. I would never dream of running a red light.

[OakLeaf]

I would never dream of running a red light.

Do you have a steel frame? Where you ride, are the lights triggered by optical sensors, or the older magnetic induction loops? On a bicycle, particularly a non-steel frame (and even some motorcycles) you may not be able to trigger a light. In busier areas there may be a pedestrian crosswalk button that you can dismount and push. That carries its own set of risks - but at a lot of intersections, there's no button.

Most of the places I ride, the induction loops are slowly being phased out, and I am SO loving the optical sensors! But at many intersections, a cyclist may have no choice but to either run the light, or to do a right turn on red and then a U-turn which may be quite a bit more dangerous.

[Aiacha]

Do you have a steel frame? Where you ride, are the lights triggered by optical sensors, or the older magnetic induction loops? On a bicycle, particularly a non-steel frame (and even some motorcycles) you may not be able to trigger a light. In busier areas there may be a pedestrian crosswalk button that you can dismount and push. That carries its own set of risks - but at a lot of intersections, there's no button.

Most of the places I ride, the induction loops are slowly being phased out, and I am SO loving the optical sensors! But at many intersections, a cyclist may have no choice but to either run the light, or to do a right turn on red and then a U-turn which may be quite a bit more dangerous.

Most of the time, there is traffic where I'm riding. Sometimes a cycle of lights passes me by, but a car comes up shortly and I move along. If I just can't catch the light, I'll walk it across. If there is an area without a lot of traffic, it probably doesn't have a light, just a 4-way stop.

Heh. It's funny you mention this. On the self-same ride, near the beginning, the ride passes through a couple lights. There was no officer at the lights, like there usually is on a large organized ride. We never got the light, probably through 2 or three cycles, so we just started piling up. It was almost ridiculous.

[Eden]

You want to have the roads open get yourself a racing license and stay between the cars.... but seriously, I don't blow stop signs or red lights. Not only does it give drivers a really bad impression (though undeserved.... many, many more cars roll stop signs than bikes.... people just don't take notice of it), it can be downright dangerous.

When we ride as a team we will at times slowly roll a stop sign - if we all stopped as individuals we'd be forever getting through.... and cars would be even less appreciative of all the time it takes than if we go through as a group, but not blow through, that's just plain dangerous and we'd never, ever roll a red light.

As far as people waving me on.... I tend to pretend I don't see them... It's dangerous - they only think of their own little world - look how nice I'm being- and forget about traffic coming in the other direction or coming around them from behind (lots of people, especially when its a 4 lane street will blow right by a stopped car without ever looking - its a real danger for pedestrians and bikes if you take that offer). I don't know how many times I'd have been hit if I'd taken someone's friendly wave.... They are putting themselves at risk of being rear ended too.

[beccaB]

I'm guilty of taking rolling stops through rural stop signs, but not before I look and check to see that I'm not about to get squished like a bug. I would never dream of running a red light.



My sentiments exactly.

I attended a school bus driver training class where we learned about the proper use of traffic roundabouts. In the video it was mentioned that most people who ride bicycles should use the crosswalks (walking the bike across) and only EXPERIENCED riders should ride in the roundabout. In my experience it's the "experienced" rider that thinks they are invincible and not subject to the rules of the road. That is not a blanket statement, but an observation of what I've witnessed. My co-workers commented on how I rolled my eyes when the presenter talked about experienced riders.

[OakLeaf]

My frustration comes at a four way stop, where I've stopped and the car waves me through. I expect to follow the rules and this totally breaks my rhythm

I hate to do it, but when a car with the ROW tries to wave me through, I will put my foot down and remain stopped until the car goes through, no matter how long it takes. If their window's down I may even say "You have the ROW."

To me, it's just like passing on the right when I'm in my car. I don't really expect left-lane bandits to learn any good habits from my refusing to pass them on the right, but playing along with their bad habits will DEFINITELY reinforce them.

These people don't understand how dangerous their behavior is to us (and to a lesser extent, puts themselves in danger of being rear-ended). If we refuse to play along with it, MAYBE they'll think a little harder.