If you're gonna run a stop sign, at least look...

[colby]

My dad described a situation at a light the other day that he watched from his car, though we frequently cycle through this area since it's right by our home. The light is usually green with a flashing yellow left turn light in the heavier traffic direction, and red in the lighter traffic direction. In this case, a cyclist was coming from the heavier traffic direction, got into the left turn lane, but his light was RED. The cars coming off of the lighter traffic direction (3 or 4 of them) had gaps between them, so he chose to not even stop at the light and WEAVE through the cars!!

It's crap like that that makes drivers behave differently for ALL cyclists. I understand if he couldn't set the light, but he didn't even put his foot down. I cannot fathom in what situation it's worth your LIFE to not stop for less than 60 seconds. Maybe he needs to upgrade his bike computer to one that automatically stops when you stop.

[PamNY]

I do not get cyclists weaving between cars. Not at all. I understand why people think they can run red lights (even if I disagree) but weaving? I just don't get it how you can delude yourself into thinking that is okay.

Honestly, I worry about other cyclists as much as I worry about cars.

RolliePollie, I'm glad you were able to avoid a collision.

[Blueberry]

I found myself apologizing for a cyclist as I was walking into the farmer's market last weekend. She had completely traumatized an elderly couple in a car. They were turning right into a parking space (with their turn signal on), and she flew around them on the right (dodging into the parking space). They saw her at the last second and were able to stop (because they were going slowly) and were quite shaken when they got out. She, however, made it on time for her outdoor yoga class Some people?!

[tzvia]

Yea I get how you feel. Sometimes it feels like I'm the only cyclist who stops at stop signs and looks both ways as if I were in drivers-ed class. I almost feel silly as the wanna-be pros just wiz by me. I admit I secretly wish a cop was waiting at the stop...

And yep, I've had a stupid ped step out in the middle of the street right in front of me when I was doing 20mph. He was going to run across a busy street without looking. Bottom of the gene pool, I guess. I had to shift back off the seat and hit the brakes as I yelled, and he stepped back/forward/back like he could not make up his mind as to which way was out of the way. Excuse me, step back on to the sidewalk. Moron. I don't feel like crashing into traffic on Desoto near Parthenia. Save the death wish for after I pass.

Why is common sense so uncommon?

[MtnBikerChk]

I was doing a charity ride in Southern CT and there happened to be a stop sign at the top of a hill with blind spots on the right and left. Sucks but yeah you get to the top and you stop.

Well some a-hole behind me yells "You don't stop at the top of a hill!"

I yelled back "You stop if you don't want to get your a$$ run over!"

It really just gets me so mad that people don't have enough respect for themselves, other riders or drivers to follow the rules of the road. It's for YOUR OWN SAFETY. And yet it's people like me who get hit by cars?! Oh the irony......

[Biciclista]

I was doing a charity ride in Southern CT and there happened to be a stop sign at the top of a hill with blind spots on the right and left. Sucks but yeah you get to the top and you stop.

Well some a-hole behind me yells "You don't stop at the top of a hill!"

I yelled back "You stop if you don't want to get your a$$ run over!"

It really just gets me so mad that people don't have enough respect for themselves, other riders or drivers to follow the rules of the road. It's for YOUR OWN SAFETY. And yet it's people like me who get hit by cars?! Oh the irony......

+++ great post!!

[OakLeaf]

I was doing a charity ride in Southern CT and there happened to be a stop sign at the top of a hill with blind spots on the right and left. Sucks but yeah you get to the top and you stop.

Well some a-hole behind me yells "You don't stop at the top of a hill!"

I yelled back "You stop if you don't want to get your a$$ run over!"

It really just gets me so mad that people don't have enough respect for themselves, other riders or drivers to follow the rules of the road. It's for YOUR OWN SAFETY. And yet it's people like me who get hit by cars?! Oh the irony......

Without knowing the hill in question, sometimes this is a real dilemma. I almost ALWAYS stop, but I came close to being flattened last year when I came to a stop sign at the top of a steep hill in the rain, with no flat spot to stop at the crossing. It was either keep going and risk the cars - which as it turned out there was one - or slip down the hill, possibly get injured in the fall, and even if I was fine, have to do it all over again and make the same decision again. There was no way I was going to stay upright if I tried to put a foot down.

There are some places where you have to blame the traffic engineers and just make the best decision you can under the circumstances, which sometimes turns out to be drastically wrong. I was just lucky.

[RolliePollie]

I kinda feel like I need to qualify my remark about not minding that the cyclists ran the stop sign.

I think whether or not you stop at a stop sign really depends on the circumstances. If there is a cop sitting there, then of course. If you're riding in town or in a city and there's traffic, then stop and take your turn like a car. But where I ride it's very rural and there is very little traffic. There are no bike lanes, pretty much no shoulders, and it's one or two lane roads. At some intersections, you might see one car per hour. The stop sign these cyclists blew through is one that I pretty much never stop at myself. But I do look both ways and I yield to traffic, so I am still annoyed with them for almost blindly crashing into me!

I wish CA would pass a "yield to stop" law to give cyclists a little more flexibility. I am really good at yielding to stop