why drivers always point to cyclists as bad

[Biciclista]

it just occurred to me that when a car goes through a red light it happens so fast that if you weren't looking you might have missed it.
but when a bicycle does the same thing, he's probably moving at 1/3 the speed of the car.

Every single time someone starts the argument about what law breakers cyclists are I remind them about cars who speed, go through lights and stop signs, pass illegally, etc... I always get it back that almost all bikes are scofflaws and somehow almost no cars are.
So why is the city doing so well collecting tickets from cars FILMED going through red lights at intersections posted with signage that says they are being filmed???

owell. same old argument.

[radacrider]

Yeah, I've noticed the same. Talking with a friend we have come to the conclusion it is a human behavior thing. The problems are always with some other group, not the one I am a member of. The bad ones are always the other group.

Cars - don't like bikes, don't like pedestrians, don't like cars that stop for bikes or pedestrians

Bikes - don't like cars, don't like pedestrians, don't like bikes that stop for pedestrians

Pedestrians - don't like cars, don't like bikes, don't like pedestrians that wait for ped signals

[grey]

I watched someone fly right through a stop sign earlier today. I'm glad my friend and I had stopped at our end of the intersection (three way stop) and hadn't just figured the lady would stop and yield right-of way and gone on with our ride.

[jessmarimba]

I almost got T-boned (in my car) yesterday by someone who either wasn't going to stop at a red light or didn't realize where the stopping point was (this is in a construction zone).

I saw my life flash before my eyes. Thank god it was only 2 miles from my house, or I would've had to stop and recompose myself.

If I run a light on my bike, I primarily endanger myself, and secondarily whatever drivers I scare the poop out of. Cars who run red lights primarily endanger others, since side impacts are much less protected than front-end collisions.

So if someone pulls the "cyclists don't follow traffic rules" etc on me I just shrug, say that I do, and that Darwin will take care of those who don't. It doesn't work the same for cars.

(Just to clarify - I don't run lights. Ever. Not even the ones I can't trip.)

[Tri Girl]

Whenever someone gets started on bikes breaking the law, I always point out the one time I hit my brakes so hard and crashed in an intersection because a car ran a red light and nearly took me out (while on my bike).
I've never almost killed someone on my bike. I've almost been killed 3 times on my bike. When I break the law (which I honestly never intentionally do), I'm not going to kill someone. When someone in a car does those things, people can die.

I think it's true that you always condemn the groups you're not a part of. Human nature, I suppose.

The other day I was at a park and watched the intersection near me. I saw a number of cars roll through the intersection, illegal lane changes, speeding, and most offensive: texting while not even looking at the road.
In the grand scheme of things, I think cyclists are not the ones endangering society.

[Cataboo]

I wouldn't say that when cyclists do something illegal - noone else is going to die - if a car swerves to avoid a cyclist who does something illegal, who knows what that car will hit.

[Tri Girl]

OK, that's true.