Do Cylists irritate Motorists & Vice Versa?

[Grog]

I've thought that off and on for years. It's a matter of legitimacy. I wonder if bikes would be considered as a legitimate vehicle with rights and responsibilities if we were really treated like a vehicle by law enforcement. (If I ever got a speeding ticket on a bike, I'd frame that puppy.)

If you have a police officer point a radar at you, you'll have great grounds for a complaint!!! These things are meant to be directed to cars, not humans.

[Geonz]

I don't think so. It's being pointed at a *vehicle* - a bicycle. Violating the speed limit is violating the speed limit. If you want to be treated as a vehicle, then you don't want to make a complaint when it actually happens. (I'd still frame it :-))

[Grog]

I don't think so. It's being pointed at a *vehicle* - a bicycle. Violating the speed limit is violating the speed limit. (I'd still frame it :-))

What I mean is that the thing can be harmful to humans (wheras they are not to cars and to humans sheltered in cars).

The appropriate way to find out whether a bike is violating the speed limit is to have it followed by a police car/bike (who can then evaluate the speed) or to ticket it for "excessive speed" if it can be determined by plain eyesight. Not sure about the law in the various US states but there is usually a general clause to ticket speeding vehicles even if their speed is not determined precisely.

[Geonz]

Really? The windshield...? what about the ossifer handling the implement? (something I've just never considered)

[Dianyla]

I think a policeman would have a hard time measuring your speed with a radar gun anyway, from what I understand they usually need a good flat reflective surface to bounce the signal back. Usually they aim at the license plate of the car. (Which is why you see a lot of tinted bubble-shaped license plate covers for sale.)

[CorsairMac]

so I just need to find a tinted bubble shaped bike frame and that would stop the radar??

and Mom: frame it heck - I'd post a pix of it here for Everyone to see! I'd be so embarrassingly proud I got a speeding ticket on my bike!!!

[Dianyla]

I just can't imagine that the cop could even find a flat surface anywhere on my body!

[DirtDiva]

What would really rule is getting snapped by a speed cam on your bike. I would go to traffic cop HQ and get down on my hands and knees and beg for that photo.

[Grog]

Really? The windshield...? what about the ossifer handling the implement? (something I've just never considered)

I imagine you mean "officer" (having found not definition for ossifer in google!).

Where I'm from there was at some point a concern that radar guns were causing testicular cancer in male police officers. In that same place, I have always seen the officers sitting in their cars to do the radar thing. Here in BC they are always standing outside of their car. Maybe there's a connection.

Anyway I have no idea what happened with their concern...

If anyone has info please let us know!

[betagirl]

Just a story

I was riding in down a relatively busy street, in the bike lane which is next to the parking lane. This guy had parked and got out of his car and was walking up the bike lane. I slowed but refused to move over and looked at him with a half "hi, excuse me" and "uhhh, hello?" face. He let out this big exasperated sigh. I was like are you kidding me? He literally had to step aside 2 feet for me to pass. That irked me.

In general, I don't have many problems with motorists. I live in a relatively bike friendly city. The things I run into (figuratively) are

- people turning in front of me (I don't think they judge well how fast a bike can be going)

- people in parked cars opening their doors in front of me

- senior citizens seem to like to honk at you as they come up from behind

- teenagers seem to be the least aware of you, unless they're honking at you and waving and checking you out.

[anne_77]

I live in a community where a lot of people can't afford cars (or have lost their licenses!) so bikes are used both by people trying to exercise, and by people who have no other form of transportation. (There is no public transportation). So the motorists in my area are admittedly a little more used to bikes than they may be in some other communities. It's been my general experience that motorists respect cyclists that are predictable and don't ride on inappropriate roads. If you're predictable, the motorist knows what to do. If you stay off the ridiculously complicated, busy roads, you won't be as much of a hazard. Of course there are jerks out there, but a ton of people ride bikes in my town, and a lot use absolutely no common sense. They swerve in and out of cars, from the road to sidewalk and back on the road, run red lights, etc. As a motorist, I get made at them too. I guess what I'm saying is it's a two-way street.

Oh - and the honk - I get that too but I've learned from friends that in most cases it's actually an attempt to be polite and let you know they're there. So I don't take it personally.

[Geonz]

Yea, one of my biking buddies knows somebody who had a shirt made that says "I AM NOT A DUI."

One of the things I love about my Xtracycle (which I got back yesterday, YEA!!!, with a new wheel but not the disc brakes yet, but new brake pads) is that it's obviously *meant* for ... even if they can't figure out what, I'm an "intentional cyclist," riding instead of driving.

[MomOnBike]

One of the things I love about my Xtracycle (which I got back yesterday, YEA!!!, with a new wheel but not the disc brakes yet, but new brake pads) is that it's obviously *meant* for ... even if they can't figure out what, I'm an "intentional cyclist," riding instead of driving.

That's another thing I love about the 'bent. I'm obviously riding because I want to, not because I have, um, social problems. Makes my place on the pecking order a bit higher than otherwise, I think.

[ladyjai]

What I mean is that the thing can be harmful to humans (wheras they are not to cars and to humans sheltered in cars).

lovely... Almost every cop I pass who's out to catch speeders, points at me with his radar gun. Maybe they were acting silly and not actually firing it?

[Deanna]

I don't think they're harmful enough to passing humans for you to worry about it. They have been used for years to time baseball pitches and tennis hits.