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Cyclists in the US are mostly well aware of how hated we are for even just basically following the law and somehow surviving with motorists who probably shouldn

• rootusrootus 4y ago
  You unfairly blame motorists. They are pissed off because bikes don't belong on roads, but politicians make them ride there. They'd be angry if you drove the same speed in a car, too. Blame the politicians for refusing to fund separate infrastructure so bikes, cars, and pedestrians don't have to share the same piece of asphalt. As a car driver I don't want bikes in the lane with me. And as a pedestrian I don't want them on the sidewalk with me. We know the solution but refuse to implement it.
  • kevin_thibedeau 4y ago
    They do belong on roads. Paved roads were created for bicycles. The law classifies them as road vehicles. You are required to know the vehicle code in order to qualify for a drivers license. Right of way precedence is one of them. Being "pissed off" because another citizen is exercising their rights within the law isn't an excuse to harm them without repercussions.
    • User23 4y ago
      Most jurisdictions have not only a maximum speed, but also a minimum speed. Impeding the flow of traffic is an infraction. Literally nobody cares when cyclists stay on the right and don’t obstruct the flow of traffic.
      • kevin_thibedeau 4y ago
        Most states don't have a minimum speed limit or only have it on limited access highways. There will be a classification for slow moving vehicles with additional stipulations. Most states also have an AFRAP rule for being as far to the right as practicable. The key point is that practicability may require being anywhere in the lane depending on circumstances. If you have the right of way people without the right of way have to yield and drive safely. Driving behind a bicyclist in the lane to avoid debris is no different that driving behind a combine taking up 75% of the entire road.
        • rootusrootus 4y ago
          I can't remember the last time I've witnessed a motorist abusing a bicyclist. I'm sure it happens, because of course there are exceptions. By and large most people seem to share the road just fine. The one time I thought I might see some actual mayhem was after I waited in a long line of cars on a relatively narrow uphill street that were waiting for an opportunity to safely pass a slow moving bike. It went pretty well. But about halfway up that hill we got stopped at a light, and that bicyclist rode right up the line of cars to the front, and made everyone pass him again. LOL. Nobody actually did anything aggressive, but you could feel the unhappiness there. He was a dick. Most riders are not, just like most motorists are not.
          • KennyBlanken 4y ago
            > I can't remember the last time I've witnessed a motorist abusing a bicyclist. It's easy to not witness something when you're not the subject of it. For example complaints of racism, sexism, etc by the victims in the workplace are often met with claims by white men that they 'rarely see it.'
    • SoftTalker 4y ago
      Are you required to know the vehicle code to qualify to operate a bicycle on the roads? If they are legally "road vehicles," why not?
      • kevin_thibedeau 4y ago
        Yes. But bicycles don't carry the significant risk of killing other people which is why motor vehicle licensing exists in the first place.
      • taeric 4y ago
        To an extent, yes. But just as recreational vehicles are treated a bit more loosely, so are bikes. In large because they do post relatively little risk to others. Is akin to boating laws. By and large, take a kayak wherever you want. Bigger boats, though?
    • rootusrootus 4y ago
      You're making an argument to authority, which is not what I was doing. In fact, I was saying I think the authority is wrong. Physics says bikes and cars should not share the same space. At a certain point, if you want to push it that far, you have to answer the question of why bicycle riders aren't required to have a driver license, carry insurance, register their bikes, and have license plates. Because if you think a bike can't cause a serious accident, you haven't driven the roads too much. Bikes should have an actual bike lane dedicated to them. Full stop. Putting them on roadways just makes everyone less happy and less safe.
      • tjr225 4y ago
        • rootusrootus 4y ago
          That's a bit over the top, don't you think? And you make it kinda personal, calling me an asshole for suggesting that we'd all be better off if we built actual bike infrastructure. I'm very courteous to other road users, whether they be driving cars, riding bikes, or walking. I'm not the asshole in this conversation.
          • tjr225 4y ago
            No, I do not think the following is over the top- it is hypothetical. You can choose whether or not you want to follow the rules we've settled on and you can choose whether or not you want to behave nicely/kindly: > If for some reason you think that the physics of your vessel makes you immune to being nice, kind, or otherwise agreeable to our societal constructs, I’m forced to assume you are an asshole.
      • KennyBlanken 4y ago
        > if you want to push it that far, you have to answer the question of why bicycle riders aren't required to have a driver license, carry insurance, register their bikes, and have license plates. Because both the scale of destruction and death a cyclist is capable of is nowhere near that of someone driving even a small compact economy car, and the relation between damage caused vs suffered is nowhere as disproportionate? A driver can plow through a crowd of dozens of people, killing and maiming, and not suffer the slightest injury. > Because if you think a bike can't cause a serious accident, you haven't driven the roads too much. Never has a cyclist damaged a building, much less obliterated a storefront or killed people sitting inside said building. Or taken out a traffic light, or telephone pole. Never has a structural engineer had to evaluate a building or bridge after a cyclist hit it. Never has a cyclist caused a mass casualty event. A cyclist causing a death is so unheard of it's literally national news.
    • shard 4y ago
      This is cultural, believe it or not. In Korea, bicycles are expected to be on sidewalks and not sharing the road with cars, and there are often bike paths on pedestrian sidewalks.
  • tjr225 4y ago
    No I do not. Motorists in this country are quite literally insane, whether I am sharing the road with them in a bicycle or a car. It’s so bad I can barely even cross the street as a pedestrian- even when I’m clearly with my children!
    • rootusrootus 4y ago
      This is very regional, you cannot generalize across a country the size of the United States. In my city motorists stop immediately if you even look like you might want to cross the road. I've even inadvertently caused someone to get a ticket myself because I didn't look before stepping off the curb, and as soon as I did that the crosswalk became mine. I would have just let the car go, he was pretty close, and it would have been unreasonable to force him to jam the brakes and screech to a halt, but by putting my foot in that crosswalk I made it illegal for him not to stop, and the cop 100 feet up the road whipped out and wrote him a ticket for it. Cops around here like to do that.
      • john_the_writer 4y ago
        Agreed.. though didn't catch that they said the US.. Could be the Vatican City. Then saying it is regional is rather silly.
  • joebob42 4y ago
    Agree. I'm a very levelheaded, defensive driver, and I never actually do anything to harm bicyclists, but they make my blood boil every time I get stuck behind them.
    • tjr225 4y ago
      Maybe you aren’t as level headed as you think you are.
  • taeric 4y ago
    Sorta. The motorists do need to grow up and realize they are driving a giant machine that has a ton of responsibility with it. I live in an area with basically no bike lanes. Few street lights. Yet we are fairly well known for being very favorable for cyclists. So it can happen. And make no mistake that there are some folks that hate sharing the road with cyclists. By and large, they act like adults and don't pitch fits.
    • rootusrootus 4y ago
      That works the other way, too. Bicycle riders frequently treat pedestrians just as badly as cars treat them, so I don't see anyone with the high ground here. I don't much care to ride a bike, but I love to walk everywhere, and I have to tell you that getting hit by a bike hurts. I love to see them get their own lane.
      • andrewem 4y ago
        Getting hit by a bike hurts. Getting hit by a car or truck kills. This is the crucial distinction which one must disregard in order to argue such equivalences.
        • john_the_writer 4y ago
          Totally.. I don't honestly know one person who's been hit by a bike. Not counting people opening doors without looking.
      • taeric 4y ago
        Certainly there are bad bikers, too. Probably bad joggers. To a large extent, it is the same in all cases. The heavier item has more responsibility to pay attention in mixed use areas. The really dangerous vehicles should be separated and put in dedicated lanes.
  • deleted 4y ago
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  • beej71 4y ago
    But it does seem like the motorists who are angry blame the bikes, not the politicians.