5 ms·

Traffic lights are designed to group cars together, but if you're willing to run (all of) them you get to ride in between the packs of cars where you only have

by stolio 13y ago

Traffic lights are designed to group cars together, but if you're willing to run (all of) them you get to ride in between the packs of cars where you only have to worry about cross-traffic at intersection and the occasional pedestrian. It's so much nicer for everybody involved, I can't get up to speed like a car can at a red light so if I wait there suddenly I'll have a line of cars behind me who may make questionable passes at the first opportunity. I think anything that reduces my proximity to 2-ton hunks of metal on the street is a good thing. In some states it's legal for cyclists to treat stop lights as stop signs and stop signs as yield signs because A) it's so much easier for us to stop B) we can hear our surroundings so we generally have a good idea if an intersection is safe to cross before getting visual confirmation and C) the amount of danger we expose others to is small compared to vehicles (person + 30 lbs. bike vs. person + 3,500 lbs. car)

dman 13y ago
As a pedestrian in Manhattan it's really hard for me to model in my head what a person on a bicycle going to do. What is the protocol for cyclists and red lights - are they supposed to stop like other vehicles? Do people crossing the street with a walk sign have right of way? Can they take free left turns if no cars are at the intersection?
- stolio 13y ago
  I don't live in as big a city as Manhattan so I can't really say, I've seen videos of some insane bike riding in NYC. Can't believe how some of them ride. I do think cyclists sometimes fail to give pedestrians the respect they deserve, we have to remember that pedestrian's relationship with us mirrors our relationship with cars. I personally try not to come within 5 feet of pedestrians, unless they're standing in a bike lane or something like that. in the sense that we're bigger and faster, but the extent of the danger isn't even close

by stolio 13y ago

dman 13y ago

As a pedestrian in Manhattan it's really hard for me to model in my head what a person on a bicycle going to do. What is the protocol for cyclists and red lights - are they supposed to stop like other vehicles? Do people crossing the street with a walk sign have right of way? Can they take free left turns if no cars are at the intersection?

stolio 13y ago
I don't live in as big a city as Manhattan so I can't really say, I've seen videos of some insane bike riding in NYC. Can't believe how some of them ride. I do think cyclists sometimes fail to give pedestrians the respect they deserve, we have to remember that pedestrian's relationship with us mirrors our relationship with cars. I personally try not to come within 5 feet of pedestrians, unless they're standing in a bike lane or something like that. in the sense that we're bigger and faster, but the extent of the danger isn't even close