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Traffic laws apply to everyone



 
 
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  #1  
Old October 3rd 16, 03:06 AM posted to rec.bicycles.tech
Andy K
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Default Traffic laws apply to everyone

Today I saw a group of 5 cyclists ride right thru a red light while cars were stopped at the light.

I wonder if they realize that traffic laws apply to them and they could be ticketed ?

Or maybe they don't care.

Andy
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  #2  
Old October 3rd 16, 04:07 AM posted to rec.bicycles.tech
DATAKOLL MARINE RESEARCH
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Default Traffic laws apply to everyone

many classic examples...

if savvy road rider then traffic is 'like' football.

if there's a hole in TSD then move across or into that hole.

often into the cementery.

your choice.


  #3  
Old October 3rd 16, 07:03 PM posted to rec.bicycles.tech
[email protected]
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Default Traffic laws apply to everyone

On Sunday, October 2, 2016 at 7:06:46 PM UTC-7, Andy K wrote:
Today I saw a group of 5 cyclists ride right thru a red light while cars were stopped at the light.

I wonder if they realize that traffic laws apply to them and they could be ticketed ?

Or maybe they don't care.

Andy


Generally speaking you should not run red lights. But often the front rider will "jump" a yellow light late and as the rest of the group get there it is red and they will follow the leader through.

I personally do not approve of this but it happens.

However, I will run left turn lights if there is no on-coming traffic. I do this for a number of reasons 1. It is safer to proceed if there is no traffic regardless of the left turn light. 2. If I sit at the light I can stop other traffic coming the opposite direction that I didn't need to stop by proceeding when there was no traffic.

I will often run stop signs if there is no traffic because the entire object of a stop sign is to allow a clean flow of traffic. While stop signs do not offer any physical strain to drivers it does for cyclists and if there is no traffic I see no reason to stop. Also a cyclist usually sits much higher and with fewer things to block his vision and can see if there is traffic when a car cannot.

Unfortunately I can see no other way of writing traffic regulation since there are idiots that could not be held accountable for stupidities if they were otherwise.

So when you are driving please remember that idiot cyclists are mostly young and inexperienced.
  #4  
Old October 3rd 16, 07:16 PM posted to rec.bicycles.tech
Duane[_3_]
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Default Traffic laws apply to everyone

On 03/10/2016 2:03 PM, wrote:
On Sunday, October 2, 2016 at 7:06:46 PM UTC-7, Andy K wrote:
Today I saw a group of 5 cyclists ride right thru a red light while cars were stopped at the light.

I wonder if they realize that traffic laws apply to them and they could be ticketed ?

Or maybe they don't care.

Andy


Generally speaking you should not run red lights. But often the front rider will "jump" a yellow light late and as the rest of the group get there it is red and they will follow the leader through.

I personally do not approve of this but it happens.


I won't generally run a light even if I'm with my group. One thing that
i see happen, with us and other group riders is when we come to a stop
sign. We mostly yield or stop and go as a group. In other words, the
first one to get there when another car has the right of way will stop.
But once that one gets the right of way, the rest of the group goes. I
think that some drivers expect us to go one by one into the queue. Most
just wave the group through but some drivers don't like waiting 12 seconds.

However, I will run left turn lights if there is no on-coming traffic. I do this for a number of reasons 1. It is safer to proceed if there is no traffic regardless of the left turn light. 2. If I sit at the light I can stop other traffic coming the opposite direction that I didn't need to stop by proceeding when there was no traffic.

I will often run stop signs if there is no traffic because the entire object of a stop sign is to allow a clean flow of traffic. While stop signs do not offer any physical strain to drivers it does for cyclists and if there is no traffic I see no reason to stop. Also a cyclist usually sits much higher and with fewer things to block his vision and can see if there is traffic when a car cannot.

Unfortunately I can see no other way of writing traffic regulation since there are idiots that could not be held accountable for stupidities if they were otherwise.


Here in Montreal, they are considering making that behavior legal for
cyclists, basically treating the stop sign as a yield. There's some
opposition to this though.

So when you are driving please remember that idiot cyclists are mostly young and inexperienced.


Maybe mostly but not exclusively. Same goes for motorists.
  #6  
Old October 3rd 16, 08:36 PM posted to rec.bicycles.tech
Doug Landau
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Default Traffic laws apply to everyone

Traffic laws apply to everyone

Incorrect! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idaho_stop
  #7  
Old October 8th 16, 08:19 PM posted to rec.bicycles.tech
Frank Krygowski[_4_]
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Default Traffic laws apply to everyone

On 10/3/2016 3:13 PM, W. Wesley Groleau wrote:
On 10-03-2016 13:03, wrote:
I will often run stop signs if there is no traffic


I slow down at a stop sign as much as I can without losing balance.
Rationale: minimize the excuses motorists might have for hating bicyclists.


I'm going to admit to running a red light about three days ago.

Scenario: A tandem tour with my wife. We'd ridden roughly 50 miles
that day on a bike carrying too much stuff in its panniers. We were
heading up a hill in an unfamiliar city with not a car in sight, when
the light just ahead of us turned red. I snarled a quick expletive,
thinking about the difficulty of getting the tandem re-started on that
hill, then said "Heck with it; I'm going." No complaints at all from
the stoker as I rolled on through the empty intersection.

I felt a little bad because just as we rode through the intersection,
some cars crested a hill behind us. I'm sure the drivers saw what we
did, and I hate to make that bad impression.

OTOH, within about three blocks, when we were stopped at another light,
a guy in the passenger seat of the car next to us rolled down his window
and said how nice we looked riding along. That was kind of him, and
welcome.

--
- Frank Krygowski
  #8  
Old October 8th 16, 08:30 PM posted to rec.bicycles.tech
W. Wesley Groleau
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Posts: 372
Default Traffic laws apply to everyone

On 10-08-2016 14:19, Frank Krygowski wrote:
Scenario: A tandem tour with my wife. We'd ridden roughly 50 miles
that day on a bike carrying too much stuff in its panniers. We were
heading up a hill in an unfamiliar city with not a car in sight, when
the light just ahead of us turned red. I snarled a quick expletive,
thinking about the difficulty of getting the tandem re-started on that
hill, then said "Heck with it; I'm going." No complaints at all from
the stoker as I rolled on through the empty intersection.


Understandable. I have succumbed to that temptation under a few
particularly onerous terrains, and when I was sure there were no witnesses.

There are a few particularly irritating places in Spain where the
terrain and/or vegetation prevents one from determining in advance
whether there are approaching hazards/witnesses. Get up some nice speed
downhill and have to shift to low while going downhill in order to be
able to get started up-hill the other side of the intersection.

--
Wes Groleau
  #9  
Old October 8th 16, 09:36 PM posted to rec.bicycles.tech
Andrew Chaplin
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Posts: 206
Default Traffic laws apply to everyone

"W. Wesley Groleau" wrote in
:

On 10-08-2016 14:19, Frank Krygowski wrote:
Scenario: A tandem tour with my wife. We'd ridden roughly 50 miles
that day on a bike carrying too much stuff in its panniers. We were
heading up a hill in an unfamiliar city with not a car in sight, when
the light just ahead of us turned red. I snarled a quick expletive,
thinking about the difficulty of getting the tandem re-started on that
hill, then said "Heck with it; I'm going." No complaints at all from
the stoker as I rolled on through the empty intersection.


Understandable. I have succumbed to that temptation under a few
particularly onerous terrains, and when I was sure there were no
witnesses.


So it's not just me.
--
Andrew Chaplin
SIT MIHI GLADIUS SICUT SANCTO MARTINO
(If you're going to e-mail me, you'll have to get "yourfinger." out.)
 




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