<p>I am with you @rockvillemom. I lived in upstate NY and loved cycling (triathlon). I do not cycle here in MD despite the three feet law. It isn’t safe. No shoulders at all and narrow, curvy roads with hills and tons of blind spots. There is no safe way for cars to pass in many areas. As a driver sometimes I just keep going 10 mph behind the cyclist until the view is clear . . .which can take awhile and makes other drivers angry. I don’t know what else to do. Pull out three feet without knowing what is coming in the opposite lane?</p>
<p>The bike riders by my house are outrageous. There is an intersection close to my house where most people turn left but I go straight. Cyclists going 15 miles an hour REGULARLY blow right through the red light as I am proceeding into the intersection on the green. And I cannot see them coming. Why do cyclists fail to stop at red lights??? Is that a common thing?</p>
<p>Why do drivers fail to stop at red lights? In my area, two or three cars squeak through at the tail end of red lights, when the light has already turned red for them. Why are drivers such scofflaws?</p>
<p>When I cycled, I always stopped at red lights, but honestly, I believe it to be rare. Certainly at four g way stop signs it is rare. Red lights seem to be better with more cyclists stopping…</p>
<p>I really do miss cycling, but I am totally uncomfortable with holding up traffic while I pedal 12 mph up a steep hill. It saddens me that the roads here are so poorly designed. But they are. If a cyclist can go 20 mph comfortably and more downhill, it might not be so bad. But I am not as fast as that.</p>
<p>It is rare in my area for a cyclist to run a red light. It’s not rare, I’m sorry to say, for cyclists to run stop signs, especially at four way stops. </p>
<p>In the city where I work it is very common for cyclists to run red lights that have been red for several seconds, driving through pedestrians crossing in the crosswalk with the crossing signal. I wish they would give pedestrians three feet as they blast through red lights.</p>
<p>CF, the road Im thinking of has a low speed limit. For everyone, so there should be plenty of time to see a cyclist especially if they wear noticable clothing.</p>
<p>MODERATOR’S NOTE:</p>
<p>A year ago, a good friend’s daughter was hit on her bike by a car six weeks after starting her freshman year at college, despite her obeying all the rules of the road; she is now a quadriplegic. I read the story in the local newspaper and was astounded at how vicious the comments got - I’d hate to see this thread head that way and have to close it. So please be respectful in your dialogue and try to avoid overgeneralizing. </p>
<p>As the chicken in the bunch…I prefer to ride on designated bike paths or rail trails. I’m not at all interested in riding on the roads. We did take our bikes to Ocean City NJ this summer. They have a street that is a designated bike route with a huge bike lane. I will say, the car drivers were very mindful of the four way stops. The bicycle riders…not so much so. </p>
<p>What bothers me as much are the numbers of adults who don’t wear helmets. I know they are not required for adults in all places… But as the wife of a rider who was in an accident…and whose helmet saved him from some huge injury…I just can’t understand those who don’t wear helmets when riding. </p>
<p>I routinely take 2 hr bike rides with my spouse on the weekends if weather permits. Still in all, we try to use roads just to get to bike paths. And it really doesn’t matter whether I have as much “right” to be on a road versus a car – bottom line is, I’ve got a lot more to lose than a car driver does. So I’m not interested in being arrogant about my “rights.” </p>
<p>I hope that wasn’t aimed at me Teriwit.
My daughter until recently commuted by bike from one major city to another, in adjoining states.
I am always watchful while in a car, but also surprised at some of the behavior by cyclists, considering how vulnerable they are.
Especially around the university.it seriously scares me.</p>
<p>I wear a helmet, but I get so tired of Every. Single. Article about a cyclist death or serious injury saying whether the cyclist was or was not wearing a helmet, as if a helmet would have kept the cyclist from being hit, or as if cyclists who weren’t wearing helmets were at fault for their own murder by a careless, drunk or vicious driver. Helmets don’t protect cyclists from being hit by texting drivers or drunk teenagers. </p>
<p>Helmets aren’t as good as you think. Fetishizing helmets takes attention away from the real problem, which is cyclist and driver negligence. In other countries, countries with considerably lower cyclist death rates, helmets are uncommon.</p>
<p>I use roads to get to other roads, since cycling is my form of transportation. I insist on my rights because I need them, and because insisting on my rights, instead of cowering in the gutter, makes me safer.</p>
<p>No EK4 - it was not directed toward you. I’ve seen the arguments get nasty on both sides, and it can get really ugly. I hope this doesn’t go that way, because I do believe there is constructive dialogue to be had. </p>
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<p>I am a beginner cyclist and started out a few weeks ago riding in my neighborhood, which is a small neighborhood in a gated community with not a lot of traffic. One evening, with a cool breeze blowing (well not cool, but cool for Dallas in September), I decided to take a little ride. It seemed such a pain to put on a helmet in an environment so secluded from through traffic, etc. But I thought, “would I want D1 or D2 to ride their bikes in here with no helmet?” Answer is no, and as a nurse who has worked in a major trauma center, it would have been foolish to do so. It only takes one driver not paying attention or the cyclist making a wrong move to destroy your brain’s functions. I’ve seen enough of those sad stories to know I don’t want to be one of them.</p>
<p>I don’t get why people would risk the thing which is most precious to most of us, our minds, our intellect, our personalities, our intelligence, in order to avoid the very small discomfort which comes with wearing a helmet. </p>
<p>My DH and S#1 have had very close calls with cars when on their bikes. We are lucky they weren’t seriously hurt. Please everyone, share the road. It is here for everyone</p>
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<p>THIS.</p>
<p>I’ve gotten stuck behind a cyclist going 10 mph. It’s twenty to sixty seconds of my time lost. Big deal.</p>
<p>A friend of a friend, Matthew O’Neill, was killed recently by a 16-year-old driving a truck pulling a horse trailer. O’Neill was a an exceedingly experienced cyclists, wearing a helmet and doing nothing wrong, and he was wiped out in an instant. In response, his brokenhearted family and friends urge you to change lanes to pass a cyclist:</p>
<p><a href=“Family of local bicyclist killed by driver pushes for change in new state law | cbs8.com”>Family of local bicyclist killed by driver pushes for change in new state law | cbs8.com;
<p>Don’t squeeze by. Be careful. A cyclist’s life is in your hands. “All [the driver] had to do was slow down, and he didn’t slow down,” said O’Neill’s grieving mother.</p>
<p>I don’t have a problem with identifying whether a cyclist wears a helmet, like I don’t mind letting us know if a driver was wearing a seat belt.</p>
<p>It would be nice if cyclist in my area would not ride 2 abreast - one in the bike lane and one in the car lane. I don’t get to drive side by side with another car so we can talk back and forth out the windows. If there is a bike lane use it. It would also be nice if cyclists on my road didn’t exceed the 25 mile per hour speed limit down the hill passing cars on the right as they signal and try to turn into the neighborhood. In fact, it would also be nice if they didn’t pass cars on the left who are signaling to turn left. A dear friend was signaling to turn into her driveway (West Mercer for those Seattle area people) and waiting for an oncoming car to pass. When it was clear she turned and was T-boned in her driver’s side door by a cyclist who was attempting to pass her. Guess who got sued for medical bills?</p>