If you insist on pretending children's toys are viable transportation worthy of taxpayer money funding bike lanes blocking legitimate traffic- well, expect to be treated like the idiot you are.
Stop signs and lights mean stop, same as for cars.
If 5 or more legitimate road users are backed up behind you, you're obligated to pull off and let them by. This means you, Seattle jerks riding my rural roads in your silky costumes every damn weekend.
On pedestrian and bike shared use trails pedestrians should expect not to have to constantly dive off the trail to avoid inconsiderate and dangerous cyclists.
Bicycles are not and never will be viable transportation options for most of us. Who pay for the roads in licensing and gas taxes. So I'll fight each and every waste of taxpayer money on bike lanes.
I'm a motorcyclist who supports paying for bicycle lanes so that the roads are clearer and I can deal with fewer idiot car drivers. Seriously, car drivers are the worst, thinking they can listen to music and zone out or text on their phones and check Facebook while driving without endangering others. That's childish.
@2: I ride my bike to and from work every day. It saves me bus fare or the bother of owning a car, and it's some good free cardiovascular exercise, not to mention a nice warm-up routine for the heavy lifting of stockroom work.
I obey the signals. I'll readily admit to rolling through stop signs if no other vehicles are present, but I always slow, and I respect the right of way. It's actually motorists, in my own experience, who have the most trouble with the rules of the road; they commonly blow through stop signs, open car doors into bike lanes without looking, and quite often have no idea how a 4-way stop works.
You're a bit rusty on the laws about bicycles. Bicyclists are allowed to ride on all roads except for limited-access highways, but must not ride more than two abreast except on bike paths. If they're going slower than the flow of traffic they are required to keep as far to the right as is safe and practical (except on one-way roads, where they can instead keep to the left), but if there's no room for them to do so, they're allowed to take up a full lane just like any other vehicle; they're not required to pull off the road to let cars by.
Motorists pay for the roads, but they're also responsible for road wear. Cars gradually erode and compress the asphalt, leading eventually to potholes and other issues; bicycles are far too light to have a measurable effect. Sorry to burst your bubble there. You might as well decry pedestrians using the tarmac in crosswalks!
Teal deer: Seattleblues is unshakably certain that anyone different from him is markedly and objectively inferior. He is, as always, ignorant and misinformed.
I don't know why you're giving SDOT a full pass on this, Ansel. They only moved the sign after I sent that photo to them. I'm glad they moved it, but blaming a contractor is weak.
Have you ridden the "protected" bike lane on 2nd? I have. Now I take 1st.
@troll:
Your gas tax and license tab dollars actually don't support city streets in any significant way. City streets, bike lanes, sidewalks, etc. are all supported by local sales/property taxes.
The only roads that license fee and gas-tax dollars pay for are freeways. I've never seen a bike lane on the freeway.
Somebody missed his nap. Maybe you'll be in a better mood if you go play with one of your toys for a while? How about a bicycle ride? Keep practicing and your daddy might be able to take off those training wheels!
"Meaning, they'd think real long and hard before casually blocking them."
Since when do they think long and hard before blocking vehicle lanes either? Construction crews are dicks. Probably more dickish bicycles, but pretty fucking dickish to everyone.
(bikes) they're not required to pull off the road to let cars by.
Actually, if they have a backup of 5 behind them, they are required... like any other vehicle moving slower than the prevailing traffic. Bikes are vehicles, afterall. Also, FU on rolling through stop signs and then complaining about drivers not using stop signs correctly. Pot, meet kettle. http://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?c…
@17: "wherever sufficient area for a safe turn-out exists, in order to permit the vehicles following to proceed"
So no, bikes don't have to pull off the road unless there's a place for them to turn off to. Also, that only applies to two-lane highways.
I ROLL through stop signs when there are no other vehicles near the intersection. I do not BLOW through a stop sign without slowing, especially not when there are other vehicles nearby. Plenty of motorists do so without a second thought.
Seattleblues is correct. It's the bicyclists that refuse to open their eyes. Or follow any road rules...
In the end, we are all people. Whether we are behind the wheel, pedaling a bike, or walking on a sidewalk. Until we all check ourselves, each and everyone, then these conflicts will continue.
It's not the cars, bikes, or shoes to blame. It's the people controlling them!
If people would actually go to the trouble of calling the cops whenever trucks and cars were blocking pathways, the cops would show up and cite them. But virtually no one ever does. They just grumble about it on the internet later.
Traffic laws do in fact apply to you cyclists.
Stop signs and lights mean stop, same as for cars.
If 5 or more legitimate road users are backed up behind you, you're obligated to pull off and let them by. This means you, Seattle jerks riding my rural roads in your silky costumes every damn weekend.
On pedestrian and bike shared use trails pedestrians should expect not to have to constantly dive off the trail to avoid inconsiderate and dangerous cyclists.
Bicycles are not and never will be viable transportation options for most of us. Who pay for the roads in licensing and gas taxes. So I'll fight each and every waste of taxpayer money on bike lanes.
Have a nice day.
I'm a motorcyclist who supports paying for bicycle lanes so that the roads are clearer and I can deal with fewer idiot car drivers. Seriously, car drivers are the worst, thinking they can listen to music and zone out or text on their phones and check Facebook while driving without endangering others. That's childish.
I obey the signals. I'll readily admit to rolling through stop signs if no other vehicles are present, but I always slow, and I respect the right of way. It's actually motorists, in my own experience, who have the most trouble with the rules of the road; they commonly blow through stop signs, open car doors into bike lanes without looking, and quite often have no idea how a 4-way stop works.
You're a bit rusty on the laws about bicycles. Bicyclists are allowed to ride on all roads except for limited-access highways, but must not ride more than two abreast except on bike paths. If they're going slower than the flow of traffic they are required to keep as far to the right as is safe and practical (except on one-way roads, where they can instead keep to the left), but if there's no room for them to do so, they're allowed to take up a full lane just like any other vehicle; they're not required to pull off the road to let cars by.
Motorists pay for the roads, but they're also responsible for road wear. Cars gradually erode and compress the asphalt, leading eventually to potholes and other issues; bicycles are far too light to have a measurable effect. Sorry to burst your bubble there. You might as well decry pedestrians using the tarmac in crosswalks!
Teal deer: Seattleblues is unshakably certain that anyone different from him is markedly and objectively inferior. He is, as always, ignorant and misinformed.
Have you ridden the "protected" bike lane on 2nd? I have. Now I take 1st.
EVIL, PURE AND SIMPLE!
Your gas tax and license tab dollars actually don't support city streets in any significant way. City streets, bike lanes, sidewalks, etc. are all supported by local sales/property taxes.
The only roads that license fee and gas-tax dollars pay for are freeways. I've never seen a bike lane on the freeway.
Somebody missed his nap. Maybe you'll be in a better mood if you go play with one of your toys for a while? How about a bicycle ride? Keep practicing and your daddy might be able to take off those training wheels!
Since when do they think long and hard before blocking vehicle lanes either? Construction crews are dicks. Probably more dickish bicycles, but pretty fucking dickish to everyone.
Actually, if they have a backup of 5 behind them, they are required... like any other vehicle moving slower than the prevailing traffic. Bikes are vehicles, afterall. Also, FU on rolling through stop signs and then complaining about drivers not using stop signs correctly. Pot, meet kettle.
http://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?c…
So no, bikes don't have to pull off the road unless there's a place for them to turn off to. Also, that only applies to two-lane highways.
I ROLL through stop signs when there are no other vehicles near the intersection. I do not BLOW through a stop sign without slowing, especially not when there are other vehicles nearby. Plenty of motorists do so without a second thought.
In the end, we are all people. Whether we are behind the wheel, pedaling a bike, or walking on a sidewalk. Until we all check ourselves, each and everyone, then these conflicts will continue.
It's not the cars, bikes, or shoes to blame. It's the people controlling them!
Nice work!