Bike People- the rules of the road apply to you too!

Quick question - as pedestrians, have either of you ever jaywalked? I'm not saying that the biker was right, but get off the high horse and let's be honest - everyone takes liberties now and again, but we should all be smart about it.

WhyFi wrote: Quick question - as pedestrians, have either of you ever jaywalked? I'm not saying that the biker was right, but get off the high horse and let's be honest - everyone takes liberties now and again, but we should all be smart about it.

spoken like a true biker ....

hey, i dont mind. If I am in my car and either a biker or jaywalker wants to gamble on who will win against a 2 ton vehicle, be my guest.

My money is on the car

there are rude people on 2 wheels , 4 wheels, and 2 legs. I have no idea why you send this admonishment out to an entire group of people when it was an individual you have a problem with. I almost got killed by a blonde woman talking on a cell phone with jersey plates, maybe I should send messages out that blonde women from jersey have to follow laws too.

when you can ensure that drivers will stop texting, using cell phones, driving drunk and doing everything else under the sun to direct their massive speeding bullet in my direction, I will stop at every red light. Until then, I will take the chance to get as much distance btwn them and myself as possible,. No, I will not endanger a ped in the process, but if I go through a light 20 feet in front of you, it does not give you a right to go on a holier than though rampage.

if you have a problem with my idaho stop then get ready for my idaho CHOP!

Christina wrote: Or people who make eye contact with you and then don't know if they should stop or keep going, and they ultimately do whatever makes you crash into them.

Christina wrote: Maybe I cause the deer in the headlight syndrome?

I like to think that they're just a full step behind our (bicyclists) cat-like reflexes!

cyclists, and everyone else, need to pay attention to everyone around them and obey traffic signals and general road rules for their own safety. a friend of mine was killed in august when he rode his bike through a red light and was hit by a car. don't get angry at people who ask you to behave less dangerously; even if they're commenting out of self-interest, they're right to make the point.

Christina wrote: Maybe I cause the deer in the headlight syndrome?

headlights are another word for cleavage

Christina wrote: Thank you, whynot... (?)

Let the record show that this poster did not comment on Christina's cleavage, per se.

I simply clarified the meaning of term.
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=headlights

whatevs, whynot. we all know -- per your own confession -- that you're spending your unemployment playing with your wood.

Christina wrote: Or people that use their stroller as a weapon.

I think using the stroller as a weapon is fine, but only from behind. If you're walking unencumbered, and someone nips your heels with a heavy object they're pushing, chances are you're dawdling right in the middle of the way.

There's a lot of bikes that wanted to be treated as cars when it suits them and want to be treated as pedestrians when it suits them. It's annoying. Make a choice.

WhyFi wrote:
My money is on the car

Perhaps...But soon after, your money will go to the biker or pedestrian...Whose insurance will go up more if there's an accident?

Why can't everyone simply agree to not be idiots?

WhyFi wrote: Quick question - as pedestrians, have either of you ever jaywalked?

My body, when jaywalking through an intersection, is not a potentially deadly weapon. A bicycle racing down a hill in PS on the other hand, is.

As much as I support a bike-friendly city, every time I see an idiot run through a light and nearly mow down a pedestrian, or someone riding on the sidewalk when there's a bike lane 12' away, my sympathy for bikers is reduced just a little bit more. I'm sure there are bike riders who obey the traffic laws. I just don't see them very often.

independent mind wrote: I think we should all accord far more respect to cyclists. I don't even cycle that much, but I am smart enough to appreciate that they are improving the environment and making smart choices in terms of their health.

Most of the time that cyclists 'break' the rules, it is because biking in nyc and brooklyn is like a video game of avoiding traffic violations, backing up trucks, buses pulling out in front of people, weather, illegally double parked cars, etc etc. So, if the coast is clear and they are trying to make up some lost time by going through a red, DEAL WITH IT.

Irritation with cyclists indicates petty disavowal of the larger issue which is that we all have to move towards a more bike-friendly society in order to catch up to the rest of the world and to reduce pollutants that are causing asthma and cancer.

I bike, I drive, and when forced I walk....

Get off your 'Times Up!' high horse. Bikers are no higher up in the moral hierarchy of travel than any other form of transportation. Bikers hit people on + off their bikes and generally don't abide by safety or traffic laws. Plus many cars on the road are there by necessity, especially in Manhattan. Delivery + garbage trucks, buses and to a large degree cabs are all necessary evils. Just thinking of all the infrastructure- cable, pipe, concrete- you expect people to deliver those by bike? Do you expect an elderly person to ride say from the LES up to Harlem every day? It's just not feasible.

Plus most people just have no business riding in traffic with the avg psychopathic NY driver. People don't have the instincts, physical strength or patience to be good bike riders here. I do think the city should move to accommodate bikers more and they have made great headway. But the unrealistic + myopic Times Up visions of a car-less NYC need to go.