I've never had a cyclist blow a red light and nearly run me down in a crosswalk. I've never had a cyclist cross a double yellow and nearly hit me head on because they can't stay within the lines. I've never had a cyclist merge into me and nearly flatten me because they apparently think yielding to traffic already on the road is optional.
Sure, cyclists violate the law, but let's get our priorities straight.
sigh....sure there's a "10%" on the bike side. but the scale of that "10%" is infinitesimally small in comparison to the level of incompetence in motor vehicles, and moreover a bike isn't an (n) thousand pound kinetic energy weapon.
this is a tired argument that lacks any basis in fact. what is supported by fact is that we annually kill tens of thousands of people each year in this country (USA) as a result of driver incompetence, i.e. distracted, drunk, etc, etc.......
In all 50 states, people on bikes are required to follow the same laws as other drivers.
Yet, I have seen a bike riders pass several parked cars to flat out fly though mid cycle red lights. Drive down the center line passing slow cars on both sides. Do 20+MPH down a sidewalk past driveway exists with limited visibility etc etc.
That's way past 10%.
Bikes are required to take a full traffic lane and obey traffic laws, or use a bike lane. Anything else is both illegal and begging to be hit.
PS: I have personally seen 2 minor bike-car accidents both times the bike was breaking the law. [Car making right hand turn bike passed them on the right side, car pulling out bike hit them on sidewalk]. And a host of near misses where the bike was breaking the law every single time.
Out of all my years driving, I've never been really concerned over a bicyclist, even when they go through stop signs, or hang on my lumber rack. Yes, a lot don't obey traffic laws to a tee, but it's a bike. They do not have the mass, nor size of a automobile. They just haven't been a concern for myself.
I honestly don't get the outrage towards bicyclists. I think it's more psychological? Personally, I have found the most out of shape individuals complain about cyclists the most.
I think it's more hypocrisy, if you're going to get out of shape due to drivers not obeying the laws then you better damn well follow them yourself.
I've almost hit bicyclist blowing stop signs multiple times. While they don't have the mass of a car you can bet that in the case of an injury there's a high probability that the driver is still going to be on the hook for insurance + damages.
If a biker's mental ruleset says "Cars need to stop at red lights. Bikes may carefully proceed through red lights.", then it's not necessarily hypocrisy IMO.
If that same biker, when driving a car, runs through red lights then I think that is a more condemnable hypocrisy.
Back in the 1970s/1980s cyclists had to struggle to carve out their legal place on the roadways. Part of the bargain was that they adopt certain car-like rules of the road, like riding in the same direction as traffic, not weaving in and out, obeying traffic signals, etc. Because of this, cyclists' behavior is more predictable to drivers, thus making the roads safer for cyclists.
When I see guys on fixies weaving in and out of traffic and blowing through stop signs I worry that all that progress is going out the window. These cyclists are making the roads more dangerous for themselves.
As a pedestrian, I have to watch out for both. Cars at least respect crosswalks for the most part after having that drilled into them. I routinely have to take action to avoid being hit by a bicyclist who thinks that red lights are a suggestion or that the signs saying no bikes on the sidewalks are just for decoration
