Bikes...stemmed from "UNCONSCIONABLE ACT OF BRAKING!!!!!!"

[Ramana Lagemann <elmool@tiac.net>]

> >From palermo!sun4nl!coimbra.ans.net!owner-quattro Sat Jun 21 03:23 MET 1997
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> Subject: Re: UNCONSCIONABLE ACT OF BRAKING!!!!!!
> To: rbw@avs.com (Rob Winchell)
> Cc: MSV96@aol.com, quattro@coimbra.ans.net, fringe@ai.net
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> > Don't _even_ get me started on bicyclists. I live in Boston, right next to 
> > a bike path, so I see a lot of bikes. I can't remember the last time I saw 
> > a person on a bike wait for a red light, or walk their bike across a 
> > crosswalk, or get off the bike when they go on a sidewalk. Most bicyclist 
> > around here expect to be treated like a car by other cars, but also like 
> > pedestrians, which they are not.
> 
> BTW, all the above but running red lights is LEGAL for bicyclists in the
> Seattle area.
> 
> I am not saying all bike riders are like 
> > this, just 99% of the ones I see around where I live. The sad part is that 
> > as pitiful as US drivers are, bicycle riders are even more ignorant of the 
> > rules of the road/sidewalk.
> 
> It unfortunately true that too many are ignorant of the law and ride
> dangerously.
> 
> I have to add that like some speed limits are universally ignored by
> cars, some rules in some areas are universally ignored by bicyclists
> (a certain run of stop signs on the Burke Gilman Trail come to mind).
> Let him who is without sin...
> 
> Orin.
> 
> PS: said stop signs stop trail traffic across streets/driveways which carry
> virtually zero vehicular traffic... usage is probably 1000:1 in favor of
> the trail, but it is trail users that are supposed to stop.

As an avid cyclist myself, not to mention obvious Audi lover, I must say
that (at least in Boston) most motorists don't grant cyclists enough
precedence and do not acknowledge their rights. Most motorists do not
realize that bikes must abide by the same laws as they themselves must.
It is, therfore, a fact that at stop signs and intersections, etc. the
motorist must act as if he/she is dealing with another car, rather than
"just a biker". It is this common disregard for cyclists that have led
them to their present status as "ignorants". Most of the bikers that
know not to ride on the sidewalk also know the rules of the road,
they're just sick of putting up with the crap that they're being dealt
by 98% of motorists.

-Ramana
'90 Coupe Q
'96 Ted Wojcik Softrac DS