Current Events > I didnt know riding a bike made you exempt from red lights

(+) Yeah! (+)

I'll have to remember that next time I'm riding my bike.
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It doesn't, cyclist are not exempt from most roadway laws and rules. There are a handful that do regularly break those laws, taking risks that I would personally believe to be great than their reward, but it is their life.

If the police see it, they can be ticketed/cited for violations, but that doesn't happen terribly often around here.
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It actually does depending on where you live. It's supposedly safer.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idaho_stop
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There is a special place in hell for all those human condom wearing bastards around here.
They want to be in the middle of the damn road as if they were a car but then have pedestrian rights at the same time. Fuck them all.
Stay in the one lane peddling 10mph in a 35 mhp zone and have all the cars pilling behind them. And when you can pass them they get all sorts of animated and start yelling. Cross 3 lanes of traffic to get into the left turn car lane causing everyone to suddenly brake.

Even kids and teens riding bikes and skateboards are more careful, wary and well mannered than these adults.

Every time I see the LA news and it's on there that one of these assholes got picked off somewhere and almost always the car doesn't stop. Let's just say I won't say what I'm thinking.
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Bicycle riders master race
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its _really_ irritating how some bike riders have this mentality of "IM JUST LIKE A CAR YOU HAVE TO GRANT ME THE SAME RIGHTS AND SHARE THE ROAD" then they just go right through red lights like they're exempt from traffic rules.
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Giant_Aspirin posted...

its _really_ irritating how some bike riders have this mentality of "IM JUST LIKE A CAR YOU HAVE TO GRANT ME THE SAME RIGHTS AND SHARE THE ROAD" then they just go right through red lights like they're exempt from traffic rules.

they literally are exempt from some traffic rules, that one specifically, in many places

tbf you can't just blast through a red light any where on a bike, but allowing cyclists to yield at a stop sign and treat a red light like a stop sign are apparently best practice

I don't know shit about it personally because I don't ride a bike ever, its funny to me how mad people get at cyclists though
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Haven't seen this lady in a while, but almost everyday she would be riding her bike and stop at the intersection to wait for the light to turn green so she could get across safely. However, she was always parked in the cross walk instead of being as close to the sidewalk as possible, blocking an entire lane of traffic and preventing people from making a right on red turn. It irritated me and I wasn't even driving.
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Bike riders are the worst in Chicago
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Cyclists: Wahh! It's hard to stop and start my bike! I'm gonna burn the social contract that are roadway rules and do whatever the fuck I want, then I can act like a scumfuck with my edited gopro footage because WAHH, I WANNA BE A VICTIM TOO!"

Cyclists on main roadways can go fuck themselves. Go play with your children's toys in a parking lot or something.
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Soggy_Pocket posted...

Haven't seen this lady in a while, but almost everyday she would be riding her bike and stop at the intersection to wait for the light to turn green so she could get across safely. However, she was always parked in the cross walk instead of being as close to the sidewalk as possible, blocking an entire lane of traffic and preventing people from making a right on red turn. It irritated me and I wasn't even driving.

it would be very dangerous for her to allow cars to be right turning in front of where she wanted to go straight

most cyclist accidents happen in intersections, specifically with cars turning and not seeing them/expecting them to be coming

I think we just need protected bike lanes but that is a controversial idea among cyclists. there are a group of cyclists that think protected bike lanes make biking less safe

seriously, cycling is like that one thing groundskeeper willie says about scots being natural enemies with everyone, including other scots. they are crazier and more divided than environmentalists, education activists, etc
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Soggy_Pocket posted...

Haven't seen this lady in a while, but almost everyday she would be riding her bike and stop at the intersection to wait for the light to turn green so she could get across safely. However, she was always parked in the cross walk instead of being as close to the sidewalk as possible, blocking an entire lane of traffic and preventing people from making a right on red turn. It irritated me and I wasn't even driving.

There's a reason for that. If she let people turn right in front of her when she wanted to go straight she could get right hooked which happens pretty often. Also, cars can just blast through before she could accelerate and never let her go through the intersection. Both suck. I've tried being conscientious of cars by going all the way to the right when we're at stops, now I don't because of those two reasons. If you're on a straight away sure move over from the middle of the lane to let someone through if you're slow, but even then honestly I wouldn't recommend it, I've had people leave like 2 inches of space when passing me by, or shouting swears or throwing trash at me. I would rather just take up the whole lane, I move fast enough and average 20-25 mph. But hey I stopped hardcore cycling and started running BECAUSE of all the close calls on the road. I've already experienced two accidents. 1 right hook and 1 t-bone because I waited for a green light at a red. I got away unscathed from both, but I'm not gonna wait for a third. Riding 70 miles every other day just increases my chances of getting fucked.
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Swagnificent119 posted...

Bike riders are the worst in Chicago

This. They never show the respect or concern to pedestrians that they demand from cars.
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Ah, that makes sense. Still annoying though. I don't see pedestrians standing in the crosswalk so that they don't get hooked.
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Soggy_Pocket posted...

Ah, that makes sense. Still annoying though. I don't see pedestrians standing in the crosswalk so that they don't get hooked.

that's because they have a sidewalk to use?
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Rainbow_Dashing posted...

I've tried being conscientious of cars by going all the way to the right when we're at stops, now I don't because of those two reasons.

the approach I've been taking here occasionally is moving to the left of the lane, rather than to the right. cars can still fit by to turn right themselves but you don't need to worry about them being in front of you when the light turns green and it's time to go straight across

this sort of situation though is by far my least favourite situation while biking so I'm not surprised a lot of people just avoid it entirely by going through the red and that doing so is even allowed in some places
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dolomedes posted...

the assholes that bike on the sidewalk are what get to me.

Especially when they get pissed off at you for not moving out of the way. I've had people repeatedly ring their bells and me because I guess I'm supposed to expect people on bikes coming up behind me on sidewalks.
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Yup and stop signs too
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Some dickwad clipped my arm when I was walking downtown a few months ago. Didn't even stop, even though it's illegal for them to ride bikes on the sidewalk downtown here in Hawaii.
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