Author Topic: For all you bike enthusiasts:  (Read 20149 times)

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Offline Mrtambourineman

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Re: For all you bike enthusiasts:
« Reply #20 on: September 22, 2014, 05:38:46 PM »
This is pretty much exactly how I do it. I follow the spirit, though not the letter of the law and it's hard to explain without showing you, but I'm pretty respectful of motorists and they generally seem to get along with me. The only times that I get yelled at are when I'm actually doing something perfectly safe and legal that motorists just don't understand...For example, taking the lane when there's insufficient room to safely pass me in the lane (or there's a long line of parked cars) or stop to the left of where right-turning vehicles would go at a stoplight.

It is hard to get across how a rolling stop can be very safe.  I also modify my behaviour in the winter because I can't see inside vehicles to determine if the motorist is paying attention to me.  I don't pull into an intersection unless I can see the whites of their eyes. 
I've been doing this how long?

Offline rocketgirl

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Re: For all you bike enthusiasts:
« Reply #21 on: September 22, 2014, 06:36:57 PM »
It is hard to get across how a rolling stop can be very safe.  I also modify my behaviour in the winter because I can't see inside vehicles to determine if the motorist is paying attention to me.  I don't pull into an intersection unless I can see the whites of their eyes. 

Well basically you roll your bike to pedestrian pace.  So you have 99% of the visibility (depending on intersection) that you have if you were stopped and 100% what you would have if you were on a walk and just looked both ways while you were still walking.  If I'm in a neighborhood on my bike, and nobody else is anywhere near the stop signs, no, I'm not getting out of my pedals and to a complete stop.  Obviously, if you're someplace busy with other people approaching or at the 4-way stop signs or who have through way while you have a stop sign, you stop if you don't have a death wish.  If you're blowing through stop signs in traffic, you're an idiot.  No running lights.  No passing cars on the right.  Not just because it's wrong but because it makes you invisible and/or unexpected - two things that are dangerous to your health as a cyclist.
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Offline Mrtambourineman

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I've been doing this how long?

 

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