Also, how about some wrong way signs in bike lanes as a pre-emptive measure? I really think some people just aren’t aware and I think we should attempt to educate before we jump to penalize wrong way bikers. When I was in Seoul last year, every bike lane had wrong way painted in the lanes (facing the biking salmon), seemed very effective.

I had to stop reading at this point. What universe do you live in where nearly all motorists follow nearly all the rules, nearly all the time.

At any given intersection, I could sit down and issue a half dozen traffic tickets. EVERY SINGLE LIGHT CYCLE.

And that’s just illegal turns, rushing to push through the red, turning in front of pedestrians, etc. etc. etc.

Add in the constant speeding, the illegal parking, blocking of driveways, follow-to-close… You get the picture.

Nearly all motorists ignore the rules they find inconvenient ALL THE FREAKIN’ TIME.

Pulling out the “motorists follow the rules” line guarantees a loss in any argument, because it’s flat out wrong. Is this a good reason for cyclists to ignore the rules: of course not. But get off the holier-than-thou high horse and accept that it’s human nature to ignore rules when there’s few consequences, and this isn’t a reason to dislike cyclists in particular.

I think there are two main categories of urban cyclist: fast ones who don’t want bike lanes, and slow ones who want bike lanes. I’m in the former category. I ride a bike because it’s healthy and it’s typically much faster to get places around downtown SF than any other mode of transport. I don’t follow every traffic law, but I follow most. I will slow to 5-10mph for stop signs, and stay stopped at most lights. A red light typically means I stop, look in the direction of traffic, and if it’s clear I continue. I always yield to pedestrians, and I generally avoid the bike lanes if there are other cyclists in them because my speed generally matches that of cars. The slower bikers in the bike lanes typically do not show any inclination to pay attention to passing cyclists.

I feel like this is a common-sense approach to urban cycling, even if I’m breaking some laws, but if I eff up I’m the one who gets hurt or killed (not someone else), so I’m pretty incentivised not to.

“A recent evening presented a sign that there’s hope for a friendlier future for all commuters. At dusk, a food deliveryman stopped at a red light on Madison Avenue, despite no approaching traffic in the cross street. He was smoking a cigarette—and wearing a helmet. His bicycle even had lights. When the traffic light turned green, he rode off.”

http://tinyurl.com/34ybxjn

One statement that makes me laugh is: “But in stark contrast to motorists, nearly all of whom follow nearly all the rules, most cyclists seem to treat the rules of the road as strictly optional.”

Seriously? What world do you live in?!

From running yellow/red lights, to not using turn signals, to opening car doors onto the streets, to speeding, to talking on the phone, auto drivers who are in a 3,000 pound or greater machine endanger lives on a daily basis with their careless behavior. How many people have been killed by a cyclist having to go on the sidewalk to protect themselves from aggressive auto drivers?

In the end, it’s so easy to point fingers and blame others for the problems with street safety. But in reality, it all boils down to each and every one of us following the laws and doing what is best for the community, not just the individual.

Stop pointing fingers and raising the ire of drivers/cyclists/pedestrians and actually instill the need for ALL OF US to take ownership and be considerate of each other and make the right decisions about street safety on a daily basis.

Also, ensure that your city makes intelligent decisions about street safety design, taking into account the entire use of a street and the need to make it more pedestrian friendly, public transportation friendly and cycling friendly. These are the users who are helping the environment as well as bringing a lively community into each neighborhood rather than just rushing through in your big polluting machine, and exhausting our natural resources in the process. Yes, I am biased :)

Cheers,

Ernie

But I commute to work by car. I wish I didn’t have to, but I work on Long Island and it was a job requirement (literally dicated to me when I got the offer). The single most difficult (and longest) part of my commute is navigating downtown brooklyn to the bqe on-ramp. Now, this is difficult enough with just the other cars, which make it something of a death-defying feat every morning. Once you add bikers, however, it gets to a whole new level of nuts. If the cars are stopped or slowed (which is almost always), the bikers, who unfortunately have to circumvent double-parkers, etc., wind up weaving in and around all of the cars to get where they’re going faster, which is, if nothing else, insanely dangerous. They just seem to almost never stay in the actual bike lane. Like the lines are just suggestions. They also don’t seem to be aware (or care) about when we have to share space, like the right turn from Jay Street to Tillary Street. At that turn, the bike lane IS our turn lane – it’s the way it’s painted. But bikers don’t seem to know or care that cars have to cross into the bike lane to turn, and that we can’t turn when we have our turn light if they are hanging out in front of us waiting. It can’t be all our responsibility to make sure that turn is safe for everyone and that the traffic isn’t backed up. There needs to be some mutual respect.

The whole thing is dangerous and frustrating. As you pointed out, cars are often going slower than anyone else on the road, and the bikes just make it worse for us. Not to mention scary (add to the motorist’s fear of children darting out in front of them the fear of highly unpredictable biking habits and bikers’ lack of adherence to traffic rules). I’m not saying get rid of bikes, or even that it’s the biker’s fault every time. In fact I think most of it is due to the fact that we simply don’t have the biking infrastructure or mindset yet, and bikers are sometimes required to put themselves in positions that get in everyone’s way. I’m not even totally clear on the right of way rules with bikes. So I fully admit that the frustration on EVERYONE’S part is well-earned, and I hope we are able to find a way to work together.

But what I can’t stand is the pedistal that some bikers put themselves on, of holier-than-though victimhood rallying against the big bad polluting drivers. Maybe it’s defensivness due to all of the obnoxious drivers out there (which is most of them, I admit), but there seems to be an arrogance level, a self-rightousness that is what is really rubbing everyone the wrong way (and I’m not speaking to anyone here, since, as I’ve said, I didn’t read everything). Like, “we’re better than you because we bike.” Like I should feel guilty for being in my car and therefore have to yield right of way. But I’m not out to get you, and believe me, I wish I wasn’t driving too. I’m just trying to get to work.

Where I’ll disagree with you is on stop signs. I think it’s perfectly reasonable for a cyclist to slow down at stop signs and roll through slowly if no one is there. Most people don’t know that stop signs only became prevalent after cars became common. It’s harder to see out from them with their pillars and they can cause serious damage, necessitating stop signs and rights of way.

And why are bike racks built on sidewalks instead of on the street; it they are street vehicles legally, why take away from precious sidewalk space and make people in wheelchair and the blind have to manuever around them. Why design these racks so that they have to ride up on the wheelchair ramps to park their bikes. Why do bicyclists not stop for pedestrians and wheelchair users in intersections.

The police need to ticket all scofflaws of bikes and wipe that superior attitude off their faces. If you criticixe a bike user you are yelled at and pushed over the curb. I carry a stick with me now and will stick it in between the spokes of bikes users if they violate the laws and my space. I have given up complaining to city officials who could care less. And bikers constantly then play the victim card about how hard it is for them. Try a wheelchair for a few weeks. Selfish jerks most of them.

Imagine if most of the population went about waving loaded pistols, and our solution was to say: “Well, we can’t do anything about that, but if everyone will stay behind these protective walls, we should mostly be safe. And of course we can’t blame the gun wavers.”

Bike lanes create the idea that cyclists aren’t vehicles (which they are, by convention and by law), and that if they don’t have a lane of their own, they shouldn’t be on the road. This is a poisonous idea, because—as you state—if they aren’t vehicles, they will behave as “pedestrians.”

Another point: why would I WANT to ride on the sidewalk? The only time I do that is when it’s impossible to ride on the street b/c of construction, buses/trucks stopped on the right side, or too swift traffic. It’s not that I think I’m a pedestrian, but that the streets are often unaccomodating to bikers: here, you (felix) make it seem like it’s a question of biker attitude rather than the practical problems biking in the city poses.

All in all, over the past 6 years I’ve learned that many of the issues between bikers and motorists, and bikers and pedestrians, have improved simply b/c people are more and more aware of bikers as separate from both categories. That’s how it should be. But continued improvement will happen not just when the city builds more bike lanes (which helps), but when people stop acting like assholes out there. Drivers need to stop honking, stop taking turns or opening doors without looking, stop revving up around bikers; Bikers need to stop acting like they have a god given right to run red lights and ride at racing speed on the streets, stop wearing headphones; and pedestrians just need to stop being clueless as to bike traffic and pay attention (the biggest problem) and get out of the way. For the most part, I do find NYC pretty accommodating (even the taxi drivers!) for biking, and am surprised at how safe I feel on the streets. Much less stressful than subway commuting.