Streetsblog New York City

As a cyclist I am bothered by comments like this:

"We’ve become overly concerned about safety, and we’ve forgotten that what we really need on the bike paths [is] for people to exercise good judgment."

After being told to dismount. There is a reason and that is the rider should get off their bike and walk it not go with "caution". Why do fellow cyclist's not like to abide by rules such a stop signs or dismounting then get mad a autos that don't either? They want things both ways?

Pedestrians get the worst of it all from cars and bikes.

can someone please explain the logic to me here? i'm a biker and have been ticketed several time for riding my bike in a ped only zone. if bikes are so dangerous why do peds and joggers regularly place themselves the bike lane (often traveling opposite traffic and ignoring others) and then aggressively defend this act? if i have to stay off the sidewalk then the reverse should be true, stay out of the bikelane. the sidewalk is holy ground, the bike lane is not

The mountain biker said it best. In that situation you could have three things:
1) no signs. The cyclist pedals carefully, the ped continues on their way, everything is fine
2) sign. Cyclist ignores it, pedals safely, and now there's aggression because of the sign and the breaking of rules
3) sign. cyclist gets off and is inconvenienced.

In the situation above, everyone was fine until the ped got angry.

The more we encourage good common sense thinking and quelling feelings of entitlement, the sooner everyone will get along and be fine. Yeah, they'll still be jerks int he world, but that doesn't mean we all need to be legislated to death until we're all unhappy all the time, and the jerks are still jerks.

"no signs. The cyclist pedals carefully, the ped continues on their way, everything is fine"

this works? like not having road signs for cars and all will be fine. Cyclists are not in general any better the car drivers when it comes to being careful when not told to.

As an example on the Brooklyn Bridge, cyclists do not obey the yield to pedestrian signs that are posted at he Washington street crossing. If told they actually get angry. These bikers do not like when a fellow cyclist agrees with the walking folk either.

How about some brakes on those bikes too!

You guys devote a lot of time on this site taking drivers to task for not obeying the law. You regularly ridicule drivers for blaming others for their own transgressions. You campaign for things like red light cameras, stricter parking regulations, greater enforcement of existing idling laws, and more thorough attention to speeding in cities and towns around the country. A photo of a double parked car in a bike lane, or a driver blocking the box generates outrage and indignation.

What you are describing here is more than a little hypocritical. The law, you say, is silly. Therefore, many cyclists don't pay attention to it. When a police officer or a pedestrian points this out, issuing a ticket or citing traffic law, many cyclists scoff at transgressions on the part of the pedestrian. They say the existing law is pointless, behind the times, and gives too much ground in protecting people that should be paying more attention to their surroundings. Drivers that hit a jaywalking pedestrian says the same thing.

I regularly see cyclists riding on the sidewalks, through a crowd of pedestrians, or through a crowded intersection at higher than normal speeds. This makes people hate bicycles and the people that ride them.

This holier than thou attitude towards the law is extremely distressing. If we expect drivers to follow it to the letter, then we have to be willing to do the same.

JSD,

The reason that this forum doesn't hold cyclists to task is simple: Cyclists don't kill people. Drivers do. The driver of an automobile is in control of a heavy machine whose improper use has deadly consequences. That people like Mr. Gonzalez are entitled to continue to drive after demonstrating that they cannot do so responsibly is not only unfortunate, it is an outrage.

I hate getting buzzed by bicycles as much as the next guy, but I recognize that such behavior, while antisocial and unpleasant, has none of the deadly consequences of out of control automobiles.

--Ian

Actually riders may not kill but they sometimes hurt people. I myself have been hit by one who was not obeying the laws of the road. I can tell you it hurt. I was witness to an old lady on the sidewalk hit by a cyclist. She would argue that laws need to be followed. She went to the hospital thanks to a cyclist.

Thus cyclist need to follow the rules. It can be hard for some of you but worse for those you hurt.