Bicyclist going straight , but stopped at a red light in the right hand turn lane, completely blocks the lane. Anybody else have this problem? Happened to me the other day. Aren’t bicyclists supposed to move over to the left when they come to a stop light if they’re going straight? To allow folks making right hand to move past them, instead of being blocked out by the bicyclist and having to wait until the light turns green?
Maybe the rider should have been in the thru lane so they could have 3000 lbs. of vehicle behind them getting impatient while they crossed the intersection when the light changed. But did the wait really matter all that much.
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I agree. so you lost 10 seconds out of your life.
You lost more than 10 seconds composing this post.
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Yes, it was only 10 seconds or so out of the OP’s life, but I have to say that I constantly encounter selfish behavior on the part of bicyclists, who–as a group–seem to feel some sort of entitlement/superiority, simply because they are using a bike. My problems with bikers are much more related to trails and wilderness areas than to roadways, but they do display selfish behaviors on the roads in my area, also.
The “rule of the trail” in my nearby State Park is that bicyclists are supposedly to yield to pedestrians, and both bikers and pedestrians are supposed to yield to horses, but it seems that almost none of the bikers whom I encounter are willing observe the rules. I will be doing my power-walk, on a trail that is approximately 8-10 feet wide, and usually several times on each power-walk I will be swarmed by bikers approaching from behind who give no warning of their approach, and who come uncomfortably close.
The worst, most inconsiderate ones are those who want to ride next to each other, in order to carry on a conversation while they ride. You would think that they might be able to interrupt their conversations for…maybe 10 seconds…and go single file as they pass pedestrians, but most of these cycling turds insist on riding two abreast, and as a result they put me and other hikers/walkers/runners in danger of being shoved into the adjacent canal.
Similarly, on the local roads I sometimes encounter bikers who insist on riding two abreast, thereby taking up most of the traffic lane. I have come to the conclusion that many bikers have a self-entitled sense of superiority, and that many of them will do things to purposely annoy drivers, so the OP’s observation does not surprise me in the least.
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Yes, if there’s sufficient room. But as a former hard-core cyclist, I cannot tell you how many times I’ve ended up on “club rides” with riders who didn’t know or follow correct protocols. The absolute worst are the ones that ride two & three abreast across the lane totally blocking the lane. I rode a charity ride once where I ended up with some guys like that. I dropped back and let them go ahead. I won’t ride with people like that.
For the record, I’ve seen a lot of drivers totally inconsiderate of cyclists too, so the problem goes both ways. I’ve had drivers who hate cyclists come as close to me as they can even when there was absolutely no cause to do so. A friend of mine had a car come sailing up behind him and hit him in the back with something then speed off. He crashed and ended up with a broken clavicle (shoulder bone).
Like so many issues there are jerks on each side who push the limits of those on the other, sometimes to the breaking point. And more often than not the innocent are the ones who suffer in the aftermath. There seems to be an “us against them” attitude growing among some motorists and some cyclists. It’s a shame. I often ride a bike for excercise and since I have no where to go and all day to get there I avoid busy streets and more often than not ride around in local parks and cemetaries and still occasionally find someone behind me who seems annoyed.
Just to continue my earlier thoughts, today while on my power-walk, I observed the following:
A young guy was fishing in the canal, while his wife and infant daughter stood nearby. The infant was apparently just learning to walk. Suddenly, along came this swarm of bikers who were riding at a VERY high rate of speed. You would have thought that these bikers were competing in The Tour de France, rather than riding on a fairly narrow path that is shared with pedestrians and horses.
The mother managed to grab her child–literally–just before the speeding bikers would have mowed her down. Those cycling turds never slowed down, nor did they even shout any apologies to the woman whose child they almost ran over.
I offer a stick in the spokes to those jerks. And yeah, I’ve ridden with roadies just as bad. Some people think lycra is a Superman costume and makes them above the need to respect others.
Long traffic light cycles here in Calif. The wait was on the order of 45 seconds. True, 45 seconds isn’t going to kill me off, but 45 seconds of unnecessary waiting isn’t making anybody happy either. Even tho I was signaling my intention to turn right in heavy traffic, the bicyclist sped up and passed me on the right, in order to get in front of me, then when the light turned red, he jammed on his brakes stopping dead in the middle of the right hand turn lane, preventing me from turning right. There was room enough for him to safely re-position his bike into the through lane, or just move out of the roadway until the light turned green, but he refused to budge an inch. By the time the light finally turned green there were at least a dozen cars behind me waiting to turn right too. Lots of angry honking. Bicyclist looked back at who’s honking at him, just shrugged his shoulders.
I’m a frequent mt biker but don’t ride on roads much. But when I do and the light turns red I either move into the through lane or if that’s not a safe thing to do (it usually is safe to do that, there’s a mark on the road where the bike should be in that situation usually), but if it is unsafe then I’ll pick up my bike and move it to the sidewalk if there’s somebody in a car waiting to turn right behind me.
I’d consider it extremely rude to make the car behind me wait just 'cause I’m riding a bike.
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If the bicyclist is in a right turn ONLY lane and he is going straight, he should be in the rightmost lane that goes straight ahead.
If he is in a lane that goes straight ahead or turns right ,he is in the proper lane and doesn’t have to move out of it any more than a car would.
You don;t have the right of way over anything when you are making a right on red. if you did you would have a green arrow.
Finally, how about stopping before you turn to check and see if it is clear of bikes, pedestrians and oncoming cars like the law says you are required to?
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The bicyclist was occupying the right hand only turn lane, not the right most lane going straight. I did of course stop on the red light, and would have even if the bike wasn’t there. BTW, many intersections in Calif you don’t have to stop, they are yield on red. You can tell by the way they’re configured. But this one was stop on red.
Seems to me the jerk was violating the law, then.
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Things sometimes get out of hand
and this attack was on a federal parkway that is well marked as being bike friendly and the speed limit is 50 mph.
In cases of discourteous road manners it helps to “rewind the video” 30 seconds to see what may have triggered this action. From my observations of rude behavior in the city, one party is inattentive and sets the other off. How slow was traffic moving that a bicycle was able to pass? Was he frustrated by your casual approach to a green light? Perhaps he felt his movement was impeded by slow cars and that kept him from reaching the traffic light in time. Frustration can lead to offensive behavior.
All types of people can be thoughtless, self-important fools. I was pulling out of my parking spot a couple of weeks ago, intending to make a U-turn. I saw a bicyclist near the parking lot entrance, and thought I had plenty of time to negotiate the turn. After I turned, the bicyclist pulled up next to my door and screamed at me for getting in his way. A few days later, I saw him pull into the lot at about 20 MPH. That’s too fast for any vehicle, let alone a bike. No wonder there was almost a collision. I made him brake 50 feet before he otherwise would. Tragic.
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Everyone seems to have a tale about car versus bicycle offenses, rude behavior and jousts for the right of way. Here in the Bay Area many streets have been reconfigured so where ther used to be 2 lanes each way there is now 1 lane and a bike lane. That causes greater traffic congestion among cars. I understand that there is the hope that more folks will ride bikes, and more do, but I certainly feel it would be fair to impose some form of registration system, with appropriate fees, on bikes. They are using the resources created with tax revenue from owners and drivers of cars.
In California it is common to pay several hundred dollars a year in registration fees and taxes on cars, as well as fuel taxes, tolls, etc. Bicycle riders get a free pass on all of that.
All bikes have serial numbers stamped on their frames, but there is no system of registration, supported by a one-time fee on transfer. There are homeless camps around here with literally hundreds of bikes in piles, but no way to check to see if they were stolen.
Why not treat bikes like we treat other forms of property that use public facilities?
If you think bikes are bad here, spend a few weeks in Amsterdam as a pedestrian, as I just did.
Bikes have their own lanes on most of the streets, but they are poorly marked and it’s sometimes difficult to tell where the bike land ends and the pedestrian lane starts.
Add to that a continuous stream of bikes, 2-4 lanes, plus scooters and motorcycles. The scooters and motorcycles ride in the bike lanes but sometimes swerve up onto the sidewalk to pass the slower bikes. And then there are the pedestrian lanes sometimes blocked by parked bikes.
Crossing a street is a hazard, as you have to watch out for bikes and scooters as you cross the bike lane, then two lanes of autos, then another bike lane.