He’s back and he’s still at it… I wrote about him several years back and I am surprised that he has not been taken out by the way he rides his bicycle…
I see him all the time as he lives in my subdivision… This time as he peddled in front of me, cutting me off, he yelled at me to slow down… If I still had the old '85, he probably would have recognized the car, but I just drove on knowing that karma will someday balance the universe…
I did not watch the video. There are a lot of bike riders that choose to ignore traffic laws. Where I live common for people on bikes to run red lights. Packs of bikers will block roads, these are the guys riding bikes that are well north of a $1000. Hmm, will the Flock cameras get them?
Lets see, people ride bikes, drive vehicles, block isles with shopping carts and do other things poorly or just wrong. Not really news breaking and no video needed.
I used to be an avid bike rider. I can’t tell you how many close calls I had because some driver wasn’t paying attention and almost ran me off the road or took a right-hand turn at an intersection and I was going straight. I gave up riding on roads when people started texting. Not to say that there aren’t any *sshole bicyclists (because there are plenty). 20 years ago in Boston the bike curriers were a major problem. More than once while walking in Boston I saw a currier knock down someone (and seriously injuring them) and just kept on riding.
When I used to bike a lot, I subscribed to Bicycling magazine. They said there were two groups of riders. One group had be hit by a car and the other group would be hit soon. It was their way of saying wear a helmet.
Let us add a modern twist to the “bicycle” problem. E-bikes and their illegal cousins, E-scooters and E-motorcycles. Yes, E-motorcycles (no pedals, just motors) ridden by underage kids in the streets and on the sidewalks.
None of these new players think the stop signs or red lights apply to them. We’ve had several kids hit or with near misses because of exactly this. I have been passed going the speed limited 30 mph in my neighborhood by kids on all of these machines.
Florida already had the highest bicycle rider fatality rates and now we have this to help boost it higher.
NJ just enacted its first e-bike regulations:
That linked article refers to “low speed” e-bikes not needing insurance.
Here is the NJMVC’s definition: Low-Speed Electric Bicycles – These are pedal assisted bicycles with a helper motor that only provides assistance while pedaling up to 20 mph.
On a different more positive note, their is a kid in our neighborhood that respectfully rides his little dirt bike around the 'hood, not sure he has gotten over 20 mph, and never races/revs the engine, just a kid on a peaceful, he even slows way down for our stop sign, most drivers don’t even do that…
Don’t have anything nice to say about pedal bike riders on busy public streets, that is why they invented parks… In my area at least, very few e-bikes and e-what nots… although their is a regular e-unicycle I see often lol…
Now in Nashville, lots of all the above, but pedal bikers ride in the middle and left lanes, complete BS, but LEO’s will pull them over for a ticket if/when they blow red lights, so that was not an issue at the time when I was still working downtown…
In the state park where I do much of my hiking, the trail is just wide enough for an F-250. When I first began hiking there 25+ years ago, most of the bike riders would sound a bell or horn to warn you of their approach.
Nowadays, very few will give you any warning, and–all too often–I have been approached from behind by bike riders who are riding next to each other, and who are going very fast. I’ve had some very close calls, so I honestly can’t say anything nice about a lot of the bikers who ride in parks.
If blocking aisles with shopping carts bothers you, perhaps you might want to do a posting of that (with video… 
)… As for me, I have never had a life-altering incident with a shopping cart blocking an aisle; but I imagine many of the members have seen their life flash before their eyes while riding a bicycle even when they are careful and legal and some vehicle driver does not want to share the road with a bicycle… And many of the members have probably seen their financial future put at risk when a bicycle rider decides they have more rights than you…
In York County, Virginia, our local Sherriff is taking a proactive approach to this and going on the news and other social media to address this as there are increasing number of juveniles riding electric bikes on county roads, highways, and in traffic. He is trying to avoid a heavy handed approach and his message is, “Let’s work together to educate our young adults on the safe and lawful operation of these bikes.”
Perhaps you might want to forward this to your local authorities to create a similar program.
It’s become a major problem on the walking/bike trails here in NH. NO motorized vehicles what-so-ever. They then made an exception for E-Bikes. I’m ok with them. But the motorized bikes or scooters are a major problem.
I guess I should have been more clear, I was referring to local city parks (so no hiking), ours have walking trails and NO wheeled vehicles (other than strollers) are allowed on said walking trials, so you don’t have to worry about being run over on the trials, and as far as bikes go, you ride on bike trials if any are offered or just ride on the park roads, 15 mph (Chris approved) speed limits for all…
Now if you choose to walk all the way around the park, then part of it (about a 1/4) is the park road, but you can choose to walk the trail end to end and back again safely…
Local island of Sanibel outlawed E-bikes completely. They must have their throttles disconnected so they are human powered only. Because their speeds are too high for the shared pedestrian paths. Basically any out of shape tourist can hit 15 mph or more with them and do! So that’s the problem.
This is a problem walkers have around our area, too, and legislators are trying to figure out legislation to deal with E-bikes locally and state-wide.
Bike lanes are OK but most states don’t require bikers to use them. They’re allowed to be in the road the same as cars. Always dangerous to bike in traffic so drive carefully.
When I lived in Oregon the city enacted a law stating that bicyclists didn’t need to obey stop signs if there was no cross traffic near the intersection. Apparently it was too much wasted effort to get going again after stopping.
IMO the problems with stopping a bicycle are with the pedals. I clipping and clipping shoes with the pedals can be problematic. I used to have problems getting my shoes back into the pedal cages.
Still, those issues are small compared to not obeying traffic laws and the possibility of injury when hit by a car.
They have enacted regulations for the various classes of e-bikes and scooters around here. Pedal assist, throttle only, 20mph above/below etc.
Class III are above 20mph and do not require pedaling. These are classified as OHRV same as ATVs and must be registered and cannot ride on some roads or trails that are limited to class II or lower. There are also age requirements- under 16 cannot legally ride a class III.
But what happens if we turn it around to, “Some people think that vehicles give them special rights”?
Assuming that the right to use a road is a common right for vehicles AND bikes AND pedestrians, shouldn’t we also be talking about the drivers who seem to feel that the road is theirs and theirs alone?
The drivers who tailgate or squeeze riders and pedestrians off the road or drive like the possibility of a child darting out doesn’t exist.
My point is that stupidity is universal but since the consequences of a vehicle hitting an unprotected motorcycle, bike rider or pedestrian are so much more severe, maybe we should more focus on the drivers behavior?
Agreed the car driver’s behavior is a key issue but you pointed out this:
Being in the right doesn’t bring you back from the dead…
Which places more responsibility on the motorcycle, bike rider and pedestrian to be aware and assume the worst from the car drivers.