Yesterday on a very curvy road with no shoulders, and the speed limit 35 mph but most drivers do 45 mph on it, I came around a curve and saw a guy on a bicycle, I had to slow wayyyy down and wait for the on coming traffic to clear enough I could move over to the middle of the road to go around him, watched the vehicles behind me do the same thing… If you are holding up traffic on a curvy road, that can turn dangerous real quick, lots of traffic and I see dump trucks and lots of 3/4-1 ton trucks pulling trailers on that road often… Not a very smart place to be riding a pedal bike…
For several years I enjoyed riding a bike but since I had no where to go and all day to get there I mostly stayed off thru-ways, opting for neighborhood streets but with virtually no traffic I only slowed at intersections ignoring stop signs. When necessary to travel in traffic and approaching a stop sign I turned right, then U-turned , fell in line and waited my turn then turned right. I think far too many bikers feel they are practicing for the French open and likewise many car drivers feel they are entitled to uninterrupted travel to Walmart for a carton of cigarets… or whatever.
The French Open is a major international tennis tournament… I think you mean the French bike race, which is the Tour de France.
As each of my siblings and I got our driver’s license, my mom made us memorize a ditty that she had been made to learn when she began learning to sail small sail boats:
"Here lies the body of Michael O’Day who died maintaining HIS right of way. He was right, dead right, as he sailed along but he’s just as dead as if he’d been wrong.’
It never ceases to amaze me how inconsiderate and entitled people are on the road these days. A common occurrence is encountering an oncoming vehicle with some type of hazard in their lane. Rather than anticipating and waiting briefly for oncoming traffic to pass so it is safe to go around, they refuse to lift their lazy leg to slow down for 5 seconds and instead continue at speed and force the oncoming traffic (and walker/biker) to accommodate them. Or they pass so closely to the hazard it creates a dangerous situation for everyone. How much effort does it take to lift your leg? Is 5 seconds of your day really that important?
I drilled into my kids that whoever has the bigger vehicle capable doing the most damage gets the right-a-way, no matter who is right or wrong…
I think it is called the Law of Gross Tonnage, and physics trumps traffic laws
Safety 1st!!!
I encounter that exact type of situation multiple times each week. Most of the roads in my area lack a shoulder, or the “shoulder” is only ~4 feet wide. As a result, delivery trucks and utility trucks have no choice, except to park so that they are obstructing traffic.
More often than not, vehicles driving in the other direction will veer around those parked trucks, directly into the path of oncoming traffic. As a result, when I see a parked vehicle on the other side of the road, I slow down and prepare to take evasive action if/when an oblivious driver decides to veer into my path.
It is a momentum issue that allows for the bicycle to be in the intersection for a shorter amount of time and placing less danger on themself and less inconvenience to others.
Could it be that those drivers are ‘fixed’ on remaining in ovedrive and feel that others should give them right of way.
In what world are you allowed to cross the center line into oncoming traffic because you’re inconvenienced by something on your side of the road? Curious how this could even be questioned or justified. Certainly not because your car might drop out of overdrive ? (I assume that is what you meant). There is no excuse. Being self-centered, entitled, lazy, careless, inattentive are reasons but they are not justified or valid…
Really, you would wait 30 minutes for a cop to write a ticket rather than pass?
Uh, you lost me there. I grew up in a city of about 700,000, metro area about 3,000,000. I always stopped for stop signs or red lights, oddly enough, even signaled my turned. Mine was a $50 bike from Wards, not one of those bike that are well north of a $1000. If you want to talk momentum, doesn’t a car at 30 MPH have greater momentum than a bike at 15 MPH?
For the life of me, I cannot comprehend how you came to make that statement from anything I said. The conversation is about rude and ignorant people not waiting mere seconds for oncoming traffic to pass by before barging across the line because there is something in their lane blocking them. Who said anything about tickets or waiting 30 minutes?
Seems clear to me.
Maybe because you are taking everything out of context.
Your copied references to what I wrote keep getting smaller and less of the original context.
The original context was that they are crossing into oncoming traffic while passing a walker, biker or a service truck parked on their side of the road instead of waiting for that oncoming traffic to pass and then deviating from their lane when it is safe to do so. This seems clear to me.
Just where is that ideal place?
Haha, Ventspils, Latvia, time to doxx myself I guess.
The population is around 30k. And yes before we start calling it a town, it is a city. One of the largest ones in Latvia 
Laipni lūgti forumā!
I have a request for @StratoformNFC.
I think that forum members in this US-based forum would be interested in learning about the makes of cars that are prominent in Latvia. I’m assuming that there are a lot of German-made cars, but I could be wrong.
Also, even though Latvia and Russia are… let’s just say… not on good terms, I wonder if there are still any Ladas, or Volgas, or other Russian-made cars on Latvian roads. If there are still any Russian cars lurking in Latvia, do people have problems obtaining parts for them?
Rather than responding in this “bicycle” thread, it would probably be best to begin a new thread on the topic.
Paldies!