Spandex alert!!

[60-YEARS-in-Ktown]

Anyone watch the Vancouver news tonight about the cyclist blowing through stop signs, and almost hitting a pedestrian crossing the crosswalk? Looks just like the Okanagan. Thankfully most of the "professional cyclists" have put away their 2 wheeler for the winter.

Got to wonder how many cars blew red lights that day, and how many pedestrians got clipped in BC.
Sounds like just another day in BC traffic ..

[cr125]

Ah, maybe, When was the last time you saw a cyclist getting pulled over for speeding in a residential area or intentionally blowing through a stop sign / red light?
the motoring public are the ones paying the fines for their own mistakes, while you go peddling by ignoring the rules of the road, knowing full well the cops will do nothing.

[spooker]

Ah, maybe, When was the last time you saw a cyclist getting pulled over for speeding in a residential area or intentionally blowing through a stop sign / red light?
the motoring public are the ones paying the fines for their own mistakes, while you go peddling by ignoring the rules of the road, knowing full well the cops will do nothing.

Why do you think cops will do nothing? I've talked to plenty locally that will ticket cyclists for all sorts of useful things ... not wearing a helmet, riding on the sidewalk, etc ...

The motoring public are a greater danger to everyone else than a few cyclists who offend the moral majority ... studies have shown that cyclists and motorists break the laws at the same rate (~8-9%) but that percentage of the number of cars out there means that police will be able to find a car to ticket 50 times more often than they'll find a cyclist ...

[Queen K]

Spooker, two days ago, I'm signalling a right hand turn off of Richter Street onto Glenwood when a cyclist suddenly appeared right in front of the car, she was cycling on the wrong side of the street and calling me an idjiot! OH ya? She wasn't there a second ago, it's that she was racing on the wrong side.

Now had I hit her, would that have been a double fault collison? Hers and mine?

I was going to put this in the Pedestrian and Cyclist thread but forgot.

[dirtybiker]

Now had I hit her, would that have been a double fault collison? Hers and mine?

You wouldn't have hit her, she would have hit you, her fault, her injuries, her loss.

It's all in the wording...semantics.

[spooker]

Spooker, two days ago, I'm signalling a right hand turn off of Richter Street onto Glenwood when a cyclist suddenly appeared right in front of the car, she was cycling on the wrong side of the street and calling me an idjiot! OH ya? She wasn't there a second ago, it's that she was racing on the wrong side.

Now had I hit her, would that have been a double fault collison? Hers and mine?

It's good that you didn't hit her ... but a good portion of the fault would have landed on her ... there's still part of the responsibility of a driver to make sure any movement is clear of obstruction ... but what you described is exactly what I try to explain to cyclists who ride against traffic, on the sidewalk, through crosswalks etc ... collisions happen more often because one party was where they weren't expected to be, in this case the cyclist riding the wrong direction in the bike lane ...

It's similar situation to when the cyclist was killed out at Baron & Banks ... the driver was focussed on the pedestrians clearing the path and didn't check for new hazards ... we have to communicate where we are going and at the same time read the signals of others to make sure we're not setting ourselves up ... and getting angry about things is the worst example of communication ...

[cr125]

Spooker, two days ago, I'm signalling a right hand turn off of Richter Street onto Glenwood when a cyclist suddenly appeared right in front of the car, she was cycling on the wrong side of the street and calling me an idjiot! OH ya? She wasn't there a second ago, it's that she was racing on the wrong side.

Now had I hit her, would that have been a double fault collison? Hers and mine?

It's good that you didn't hit her ... but a good portion of the fault would have landed on her ... there's still part of the responsibility of a driver to make sure any movement is clear of obstruction ... but what you described is exactly what I try to explain to cyclists who ride against traffic, on the sidewalk, through crosswalks etc ... collisions happen more often because one party was where they weren't expected to be, in this case the cyclist riding the wrong direction in the bike lane ...

It's similar situation to when the cyclist was killed out at Baron & Banks ... the driver was focussed on the pedestrians clearing the path and didn't check for new hazards ... we have to communicate where we are going and at the same time read the signals of others to make sure we're not setting ourselves up ... and getting angry about things is the worst example of communication ...

You seem to know all the answers to the problems with cyclists and motorists, maybe you should teach a "how to ride a bicycle safely" class. Some of you have forgotten what the police officer told you in grade 2.

[spooker]

You seem to know all the answers to the problems with cyclists and motorists, maybe you should teach a "how to ride a bicycle safely" class. Some of you have forgotten what the police officer told you in grade 2.

I've tried ... I've partially completed my certification to be a CAN-BIKE instructor ... just waiting on another chance to do my practicum

Sadly the attitude of society is that cycling isn't a serious subject, just something that kids do ... even tried to work with driving schools to get students cycling experience as part of the licensing program but while many people see the usefullness, the schools nor ICBC are willing to put it into the curriculum ... just like people who have their licenses think they don't need continuing education to stay up-to-date with infrastructure, people think they know all there is about cycling ...

And the number of times I get flipped off or told to f-off when I try to strike up conversations with idiots is too numerous to count (both in cars and on bikes) ... for now, I try to keep myself safe when cycling and watch out for others when I drive ...

No, just getting told in second grade how to ride won't stay with anyone ... it needs to be part of everyday life, not just forgotten when we get our driver's license ...

[lightspeed]

You seem to know all the answers to the problems with cyclists and motorists, maybe you should teach a "how to ride a bicycle safely" class. Some of you have forgotten what the police officer told you in grade 2.

I've tried ... I've partially completed my certification to be a CAN-BIKE instructor ... just waiting on another chance to do my practicum

Sadly the attitude of society is that cycling isn't a serious subject, just something that kids do ... even tried to work with driving schools to get students cycling experience as part of the licensing program but while many people see the usefullness, the schools nor ICBC are willing to put it into the curriculum ... just like people who have their licenses think they don't need continuing education to stay up-to-date with infrastructure, people think they know all there is about cycling ...

And the number of times I get flipped off or told to f-off when I try to strike up conversations with idiots is too numerous to count (both in cars and on bikes) ... for now, I try to keep myself safe when cycling and watch out for others when I drive ...

No, just getting told in second grade how to ride won't stay with anyone ... it needs to be part of everyday life, not just forgotten when we get our driver's license ...

Judging by what I see on the road, the vast majority of drivers need retesting. Most have forgotten more than they were taught by their driving instructor. Most think the MVA doesn't apply to them. And most are driving around in a daydream.

[cr125]

Same goes for some of you arrogant peddlers, you also need to be retested. Like I said in a previous post, When was the last time you actually saw a cop pull over a cyclist and fine him? Just because some cop told you he would, doesn't mean he will.

Your bicycle needs to be registered, just like off road vehicles, licence plate and all, then we can record and report the bad apples. Maybe some of the cyclists will dummy up

[spooker]

Same goes for some of you arrogant peddlers, you also need to be retested. Like I said in a previous post, When was the last time you actually saw a cop pull over a cyclist and fine him? Just because some cop told you he would, doesn't mean he will.

Your bicycle needs to be registered, just like off road vehicles, licence plate and all, then we can record and report the bad apples. Maybe some of the cyclists will dummy up

Through an FOI request last year I requested the records of all cycling related tickets handed out by Bylaws ... typically over 800 tickets were handed out ... I've even seen them give out tickets in the park across the street over the last few years I've been in my house ... usually for no helmet ...

As for "licensing" cyclists ... that idea has been busted too many times to go into here ...

https://www1.toronto.ca/wps/portal/contentonly?vgnextoid=0be4970aa08c1410VgnVCM10000071d60f89RCRD

[cr125]

Are you a cop, wannabe or a teacher? Which ever, you seem to have an awfull lot of time on your hands to gather useless information. Just admitting there's a problem with cyclists, and motorist's would suffice. Licenseing bicycles like atvs' is the way to go

[normaM]

Lucky I read all the comments - header made me think it was a warning about Spandex. Which we should prolly license btw.
A simple test with some key questions.
We have a bike lane.. it runs from the corner of my street to just before the driveway, then poof.
Maybe the cyclists turn into unicorns or something after that. I mean what a useless lane. Big decal too

[spooker]

Are you a cop, wannabe or a teacher? Which ever, you seem to have an awfull lot of time on your hands to gather useless information. Just admitting there's a problem with cyclists, and motorist's would suffice. Licenseing bicycles like atvs' is the way to go

Admitting the problem is not enough ... finding solutions that can help a greater number of people is what we need to be willing to do ...

Governments have tried it your way ... many times mandating licenses for bicycles over the last century ... I've tried searching the internet but no results come up when I try to find *anywhere* that requires bicycles to be licensed ... if I've missed a result please let me know, I'd be very curious to find out why it works for them ...

No such thing as useless information, we just haven't found out how to apply it yet ... my daughter, at age 5, learned the names of all the Beatles, just so she could impress her nana with it ... she found a way to apply knowledge that I think most contemporaries would consider "useless"

"Thanks for playing"

[cr125]

Your welcome, Glad I could stir the pot!
I'm off to create the next rant