Comments on: Dear fellow cyclists

By: loosenut

loosenut — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 01:53:55 +0000

Nice pic.

“just can’t manage” implies that the cyclists who run that light are compelled by some uncontrollable urge to cross the intersection, rather than engaging a well-thought-out action of their own free will.

By: Jitterbalm

Jitterbalm — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 23:05:13 +0000

Josh, how do you propose getting 20% more of the people out of their cars and onto bikes, if you make “unsteady cyclists” unwelcome on city streets. They have enough to worry about dealing with cars, let alone your attitude. Sheeesh. I’ll take any kind of cyclist who doesn’t run me over on my bike. And yes, I’m a steady cyclist, female, and attempting to get many other non-road cyclists into the world of street riding. When it comes to dangerous situations, I think and act. I don’t jump red lights just because.

By: Josh King

Josh King — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 04:57:29 +0000

Melinda, that sign you saw ( “please don’t crowd other cyclists at this light – wait single file because you make more unsteady cyclists nervous”) is awful – even worse than the “boo hoo, don’t run red lights” sign.

If someone is an “unsteady cyclist”, they shouldn’t be riding in traffic. They should go out on Burke Gilman and get some practice and confidence. Tentative cyclists are a danger to themselves and other riders. The London data Greg points out is solid and sobering: Car-deferential riding is dangerous. Far better to be assertive, visible and focused on safety.

By: Greg

Greg — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 23:23:05 +0000

Something to think about – do drivers disrespect drivers cause they’re constantly speeding in residential areas and rolling past stop signs? Nope. Cause they see drivers as normal folks like themselves.

As cyclist – as an “other”, however, you will get precious little credit for your good behavior – some drivers will always remember the one cyclist who annoyed them (perhaps by taking the lane or some making some other perfectly legal manuver) and hit you anyway.

So listen to Josh – in an environment built for cars and trucks you get to follow traffic laws after you’ve taken care of keeping yourself alive. Don’t believe me? Perhaps you’ll listen to Transport for London:

“In 2007, an internal report for Transport for London concluded women cyclists are far more likely to be killed by lorries because, unlike men, they tend to obey red lights and wait at junctions in the driver’s blind spot”

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/8296971.stm

And they’re talking about London, a city that is probably safer to cycle in than Seattle. On the other hand this sort of thing isn’t something you have to think about in Denmark or Holland…

(Non of this should be construed as an argument for doing dumb things like completely ignoring stop signs, red lights and the such. Just that riding safe and riding legal in a car-centric world are not at all identical.)

By: Gary

Gary — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 21:10:15 +0000

It would be better to get the law changed to that which Idaho has, bicyclists yield. That way the law would reflect what we all do anyway. No traffic, I’m sorry I’m not stopping.

By: Fairweather

Fairweather — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 20:41:08 +0000

I agree with AJ. I was so pleased to see this sign during my morning commute today.

I am an older (50+) cyclist, who has decided that taking traffic chances is not worth the risk – for physical safety as well as potentially reinforcing perceptions that cyclists don’t care.

Will it really matter if you reach your destination 60 seconds later because you waited for a green light?
Try to demostrate the “driving” that you’d like to see.

By: Lee

Lee — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 18:56:28 +0000

Man, if more drivers would run stop signs on their bicycles we’d be better off. The problem is, they’re typically doing it in a car.

By: AJ

AJ — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 17:53:17 +0000

What the heck is passive aggressive about it? While the efficacy of a hand painted sign placed at an intersection is debatable, the sentiment is dead on. The oldest rule in the book: treat others the way you would like to be treated.

I hardly think the idea of obeying a stop sign or stop light qualifies as “slavish obedience”.

By: Melinda

Melinda — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 17:31:02 +0000

I saw a sign that had to have been made by the same person at the corner of Fremont, Westlake and Dexter. It said something like “please don’t crowd other cyclists at this light – wait single file because you make more unsteady cyclists nervous”.

The thing is that if everyone waited single file there, they’d block the right turn onto Nickerson.

Seems like somebody needs to gain some confidence. Or spend more time on a bike and less time painting signs.

By: Josh King

Josh King — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 17:02:05 +0000

Typical passive-aggressive crap. Whoever wrote the sign is frustrated that other people are “getting away with” breaking the law while they are patiently obeying the rules. I’ll bet they always signal, too.

Slavishly obeying traffic rules is not priority #1 for this cyclist. I’d put it at #4, behind safety, visibility and efficiency.