Cyclists, Explain Yourselves

[Crumpster]

Developed countries have cycling lanes. Already been said, but it's so true it has to be said again.
Here in Denmark there are basically cycling lanes besides EVERY road, except the motorway. I used to be a cyclist but now I got a car and seriously, there's nothing to complain about if your country knows how to put an extra 1½ meters of asphalt on the side of the road.

Edit: Also, running a red light on a bicycle in Denmark will rape you just as much as doing it in a car. You also get fined if you: Don't wear a helmet, talk on the phone, listen to music, swirve all over the place, go faster than the speed limit (Yeah, I've done that, was dumb as hell) and lots more.

 

[Esotera]

There are moronic cyclists, but from my experience dangerous motorists are far more common. Whenever you're cycling along a road, motorists seem to believe they have the right to overtake you very fast (no matter how heavy traffic is the other side). And there are some who will not give right of way at crossings/roundabouts, and will overtake dangerously close (within inches).

Of course, if the government actually provided cycling lanes, I'd happily use them. But it hasn't, so I'm forced to use the roads.

 

[NinjaDeathSlap]

Well, over here in Holland we have cycling lanes, the same as every other moderately developed country.

And on the few roads without these lanes we simply keep to our right side of the road where motorists can easily spot us.

..............................

I kind of fail to see the problem here.

What about historic towns and cities where many of the roads literally have no room to set aside for a cycle lane. I live in the UK, which I think can be accurately described as at least a moderately developed country. I'm sure it's fine in some places, but in Lincoln (my home town), it's a indeed a big problem.

Personally, I think things would be a lot better if the law was that cyclists have to go on the pavement rather than the road. I know this will cause some different problems, but honestly, which is more likely to cause death or serious injury: a bike and a pedestrian colliding; or a bike and a car? I'm going to go with the one that has the much higher combined mass and closing speed.

 

[KingOfGreyfell]

Carry a paintball gun when driving. Blast the twats when they get annoying.

 

[Woodsey]

'What would you suggest be done differently?'

I would suggest they be shot, and an end be put to this madness once and for all. I'm mostly a pedestrian and they fuck me off.

 

[Uber Evil]

It's time for another episode of "Here in Germany" with your friendly host Smash. Yay! Smash will now briefly explain why Germany is superior where cycling is concerned. Coming up in future episodes; Smash explains why Germany is superior in and at anything and everything else.

Here in Germany, we have dedicated cycling lanes almost everywhere. Accidents with cars are frequent, but rarer than in other countries.

What about your weird rules about violence in games?

 

[Mr Pantomime]

I bike every day that I can, and ive never really had a problem with cyclists or motorists. The only thing I can think of is motorists not understanding how roundabouts work and almost hitting me.

That reminds me

It's time for another episode of "Here in Germany" with your friendly host Smash. Yay! Smash will now briefly explain why Germany is superior where cycling is concerned. Coming up in future episodes; Smash explains why Germany is superior in and at anything and everything else.

Here in Germany, we have dedicated cycling lanes almost everywhere. Accidents with cars are frequent, but rarer than in other countries.

Smash, I know for a fact that Germans don't understand roundabouts.

Maybe you should all consider that your country is full is idiots, and theyre just idiots in whatever method of travel they use.

 

[Rednog]

Cyclists are douche bags, not much else to say. I find it funny that driving a car on the road you need a license but it's ok for any tard to jump on a bike and go flying down the road completely ignorant of the rules.
Oh and I despite the whole counter-culture attitude of bikers who think it is their duty to stick it to car drivers. I've seen countless bikers kick people's cars and some escalate it even further by taking their locks and breaking windows/mirrors and even taking swings at drivers.
I think cities need to just impose huge fines on a lot of douche bag cyclists.

 

[Amethyst Wind]

We don't have dedicated cycling roads here but we do have pavement. Fuck the law. Cyclists, get off my road. My car will do more damage to a cyclist if we collide than said cyclist's bike will to a pedestrian if they collide.

Cyclists on pavement = less risk, more reward.

Get teh fook off my road.

 

[natster43]

I just got a bike after not riding one for like 10 years. I am terrible at biking so I usually just ride on sidewalks and use cross walks if I need to cross, like if I was walking places, and I usually just get out of peoples ways if someone is walking. As for seeing people be assholes on bikes, besides what I do, I only really see teenagers do shit like that. Then again not many people bike here.

 

[Lunar Templar]

i was expecting something more then this.

there are ass-wipes that think they own the road in every grouping. no exceptions

worse then the OP examples.

are the dumb mother fuckers that don't look around when pulling out of the drive ways/intersections/parking lots w/e, people don't look around them, and the certain don't look out for motorcyclists.

in short. fuck cars, get a bike

 

[Necator15]

A lot of cyclists are, unfortunately, unaware that they have to follow the rules of the road. For instance, I have never once seen a cyclist stop at a red light or stop sign.
Most annoyingly (At least for me) is when the road is 45mph and they decide to sit dead center of it going 10ish. That's just inconsiderate, not illegal though. (Live in the US, rural US. No cycling lanes)

 

[Shoggoth2588]

What would you suggest be done differently?

Build more cycle lanes to accommodate the cycling traffic?

That's what I thought side-walks were for. I've had more cyclists blow past me on those than on the actual streets but that's just me. In areas where there are no side-walks though...build them.

 

[Ickorus]

The problem is that drivers treat us like we're pedestrians rather than vehicles and often ignore road laws when it comes to us.

For instance you know how when a person is pulling into a driveway they have to indicate and wait for traffic to stop or clear up enough for them to pull in? On multiple occasions I have been nearly run down by drivers who think we're an exception to the rule.

There are many other examples I could give you but my post would end up very long and rambling if I did.

Cyclists have to be extremely defensive when we're on the roads; we have to look out for ourselves because drivers don't look out for us, literally.

 

[Private Custard]

We have a massive problem around my area. During the summer months, the police put up signs warning motorists that there's a cycling event/triathlon going on at a certain time, always the weekend when I'm out on my proper bike (it has an engine!).

They ride in large packs and weave around wildly trying to pass each other. They have numbers on their shirts. It's a race, on an open highway, sanctioned by the fucking police!!

I usually do one of two things.

1) Ride alongside the most weaving racer I see in first gear, flip up my visor and tell him to fuck off and come back when he has an engine and a brain.

2) Scare the living shit out of them. I have a straight through exhaust that can be heard from about four miles away. A flyby soon loosens the bowels!

A while back, my Mum was driving through a village at 30mph (the speed limit). Some of these idiots actually caught her up and were shouting at her for getting in the way, like really throwing abuse.....she's a law abiding 62 year old woman for fucks sake! It's times like that I wish I was there so I could pull an emergency stop and leave a pile of bikes, lycra and anger in the road behind me.

They can fuck off and die, especially the ones that get passed by all the traffic (which can be a hassle), only to scythe their way to the front of the queue at traffic lights, therefore making everyone have to pass them again.

WHAT THE FUCK!

I hate them.

captcha : oh, lord.

If I were religious, this would be apt. I thought a lot of peoples captcha claims were bullshit and too convenient to be real.....I was wrong!

 

[Combustion Kevin]

dutch cyclist here, and over here we are somewhat civilised about our traffic rules, at least up north, but I believe it has more to do evolution than anything else.

our cab drivers don't fucking play.

also reminded me of this comic: http://satwcomic.com/this-is-bikeland

 

[bobajob]

I cycled everywhere(in North of Britain) until last September, been doing it for years(going to work on a driving license soon, don't judge me!!)
Anyways, I used a racing bike, the ones you can get to 30MPH on a good day & are utterly impractical on the pavement/sidewalk;
I have read the highway code, always followed it to the letter. Now in Britain as awhole, our local councils attempted to cater to cyclists but what we actually saw was cycle lanes in about 1/4 of actual roads. I would call that a poor attempt.
I've seen plenty of cyclists being douches(like cycling on the pavement on the wrong side of the street, all but forcing pedestrians to jump out of the way, WTF?!)
But I also have had plenty of near-misses with drivers. Every one of them was due to the driver in question being a major douche or doing something pants-on-head retarded; Using 'phones is a pet peeve of mine - seriously, just stop it. Now.

That is all.