Bicycling safety

[Baldkin]

Baldkin's point about getting side swiped on the "bike lane" (it's really not much of a lane at all) is one reason you would never see me biking out on a country highway. I think it's a huge leap of faith to trust that every driver is going to give you the room you need.

The sad part is, it wasn't a country highway, it was University Ave in Madison. With a nice wide bike lane.

 

[Schlitz001]

I bike fairly regularly (50 miles/wk) and feel like I obey all the traffic laws as I do when I'm driving. I realize as a biker I'm the one that needs to watch out for my own safety as drivers generally wont as much. That being said, I can see why some cyclists may take another approach. I regularly am honked at, given the one finger salute, yelled at, told to use the sidewalk (illegal) etc. by incredibly impatient/rude drivers. That kind of attitude from the fat guy who just pulled out of the McDs parking lot for his daily "run" gets pretty old. It definately doesn't justify cyclists being stupid about things, but sometimes we just want to get out of the vehicles way as quickly as possible or are so tired of bad drivers that we may say "screw it". Believe me, even those cyclists who are consious of the laws get it a lot worse than those poor drivers who have to deal with the random cyclists.

Thank you. I think it's hard for people who don't bike regularly to understand the biker's perspective. Just calm down and realize that bikers are out there just like you trying to get safely to their destination.

[brewcrewman17]

I realize as a biker I'm the one that needs to watch out for my own safety as drivers generally wont as much. That being said, I can see why some cyclists may take another approach. I regularly am honked at, given the one finger salute, yelled at, told to use the sidewalk (illegal) etc. by incredibly impatient/rude drivers. It definately doesn't justify cyclists being stupid about things, but sometimes we just want to get out of the vehicles way as quickly as possible or are so tired of bad drivers that we may say "screw it". Believe me, even those cyclists who are consious of the laws get it a lot worse than those poor drivers who have to deal with the random cyclists.

 

This is exactly how I feel. Biking here in downtown Milwaukee, where bike lanes are few a far between and pedestrians make illegally riding the sidewalk really difficult, when I blow through a red light (after slowing down to a stop and looking both ways) I'm just trying to get out of the way of the drivers behind me as quickly as possible. After reading this thread, though, perhaps I'll start to make full stops and wait for a green, but if you're the car behind me trying to go straight while I'm trying to turn left and you honk at me or flip me off realize how horrible that is.

[owbc]

Ok, I stand corrected. A bicycle can go through a red light, but they must wait 45 seconds first.

 

Red Traffic Signal: [346.37(1)©4] allows a bicyclist facing a red signal at an intersection, after stopping as required, for not less than 45 seconds, to proceed cautiously through the intersection before the signal turns green if no other vehicles are present at the intersection to actuate the signal and the operator believes the signal is vehicle actuated. The bicyclist shall yield the right-of-way to any vehicular traffic when proceeding through the green signal at the intersection.

 

However, I was told by a UW Police officer that it was legal for bikes to go through red lights as long as they stopped first, with no mention of the 45 second time limit. So I doubt that would be enforced as long as there is no cross traffic (which I know is usually not the case).

[RU Rah Rah]

Ok, I stand corrected. A bicycle can go through a red light, but they must wait 45 seconds first.

 

Red Traffic Signal: [346.37(1)©4] allows a bicyclist facing a red signal at an intersection, after stopping as required, for not less than 45 seconds, to proceed cautiously through the intersection before the signal turns green if no other vehicles are present at the intersection to actuate the signal and the operator believes the signal is vehicle actuated. The bicyclist shall yield the right-of-way to any vehicular traffic when proceeding through the green signal at the intersection.

 

However, I was told by a UW Police officer that it was legal for bikes to go through red lights as long as they stopped first, with no mention of the 45 second time limit. So I doubt that would be enforced as long as there is no cross traffic (which I know is usually not the case).

This is interesting. I wonder about the whole "and the operator believes the signal is vehicle actuated" part, though. What % of intersections are like this?

 

[Fatter than Joey]

Never mind cycling etiquette, what staggers me is the almost complete lack of visibility most cyclists I come across have when it's dark.

 

Yeah -- This is my #1 concern as well. In our small poorly lit town, it's hard to see kids until they are riding on your windshield.

 

I am always amazed as well, on how many young kids do not wear helmets -- I bet 75% here are not protecting their melon.

[bigredrobbo]

Fatter than Joey wrote:

 

I am always amazed as well, on how many young kids do not wear helmets -- I bet 75% here are not protecting their melon.

 

This amazes you? really? The vast majority of Harley riders in the state don't wear helmets, so why should cyclists be any different?

[TooLiveBrew]

I remember as a kid thinking a bike helmet made me look like stupid. It's pretty obvious now that the dumb thing is to not protect yourself. I can't recall where this happened, but recently a biker had his/her head run over by a truck (tire), and came away basically unscathed (somehow) thanks to the helmet.

 

Seeing motorcyclists without helmets makes me so worried -- my childhood friend's mom worked in an ER, and she told me the nurses always call those bikers "donors". Ick.