I will never use painted bike lanes. They are only the illusion of safety. Either I’m going the speed limit and I ride on the road or I take the sidewalk if possible.
When I’m not biking I drive a delivery truck and make sure I stop for and/or let pass every cyclist in order to drive every other car brain on the road insane and it gives me great pleasure.
Today, while I had the green light, had another car blatantly run a red light and almost hit me. I turned left to catch up with him, pounded on his window and told him he was a jackass. When he rolled his window down I recognized him as a state assembly member. Hoping he doesn’t recognize me when he eventually calls the HR office because he’s at the dentists office and doesn’t have his insurance card because he’s a fucking spoiled man-child.
my mindset when biking now is mostly to inconvenience bad drivers as much as possible and ensure that if they hit me it results in as much damage to their car as I can without harming myself.
I will aggressively take my right of way. one of the most common places is a bike crossing nearby where drivers routinely blow the stop line on their red light - I start up quickly so that if they blow the stop and go into the crossing, I may not be able to stop before crashing into them (you often can’t see them approaching the stop line because they are behind traffic in the middle lane). I don’t mind my shitty bike taking some damage if it leaves them with a dented door panel. another common occurrence is roundabouts - drivers vastly underestimate the speed at which a bike can navigate a tight roundabout, and they routinely cut me off. unfortunately, I’ve avoided collisions every time that a driver has nearly hit me, because my reaction is to not get hurt. but god damn did I ever want to slam into some of those cars and leave a lasting impression
I feel you but you only have only one fragile body.
I spent months of horror and multiple hospitalisations because I braked too hard on my bike at low speed, didn’t fall but landed too hard on the saddle. My username comes from that horrendous experience.
Of course it was because a car ran a red light, that was hidden to the inattentive car driver by a truck parked like an asshole.
There’s a shitload of studies showing that cars break far more rules than bikes everywhere it has been measured. You don’t have to put your body in the line to make a point.
Please just be safe for your own sake. You certainly deserve it.
thankfully my reflexes still prioritize my own safety, and most times I leave a near collision pissed off at the shitty driver and regretful that I couldn’t leave them a lasting mark. but when I get to the chance to, say, let my cargo bike basket scrape a car that pushed me into the curb, I’m gonna try to take it.
and thankfully (?) my health issues are unrelated to biking injuries (at least, unrelated to sharing the road with drivers — I’ve got a completely self-inflicted road injury from long ago and injuries from mountain biking lol).
Yeah… I hate to say it but cyclists take to the sidewalks in my neighborhood even though we have bike lanes everywhere. Obviously they are trying to be safer from cars which I can’t fault them for, but they do become a danger to pedestrians. Basically pedestrians are in a lose lose situation. Unless we want to start counting the bugs they step on.
I don’t care how many “bike lanes” an area has. A stripe of paint on a road will never be acceptable. Unless there is a physical barrier, I’ll be taking sidewalks when possible.
Think about it like this: Bike crashes with car = broken bones and probably death. Bike crashes with person = bruises and scrapes, maybe broken bones.
It’s clear to me.
I’ve cycled to work and back 59 times this year, and reported 36 drivers (with video evidence from my bike) to the police, with them taking “positive action” in 34 of those cases. But yeah, it’s the cyclists who are dangerous.
Where do you live that the police do more than file the report?
Where I am they don’t do anything if a car hits you unless the damage is beyond a cost threshold or someone is killed.
Yeah I think the main problem isn’t the cyclists themselves, it’s that cyclists don’t have a safe place ride without getting ran over. Cyclists shouldn’t be a problem to drivers in the first place if they had their own lane or space. I’m lucky to live somewhere that has bike lanes and sidewalks on most streets. America strangely lacks basic infrastructure in a vast majority of their country. It really sucks ass if you have a fear of driving :(
As someone who doesn’t really ride bikes, I think it’s wild when car people are against bike lanes.
Back when I used to drive, it was so annoying to get stuck behind a cyclist. Their max speed is lower than the speed limit on most roads, passing them makes me nervous even on straight and flat roads, and if the road is hilly or curvy like most in my area, it’s downright dangerous.
I would love it if there were more bike lanes so that cyclists don’t get in my way. Why would anyone who drives a car be against that?
Cyclists aren’t a “problem” any more than traffic lights or stop signs are. Drivers should be able to deal with having to slow down a bit for a few seconds without getting upset about it. If you saw a driver shouting out of his window at a traffic light you’d think they were insane.
Yeah and not believing that cyclists have no right to space and should be squeezing to the side to let them by.
It has become wildly better here in Bordeaux though, in the city there are basically no incivilities any more, but they have done a tremendous job to get there. Get outside of the city (in the suburbs) and it’s still drive as fast as you can without thinking like before.
To be fair, if I saw a driver shouting out their window at a bicyclist, I’d also think they were insane (and a monumental asshole).
I had a traffic light swerve into the second lane as I was passing. I totally almost killed it.
Only “vehicular” cyclists are an issue, but TBH even other cyclists hate them.
If I’m on a bike, notice a car coming up behind me, and don’t think it’s safe for them to pass, I will put myself in the middle of the road to block them.
If they try some stupid and dangerous passing, I’m the one getting pulped. Putting yourself in the middle of the road is a very effective way of communicating “don’t even try to squeeze past me, there’s not enough space.” The most dangerous situations I’ve been in on a bike have been due to cars trying to squeeze past me when there isn’t enough space, it’s terrifying.
What’s a vehicular cyclist?
A vehicular cyclist is a cyclist riding as if they were a car, so in the middle of the lane etc. It’s the adviced way of cycling when there is no proper infrastructure, as sticking to the side makes you less visible and more likely to be dangerously overtaken. It depends on the context of the road whether it is the best way, but I would not call them the problem, just a bad solution to a problem that should be solved by infrastructure.
I bike or walk pretty much everywhere I go, so my take on roads and traffic is that they’re usually far too car-centric (Norway). Even when I drive, I’m so used to thinking like a cyclist that I become very aware of how poorly roads are often designed around biking.
With that said… The amount of cyclists with an apparent death wish is just staggering. Just two days ago I passed a cyclist in an 80 km/h zone. No issue there. Just around the next turn, I caught up to a second cyclist that I couldn’t immediately pass due to oncoming traffic. I’m behind this second cyclist, going downhill at maybe 50 km/h, with oncoming traffic on a relatively narrow road, when I notice that the first cyclist has caught up to us. Instead of placing himself behind me, he decided it was a brilliant idea to squeeze himself into the ≈ 1.5 m gap between me (a 6m long, 2-ton car going at 50 km/h) and the guard rail. At this point, I’m just sitting here terrified that I’ll end up accidentally squeezing him into the guard rail and killing him if I happen to move a couple centimeters too close to the edge of the road. I’m seriously afraid of breaking to let him in front of me, because I’m afraid he could hit my side-view mirror if I break unexpectedly (for him). There’s oncoming traffic, so I can’t move over to give him more space.
To be honest, even when I’m biking myself I far too often find other cyclists to be absolute assholes with no respect for traffic rules. Of course, this doesn’t apply to everyone (by a long shot), but man those people cause the rest of us a lot of stress by being a danger to themselves and others.
A lot of Cyclists seem to have car brain when biking, but don’t realize they are on a bike.
I have almost hit several cyclists that run red lights going 20+ MPH. Good thing I was paying attention…
When I lived in a walking friendly area, I used to keep a metal multitool in my hand to hit cars with when they tried to run me over.
Agreed. My bike is egregiously visible. I put over a hundred reflectors on her (no that’s not hyperbole, there are a hundred spokeys and then some) and then lights and a flag, and it’s all very bright.
No one sensible wants to hit you when you’re out riding, so when you make yourself easy to see, they react accordingly. I’ve only had a couple shitass drivers who tried to kill me while out driving in the last year. Maybe it’s my locale, maybe it’s my loud bike, maybe I’m lucky and the local gangs are looking out for me as a favor for keeping my mouth shut that one time (I asked that they keep my bike and my friends’ bikes from being stolen as my favor and bikes stopped getting stolen in town). idk.
Yeah I think the main problem isn’t the cyclists themselves, it’s that cyclists don’t have a safe place ride without getting ran over.
Meaning that, as usual, cars are the problem.
When they have their own lane and space cars still just use it. They park on the bike lanes, move into them if somebody’s passing on their left, or try and pass cars on their right if they find space during slow traffic.
Absolutely needed but people in cars will still cause issues and when they cause issues, it’s a multi ton vehical hitting some aluminium and flesh.
You live in a country where the police actually does something on these cases?
Luckily, yes. There’s a web page where you fill in the details, you upload the footage and then they actually do something about it. Options for “positive action” are:
- Letter - which has the same status as a police warning, i.e. no action taken at the time but it can be used against you later if you go to court for something similar
- Points and fine with the option of taking a driving education course instead
- Points and a fine with no alternative
- Sent to court
All these can be appealed. Interestingly, I once spoke to one of the people who processes the cases. He said that the drivers don’t get to see the video footage unless they say they want to appeal. Then they see the footage and almost all of them drop it.
Yeah but as a fellow cyclist I still laughed
I see a common denominator in your story
Yeah, I must be able to make them drive like arseholes bad enough that they get prosecuted. It’s magic or something. It can’t be that there’s a lot of people driving cars really badly, can it?
Very apt that an anagram of your name is “scapegoat”.
Narc ass snitch ass cop lover
Sarcasm right?
Never heard of her
Obligatory fuck cars
Cyclists: every pavement is a shared space if you’re going fast enough.
For some reason there’s always a guy doing this when there’s a perfectly good cycle lane on the road next to them. Best thing as a pedestrian is to show no fear.
is it a “perfectly good cycle lane” tho? cyclists are just stupid for no reason? or maybe there is a good reason (or maybe even multiple reasons!) they go where they go
let’s try to extend some grace to a person who risks their life so that they pollute lessYeah, it’s really good cycle lane, I’ve used it many times because I’m not some entitled nobhead.
“Perfectly good cycle lane” is something I have heard a lot of times from people who have never tried using the fucking awful cycle lane full of broken glass. Although usually here people cycle in the road instead, rather than the pavement.
You also have shared paths which have a line down the middle so bikes on one side and pedestrians on the other. 99% of the time pedestrians use the whole path and don’t care which side they are on so I just swerve around them. Then had someone shout at me for being on the wrong side, I mean yes, but I was compensating for having to have just turned around someone and this space was clear so it made more sense to cycle here. Not sure why, when I cycle over the grass next to the path it seems to upset some people too. My bike is perfectly capable of going over grass, dirt and gravel tracks.
Going home from work the other day 2 pedestrians were taking up both lanes and I just cycled around them on the grass and one of them complained that I didn’t ring my bell. Why bother, it’s quicker for me to just go around you than wait for you to probably ignore me and maybe eventually move to the side in an unpredictable manner.
It’s a shitpost, obviously.
Look at all the angry comments by cyclists (with upvotes) and you’ll have your answer!
Idunno pedestrians in my city just walk with the confidence that law says cars have to stop.
yeah, I do that. because I have right of way when I do it.
I had a driver yell at me once because in her incorrect opinion I had not checked for cross traffic. I was approaching a pedestrian crossing at a roundabout that is signed that drivers must yield to pedestrians. I knew she was approaching from my left, I heard her slowing down, and I quickly glanced to confirm that she was stopping. I did this without obviously turning my head. I stepped into the crosswalk without slowing down, and she took the time to roll her window down and yell at me that I need to look around or something, and then nearly hit something as she proceeded through the roundabout trying to roll her window back up.
I did everything just fine, she was just mad that she was too inobservant to notice me checking for traffic
I do that. If I get to a crosswalk, I don’t stand and wait for cars to stop, I step into the road and make them stop, because thems the rules. I don’t do it while I’m staring at my phone though, because that’s dumb.
As I’ve heard one person say, “your right of way doesn’t matter if I run you over.” As a pedestrian, I always wait until I see the car slowing down before I step out in front of it.
I definitely agree with the sentiment, my top priority is to not get run over. I still walk confidently onto the crosswalk without pausing, while keeping a close eye on the approaching car so that I can get out of the way if they don’t stop.
My experience is that if you hesitate, way too many drivers will just floor it in front of you, while if you give the impression that they’ll hit you if they don’t stop, they’ll hit the breaks.
Exactly. I drive and watch people hover on the sidewalk, clearly intending to enter the crosswalk, but not making that move. I stop whenever I even so much as think someone might cross. I stop and sometimes they turn instead of crossing. Whatever, doesn’t matter, it’s two seconds. But it seems like everyone else on the road can’t be bothered.
And so it’s because of that that I just walk into the road. And I should say into the road, but not into the travel lane, per se, because I don’t actually want to get hit, I got kids, and it would be a stupid funeral if “Dad died doing what he loved, being an idiot.”
I do this, but only if I can see their eyes.
Posted from a hospital bed.
Gosh, almost as if cyclists need safe spaces to ride. How about we just drastically reduce the number of 2 ton deathmachines on the roads.
Why
Loads of reasons really, but let’s start with reductions to rates and severity of asthma in children.
Nah
Seriously, go look at a notjustbikes video
Can’t
I see you’re also very restricted in key presses, my condolences
Thank
Living in a big Dutch city. Cyclists just be like: I have to be careful not to hit any more dumb suicidal tourists. For fuck sake, I have had to repair my bike twice this week already.
And in these modern times everyone needs to be careful of young kids on fat bikes.
What about fat kids on young bikes?
Fat kid is child abuse (unless medical condition) and the young bike needs to be rated for the weight otherwise it’s also child abuse (/jk). But older bikes usually have steel wheels while younger bikes have aluminium bikes, so the weight capacity is larger with older bikes (not that it matters for kids though, but it does matter when having someone on your luggage carrier).
Fuckin’ tourists. Get off the fietspad! And I wish they would just say no e-bikes for under-16.
Everyone warned me about the bikes in Amsterdam when I went to visit. When I got there and stepped outside for the first time, oh yeah the bike lane is painted a different colour to the pavement so I will walk on the pavement bit. Hang on, how the fuck do people struggle with this?
I have some sympathy here for the tourists. You know how you can identify a tourist very easily? They are looking upward or even pointing upward while looking upward. The walking goes on automatic as the slightly tilted facades and red windows draw attention. Difficult to see the color of the fietspad if you aren’t ever looking downward.
Yeah, plus no fat bikes at all!
Why no fat tires? I’m thinking about getting some just because they look easier to maintain
They aren’t easier to maintain at all, the exact opposite is true. Most bicycle shops refuse to even service them because they are of such bad quality and the parts are not available. They are very unsafe (brakes failing, things like that).
why would they be easier to maintain?
Because they should get fewer flats. Larger surface area and all that.
Larger surface area surely increases the risk as there is more area that could run over glass shards.
I have 700x35, or 38, can’t remember. Had 1 flat on the front wheel in the entire lifespan of the outer tread. Second outer tyre now and nothing so far.
i’ve got 20 and 24 inchers and i live in goats head country. i cannot keep them inflated for the life of me. I am this close to just putting solid rubber blocks on my wheels
That mKes it more likely to get flats though.
Meaning more surface area to hit something sharp. Yeah the larger area means lower pressure on the contact surface but I don’t think that’s the deciding factor in whether something punctures your tire. Best way to prevent punctures is tougher tires rather than larger ones. The lower pressure just helps with stuff like loose gravel or sand.
There are also puncture self repairing tires now. They have a gel like layer on the inside which gets pushed out into the hole sealing it. I have them and haven’t had a flat in over 5 years.
Then get one at the black market because then you pay what they are worth. Also, they are perfect if you like to maintain your bike, as you have to do it often. They break down often, especially breaks. Easy to maintain? No. Lots of sensor errors, software issues, etc. It’s fancy looking (well, I find them ugly AF) Chinese junk which have increased accidents exponentially since they arrived on the market. Next to that they are getting banned now, with Amsterdam as a first banning them at certain places. They also want to change regulations to make helmets mandatory for them and raise the minimum age.
Want an electric bike? Get a non-smart one. No Vanmoof or anything like that. They are junk (I had one, they are awful and insanely overpriced).
Best advice I can give you is a Gazelle or similar brand, with a Bosch middle motor (so not in the wheels, as they suck). They are easy to maintain, don’t have weird electronics hidden in impossible places, no smart mullshit which requires an app or the bike won’t work, normal commercial off the shelf parts you can get anywhere.
What do you have against bikes with fat tires?
In the Netherlands Fat Bikes are not those mountain bikes with fat tires, they are just electric motorcycles disguised as a bicycle because it has barely functioning pedals. Kids are a menace on those bikes, they go way too fast. Not to mention Dutch kids are getting fatter and unhealthier because they barely exercise and putting kids on motorized vehicles instead of bicycles doesn’t help.
I see a fat bike on my commute to work most days. Fucking massive tyres, but its not got a massive motor on it so I overtake it with a regular pedal bike.
Thank you. I’ve seen articles before but didn’t understand the hate.
I’m glad little shitheads on motorized bikes is a problem all the world over. I get them riding through the playground where my kids play.
NJ just required the ebikes be registered and insured and put age requirements on them, and so I have noticed lately a drop in shitheads, but there are still some out there.
Get them the fuck out of towns
If by “them” you mean ecocidal narcissists in their stupid pollution powered people killing machines I agree wholeheartedly.
This is me but only bc I’m bad at biking lmaoooo
Pedestrians don’t even look up from their fucking phones when they cross the road. I even saw a dude doing it while pushing a pram once.
why would I need to?
my crossing signal turned green and I glanced both ways before stepping out. there’s no need for me to be constantly aware as I cross, nobody should be driving at me.
You’re more trusting than I am.
Edit: I’m hoping it’s sarcasm
I think they mean when not at an actual crossing and without ever even looking. I get it all the time, “phone zombies” stepping into the road right in front of me because my bicycle doesn’t make as much noise as a car. The bell seems to do nothing to wake them from their stupor so I have avoided fixing my loud squeaky brakes on purpose.
Also though, do people really need to constantly stare at their phones while walking anywhere, let alone where there are 1 tonne metal things moving at speed with pilots who may or may not have seen the red light?
oh man, people not hearing my bike coming is annoying. I’ll make tons of noise and eventually ring my bell and they either don’t shift or jump left directly in front of me. people do not pay attention to what is around them
Think I have clipped a few oblivious people before with my bike. Usually one of my pannier bags when they step into the road and I barely avoid them
I see it all the time and I can’t stand it. It’s not even cars, sometimes a sidewalk is lifted, low tree branch, literally any number of potential hazards in the way, and people are just letting iPhone Jesus guide them through life.
I’ve had two bicyclists run a red light right in front of me as I was pulling out on a green.
One was horrified and apologic.
The other yelled at me for almost hitting him.