Today I witnessed two different sets of bikers completely ignoring the rules of the road and I said to myself...Self, bikers will always have a bad rap as long as there are bicycle commuters out there who refuse to obey the rules of the road.
One guy seemed like he was a bicycle commuter (the backpack, the helmet, etc) and was on Main St heading east at Ewing. The light was red and he waited for the traffic to clear and then ran the red light. As a motorist on occasion, I can tell you that this type of behavior typically infuriates me. As a bike commuter it just makes me shake my head and know that this is one example of why I, when on my bike, get yelled at and sometimes cursed at by motorists for apparently just existing in their immediate area.
The other set of bikers were on Coliseum right by the Kmart and Lakeside golf course. east side of the street. They were, I assume, Mormon Missionaries. They had the white shirts and ties (I am from Arizona so I am pretty sure that I know what I am talking about). They proceeded to ride against northbound traffic on the shoulder across the bridge over the Maumee! Wow. Not only dangerous and totally against the rules of the road, but crazy.
So, the underlying theme of this post? We will not be respected as bike commuters if we do not follow the rules of the roads that we ride on, period. Think I'm wrong? I'd love to hear your point.
3 comments:
For the most part I agree with you. I am thoroughly annoyed when I see bikers riding the wrong way on one-way streets. Especially when they almost hit me! I also don;t like to see bikes riding extremely fast on the sidewalks. Not only is there a risk for peds but also for the cyclist crossing streets on the sidewalk. Cars don't see them. The problem with the red lights is that as a small piece of metal we can't trip the red lights to turn green, and I sure as hell am not going to wait for a car to get behind me to do this. While I'm at it, I might as well bitch about some other lights. I live in Dupont Lakes Apts. and getting onto Dupont Rd. is almost impossible. The light only lets through three cars at most before it goes red again. If I wait behind a car for that light, I hold up all the cars behind me and none of them will get through. I split the lane and run the light if possible and get as far over to the right as I can to let the cars get through the turn.
You, my friend, are a brave soul.
Stay safe out there.
Respect is over-rated.
Safety is paramount.
One-way streets suck.
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