As I made my way to work this morning, I was reminded of two pet peeves I have with urban cyclists – especially those in D.C.:
- If you are not a little kid, ride on the street, with the traffic! Bicycles are covered under the uniform vehicle code, and as such, they have the same rights as cars, trucks and motorcycles. A guy careening down 36th Street almost took me out this morning, and he should’ve been riding on the road.
- An accordance with the first point, stop signs mean stop, not “bomb through expecting cars to yield.” Bicycle couriers are notorious for this, as are a lot of citizens who just don’t seem to care that the rules apply equally for drivers and cyclists, and that a car will win a battle of destructive mass.
There are other things that bother me (and as an avid cyclist, I know that I need to abide by the rules I cite), but these two stick out the worst.
Cyclists: if you want people to respect you and not give you flak for being on the road, obey the damn rules!
soe
4 May 2005 — 11:04
I have to admit that I periodically will ignore rule number one (particularly if a one-way street gets in my way). But when I use the sidewalk, I do keep in mind that I do not have the right of way and will slow down to a crawl behind pedestrians.
forepac
4 May 2005 — 11:05
Hear, hear – three cheers for Rudi nailing it on the head! As a pedestrian, I’d like to make an addendum to your list:
Not only do STOP SIGNS mean STOP, but RED TRAFFIC LIGHTS do, too. The law says you must follow the same rules as cars and other motor vehicles, so when they have to stop, you do, too.
Criminy.