I don't know what you look like, but I can somehow picture you doing this!

I've been waiting for a long time for both pedestrians and bikes to get hit in front of me AND not by me. I don't want the hassle. But if somebody is paying for the show already, I'll enjoy it to the max.

From my days living in Holland which probably has the most bicycles per capita in the Western World, they have lights for the cars, streetcars, buses, bicycles and pedestrians.

I can remember riding a bus in Leeuwarden, Netherlands and an old lady ran the signal for the bicycles and got knocked over by the bus I was on. She wasn't really hurt, just a little shook up. Then the police came and wrote her a ticket for running the light.

I agree with Mistress Heather, look both ways. Bicycle vs. car = car always wins.

I'ts like trying to tax nomads.
Hard to chase... if your on foot they go down the road, if your in a car they go down a foot path.
Don't need a drivers liscence to pedal... hard to ID if you catch em.

But they do enforce the law on bikes, believe me... I,ve been enforced on.

Just have to piss em off enough and they will enforce something.

Exactly. Same thing here in California.

I once asked a police officer friend of mine to issue me a citation for speeding on my mountain bike....

...while going uphill!!!

Last year there was a huge uproar in the bike community because Chicago police decided to enforce the law with cyclists. It made headline news.

Good, for a few reasons. Many motorists had no clue that cyclists had the same rights and responsibilities as motorists. Likewise, many cyclists had no clue either. Some cyclists who knew exactly what the law was but flaunted it anyway were at first gently reminded about their social obligations, then ticketed, how shall I say, without prejudice :D the second time around.

What me? Run reds? Nah... :D The blur is from my shiny bling Bianchi. Swear!

Seriously, you wanna see people run reds, go to Loring park this Friday night, 5:30 critical mass ride.

I'm not sure about my current home-state, but MO was my last one. It's illegal to ride your bicycle on the sidewalk or on a pedestrian crosswalk in MO. Same offence as doing so in your car, of course. It's also illegal to ride opposing traffic, for the same reason.

Just how many minutes of your life do you spend behind a bicycle? And would you really get to your destination that much faster if it were a slow driver in front of you?

I've spent years commuting exclusively on a bicycle, and have had a lot of close calls, due to cars thinking that I don't need even half a lane. I have banged my fist on a number of car deck lids, when the driver was close enough. But at least I did no damage.

Some people I knew back then hated car drivers. Two stories come to mind:

1: A car passed very close to the rider, who saw it coming and retrieved a tool out of the back pocket of his jersey. Put a nice scratch down the side of the car. Driver stopped, and the cyclist offered to put a matching scratch on the other side, no charge!

2: Similar situation, but the cyclist reacted after the car passed. Grabbed a glass beer bottle out of his water-bottle holder (it was actually legal in MO to drink while driving then, so no law broken by having the beer while riding), threw it at the car and shattered the bottle on the back window. The driver stopped and started to look menacing, until the cyclist retrieved a rather large chain from his bag. The driver got back in his car and left.

I know a guy who hit a bicyclist back in the 80s. He said the girl went thru a red light and when he saw her he jammed on his brakes but still hit her. She went up onto his hood and the bike went flying. She held onto the hood until the car stopped. He took her to the hospital and oddly enough she wasn't hurt but he said her bike was completely destroyed. He bought her a new bike. How the bike got destroyed and she was not hurt makes no sense:confused:
Weird thing is he was saying he wouldn't have hit her if he had braked properly. He didn't have ABS back them and says if he had pumped the brakes instead of holding them and skidding he would have stopped in time to miss her.

I once got a warning from a cop for doing 35 in a 25 zone. :D

actually locked brakes will result in the shortest stopping distance. hard on the tires though. abs does NOT reduce stopping distances nor pumping them. what it does is it allows you to keep the car straight and allows you to turn the car while stopping.

tom w

Matt, I agree with you.

I ride a bike (not as often as I used to when I was training for century rides).

Bike riders are actually injured far more often when they ride cose to the curb.

Aklim: It's called paper work, unless the cyclist (sp) gets nailed by a car I doubt police will enforce the law. Meet me at the alter in 30?

I have always understood that the rolling resistance of any tire is above its sliding or skidding resistance.

"Locking them up" looks good, and feels like you are doing your best, but it may not give the shortest stopping distance.

A quick search found this (there may be others, but I'm out of time: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-lock_braking_system

I will admit that a really skilled (professional race?) driver may be able to do this, but not necessarily each and every time, in the rain and snow, after a bad night's sleep, hungover, on the cell phone, etc.

So, in theory ABS can be beaten. In practice, it is a terrific helper when you mis-judge how much brake pressure to apply, in a panic or on slippery surface.

Some mass groups are quite bad. They preach hate for cars. Don't like them at all.