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"As an acid cyclist," do you stop at every red light and stop sign? Or do you constantly break the law because you claim it's for your safety? As an avid car

"As an acid cyclist," do you stop at every red light and stop sign? Or do you constantly break the law because you claim it's for your safety? As an avid car and truck driver, I give bicycles the full lane like any other vehicle on the road, and I give them plenty of distance before switching lanes in front of them to mitigate turbulence. I almost never ride my bike on the street, so please let me know if there is anything else I can do to help. But it's annoying to see every bicycle that I encounter at an intersection, breaking the law. I always wait instead of assuming they are going to stop, because I don't want them crashing into my vehicle.

dreamcompiler 1y ago
Bicyclists who break the law rarely kill other people.
- RandomBacon 1y ago
  Ah, so that's why it's okay to break the law!
noahjk 1y ago
> But it's annoying to see every bicycle that I encounter at an intersection, breaking the law. I always wait instead of assuming they are going to stop, because I don't want them crashing into my vehicle. This is a great example of an internal narrative which you could reframe (if you chose to). Instead of framing the interaction as "breaking the law" and you protecting your property from the adversarial cyclist, you could instead see each of these as an opportunity for a friendly community gesture of allowing a cyclist to continue on without expending extra energy stopping and starting, plus helping them stay safer through movement (since most cyclists don't have a brake light to signal they are slowing or stopping and can't always use hand signals when navigating situations, and being rear ended is a real concern for bikes). Either way you're doing the same thing, right? So you can internally decide to view it through a negative or a positive lens. But either way, I'm sure the cyclists you stop and wait for are grateful!
- RandomBacon 1y ago
  ^ This is a great example of an internal narrative which you could reframe (if you chose to). Instead of framing my comment as negative, you could choose to see the positive: I give all bicyclists extra room and ask how I can even do better. Everyone should strive to learn and be safe on the road like this guy! Note I didn't say it was to protect my property like you assumed. I've seen pictures of nasty crashes and don't want that happening to any bicyclists. Dealing with my insurance is secondary. Notice that OP tries to make me look bad in his other comment, rather than answering my question on how I can help him and other cyclists.
FourteenthTime 1y ago
"do you stop at every red light and stop sign?" Yes, because my life depends on it. Do you follow every single law when you drive? Probably not, because the consequences are far less mortal for you in a truck or car. I also don't blame rape victims for wearing short skirts.
- RandomBacon 1y ago
  Asking if someone breaks the law means the person asking probably breaks the law? Thank you for trying to make me look bad instead of answering my question on how I can help bicyclists like you. Unless you think just trying to blindly criticize all car drivers is going to help you. > blame rape victims ...
  - FourteenthTime 1y ago
    >> Thank you for trying to make me look bad I didn't really have to try. You came out of the gate applying your stereotypes at me and your following questions riddled with spite were pretty obvious you don't really GAF. This isn't my first day on the internet.
    - RandomBacon 1y ago
      > questions riddled with spite Dude? I think your emotions are blinding you. > pretty obvious you don't really GAF. I tried to ask what I (and other people who drive cars) can do to help make your ride safer... > This isn't my first day on the internet. Looking at your username, is this your fourteenth HN account? Is that because your previous ones have been banned?
throw0101c 1y ago
> But it's annoying to see every bicycle that I encounter at an intersection, breaking the law. And as a motorist, motorcyclist, and bicyclist, it's annoying to see drivers break the law, which they statistically do more often than bicyclists per a Danish government study: * https://politiken.dk/danmark/art7185605/Rygterne-om-cyklister-som-lovløse-banditter-er-stærkt-overdrevne https://politiken.dk/danmark/art7185605/Rygterne-om-cykliste... * Via: https://electrek.co/2024/01/11/cars-or-bikes-surprising-results-of-study-reveal-who-breaks-more-road-laws/ https://electrek.co/2024/01/11/cars-or-bikes-surprising-resu... Studies out of the UK and Florida have similar results: cyclists either follow the law at the same rate, or better. Motorists breaking the law has been so normalized that most people don't notice it.
- RandomBacon 1y ago
  Interesting, thank you. I didn't see where the Electrek article mentioned any U.S./Florida study though. I'm inclined to believe that bicyclists still might be better overall compared to car drivers, but perhaps not at the same rate as Denmark.
  - throw0101a 1y ago
    Florida re-orged their site, so all the old links are broken: * https://www.fdot.gov/docs/default-source/research/Completed-Proj/Summary-SF/FDOT-BDV25-977-13-rpt.pdf https://www.fdot.gov/docs/default-source/research/Completed-... Do a search for "FDOT-BDV25-977-13" I guess. That study ("Naturalistic bicycling behavior pilot study") is referenced here: * https://www.nhtsa.gov/sites/nhtsa.gov/files/2023-03/Bicyclist-Yield-As-Stop-Fact-Sheet_032123_v5_tag.pdf https://www.nhtsa.gov/sites/nhtsa.gov/files/2023-03/Bicyclis...

dreamcompiler 1y ago

Bicyclists who break the law rarely kill other people.

RandomBacon 1y ago
Ah, so that's why it's okay to break the law!

noahjk 1y ago

> But it's annoying to see every bicycle that I encounter at an intersection, breaking the law. I always wait instead of assuming they are going to stop, because I don't want them crashing into my vehicle. This is a great example of an internal narrative which you could reframe (if you chose to). Instead of framing the interaction as "breaking the law" and you protecting your property from the adversarial cyclist, you could instead see each of these as an opportunity for a friendly community gesture of allowing a cyclist to continue on without expending extra energy stopping and starting, plus helping them stay safer through movement (since most cyclists don't have a brake light to signal they are slowing or stopping and can't always use hand signals when navigating situations, and being rear ended is a real concern for bikes). Either way you're doing the same thing, right? So you can internally decide to view it through a negative or a positive lens. But either way, I'm sure the cyclists you stop and wait for are grateful!

RandomBacon 1y ago
^ This is a great example of an internal narrative which you could reframe (if you chose to). Instead of framing my comment as negative, you could choose to see the positive: I give all bicyclists extra room and ask how I can even do better. Everyone should strive to learn and be safe on the road like this guy! Note I didn't say it was to protect my property like you assumed. I've seen pictures of nasty crashes and don't want that happening to any bicyclists. Dealing with my insurance is secondary. Notice that OP tries to make me look bad in his other comment, rather than answering my question on how I can help him and other cyclists.

FourteenthTime 1y ago

"do you stop at every red light and stop sign?" Yes, because my life depends on it. Do you follow every single law when you drive? Probably not, because the consequences are far less mortal for you in a truck or car. I also don't blame rape victims for wearing short skirts.

RandomBacon 1y ago
Asking if someone breaks the law means the person asking probably breaks the law? Thank you for trying to make me look bad instead of answering my question on how I can help bicyclists like you. Unless you think just trying to blindly criticize all car drivers is going to help you. > blame rape victims ...
- FourteenthTime 1y ago
  >> Thank you for trying to make me look bad I didn't really have to try. You came out of the gate applying your stereotypes at me and your following questions riddled with spite were pretty obvious you don't really GAF. This isn't my first day on the internet.
  - RandomBacon 1y ago
    > questions riddled with spite Dude? I think your emotions are blinding you. > pretty obvious you don't really GAF. I tried to ask what I (and other people who drive cars) can do to help make your ride safer... > This isn't my first day on the internet. Looking at your username, is this your fourteenth HN account? Is that because your previous ones have been banned?

throw0101c 1y ago

> But it's annoying to see every bicycle that I encounter at an intersection, breaking the law. And as a motorist, motorcyclist, and bicyclist, it's annoying to see drivers break the law, which they statistically do more often than bicyclists per a Danish government study: * https://politiken.dk/danmark/art7185605/Rygterne-om-cyklister-som-lovløse-banditter-er-stærkt-overdrevne https://politiken.dk/danmark/art7185605/Rygterne-om-cykliste... * Via: https://electrek.co/2024/01/11/cars-or-bikes-surprising-results-of-study-reveal-who-breaks-more-road-laws/ https://electrek.co/2024/01/11/cars-or-bikes-surprising-resu... Studies out of the UK and Florida have similar results: cyclists either follow the law at the same rate, or better. Motorists breaking the law has been so normalized that most people don't notice it.

RandomBacon 1y ago
Interesting, thank you. I didn't see where the Electrek article mentioned any U.S./Florida study though. I'm inclined to believe that bicyclists still might be better overall compared to car drivers, but perhaps not at the same rate as Denmark.
- throw0101a 1y ago
  Florida re-orged their site, so all the old links are broken: * https://www.fdot.gov/docs/default-source/research/Completed-Proj/Summary-SF/FDOT-BDV25-977-13-rpt.pdf https://www.fdot.gov/docs/default-source/research/Completed-... Do a search for "FDOT-BDV25-977-13" I guess. That study ("Naturalistic bicycling behavior pilot study") is referenced here: * https://www.nhtsa.gov/sites/nhtsa.gov/files/2023-03/Bicyclist-Yield-As-Stop-Fact-Sheet_032123_v5_tag.pdf https://www.nhtsa.gov/sites/nhtsa.gov/files/2023-03/Bicyclis...