Vehicular Manslaughter...

[oldschoolskier]

Drive in Toronto and watch bad cyclists put themselves in danger by not following the rules of the road think they only apply to cars. Same said cycles will run people over thinking they have right of way.

 

[Tricia]

I definitely saw more carelessness with road cyclists in Michigan than I have since moving to Tahoe. I think the culture is different in different regions.

 

[slowrider]

Had a gentleman swerving through traffic on a surface street a few years ago on his bicycle and cut across 3 lanes in front of me.
Came up to a stop light and set the brakes got out and informed him right or wrong you are still going to be dead a couple of times.

 

[Chris Walker]

Here in Taiwan the other day I went up to the top of Yanming Mountain on a narrow, winding road with no shoulders, and crammed with buses, construction vehicles, cars, and scooters. I met a group of about 10 or 12 road cyclists who had ridden up the same route. I was amazed not at their endurance after such a feat, but rather that any of them had lived to tell about it.

In my halting Chinese, I tried to ask if they were scared of riding in that kind of traffic. They just smiled and said they weren’t afraid. There’s definitely no such thing as the three foot rule here.

 

[Joel]

Used to ride to work snow or shine ( didn't ride in rain ). As things got more crowded, the number of stupid drivers also went up. I gave up road biking a long time ago because of the stupid. Now it's just MTB for me. I can say daily when I'm on the road I see at least one driver do something stupid. I think the most common I see are 2+ cars training through a left turn well afters it's been red. Witnessed an accident once with someone doing this. Small SUV got clipped, watched it do a roll through the air. It was car on car, fortunately no one seriously hurt.

I see seriously bad driving behavior daily. Personally I would shred the DLs of at least half the people driving around here.

 

[François Pugh]

This just in...
https://m.thestar.com/news/gta/2018...-beating-that-left-19-year-old-in-a-coma.html
I used to live nearby.

 

[oldschoolskier]

I definitely saw more carelessness with road cyclists in Michigan than I have since moving to Tahoe. I think the culture is different in different regions.

I definitely hope so, along with I hope the bad isn’t infectious.

 

[graham418]

This article linked here is not vehicular manslaughter, but vehicular homicide. Teenager on his bike hunted by an SUV, struck down and then stabbed.


https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2018/06/09/cyclist-dead-after-collision-and-possible-shooting.html

 

[François Pugh]

^^^ yeah, but that looks to me more like a targeted killing, not a random act of violence.

 

[jmeb]

I'd appreciate if we'd stop with the inaccurate, over-generalizing comments that cyclists and cars are both vehicles and therefore must respect the same rules of the road. This is simply not true in the vast majority of jurisdictions in the US. They share many of the same rules of the road. But there are almost always legal differences in acceptable behavior of the two modes.

Just a few examples from Colorado: it is legal to overtake cyclists using the other lane when a double-yellow line is present. It is also legal for cyclists to pass on the right if they do not have to exit the roadway to do such, and can do so in a safe manner. Cyclists also do not have to give a continuous signal of intent to turn or stop, unlike cars.

 

[Eric267]

Biker hit and killed on highway 89 by squaw valley today. Word spread quickly around the north lake. Sunday late morning during summer tourist season so I guess it was witnessed by quite a number of people. Sad

@Tricia
I agree 267 is a nightmire. I almost feel like in the summer(memorial-labor) it should be closed to bikes. I live on 267 right near the top of the hill (brockway summit) on a fairly blind stretch. Between crazy Bay Area drivers and hordes of road bikers in the summer I'm surprised there are not accidents every day. At least the stretch between 80 and N* is fairly clear line of sight wise. Between highlands drive and upper KB there are probably a dozen blind corners and it being a highway everyone is going 60+ mph. When you are truckin up hill at 55-60 and round a blind corner to find a pack of bikers climbing the hill 2 deep at 5mph it scares the shit out of you. I don't ride a road bike but you couldn't pay me to ride my mt bike on the shoulder of 267 between my house and Truckee

 

[François Pugh]

Saw the above on facebook. It's cyclists like those that make cycling difficult for everybody.

 

[markojp]

Saw the above on facebook. It's cyclists like those that make cycling difficult for everybody.

FP, look to the lower right of your red circle. What do you see? I see a piece of cardboard or other road debris. In the US, the roadside bike lanes are often covered with broken glass and other junk that will cause flat tires and worse. Most are designed for a max speed of about 15 mph. You might also notice that the path to the left is designed for a max speed of maybe 20k and is most likely shared with pedestrians, and that 20kph is a generous maybe. Odds are the 'bad' group is probably riding closer to 35-40kph and has moved out to avoid debris. We also don't know what the speed limit is on the road, but if I recall, it's probably 40kph on that type of road in Auz. In the end, you've posted a snapshot of an opinion with very little/ no factual context. It doesn't fly.

 

[oldschoolskier]

Let’s forget stupid laws for a moment (because I could pick and choose and make both sides look stupid).

Cyclist (bike and rider) 180lbs plus, Car (driver and car) 3500lbs plus.

The cyclist may be right, or the car may be right but if it comes to a mix up cyclist always loses.

Use some common sense and ride for your own safety. Don’t give some idiot driving an excuse that it was the cyclists fault by intentional putting yourself in harms way.

Remember dead is dead.

 

[jzmtl]

Let’s forget stupid laws for a moment (because I could pick and choose and make both sides look stupid).

Cyclist (bike and rider) 180lbs plus, Car (driver and car) 3500lbs plus.

The cyclist may be right, or the car may be right but if it comes to a mix up cyclist always loses.

Use some common sense and ride for your own safety. Don’t give some idiot driving an excuse that it was the cyclists fault by intentional putting yourself in harms way.

Remember dead is dead.

Indeed, you can be right or you can be alive, the older I get the truer it gets.

 

[markojp]

Let’s forget stupid laws for a moment (because I could pick and choose and make both sides look stupid).

Cyclist (bike and rider) 180lbs plus, Car (driver and car) 3500lbs plus.

The cyclist may be right, or the car may be right but if it comes to a mix up cyclist always loses.

Use some common sense and ride for your own safety. Don’t give some idiot driving an excuse that it was the cyclists fault by intentional putting yourself in harms way.

Remember dead is dead.

I ride fast enough that I'm able to ride with or just slightly slower than local city traffic. If I'm at the same speed, I'll occupy the lane. I don't feel this puts me in harms way. I'll also move slowly and deliberately into the lane to move away from parallel parked cars to avoid being doored and subsequently run over. Knocking on wood, but in city traffic I feel pretty safe and rarely have any negative interaction with vehicular traffic. I feel strongly that as long as I'm riding straight, predictably, and at or within 5 mph of traffic, things are ok. The one concession I've made is to always use front and rear flashers anytime I'm on the road. I think this is more important than wearing a helmet. And before the offendedbysomethinhpostedontheinternetits kicks in, to be clear, I always wear a helmet.

 

[Tricia]

Biker hit and killed on highway 89 by squaw valley today. Word spread quickly around the north lake. Sunday late morning during summer tourist season so I guess it was witnessed by quite a number of people. Sad

@Tricia
I agree 267 is a nightmire. I almost feel like in the summer(memorial-labor) it should be closed to bikes. I live on 267 right near the top of the hill (brockway summit) on a fairly blind stretch. Between crazy Bay Area drivers and hordes of road bikers in the summer I'm surprised there are not accidents every day. At least the stretch between 80 and N* is fairly clear line of sight wise. Between highlands drive and upper KB there are probably a dozen blind corners and it being a highway everyone is going 60+ mph. When you are truckin up hill at 55-60 and round a blind corner to find a pack of bikers climbing the hill 2 deep at 5mph it scares the shit out of you. I don't ride a road bike but you couldn't pay me to ride my mt bike on the shoulder of 267 between my house and Truckee

I'm surprised this hasn't been in the news.
The only info on it is from injury law website.

 

[Kneale Brownson]

Just a few examples from Colorado: it is legal to overtake cyclists using the other lane when a double-yellow line is present. It is also legal for cyclists to pass on the right if they do not have to exit the roadway to do such, and can do so in a safe manner. Cyclists also do not have to give a continuous signal of intent to turn or stop, unlike cars.

And in some Colorado communities that call themselves "bike friendly", cyclists don't need to stop for stop signs. Many of the foolish take full advantage of this. Poor example for kids, who may be less able to judge the traffic they're entering.

 

[François Pugh]

FP, look to the lower right of your red circle. What do you see? I see a piece of cardboard or other road debris. In the US, the roadside bike lanes are often covered with broken glass and other junk that will cause flat tires and worse. Most are designed for a max speed of about 15 mph. You might also notice that the path to the left is designed for a max speed of maybe 20k and is most likely shared with pedestrians, and that 20kph is a generous maybe. Odds are the 'bad' group is probably riding closer to 35-40kph and has moved out to avoid debris. We also don't know what the speed limit is on the road, but if I recall, it's probably 40kph on that type of road in Auz. In the end, you've posted a snapshot of an opinion with very little/ no factual context. It doesn't fly.

You are completely missing the point. This particular photo may be part of a "special event", and they may have a blocker car too for all I know. The point is that cyclists should not be riding 4 or more abreast blocking traffic. They should be in single file, and passing only when it is safe to do so.
Maybe if they did that, then I wouldn't have to contend with assholes in pickup trucks yelling, "Get the fuck off the road!" at me when I am riding next to the curb (except when avoiding trash next to the gutter). Here in Sudsbury, I've noticed that many cyclist prefer the pedestrian sidewalk to the road, even though the sidewalk is illegal for them. I don't ride my bike on the sidewalk (I like to live dangerously), but I can certainly understand why they do that.

 

[markojp]

The 'point' is, you 'shared' an image without context to emphasize a point that you believe to be true based on the image presented. If you don't believe that it represents your ideas, then don't use it. It's that simple. Do you understand that in some states, it's NOT illegal to ride two abreast? And do you know or understand that a group of 6-12 very experienced riders riding two abreast and shoulder to shoulder are easier to safely pass in a car than a long string of single file riders from the local bike club that emphasizes staying at least one full bike length from the rider in front of them?


Regarding poor cycling manners, yes, there are bone headed entitled prats on bikes just as there are in cars. People are like that. It's the human, not the mode of transport.