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Bikes vs Cars

DJSteve said:
I think anyone who has ever ridden a bike at more than 10mph for any significant mileage will agree that riding on the road is far safer than sidewalks. Every driveway is a new opportunity to get run over. Drivers aren't looking for something traveling 10-15-20mph+ down the sidewalk, nor are they prepared to accurately anticipate your speed and deal with crossing paths in a safe manner. Riding a bike through a crosswalk is also legally ambiguous, and in my experience a huge risk of getting run over by a cars turning right on red.

I think the issue with regards to this legislation is that current laws aren't particularly clear with regard to passing bicycles. Some states have a minimum breadth a passing vehicle is required to allow a bicycle, but I don't think there's really any guidelines in Iowa. I think this legislation is a good idea, because if a car can't yield the whole lane while passing it's probably not safe for them to pass at all.

I agree some cyclists don't help the cause... but try not to take it out on those of us who do follow the rules and kill someone.
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Just think about all of the seconds that drivers will lose in getting to their destination though. I mean, if you're going from your crappy cookie cutter in Johnston to Jordan Creek mall in your Toyota Siena it could be the difference between nabbing that hot new Gnaw by Vera Wang flat you've had your eye on at Payless or looking super janky at the next 31 bag party at your newly divorced friends new condo.
 
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roundball said:
Bikes on sidewalks is a bad idea in the same way that bikes on an interstate is a bad idea...taking a vehicle (bikes) and allowing them to operate on a path where others are traveling relatively slowly, without lanes/signals/etc., and without any kind of collision protection (pedestrians) is a recipe for disaster. Just as it would be disastrous to allow bikes to ride on an interstate where semis are traveling at 75+ mph. This is why mixed-use trails have separate lanes for bikes and foot traffic. Not to mention that sidewalks are often dangerous for bikes themselves due to uneven pavement, trees, etc.
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Except if there's a pedestrian-bike collision its much less likely to be deadly than a bike-car collision.

Id love a law that stated if theres an adjacent trail (EP true pkwy in WDM comes to mind for me) that the bikes have to be on that.
 
roundball said:
Yeah, that'd be great, just like it'd be great if people wouldn't litter or cheat on their taxes or burglarize homes, but unfortunately people aren't angels and sometimes it takes the law to keep them from being ********.
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Laws don't stop people from being an @$$&*!#. They are who they are and they will do what they'll do. Laws don't make people safer, people doing the right thing does though. But I will say one thing, car > bike = car wins.
 
alarson said:
Except if there's a pedestrian-bike collision its much less likely to be deadly than a bike-car collision.
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A car colliding with a bike is undoubtedly more dangerous than a bike colliding with a pedestrian (anyone who's had high school physics understands that higher speed + greater mass = more energy), but it doesn't mean that allowing the latter two to mix freely is a good idea.
 
Is a bike lane an exception to this? Could force more cities to put in bike lanes which would be awesome in my opinion.
 
I commute via bike in MSP when I can. I'm one-two blocks from a bike trail at both the start and finish of my ride. The trail is about 1.25 miles longer than the road, but about 100x safer. Plus, I'm riding in for the exercise, so I'll add the 2-1/2 miles to my overall commute and chalk it up to working out.

That being said, I used to not be that lucky and had to ride on the road for about half of my commute. Personally, I have zero issue yielding to bikes. The arsehats bikers ruin it sometimes, but in general, when you respect them they are more than respectful back. And a lot of times, if you run into a surly one, they probably just had another bad experience with another hillbillly driver in a pickup...

Last year in MSP there was a guy driving a pickup around and throwing ******* bricks at bikers. That's attempted ******* murder IMO. Never found out if they caught the guy.
 
Let me preface this by saying I am an avid biker.

But, I just don't understand what the appeal of riding a bike on a county highway is. There are so many idiots riding in cars anymore that don't watch the road, there is no way that I am going to take my bike on a paved highway. I am not visible in a bike, and move way too slow to be on the same roads as cars, trucks, and farm equipment that are much larger than me, move faster than me, and at times are not easy vehicles to stop.

I choose to ride on bike trails and gravel roads. So much safer for me, and way more fair to people in cars that could make a mistake and not see me.
 
Honestly though even if a new law is passed, would anyone even become aware of the new law to follow it? Like many have already said, bike laws vary so much by location, and I assume they are hardly ever enforced by police (both to bikers and drivers).

You can pass whatever you want, but the unformed driver, which is pretty much anyone who doesn't bike, and probably 50% of those that do (myself included), won't change their driving/biking habits.
 
roundball said:
Yeah, that'd be great, just like it'd be great if people wouldn't litter or cheat on their taxes or burglarize homes, but unfortunately people aren't angels and sometimes it takes the law to keep them from being ********.
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There are already laws on the books regarding road use by bikes and cars. Follow those along with common courtesy and everyone will be just fine.
 
i ride on the street/highway all the time, when a car is oming up behind me, i pull off the road, and let them pass. if i am on a city street, I just put my foot on the curb, if highway, i pull off on the gravel. I am going 20, they are going 55, it makes sense for me to get the f out of the way. Why doesnt everyone just do that?
 
Typical over-reaction. The same people that want 4-way stops at every intersection in town along with 10 MPH speed limits and speed bumps every 50 feet.

No bicyclist needs a full lane.

Eventually someone would pass in the full lane and hit a bicyclist in the oncoming lane head on because he thought he'd better give the whole lane to the one he's passing.

And yes, I was an avid cyclist for many years.
 
isutrevman said:
The point is, they should make it legal.
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its a horrible idea, when i lived downtown, I road my bike on the sidewalk cause im like well why the hell would I want to ride where there are cars, figured it out, every alley was extremely dangerous, cars cars dart out, people open doors, people come around corners to fast, its really dangerous to ride on the sidewalk.
 
CRAZYGREG said:
In town - bikes on trails and sidewalks only. Sidewalks 5 mph limit to take care of the driveways issues.
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Ok... Lets really talk about something that never could or would be enforced. Plus, extremely stupid in all honesty. Bikes and cars can live together. It happens in every country except for the US.
 
bringmagicback said:
i ride on the street/highway all the time, when a car is oming up behind me, i pull off the road, and let them pass. if i am on a city street, I just put my foot on the curb, if highway, i pull off on the gravel. I am going 20, they are going 55, it makes sense for me to get the f out of the way. Why doesnt everyone just do that?
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Not everyone is as bright as you!
 
bellzisu said:
Ok... Lets really talk about something that never could or would be enforced. Plus, extremely stupid in all honesty. Bikes and cars can live together. It happens in every country except for the US.
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They shouldn't! Roads were created for motorized vehicles that could do the speed limit. Bikes/Tricycles/Big Wheels should stick to the paths that were designed for them in mind. When there is no path designed for them get on the sidewalk and exercise caution with the driveways and pedestrians.
 
CRAZYGREG said:
They shouldn't! Roads were created for motorized vehicles that could do the speed limit. Bikes/Tricycles/Big Wheels should stick to the paths that were designed for them in mind. When there is no path designed for them get on the sidewalk and exercise caution with the driveways and pedestrians.
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Look at any other country... They can live together. And they should.

Why does someone need to drive to work when they live less then 10 miles and weather is perfect?

2 reasons..

1. Lazy
2. There is no safe route for bikes.

And there should be.
 
bellzisu said:
Look at any other country... They can live together. And they should.

Why does someone need to drive to work when they live less then 10 miles and weather is perfect?

2 reasons..

1. Lazy
2. There is no safe route for bikes.

And there should be.
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since you are so much better than those that drive to work, why dont you walk......on the sidewalk. It is made for people like you.
 
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