If you’ve ever broken any type of traffic law while riding your bike, surely you’ve heard some moron utter this phrase.
Funny how drivers never say such a thing. They’ll curse you, flip you the bird, or pull some insane road rage incident though. It’s somewhat understandable when you really think about it though. Cars are far more dangerous than bikes.
And how about the whole “the same rules of the road apply to bicyclists.” On paper, of course they do, but why do so many cyclists break the same rules that drivers are bound by? Maybe because cars are easier to pull over and the consequences of dangerous driving are exponentially worse than that of casual non-adherence to the rules of the road by cyclists.
Maybe you idiots feel there is some honor in wasting time in the name of obeying petty laws. Maybe you don’t know how to make choices and find it easier to just follow.
Of course, I’ll be labeled an entitled asshole. But you know what else I’ll be entitled to for my behavior? A fine, road rage, and possibly becoming road pizza if I ride 1/1000th as carelessly as drivers.
Unlike you blowhards and cowards inside your tin foil tanks, I’ll own that. I’ll deal with the consequences. Why can’t you people keep your fucking mouth shut and just let me own the decisions?
That dude driving 90mph on the highway… He’s only making himself look bad. Not every other driver. Wise up, chill out, and worry about yourselves for once.
The masses must understand that a minority of us cyclists have evolved into super men and women where our actions are accountable only to ourselves and will not be impeded by the chains of social morality. All the other cyclists, those who defend and uphold the rules of a moribund order of mechanical meat-traps are merely the pus from the scab of this selfsame murder racket. And they will not subdue us.
if you are injured and can’t support yourself you will no doubt insist on your right to disability benefits, publicly financed medical care and any other tax paid benefits that may be available to you. now i fully respect your right to behave like a suicidal bonehead, but the possibility that i might have to support you for the rest of your life gives me a right to take issue with your self righteous and dangerous attitude.
Guess what happens when more people respect these time-wasting “petty laws”: we can all better predict how our fellow road users are going to act– and everyone wins.
You see, this shit goes both ways: if only 1 out of every 5 cars actually bothered stopping for stop signs, you’d either be extremely cautious around every intersection, or you’d be dead.
I posit that the only reason that cyclists can “get away” with doing dangerous stuff is because, by and large, auto drivers are pretty well behaved. Yeah, you’ll blow that 4-way in front of them because you know there’s a good chance that they’ll stop, whether or not the intersection’s clear. Do you see the privilege now?
Most drivers are familiar with what kind of damage a multi-thousand-pound vehicle can cause when it hits a bike or a pedestrian, and contrary to the usual pro-bike tunnel-vision stance, hitting someone is the LAST FUCKING THING that 99.999% of drivers actually want to do, so get over yourself. Everyone’s just trying to get from point A to point B safely, until you cry out for attention with your juvenile “just moved to the big city and suddenly became an expert on everything” pseudo-activist showboat bullshit.
And yeah: I ride every day. And I stop at every fucking stop sign. It amuses me to no end when the dildocycles behind me don’t expect it, and I get to hear their panicked braking (yeah, haven’t used your front lever in a while, have ya?). Guess you should have been paying attention, fuckwads. Everyone else has to.
“You’re Making The Rest of Us Look Bad.”
The same reason that African-Americans, Mexican-Americans and Asian-Americans hear the same phrase. Because Bicycle-Americans are still in the minority. Car-Americans don’t say this to other Car-Americans because stereotyping doesn’t generally work so well with the majority group. Probably someone somewhere will use this for their doctoral thesis, or maybe already has.
I bike everyday as well and also drive a car. For some reason, I can’t bring myself to care when someone breaks a traffic law (car or bike) that doesn’t endanger anyone else. Guess I’m one of the crazy people.
Also, I,Anon doesn’t exactly sound they’re calling for vehicular anarchy either.
Are we still talking about adults on bicycles?
“Funny how drivers never say such a thing. They’ll curse you, flip you the bird, or pull some insane road rage incident though. It’s somewhat understandable when you really think about it though. Cars are far more dangerous than bikes.”
If you *really* think about it, you understand that people in cars are rarely in a position to have this sort of impromptu conversation. Easier to just dismiss drivers as evil, though, I guess.
And yet another cyclist rant giving the other 90% of them of bad name.
When you start paying insurance and road taxes, then you can open your mouth and let the flies in.
I have been riding a bike since I was 10. I have NEVER been struck by a motorized vehicle (been close, tho- mostly idiots that want to turn right at a red light when I’m trying to cross with the light in the opposite direction).
I run stop signs, red lights and crosswalks. Why? Because after a brief pause to look and listen, I know if it’s going to be dangerous or not JUST BY USING COMMON SENSE. I remove myself from possible injury by not waiting around for a light to change when it’s got traffic backed up for three blocks and it’s safe enough to cross without assistance.
I guess getting creamed by some impatient asshole in a 4000 pound automobile, as he races through a red protected left, makes it the bicyclists fault that he decided to “obey the rules of the road” and go through the intersection when the light was green?
Maybe if TriMet and other city vehicles didn’t park in the bike lane, I wouldn’t have to “take the lane” on Division, Burnside, Broadway, Powell, and any other major thoroughfare with a bike lane on it.
Maybe if I could count on drivers to not take their rough morning start or difficult bad day out on their vehicle, and subsequently, anyone unlucky enough to get in their way, I would be more comfortable in red lighted intersections or 4-way-stops…
I’m not about to change my biking habits for the sake of placating some asshole in a car with a chip on their shoulder. I’ll continue to look out for myself while keeping an eye and ear out for vehicular morons.