News Sep 23, 2010 at 4:00 am

You've Got Questions, This Lawyer Has Answers!

Comments

1
Last time I checked, cutting in front of a line of traffic at a stoplight was "being a prick". Apparently the state wants cyclists to be officially-mandated pricks, rather than anecdotal pricks. No thanks. If there's no bike lane, I'll continue to ride with traffic.
2
I'm with oregengine... Not only because to "zip on by" is to be a "prick" but also because I value my life too much. I see no need to decrease my visibility by zipping past stopped cars. If there is no bike lane, I ride with traffic.
3
Fuck the green bike boxes! I will NEVER stop before them and let a bunch of bike riders get in front of me and slow me down. If I am in front of the bike and have my signal on to turn right, and you try to get in front of me, you will get your stupid ass cut off and run the fuck over! Just because there is green paint on the road it won't magically protect your stupid spandex hipster ass! Stop giving the bikes more special rights and start making them take responsibility for their own stupid asses!
4
Wow, Luckybulldog, enjoy your jail time.
5
Enjoy your time in casket for being a dumbass bicyclist!
6
Since when is cutting in line not a prick move? This is one of the most selfish moves I have wittenessed by any road user. I am surprised it doesn't cause more road rage than I have seen. It should elicit as much emotion as cutting in front of a wheel chair in a grocery line. In both cases it is just some prick taking advantage of another form of transportation that isn't as manueverable. It turns my stomach when some selfish prick squeezes past all the cars to cut in front and then slows all of us polite cyclists down while all the cars wait for a gap in the left lane to go around. I beg all you fellow cyclists to ban this prick lawyer and ask your friends to ban him too. He is simply trying to drum up extra business at us cyclists expense by encouraging us to do something that will elicit road rage. Just because there isn't a law doesn't make it right. Shame on you evil lawyer.
7
bulldog is probably the prick in the silver Subaru that ran down those two cyclists the other day, and then ran away like a big pussy.
8
Also, I do agree with rainbow and orgengine, I've had people *demand* to squeeze past me on the right and yell if they can't fit between my lane and the line of parked cars. I'm not trying to block either - some streets are just really tight. You need to know you're really taking your life in your hands when you do that and it does nothing but freak me out as a driver someone would risk themselves like that. I try to drive as conscientiously as possible - but if someone in the lane to the left of me does something stupid like runs into me - I have nowhere to go and you'll get squished. Remember how bad the drivers are in Oregon - they're universally terrible even for other drivers - and it's always the biker that loses when a ton of steel is involved no matter how right you were.

Also - we all yell about how bad drivers are when they're on cel-phones - you don't magically get better when you're doing it on a bike. I've watched people ride right through stop signs and nearly wipe out on bumps while yacking on the phone while biking. Don't be a douche - I pull over in my car to talk because I know the studies show I'm just as bad as a drunk driver while phoning and driving. Please do your fellow travelers the same courtesy.

It's also too bad the cops aren't enforcing the 'bikes must stop at stop signs' law as much anymore. There are lots of odd 2-way stops in many neighborhoods that allow cross-traffic through - and I see TONS of near-misses every day in just my hood; someone's gonna get killed. I followed one biker who just blew through 4 stop-signs in a row without looking because he mistakenly thought they were 4-way stops. They were not - he simply got stupid lucky nobody was coming through a 40mph. That stuff will get you killed and it will be your own fault. If I drove my car like that - I'd be arrested for wreckless endangerment.

On final tip - Don't set back your biking/driving causes by being an idiot or 'demanding your rights'. That's what road rage is. Accept that you will get cut off, have people demand right of way, make honest mistakes, etc - this happens to ALL drivers of cars and bikes alike. If you drive around in a car or bike 'demanding' your right of way by cutting others off or the like - then you're fitting the definition of a road rager no matter what you drive.
9
luckybulldog13pdx we bicyclists use k locks on PEOPLE like you ,, shut up
10
unless the bicyclist is in violation of another law
Oregon Revised Statute 811.050 $300 fine Class B traffic infraction for the motorist
(”Failure to yield to rider on bicycle lane”) or on a sidewalk,

Portland Ordinance 16.70.320E
if a running motor vehicle is near the sidewalk’s transition to a street,
bicycleist must Ride at a walking speed (3MPH ) , or walk the bike .

most of the time the police “warn” bicyclists rather than “cite” them unless they get pissy

the green bike boxes are in place because of drivers like luckybulldog13pdx
we bicyclists use k locks on PEOPLE like you ,, shut up and enjoy the view of my a$$
11
luckybulldog sounds like the type of person that would be proud of winning an arm-wrestling contest against a child. Oh so brave you are INSIDE your car vs. the human not surrounded by a metal cage!! People like you shouldn't be allowed to operate vehicles.

Maybe there should be some sort of psychological evaluation administered before handing out driver's licenses... anyone who responds like this person does to the green boxes FAILS... And then has to take classes on sharing the road.
12
@wap-tek - luckybulldog13 is obviously an attention troll and you fell for it. You've also dragged any intelligent conversation into a name-calling mud-sling.

Further - you've now publically threatening to hit a person with a bike-lock for pulling such a move on you. If you do so, your now-and-forever on the internet comment may well haunt you if you ever get into a court case.

Hitting someone with a bike lock is assault - and it's not even nice to tease about.
163.175 Assault in the second degree.
(1) A person commits the crime of assault in the second degree if the person:
(a) Intentionally or knowingly causes serious physical injury to another;
(b) Intentionally or knowingly causes physical injury to another by means of a deadly or dangerous weapon; or
(c) Recklessly causes serious physical injury to another by means of a deadly or dangerous weapon under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to the value of human life.
(2) Assault in the second degree is a Class B felony. [1971 c.743 §93; 1975 c.626 §1; 1977 c.297 §2; 2005 c.22 §110]

I can quote law too.
13
It seems like everyone missed some basic misinformation in the article. I ride my bike everyday. It is NOT legal for bikes to pass cars on the ride (Oregon Revised Statute 811.415) unless the biker is in a bike lane. Not only is it not legal, it is dumb. If bikers ride in the lane of traffic they don't need to worry about getting nailed by a car turning right. This is especially true at dangerous intersections like 7 corners in SE.
14
Wow, luckybulldog, you obviously have never ridden a bike and been subjected to the assholes who demonstrate your holier-than-thou attitude. Are you also not aware that CARS ARE ALWAYS FASTER THAN BIKES! So even if i "slow you down" (oh poooor you) you will pass me anyway! I am not a hipster and i do not wear spandex, but i live in an urban city where i choose to bike because it's good exercise, and i couldn't afford a car even if i wanted one. So, if the 5 seconds that you are behind me will devastate you, then you obviously are a very unhappy person with a petty, unsatisfying life that probably would get enjoyment out of hurting another human being. You're most likely a fat ass, with a messed up childhood, who now drives a large truck with flames on the side to compensate for your small penis and lack of respect towards others. keep on truckin! I'm sure you'll make it to heaven ;)
15
Common sense and a little courtesy goes a long way on the road. http://www.thebicyclechiropractor.com/
16
I would just like to say to nandar:
the reason I am willing to take my chances passing cars on the right at intersections is manifold:
1. I am used to taking chances with cars. If you think passing on the right at a stop sign is risky, you should try going down Greeley/Interstate headed toward downtown sometime!
2. The alternative to passing you on the right at an intersection is to sit behind you with your exhaust going right up my nose.
3. It is, actually, legal for me to slide up beside you at an intersection. 811.415 Unsafe passing on right; penalty.
(c) Overtaking and passing upon the right is permitted if the overtaking vehicle is a bicycle that may safely make the passage under the existing conditions.

In the final analysis, it is very hard for me to have any attitude other than "cars should be required to bear the burden of preventing accidents". You have all the advantages given to you (speed of travel, ease of travel, and even vast stretches of road reserved for you, without bicycles having ANY access to them- interstates... which we ALL pay for). With great power and advantage should come great responsibility. This seems like a no-brainer until we start talking about cars, doesn't it?
It is often difficult, if not impossible, to see the other's point of view, and the car/bike chasm is often very large. When it comes down to it, though, I hope that you would see the sense in my asking a driver of a car to take the high road, as it were. Everyone, at some point, walks. But, not everyone drives. A larger number of people bike than drive cars, at least at some point in their lives. (this IS an assumption, but do we really need to do a scientific study to support my overall point?)
Since the fewest number of people are the ones who drive, exclusively, it makes sense to adopt a protective attitude toward pedestrians AND cyclists. If you argue that cars should be given some sort of higher status, then just remember that your kid may someday want to ride a bike. If you have supported a culture that gives the car not only precedence but license to misbehave, won't you feel any guilt should your kid get hurt as a result of a less-than-protective/defensive attitude among drivers? I hope that it never happens to you, but I also hope that you don't need to experience such a situation to understand it.
As a biker, I simply do less damage than you do as a driver, of that there can be no debate. Shouldn't you give something back in return? All we are really asking is that car drivers show some gratitude for their luxury.

-ps, I find it very hard to respect cars as an honorable mode of transport. Using one, and especially taking the privilege for granted as I see happen SO often (a behavior I freely admit that I have been guilty of), is simply selfish behavior. Cars are the root cause of a huge number of social ills. Yet, we like to pretend that their ability to "improve people's lives" and allow access to places and people, somehow negates the inherent evil of these machines.
-pps( while I accept that it is the bicyclist responsibility to make sure that it is safe to make the right side pass, it is lawful to do so. You are justified in feeling the way you do about it, but it is not illegal. The concept of demanding our rights is more than what is being discussed, here. It is a choice to lay down and let the cars rule our lives or not. I prefer the not.)
-ppps, I bet that if you saw me going through stop signs as I typically do, you'd think that I didn't know what I was doing. But, I can tell you, most assuredly, that I do know what I am doing and that I go through stop signs because they, from my perspective, are usually nothing but a nuisance. I could explain better if we had the chance to go for a ride together.
Jimmy

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