Quote:
Originally Posted by nostatic
There are douche bicyclists. Just like there are douche motorcyclists. And douche drivers. You can't really generalize - unless you want to because *they* annoy you.
I rarely ride my bicycle on the street anymore as drivers have become distracted and downright homicidal. Everyone is important and in a hurry. People do pass with less than 3'. And I ride way to the right. But a smart cyclist also knows that people in parked cars open their doors without looking so when you go by a parked car you have to give enough room to allow for that (if you can't see into the car - which is often the case).
As stated above, one problem with dedicated bike lanes is that they tend to accumulate crap - dirt, sticks, trash from cars, etc - and they don't get cleaned. So they end up being more dangerous than the road. But most places don't have separate (i.e. with curbing) lanes.
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Perfect summary!
I'll just ad that here in the East there are often no shoulders what so ever and the edges of the road are often the first to deteriorate due to the harsh climate. I road irregularity that would never be felt in a car can be a major issue causing the bike to alter course intentionally or not. Way back in the mists of time when I was studying for my first license I recall a section of the manual that related to bicyclists, to paraphrase it said, slow, give them room and to watch for and expect unexpected course alterations that they may need to make.
I can't believe the self centered responses from many of the posters here, Do we ban our grand parents from driving next because they go a little slower and are a little more cautious than the whippersnappers, Lets ban all towing as they also go slower and can inhibit the speed of our passage, while we are at it lets be sure to get all the under powered older cars off the road they are obviously an impediment and get in the way.
We all pay the taxes that pay for the roads and a little courtesy goes a long way on both sides but as stated there is a % of every group that falls into the category of douche. From what I can see here self centered douche might be more apt.
Besides the unconscious danger that some drivers present there is a sub set that enjoys the power to intimidate others w/o the threat of any retaliation, these uber douches don't really intend to hurt anyone they just enjoy the thrill of the hunt