Bicyclists without lights

[Dave_Schuldt]

Get a fucking clue. It's not only the law, ITS COMMON SENSE! If you are riding in the night or twilight in Seattle, in the rain, have lights. And reflectors.

 

Lights and reflectors on a fixie, how unfashionable! You have to do what it takes to be a cool messenger wanabe.

 

Lights are getting better and cheaper. GET SOME!

[i_like_sun]

Could this go for snowboarding? Probably. I just think that speed fixes everything. The greater your velocity, the better chance you have to get out of the way! Yeah!

 

 

No lights + MORE SPEED + Balls = SAFETY

[NTM]

Things that bother me (related to this topic):

-bikes with uber-bright lights. when they are oncomming towards me on my bike, it's like a car that doesn't turn its brights down and I can't see a damn thing for the next minute

-cars that tail bikes; day or night, rain or shine. DONT FUCKING DO IT

-The douchebag that yelled at me when I was riding home the other night when I didn't have a rear light. I accidently left it on at work and it burned out. Sometimes shit happens, don't be a dick.

[iluka]

Man... I'm lit up like a Christmas tree riding at night around here. Still a big near miss here or there but it likely has cut that number down a lot.

 

Lately, as much as I don't get the people riding without lights in black clothing on the dark sections of the Burke, it's the people yapping way on their cellphones on their bike that are starting to bother me. They swerve all over the place.

[Jim]

I have good lights and flashers but I think I'm going to die of hypothermia this week. Brrrrr.

[chucK]

-cars that tail bikes; day or night, rain or shine. DONT FUCKING DO IT

 

Curious about this one. Could you elaborate?

 

Do you mean the cars that are hanging behind a bike waiting for a safe place to pass? If so, WTF are the cars supposed to do? Take an alternate route? Just pull over and wait for bike to get out of the way? Go home, skip work? Perhaps plow right through, endangering/killing the biker?

 

 

Or do you mean more specifically, cars that follow too closely for your comfort?

 

 

 

[Hugh Conway]

-cars that tail bikes; day or night, rain or shine. DONT FUCKING DO IT

 

Curious about this one. Could you elaborate?

 

Do you mean the cars that are hanging behind a bike waiting for a safe place to pass? If so, WTF are the cars supposed to do? Take an alternate route? Just pull over and wait for bike to get out of the way? Go home, skip work? Perhaps plow right through, endangering/killing the biker?

 

 

Or do you mean more specifically, cars that follow too closely for your comfort?

 

I'm curious as well. One of the "I don't need lights" bicyclists insists on biking in the middle of the road.

[JayB]

For me it's timid people that can't bring themselves to pass when it's clearly safe for them to do so. Just as annoying on a bike as it is in a car. Whether I'm in a car or on a bike, I pull over so they'll pass as soon as I can. They move down the road unimpeded, I no longer have someone on my ass. Win-win.

[chucK]

Exactly! If you're a biker (or motorist) that doesn't like it when someone is safely following you, then the obvious win-win solution is GET OUT OF THE WAY!

[Sherri]

For me it's timid people that can't bring themselves to pass when it's clearly safe for them to do so. Just as annoying on a bike as it is in a car. Whether I'm in a car or on a bike, I pull over so they'll pass as soon as I can. They move down the road unimpeded, I no longer have someone on my ass. Win-win.

 

Sequim being a retirement mecca, we have a LOT of elderly drivers on the road that don't seem confident about maneuvering around a cyclist. More often than not, they opt to slow down and "lurk" behind me for what seems like miles on end unless I wave them around or just pull over to let them by.

 

Makes me nervous while they are behind me like that.

 

By comparison, I've noticed that when I bike around Bainbridge Island, the cars usually whiz right by at full speed and get the passing overwith like it's no big deal.

 

Even though they are passing at a higher speed and closer to me(many of those roads are shoulderless), it feels safer because I can tell they are taking control and driving decisively.

[Crux]

Exactly! If you're a biker (or motorist) that doesn't like it when someone is safely following you, then the obvious win-win solution is GET OUT OF THE WAY!

I think the point is simply that when its safe to pass, the motorist should pass safely. And when its not safe to pass, the motorist should keep a safe following distance. Also, slower traffic, including when that traffic is a bicyclist, should make room for faster traffic to pass when doing so is practical and safe.

 

For those who have sincere concern about the related issues, you may find helpful the driver's guides and statutes by which these points are clarified and subject to lawful enforcement. And for those who are really just looking to scapegoat bicycle riders and other minorities for your problems that may range from Seattle gridlock to the fact that your spouse disdains your company -- well, you might just park your cage and ride a bike instead, just like that guy your wife has been fucking instead of you.

 

Cheers

[Crux]

Lights and reflectors on a fixie, how unfashionable! You have to do what it takes to be a cool messenger wanabe.

 

Lights are getting better and cheaper. GET SOME!

Yes they are getting better -- brighter, cheaper, and longer lasting. Last week I picked a second bright flasher for the front, less than $20. And for the back and sides, flashes a TL-1000, very bright, $30. (There's always the latest generation of expensive riding lights that are possibly bright enough to paralyze a deer at two hundred meters, but for just being visible to other eyeballs, the cheap LED flashers are a revelation.)

 

Regarding reflectors -- I'm glad that such gaudy accessories are not only routinely banned from any bike I own, but also don't work very well, upon reflection: "Why Reflector's Don't Work"

[Hugh Conway]

"Why Reflector's Don't Work"

 

Sheldon has yet to come to grips with the internal combustion engine. please, the retrogrouchs frown upon him as retrograde

[No. 13 Baby]

I was a bike messenger through two Boston winters... you guys are hella pussies.

[JayB]

On my commuter route, fixie season ended as soon as the first snow fell...

[NTM]

my original point was that regardless of whether or not you're annoyed and whether or not the cyclist is doing something wrong, remember that you're still in a CAR and you could possibly kill someone on a BIKE.

I personally try to be aware of that fact that I don't always ride 30mph and that I'm sometimes in the way, but there are drivers out there who (on a weekly basis it feels like) get a case of road rage towards me and swerve too close or pass and slam on their brakes. I think it's scary that people don't realize (or care) that people on bikes are so vulnerable.

[No. 13 Baby]

I've found that a sharp fist against the rear quarter panel* almost always garners immediate attention. Its amazing how thinking they've actually hit someone will change a motorists demeanor.

 

 

*this is an advanced technique that should not be attempted by posers.

[Hugh Conway]

*this is an advanced technique that should not be attempted by posers.

 

I've found the only agressive bicyclists are posers. Especially on the internet.

[No. 13 Baby]

Sounds like you're one of the pussies I scared half to death.

[Hugh Conway]

Sounds like you're one of the pussies I scared half to death.

 

scared? of what? vegan death farts?

[tvashtarkatena]

For me it's timid people that can't bring themselves to pass when it's clearly safe for them to do so. Just as annoying on a bike as it is in a car. Whether I'm in a car or on a bike, I pull over so they'll pass as soon as I can. They move down the road unimpeded, I no longer have someone on my ass. Win-win.

 

Sequim being a retirement mecca, we have a LOT of elderly drivers on the road that don't seem confident about maneuvering around a cyclist. More often than not, they opt to slow down and "lurk" behind me for what seems like miles on end unless I wave them around or just pull over to let them by.

 

Makes me nervous while they are behind me like that.

 

By comparison, I've noticed that when I bike around Bainbridge Island, the cars usually whiz right by at full speed and get the passing overwith like it's no big deal.

 

Even though they are passing at a higher speed and closer to me(many of those roads are shoulderless), it feels safer because I can tell they are taking control and driving decisively.

 

I love you Sherri!

 

 

 

 

Just thought I'd add some randomness here.

[i_like_sun]

Things that bother me (related to this topic):

-bikes with uber-bright lights. when they are oncomming towards me on my bike, it's like a car that doesn't turn its brights down and I can't see a damn thing for the next minute

-cars that tail bikes; day or night, rain or shine. DONT FUCKING DO IT

-The douchebag that yelled at me when I was riding home the other night when I didn't have a rear light. I accidently left it on at work and it burned out. Sometimes shit happens, don't be a dick.

 

 

I'll add to this list:

 

-Old fat ladies that yell "you stop kid" while pointing their fat old fingers when you are on the other side of the street crossing a side walk. Maybe being fat has just made them bitter???

 

-Bellevue rich kids in their massive SUV's rolling the window down just to tell you "how GAY bike riding is". At least my legs are in better shape than yours!

 

-AGAIN, as you said, cars that tail bikes, even at 10mph. Now THAT is gay.

 

-Security guards that tell you to "stop damaging private property" and threaten to arrest you, when all we were doing were manuals and 180's down stairs. Mabe we should have beaten him up???

 

Lastly:

 

-OLD FARTS ON GREENLAKE YELLING AT YOU "YOU'RE GOING THE WRONG WAY ASSHOLE!" Dude, if I cared that much, I'd just hit you! End of story!

 

 

[chucK]

-AGAIN, as you said, cars that tail bikes, even at 10mph. Now THAT is gay.

 

Again, I say, "what would you have the drivers stuck behind you do?

 

Yes you may be a fast biker, but I'll bet there are times cars are going faster. As NTM replies, it's not cool to endanger the biker by passing too closely. What would you have a driver do when it is definitely not safe to pass?

 

And what about when a right turn is coming up? I know bikers get all kinda crazy when cars speed up to pass a bike only to cut right in front of them at the next intersection. Would you have the driver hold back and TAIL the bike, or would you rather the usual driver-dick habit of speeding up then cutting off the biker making the turn. Even better, speed up, then slow down at the intersection, put the blinker on and wait for the biker to pass. I would fucking hate that situation biking, because you really have no way of knowing whether the driver is planning on cutting you off, so you'd have to slow down even more.

 

Basically, whether you're biking, driving, climbing, or walking slowly, if it bothers you when someone stuck behind you follows at a safe distance, the problem is in your head.

 

[Sherri]

 

I love you Sherri!

 

Just thought I'd add some randomness here.

 

Well that just made my day. Thanks, T. :kisss:

 

I know I don't have it as bad as some of you folks who are biking around bigger cities, but small towns have their share of hazards(besides old drivers). Ours just put in a couple new roundabouts and I swear they are going to be the death of me. People don't understand how to drive through them, let alone how to deal with a biker in the mix. I've almost met Jesus in there on more than one occasion.

[No. 13 Baby]

I've almost met Jesus in there on more than one occasion.

 

This guy?

 

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