Bicycles are vehicles according to traffic law. you follow the traffic signs and lights. So the hell what? I commute every day and I always stop at lights. At stop signs, I do a track stand long enough to look right, left, right.
Christ. I hate bicyclists who think they are above the law. Pedestrians are natural allies. In cities, when you ride like this, you're endangering others. You also endanger yourself since it's the number one reason why cyclists get hit when they're at fault: running lights and signs.
BTW, I also make my group riders follow traffic law on group rides. It's a real bummer to have to slow down on a paceline, but so the fuck what. We want to be treated with respect by drivers, we need to act like we deserve it.
At 11:38 AM 8/11/2011, Mark DeLucas wrote:
>"That is one of the reasons why I refuse to drive, especially
>into cities."
>
>You might wish to avoid bicycling too, unless you have the internal
>fortitude to stop and wait at every red light that you come to. Because I
>don't (and because as a bike messenger I was spending 9-10 hours per riding
>a bike), I received in 5 months 4 tickets, valued at $190 each -- a bit more
>than a week's wages. On one occasion I did indeed stop and wait; when I saw
>the pedestrian sign turn to 'walk' I pushed off. Alas, it turned out I had
>arrived at one of the few intersections in which the traffic light trails by
>a few seconds the pedestrian sign, and so when I crossed the threshold the
>light was still red, and I was pulled over. The judge was not merciful.
>
>Mark
>
>On Thu, Aug 11, 2011 at 10:35 AM, Wojtek S <wsoko52 at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > Joann: "The week I came out of surgery my car got towed away. Legally
> > parked, no tickets, registration ok.
> >
> > I went to retrieve it one day after the towing; it cost me $430 to get it
> > back."
> >
> > [WS:] That is one of the reasons why I refuse to drive, especially
> > into cities. I just do not want be a victim of the criminal racket
> > linked to car ownership that entails ticketing, towing or simple break
> > ins.
> >
> > But the question that I ask in such circumstances is this. Towing is
> > "regulated" i.e. permitted by local ordinances, which are relatively
> > easy to change if enough people are annoyed by them. Afaik, many
> > people have been victimized by the towing racket, so I wonder why
> > there are no efforts to ban or curb this practice?
> >
> > Wojtek
> > ___________________________________
> > http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/mailman/listinfo/lbo-talk
> >
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