I am tired of people who associate bicyclists running red lights with new bike facilities, implicitly questioning whether they should exist.
It’s a problem when bicyclists buzz and even hit pedestrians. But as someone who doesn’t do that on a bike, you imply that making my kid and I less safe to pay for the sons of others is a valid option.
When drivers violate the rules en masse, transpo folks study it, implement things that change behavior, and sometimes just change the rules to match behavior.
We don’t do any of that with the people who ride bikes, because riding a bike doesn’t qualify you as a full-fledged person in transpo world.
Someone on a bike is just a problem that needs to be solved.
@bikepedantic On days when I bother to count I see roughly equal numbers of cyclists and motorists running red lights.
@bikepedantic I've tried the "police our own" thing twice, it was hard work, and accomplished nothing. And-also, anyone who says "obey the laws if you want respect" is a gaslighting liar, I tried that for 35 years, and it does not work, I am owed decades of respect at this point.
OTOH I heard Cam had started ticketing for running the LPI, so now I am Team Malicious Compliance, watch me ride straight down the center of every sharrow even though I don't need that space.
@bikepedantic "Don't ride there"
@bikepedantic states that have implemented Idaho stop arguably did change rules to match a common and reasonable bicyclist behavior, though unfortunately my state has failed to do that because our governor sucks
@bikepedantic if modal facilities were granted on the basis of good behaviour, a lot fewer car places we would have.
@bikepedantic honestly the real problem at least where I live is that the lights take too long to change, and there are so many intersections that it just feels like less of a hassle to run red lights even when there's a separate bicycle light
The very real issue of how most streets are operated in a way that disadvantages people on bikes is the sort of thing we’d focus heavily on remediating if we thought that people on bikes were humans.
@bikepedantic In SF most red lights change pretty frequently (a nice little rest break, as long as you don't hit every one). But in the newly built Mission Bay neighborhood the roads have a suburban feel & you can wait minutes for them to change. :-(
@bikepedantic I just watched three separate cars blow red lights on Mass Ave. One was crossing Alewife Brook Parkway, which is a particularly life-threatening red to go through. I’m so tired of people complaining about cyclists.
If I suggested that drivers police their own, that would be ridiculous. Why do you think I can or should do the same?