Why do bike riders ignore traffic rules?

Question

They blow through stops signs and traffic lights, they ride on crowded sidewalks, they ride against the traffic on one-way streets or on the wrong side of the street. All the above are illegal but they don't care. Why?

Reading the answers, I'm amused but not surprised that some of the respondents not only didn't answer the question, they turned it around to play up their own agenda against drivers! Funny.

Answer 1

Some are just stupid, some don't care, other don't know any different.
The same reasons car drivers, blow through stop signs, ignore traffic lights, go wrong way on one-way streets, etc.

Answer 2

Some riders ignore traffic rules because they are in a group and the spirit of competition is not diminished by a stop sign or a stop light. They get caught up in the moment!

Sometimes groups of riders will be given the right of way so that the group can remain together.

There are many times on group rides the rider running the stop-sign or stop-light calls out, "Clear!" Meaning, the intersection is clear so go ahead and break the law. I've read recently that this decision should be left to the individual rider group or no group. My night ride regularly has riders get ticketed for not obersving the law. So, our local police are aware of what a problem it is.

Some riders go the wrong way because they simply are not up with the current rules of the road. I saw someone just yesterday decked out in a fancy kit and fancy racing bike riding against the traffic. They don't know!

Some cities allow bike riders on sidewalks and some don't. Some bicycle friendly cities allow riding on some sidewalks and on some they don't. In our town it is against the law. I've been riding for 25 years and I found this out last week. Again, people don't know.

Why this rider ignores traffic rules by running stop-lights and stop signs.

Yes against the law! "Breakin' the law, breakin' the law!" I train in the city much of time in the dark from 4 in the morning to 7 in the morning.

Honestly there isn't much traffic at those times so to stop at a stop sign or stop light when I am the only traffic there seems ridiculous to me.

Discalimer: If there is any traffic at all meaning even if they are in my lane going my way I stop and observe the law for the length of time required.

One factor that does affect me is how sensitive the sensors are to metal at stop lights. I used to ride a steel beast that would set off any sensor at any light, but now I have an alluminum bike and there are some intersections that I would sit there 15 minutes waiting for a car to change the light because my bike would not cause it to change.

The rules say that when I can't make the light change then I should get off the bike and safely walk it across in the cross-walk. Again, this is ridiculous!

In my dreams: stop-lights are set on timers that after a certain time of the night they will switch to flashing red for stops or flashing yellow for caution. Many foreign countries do this and it seems reasonable.

Answer 3

Why don't drivers signal? Why do they make right turns in front of you? Why do they cross the double yellow line when passing even when you ride well withing the shoulder? Why do they talk on the phone? Why do they throw cigarette butts out the window? Why do they drive solo in SUV's that can hold nine people? Why do they think that honking or yelling something unintelligible will make you stop riding?

Why do they not understand that cyclists have the same rights on the road as they do? Why don't they know that paved roads were made for bicycles BEFORE cars were brought to the USA? Why do they let their entire day be ruined by the 6 seconds it took to go around us and get on with their pathetic lives? Why do they let other people dictate their happiness?

Because drivers are pathetic, out of shape, holier-than-thou douchebags, and when Bush screws us all ot of oil, bicyclists will rule the country! Bwah-ha-ha-ha!

Answer 4

its so stupid...

Probably the same reason a friend got cut off by a car turning right, and couldn't wait for him to get past the driveway. 2 plates, stitches, and about a grand for the bike parts broken.

Motorists and cyclists need to work together and share the road. Bikers are more fragile, and people get seriously hurt. I see so many bikes in crashes in our bike shop!

Cyclists need to signal turns, stop at lights and signs, yield to traffic, etc...

Otherwise, it is not fair for them to complain about rude cars, just as bad drivers shouldn't complain about pesky cyclists!

Answer 5

I'll tell you why. Because we can. The laws may apply to a bike, but there is no enforcement. Crashing once or twice a year is all part of the thrill of cycling in traffic. And as for myself, I like it when I make drivers angry. They usually deserve it.

Answer 6

I know that last night I saw two bikers were riding on the bike lane , except one rode out of edge bike lane because they were having conversation at each other. I think it is dangerous and they are complying the rules in book ( bikers guideline)

Answer 7

Cyclists journey on the line because of the fact they're accepted to with the aid of the regulations in all jurisdictions. motorcycle paths do no longer continuously bypass the place you like them to, and in case you attempt to attain a undeniable holiday spot you may no longer be waiting to apply a motorbike course. it may additionally be very risky to journey on shared use paths once you're a quicker rider. a number of those paths at the instant are not lots diverse from a sidewalk and attempting to journey at a solid velocity while there are pedestrians and intensely slow cyclists sharing the path could reason collisions. i comprehend that motorists are angered with the aid of cyclists who flout the regulation, yet as a motorist myself, I easily have seen numerous drivers who additionally do no longer persist with the guidelines of the line ok, rushing, no longer coming to an entire provide up at intersections, and displaying aggressive habit at the back of the wheel. in actuality, cyclists do no longer pose lots of achieveable to the final public, yet undesirable drivers maximum honestly do, a rapid look at site visitors loss of life data will undergo this out. so a techniques as cyclists keeping up site visitors is going, lower back drivers are somewhat irrational, it style of feels that a 10 2nd postpone of a motorist will become an excellent inconvenience while it includes passing motorcycles on the line. many of the cyclists you spot on the line are shifting at an excellent fraction of the published velocity decrease, it is merely that many motorists at present are using at speeds above the published decrease, so as that slowing all the way down to a smart velocity to bypass a bicycle proprietor sounds like crawling alongside. do no longer ignore, those cyclists are taxpayers too, they could additionally very own autos and so pay all a similar expenses of street maintenance which you do, perchance extra. a solid street motorcycle can value 1000's of dollars, so somebody who could have sufficient money such an high priced toy may be paying extra advantageous than his or her share of the fees of the generic public infrastructure which you employ once you force your motor vehicle.

Answer 8

Probably because motorists ignore the rights of cyclists, they have just as much right on the road as a car driver. But car drivers bully cyclists.

Answer 9

They love the rush of going way over the speed limit and crashing .

Answer 10

you do not see me,I do all that after the gansta's have left the road and there ain't anyone out there in the way.