Drivers...

[MetroMPG]

There was a CBC report this week about traffic planning in Vancouver which was really interesting & encouraging. Their stated priorities in order of importance for planning purposes:

1) pedestrians
2) cyclists
3) public transit
4) commercial traffic
5) high occupancy private cars
6) single occupancy private cars

The message they're trying to send is clear: get out of your cars. We don't care if you sit in traffic when there are alternatives.

One problem they face is the surrounding municipalities don't share their priority order, so they keep building sprawl, and roads, and feeding more and more private cars into Vancouver's road system.

[zpiloto]

I ride quite a bit and the problems I see are that there are not enough bike lanes and the ones here we do have the sweepers sweep all the glass and road garbarge there. Also most offices don't have place you can clean up once you get there which in the South is a problem.

I have to admit that bikers don't help their cause with the gerneral public when they don't follow the laws and blow through stops signs and run red lights which seems to be the rule and not the exception here.

[repete86]

It's the rule here because under Florida Law, bikes always have the right of way. I love being the priority on the road regardless of whether soccer moms like it or not.

[zpiloto]

Originally Posted by repete86

It's the rule here because under Florida Law, bikes always have the right of way. I love being the priority on the road regardless of whether soccer moms like it or not.

I guess I'm not understanding. So in Florida you can run stop signs and red lights on a bike?

[Snax]

I doubt that. More likely it's a simple occupancy issue where a bicyclist in the lane essentially owns the right of way for that lane as much as any other vehicle and are legally owed the same respect.

Obeying signals and the rules of the road is one thing that I adhere to fairly well. When bike lanes are present, I use them, and I only resort to the sidewalks when I feel my safety demands it.

[repete86]

Originally Posted by zpiloto

I guess I'm not understanding. So in Florida you can run stop signs and red lights on a bike?

Don't know the details. I read in a few places that bikes have the right of way, including at the DMV when I was registering The Green Machine. I run lights and stop signs when it's safe to do so and haven't been hassled by any cops yet. I also ride in traffic when there is no bike lane (most of Lee County) regardless of how busy the road is. I get alot of honks, yells and dirty looks, but nothing has been done about my habits yet.

[Snax]

I think around here allot of drivers are just happy when a lone cyclist is not participating in some ridiculous Critical Mass ride -

"Hey let's go out and block traffic during rush hour, infuriate people with bicyclists in general, and get a few cops ticked at us as well!"

It's absolute idiocy that probably makes matters worse for the rest of us.

[repete86]

I do critical mass. In my opinion, it raises awareness. We don't block entire roads, just one lane. It's only once per week anyway.

[omgwtfbyobbq]

Originally Posted by zpiloto

I guess I'm not understanding. So in Florida you can run stop signs and red lights on a bike?

I know in CA you can. I've run reds right in front of cops and seen others do it. As long as you're not a complete moron and cautiously check to make sure there's no traffic, I don't think they bug you.

[The Toecutter]

In St. Louis, cops will arrest you for riding a bicycle without a license, even though the state had stopped issuing bicycle licenses somewhere back in the 1930s. Anything they can do to carry out the city's wishes of stopping a group of protestors from exercising their right to free speech and free assembly...