Was driving early in the morning at sunrise, going East directly into the morning sun. Not much traffic and wasn't in a hurry. Needed to make a left turn, and even when I did notice the cyclist traveling in the opposite direction, I could still barely see him, even looking right at him. Fortunately, I didn't hit him, but it was close enough. Very thin profile with a bright blinding sun.
What makes me mad, if I did hit him, it might be quite an effort and perhaps expensive.to defend myself. I might even lose. The only requirement for bicycles to have lights in Florida is between sundown and sunset. There was plenty of sunlight, but that was actually the problem.
Quote: TigerWuBicyclists should be riding on the sidewalk unless they can keep up with the speed of the surrounding traffic. Or unless there are dedicated bike lanes.
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In some areas of Georgia, a dedicated bike lane is almost a quarter mile long or shorter before it becomes the street. Pretty stupid.
tuttigym
Quote: TigerWuBicyclists should be riding on the sidewalk unless they can keep up with the speed of the surrounding traffic. Or unless there are dedicated bike lanes.
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In many areas it is against the law to ride a bicycle on the sidewalk. They are supposed to ride in the street and obey all traffic signs and signals.
Offered with love and respect.
Quote: billryanIf you are blinded by the sun, wear sunglasses. The bike rider was obeying the law. Of course, you would be at fault if you hit him. Traffic going straight has the right of way over someone making a turn. You need to learn to share the road. What if it had been a jogger?
Offered with love and respect.
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I had sunglasses on.
They also tell people to wear appropriate clothes so you can be seen. He was wearing a mono-color dark outfit.
I don't think any laws here require more visible clothes, so he could still be legal and dead.
Quote: DRich
In many areas it is against the law to ride a bicycle on the sidewalk.
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I know, and that blows my mind because it's exponentially more dangerous to ride in the street almost everywhere in the country.
Some of the dumbest laws on the books.
Quote: TigerWuQuote: DRich
In many areas it is against the law to ride a bicycle on the sidewalk.
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I know, and that blows my mind because it's exponentially more dangerous to ride in the street almost everywhere in the country.
Some of the dumbest laws on the books.
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I think it is safer for pedestrians for the bikes to be on the road.
Quote: billryanQuote: TigerWuQuote: DRich
In many areas it is against the law to ride a bicycle on the sidewalk.
link to original post
I know, and that blows my mind because it's exponentially more dangerous to ride in the street almost everywhere in the country.
Some of the dumbest laws on the books.
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I think it is safer for pedestrians for the bikes to be on the road.
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But it's safer for the bicyclist to be on the sidewalk, especially when there's empty sidewalk for miles in either direction.
And you don’t need a loud ahooga horn. A little bell will do fine on the sidewalk
Quote: TigerWuQuote: DRich
In many areas it is against the law to ride a bicycle on the sidewalk.
link to original post
I know, and that blows my mind because it's exponentially more dangerous to ride in the street almost everywhere in the country.
Some of the dumbest laws on the books.
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By law, bicycles are regarded as motor vehicles, and therefore, must stay on the road.
Many parts of Las Vegas roads are 45 mph. Bikes have no business riding on busy roads with a 45 mph speed limit.
It's like clockwork, if a slow biker is riding on the far right the car in the right-hand lane will overreact and veer into the left lane to avoid hitting him.
Quote: AxelWolf
Many parts of Las Vegas roads are 45 mph. Bikes have no business riding on busy roads with a 45 mph speed limit.
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Exactly. Soooooo dangerous. Bikes shouldn't be on any road with a speed limit over 25mph, in my opinion.
TURN YOUR SPEAKERS DOWN
The USofA did not arm its paratroopers with bicycles, but many a local bike would end up being "borrowed" for use by messengers.
Later in the war, BSA offered a mini-bike, a frame with a very small motor with 12-inch wheels, that could go some 20 MPH and was used for courier duty.
Germany relied on bicycles for much of its troop transportation and even built some bikes capable of carrying a whole squad.
offered with love and respect
A seeming majority of bikers don’t believe the rules of the road apply to them (4 way stops and frequently stoplights especially.) Wanting others to share the road but believing they get to play by a different set of rules.
And majority of motorists feel like it’s anyone but a motor vehicle drivers responsibility just not to get run over by a vehicle regardless of right of way/if it’s in a blinking crosswalk or not, want to deflect responsibility onto other party regardless of law.
I feel like, overall, they’re less annoying/dangerous than motorcyclists (usually the crotch rockets) who go 2x the speed limit and then get off about people cuttin in front of them/not seeing them with no consideration of their often reckless driving. It wouldn’t be cutting in front of you were going within 15 miles of the speed limit.
Quote: TigerWuBicyclists should be riding on the sidewalk unless they can keep up with the speed of the surrounding traffic. Or unless there are dedicated bike lanes.
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In many areas bikes cannot ride on the sidewalk (even if the State does not prohibit it, many Cities do).
However, that would not have any bearing on the above scenario, anyone making an unprotected left must yield to all oncoming traffic that is crossing the intersection (pedestrians, bikes, cars, etc....) So even if the bike was crossing the intersection from the sidewalk that would not change anything.
I do agree with the original point that bikes should always ride with their lights on. Same with cars (I am a big fan of Daytime Running Lights). People (bikes and cars) tend not to put their lights on until they need them to see without considering lights being used to make them more visible as well.
Quote: billryanIf you are blinded by the sun, wear sunglasses. The bike rider was obeying the law. Of course, you would be at fault if you hit him. Traffic going straight has the right of way over someone making a turn. You need to learn to share the road. What if it had been a jogger?
Offered with love and respect.
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Nice to have you back.
Just as the culprit in the tension about ok/not to recline into what would under any other conditions would be considered personal space is the airlines, the culprit in biker/driver tension is poor city planning. Most cities have an unacceptable lack of bike lanes, there’s many towns that are either too cheap and pedestrian unfriendly to even put sidewalks on many streets or too hostile to want anyone walking there that doesn’t live on the block.
unless you are under 16 get a car or a buss pass.Quote: mcallister3200Anyways,
Just as the culprit in the tension about ok/not to recline into what would under any other conditions would be considered personal space is the airlines, the culprit in biker/driver tension is poor city planning. Most cities have an unacceptable lack of bike lanes, there’s many towns that are either too cheap and pedestrian unfriendly to even put sidewalks on many streets or too hostile to want anyone walking there that doesn’t live on the block.
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If you were a parent would you seriously let your kids ride around in LV on a bike not in a friendly neighborhood?
Mine
When you enter a room, know what direction at least one of the exits are even if the lights were out.
Look where to take cover, from a storm, or a shooter, or your ex.
Check for any portable object to protect yourself, or the nearest weakest person to hold in front of you.
If a riot and general chaos breaks out, know where the cash is kept.
Always split aces and maybe 8s.
Don't hit a man when he's down. Kick him.