What's your experience when sharing the road with bicyclists?

 Amy,

I have to disagree with you.  I do place a value judgment on those who choose to get 15mpg with their car.  In the same way that I place a value judgment on smokers.

That is what makes America great!  Individuals are free to smoke Marlboro's and drive H2's all they want.  On the flip-side, I am free to lament their irresponsible choices.  I digress as this is of course an entirely different topic. 

Moving away from CO2 emissions and foreign oil dependency and changing the subject back to biking - the majority of problems I have had with motorists stem from the fact that I was "in their way."  These angry and agressive motorists must have really really important places to be.  Most of these angry motorists probably wish I was on my couch like everyone else.  What they fail to realize is every bike is one less car.  And comparing a biker running a stop sign to a car is like analogizing someone throwing stones to someone shooting a pistol.  It is a matter of degree and in fact the laws of many states reflect this difference.  Stop signs did not exist in the time of the Conestoga wagon.  They only came along with the advent of the Model T. 

I also realize that the exclusive motorist is unlikely to see things from the eyes of someone who has biked for transportation.  However, I am glad the dialogue is going on.  On the whole I have to say reckless bicyclists make me angry and when I see them I politely inform them of the error of their ways.  The reason I correct errant cyclists is that my experience has taught me that they are only a justification used by motorists who engage in really irrational and dangerous behavior. 

 The effort by the city to improve transportation conditions is admirable.  I commute as both a cyclist and motorist.  I generally treat red lights and stop signs as a yield sign on my bike and treat yellow lights as red lights in my car.  By bike, I travel half my commute from Squirrel Hill to town by road and half by trail.  My main concern when riding my bike and car is the drivers that treat the red light as as a yellow. 

While driving to work, I will wait a few red lights at the corner of Shady and Forward.  Here, I witness about three cars running red lights per cycle.  If I am at the light for three cycles thats nine cars running red lights.  The same can be said on Forward and Murray or Shady and Forbes.  Its always that last three that feel entitled because they are late for some event.

I think the city could make a significant amount of revenue on these three corners alone by handing out tickets for running a red light.

I have also seen my fair share of aggressive cyclists.  Eventhough they are entiltled to share the road, they are not to be driving anymore recklessly than a motorized vehicle.

Hopefully calmer heads prevail during the recognition that roads are made for everyone. 

Tom

As a cyclist and a motorist, I can speak from both ends of this discussion.  It is very clear to me that many cyclists don't understand that common sense must prevail.  Yes, cyclists have a right to be on the road, but if I am biking at a rate of 15 mph on a road with a speed limit of 35 mph, then I need to stay as close to the side of the road as possible.  I don't have the right to hold up traffic just so I can show that I am legally allowed to use the same lane as the cars on the road.  In Lovejoy's Liberty Avenue story, the car actually had to change lanes to go around her????  That's just inexcusable on behalf of Lovejoy.  Move to the right side of the lane.  Isn't that obvious?

As much as I probably should, I no longer ride a bicycle.  But when I did, I can't say that I didn't go through a few stop signs or red lights.  But then again, I was a teenager.  I'd hope that an adult would have a much stronger feeling of obligation to abide by the laws of the road.  I can't count the number of bicyclists (especially bike messengers in downtown) who completely and utterly ignore traffic laws.  They speed, they blow through traffice lights, they weave in and out of traffic.  Then they want the motorists to treat them with more respect.  In my opinion, respect is to be earned and not just handed out.

I do realize that it is inappropriate to classify all bicyclists as law breakers, but unfortunately I honestly don't see many that do abide by the traffic laws.  It is a shame.

While I think motorists should be considerate of bicyclist, I find many rush hour bicyclists to be arrogant and inconsiderate of motor vehicles. I once regularly commuted to Oakland via bike and now drive a car & motorcycle through town to a suburb. As a cyclist I did my best to avoid congested traffic areas and get out of the way of traffic. I never wanted to compete with traffic and never felt that traffic should cater to me. That is not the case with cyclist I encounter today. I have had cyclist stay in the middle of a lane, causing traffic slow downs and refusing to allow cars to safely pass. I’ve also seen them ignore simple traffic rules like stop signs & red lights. The worst was seeing a cyclist lose control turning a bend and crashing into a parked car – probably giving the car a bad paint scraping. He quickly got up brushed himself off and left. It’s ill mannered cyclists that cause bad blood between drivers & cyclists. I pay license and registration fees for every vehicle I own. If cyclists want to be equals of motor vehicles, then let them share some burden of the costs. Street repair should be Pittsburgh’s first priority. Well maintained streets would help both cyclists and motorists.

 Jed --

Have you every been hit by an opening car door?  Yes, it hurts even at 15 mph.  This was my fault for riding too close to the curb.  If you are riding a bicycle on a rodway like Liberty Ave.  You cannot duck behind cars when there is no one parked there.   You have to stay in the sight line of drivers behind you, while keeping your eye on the drivers infront of you, pedestrians in front and to the sides of you, people getting out of parked cars and to react in case of an issue, the cars and cyclists behind you.

I spent plenty of time in NYC riding my bike to work.  It was great that they put in bike lanes, until the taxis and drivers found them to be great locations to double park.  There is no perfect answer.  

Cyclist need to stay together and communicate safe routes to commute.  I often take the back route through panther hollow.  Still can be a scary route to work, with folks being late along with narrow roads.

--Tom

I do a partial bike commute when the weather permits(about 3 years now). I find that most folks are accomodating. I think it would be unreasonable to expect bad drivers to disappear just because I get on a bike.

For the record while biking downtown I've been:

* cut off going through intersections by cars turning left

* passed by cars that immediately stop and wait for pedestrians before turning right

 * Yelled at by drivers while waiting at a red light. (maybe I should have ran the light).

I have seen a few cyclists run red lights.  Although they are usually bike messengers. So I don't think this is anything new.

I only run(or slowly roll through) one light, on Penn ave, where there is construction  making it a pointless light. Someone should change it to flashing yellow.

Pittsburgh does not need to spend any of its own money or anyone else's money on a person whose job it is to develop biking plans. If people want to make Pittsburgh more bike friendly, they can take it upon themselves to create such plans.

What Pittsburgh needs is to enforce traffic laws with respect to motorists and cyclists.  Downtown, Oakland & Shadyside are populated by cyclists who seemingly have no concern whatsoever for traffic laws.  They don't stop at red lights, don't stop at stop signs, pass stopped cars on the right hand side (between the car and the curb) and don't wear lights or reflective clothing at night.  There needs to be a way to hold these cyclists accountable for violating the law.  It doesn't matter whether motorists also run red lights & stop signs because everyone is aware that the police will pull motorists over for these offenses.  Maybe money raised from ticketing cyclists could be used to pay the new "bike czar".

 I think you are crazy to try and ride a bicycle in a town with the road conditions the way they are here in Pittsburgh, the hills, the construction, etc.

I Have ridden a motorcycle for years and i know this is no easy task around this city. The major difference is that while i am also saving money, and driving safer than a bicycle for the simple reasons i can keep up with traffic and am forced to obey traffic signals.

I also have to be registered with the state, my vehicle is inspected for safety and i have to have insurance.. so bicyclist ante up and pay those use fees and I'll be more likely to listen to your whining.

abde:

running a stop sign = breaking the law. what if i decided that i didn't want to stop at the stop signs because starting from a dead stop uses more gas? we can't choose which laws we're going to obey.

I never said it was right. But at least I didn't lie and say I've never done it.

That's all we need government in our pockets once again. 

I'm sorry Holy Diver, but spending money to make the city a better place for cyclists is exactly the right idea. The city of Pittsburgh has spent money on much more frivolous things such as LED billboard lawsuits, SUVs for the mayor's joyriding, and endless funds to bail out the broken Port Authority. Your request of having the cyclists take it upon themselves to create these plans is completely absurd. We would see cyclists downtown with a bucket of white paint creating rouge bike lanes. I'm sure you, every other driver, and Guy Costa wouldn't like that too much.

I agree with you that cyclists that do not obey traffic laws should be treated exatly like motorists. I obey all traffic laws on my bike and accept responsability actions. This topic is presented to a biased audience because drivers outnumber cyclists at least 20 to 1 downtown. I'm glad that with your help, the cyclist minority is getting the attention and time we deserve.

Happy Cycling!

 Mr. Bricker said there is a "subset of cyclists" who ignore the laws.

Wrong Mr, Bricker!

 vicsbean  sais there is a "subset of cyclists" who OBEY the laws.

" I'm sorry Holy Diver, but spending money to make the city a better place for cyclists is exactly the right idea. The city of Pittsburgh has spent money on much more frivolous things such as LED billboard lawsuits, SUVs for the mayor's joyriding, and endless funds to bail out the broken Port Authority. "

"Pittsburgh does not need to spend any of its own money or anyone else's money on a person whose job it is to develop biking plans."

I'm truly caught between these two statements.   

One I would like some of my tax dollars to go towards bicycle paths. But with all of the politcal patronage in this town, it just stinks of my buddy needs a job.  Remember folks who live in town, this is our money that the city is syphoning off into their little honey pots.  Nice to know that freinds of the Mayors are living it up on our nickel!!

--Tom

 It makes me happy that 43 people have responded in 8 hours.  Sharing the road is an important issue.

I ride aggressively because I am in fear for my life.  After a tuft of blue hair driving an oldsmobile nearly sandwiches me with a parked car; stop signs and traffic lights don't seem real important.