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Comment by turar | Hacker News Reader

As a motorist who sees cyclists daily, I have yet to see a cyclist obey a stop sign. I see blatant disregard for stop signs every single day. Same thing for red lights -- I see cyclists routinely disregard red lights, unless crossing a busy road, where disregarding a red light will certainly get them killed.

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Studies show similar rates of law-breaking for cyclists and drivers. This is obviously more problematic for drivers, since they're the ones operating multi-ton vehicles at high speeds. After all, a cyclist breaking the laws in the way you describe is probably putting only himself at risk.

I see the same thing you see re. red lights. I don't see it as much with stop signs. The typical car I see has a higher minimum speed when going through a stop sign than the typical bicycle I see.

U.S. law already varies what you can do at a red light based on the maneuverability of the vehicle (buses can't do right-on-red). Maybe at some point we'll see variations specifically for bicycles.

Stop-as-yield for cyclists is a safe riding technique and is a law in Idaho: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idaho_stop

As a cyclist who sees motorists daily, I have yet to see a motorist obey a stop sign.

When I'm stopped, I have to wave cars through when it's their turn to go because they don't understand how stop signs work. (Or assume I'm not really stopped, more likely. Stop signs are a disaster.)

By that do you mean they don't stop, or that they stop for too long to let you through, thinking that you're not going stop at all? (Assuming it's a 4-way stop). If latter, then I could be that motorist as well -- I will naturally assume that cyclists will NOT stop at stop signs (since I have never seen them do so), so I would let them through preventively.

Stop being that person please! Just follow the rules of the road.

Where are you located? In Oakland, I certainly see some bicyclists break the rules, but I probably see more abiding by them. (And I see cars and pedestrians break rules, as well...)

Edmonton, Alberta. I live in a central/downtown location, where most streets are quiet 2-lanes. And like I said, I have never seen a cyclist actually stop at a stop sign. Most don't even slow down -- just a quick check to make sure they're not going to get killed, and blow right past.

In many cities it is perfectly legal for bicycles to treat stop signs as yield signs. I have no idea if this is the case in Edmonton, Alberta.

Correct, where I grew up, we were taught in school to get out of intersections as quickly as possible, or dismount and walk across the crosswalk if it was available.

it's one of the benefits of cycling. you could do the same if you weren't stuck in a big metal box. deal with it

Thanks for providing the textbook example of the self entitled cyclist.

As a motorist who drives with other motorists daily, I'm appalled at the driving habits of motorists.

I rarely see them obeying simple traffic rules.

Motorists seem incapable of obeying posted speed limits, and seem not to understand the meaning of the amber light. Motorists also have a problem with roll-stops.

I have yet to see a motorist using turn signals properly.

In consequence, I've started advocating that motorists should drive their cars on the sidewalk until they can demonstrate proper respect for the rules of the road.

Sorry, these seem like exaggerations, based on my own experience. There are certainly a percentage of motorists who ignore traffic rules, but it's nowhere near the percentage of cyclists who do so. Again, this is based on my experience only.

Come on, speed limits? Almost no drivers consistently obey posted speed limits.

My comment, which was partly satirical, was trying to point out that you're choosing to notice some infractions (running stop signs) and ignore others (speeding).

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