Here in Missouri the bike lanes are just painted on existing car lanes. Sometimes right down the middle. I actually applaud whenever I see a cyclist acting safe. The performance of most cyclists I see is insane at best, deadly at worst. I don’t think most cyclists realize they can be run over and the cops would likely just rule it an accident, unless there’s pressure and evidence to suggest otherwise. If I hated cars so much I didn’t want to use one, the last thing I would do is pick fights with them on crowded streets. The best cyclist is the one that isn’t there.
I’ve had two bicyclists run a red light right in front of me as I was pulling out on a green.
One was horrified and apologic.
The other yelled at me for almost hitting him.
Gosh, almost as if cyclists need safe spaces to ride. How about we just drastically reduce the number of 2 ton deathmachines on the roads.
Why
Seriously, go look at a notjustbikes video
Can’t
I see you’re also very restricted in key presses, my condolences
Thank
Loads of reasons really, but let’s start with reductions to rates and severity of asthma in children.
Nah
I’ve cycled to work and back 59 times this year, and reported 36 drivers (with video evidence from my bike) to the police, with them taking “positive action” in 34 of those cases. But yeah, it’s the cyclists who are dangerous.
Where do you live that the police do more than file the report?
Where I am they don’t do anything if a car hits you unless the damage is beyond a cost threshold or someone is killed.
I see a common denominator in your story
Yeah, I must be able to make them drive like arseholes bad enough that they get prosecuted. It’s magic or something. It can’t be that there’s a lot of people driving cars really badly, can it?
Very apt that an anagram of your name is “scapegoat”.
Yeah I think the main problem isn’t the cyclists themselves, it’s that cyclists don’t have a safe place ride without getting ran over. Cyclists shouldn’t be a problem to drivers in the first place if they had their own lane or space. I’m lucky to live somewhere that has bike lanes and sidewalks on most streets. America strangely lacks basic infrastructure in a vast majority of their country. It really sucks ass if you have a fear of driving :(
Agreed. My bike is egregiously visible. I put over a hundred reflectors on her (no that’s not hyperbole, there are a hundred spokeys and then some) and then lights and a flag, and it’s all very bright.
No one sensible wants to hit you when you’re out riding, so when you make yourself easy to see, they react accordingly. I’ve only had a couple shitass drivers who tried to kill me while out driving in the last year. Maybe it’s my locale, maybe it’s my loud bike, maybe I’m lucky and the local gangs are looking out for me as a favor for keeping my mouth shut that one time (I asked that they keep my bike and my friends’ bikes from being stolen as my favor and bikes stopped getting stolen in town). idk.
As someone who doesn’t really ride bikes, I think it’s wild when car people are against bike lanes.
Back when I used to drive, it was so annoying to get stuck behind a cyclist. Their max speed is lower than the speed limit on most roads, passing them makes me nervous even on straight and flat roads, and if the road is hilly or curvy like most in my area, it’s downright dangerous.
I would love it if there were more bike lanes so that cyclists don’t get in my way. Why would anyone who drives a car be against that?
“They think they’re better than us” is the only reason i can imagine.
Yeah I think the main problem isn’t the cyclists themselves, it’s that cyclists don’t have a safe place ride without getting ran over.
Meaning that, as usual, cars are the problem.
When they have their own lane and space cars still just use it. They park on the bike lanes, move into them if somebody’s passing on their left, or try and pass cars on their right if they find space during slow traffic.
Absolutely needed but people in cars will still cause issues and when they cause issues, it’s a multi ton vehical hitting some aluminium and flesh.
I bike or walk pretty much everywhere I go, so my take on roads and traffic is that they’re usually far too car-centric (Norway). Even when I drive, I’m so used to thinking like a cyclist that I become very aware of how poorly roads are often designed around biking.
With that said… The amount of cyclists with an apparent death wish is just staggering. Just two days ago I passed a cyclist in an 80 km/h zone. No issue there. Just around the next turn, I caught up to a second cyclist that I couldn’t immediately pass due to oncoming traffic. I’m behind this second cyclist, going downhill at maybe 50 km/h, with oncoming traffic on a relatively narrow road, when I notice that the first cyclist has caught up to us. Instead of placing himself behind me, he decided it was a brilliant idea to squeeze himself into the ≈ 1.5 m gap between me (a 6m long, 2-ton car going at 50 km/h) and the guard rail. At this point, I’m just sitting here terrified that I’ll end up accidentally squeezing him into the guard rail and killing him if I happen to move a couple centimeters too close to the edge of the road. I’m seriously afraid of breaking to let him in front of me, because I’m afraid he could hit my side-view mirror if I break unexpectedly (for him). There’s oncoming traffic, so I can’t move over to give him more space.
To be honest, even when I’m biking myself I far too often find other cyclists to be absolute assholes with no respect for traffic rules. Of course, this doesn’t apply to everyone (by a long shot), but man those people cause the rest of us a lot of stress by being a danger to themselves and others.
A lot of Cyclists seem to have car brain when biking, but don’t realize they are on a bike.
I have almost hit several cyclists that run red lights going 20+ MPH. Good thing I was paying attention…
When I lived in a walking friendly area, I used to keep a metal multitool in my hand to hit cars with when they tried to run me over.
Cyclists aren’t a “problem” any more than traffic lights or stop signs are. Drivers should be able to deal with having to slow down a bit for a few seconds without getting upset about it. If you saw a driver shouting out of his window at a traffic light you’d think they were insane.
To be fair, if I saw a driver shouting out their window at a bicyclist, I’d also think they were insane (and a monumental asshole).
Yeah and not believing that cyclists have no right to space and should be squeezing to the side to let them by.
It has become wildly better here in Bordeaux though, in the city there are basically no incivilities any more, but they have done a tremendous job to get there. Get outside of the city (in the suburbs) and it’s still drive as fast as you can without thinking like before.
I had a traffic light swerve into the second lane as I was passing. I totally almost killed it.
Only “vehicular” cyclists are an issue, but TBH even other cyclists hate them.
What’s a vehicular cyclist?
A vehicular cyclist is a cyclist riding as if they were a car, so in the middle of the lane etc. It’s the adviced way of cycling when there is no proper infrastructure, as sticking to the side makes you less visible and more likely to be dangerously overtaken. It depends on the context of the road whether it is the best way, but I would not call them the problem, just a bad solution to a problem that should be solved by infrastructure.
Yes, vehicular cycling is best as an emergency-only maneuver to make cars less likely to hit you, if you have to ride on a street with cars.
Real bike infrastructure is superior in every way.
There are some crazy grifters out there who don’t like bike lanes, and think that bicycles should always be mixing it up in traffic.
If I’m on a bike, notice a car coming up behind me, and don’t think it’s safe for them to pass, I will put myself in the middle of the road to block them.
If they try some stupid and dangerous passing, I’m the one getting pulped. Putting yourself in the middle of the road is a very effective way of communicating “don’t even try to squeeze past me, there’s not enough space.” The most dangerous situations I’ve been in on a bike have been due to cars trying to squeeze past me when there isn’t enough space, it’s terrifying.
You live in a country where the police actually does something on these cases?
Luckily, yes. There’s a web page where you fill in the details, you upload the footage and then they actually do something about it. Options for “positive action” are:
- Letter - which has the same status as a police warning, i.e. no action taken at the time but it can be used against you later if you go to court for something similar
- Points and fine with the option of taking a driving education course instead
- Points and a fine with no alternative
- Sent to court
Narc ass cop lover
Sarcasm right?
Never heard of her
Yeah but as a fellow cyclist I still laughed
Look at all the angry comments by cyclists (with upvotes) and you’ll have your answer!
It’s a shitpost, obviously.
my mindset when biking now is mostly to inconvenience bad drivers as much as possible and ensure that if they hit me it results in as much damage to their car as I can without harming myself.
I will aggressively take my right of way. one of the most common places is a bike crossing nearby where drivers routinely blow the stop line on their red light - I start up quickly so that if they blow the stop and go into the crossing, I may not be able to stop before crashing into them (you often can’t see them approaching the stop line because they are behind traffic in the middle lane). I don’t mind my shitty bike taking some damage if it leaves them with a dented door panel. another common occurrence is roundabouts - drivers vastly underestimate the speed at which a bike can navigate a tight roundabout, and they routinely cut me off. unfortunately, I’ve avoided collisions every time that a driver has nearly hit me, because my reaction is to not get hurt. but god damn did I ever want to slam into some of those cars and leave a lasting impression
I feel you but you only have only one fragile body.
I spent months of horror and multiple hospitalisations because I braked too hard on my bike at low speed, didn’t fall but landed too hard on the saddle. My username comes from that horrendous experience.
Of course it was because a car ran a red light, that was hidden to the inattentive car driver by a truck parked like an asshole.
There’s a shitload of studies showing that cars break far more rules than bikes everywhere it has been measured. You don’t have to put your body in the line to make a point.
Please just be safe for your own sake. You certainly deserve it.
thankfully my reflexes still prioritize my own safety, and most times I leave a near collision pissed off at the shitty driver and regretful that I couldn’t leave them a lasting mark. but when I get to the chance to, say, let my cargo bike basket scrape a car that pushed me into the curb, I’m gonna try to take it.
and thankfully (?) my health issues are unrelated to biking injuries (at least, unrelated to sharing the road with drivers — I’ve got a completely self-inflicted road injury from long ago and injuries from mountain biking lol).
I do occasionally see a kamikaze cyclist while driving. But damn am I more afraid on bike.
I don’t know if the drivers don’t see me from their phones or if they just don’t care even about their cars’ paint.
The kamikaze cyclists give all of us a really bad time. I’m honestly surprised at how some people behave in traffic, knowing that they’re an unprotected meat bag moving at speeds far higher than what the human body is built for.
Just yesterday I watched a teenager biking the wrong way on a 40mph road in the bike lane. They must’ve just learned how to ride because they were wobbling and swerving so far out of the lane that I was worried they’d smash into oncoming traffic.
Luckily it was a 4 lane road so cars could move over, but yeeeesh the kid had a death wish.
Many drivers don’t even notice a semi truck near them, you think they will notice a bike?
When cyclists have to share space with pedestrians, it can be really scary when a fast bike passes you as a pedestrian. But the changes of actually being hit and hurt are really low, though it does happen anecdotally.
Imagine being a cyclist having to share space with 50kph faster, 2 ton machines. The chances to be hit are quite high and the chances of being hurt near 100%.
It’s almost as if faster vehicles need to be kept away from vulnerable travellers… Hmmm…
I don’t think it’s that important to keep biikes away from pedestrians. They can usually coexist fine and fear doesn’t actually hurt anyone.
It’s way more important to keep cars far away from humans of all types.
As long as the path is suitable for it I would agree. Also depends on how many people use it.
One other big difference is that bicyclists can become pedestrians temporarily (by walking their bike) and then go back to being different. Cars cannot do this.
This is built into a lot of the designs i see, where there might be a wide road/path which accommodates both pedestrians and cyclists, but then to cross a preexisting narrow bridge, a pedestrian access only gate can ask cyclists to dismount and walk across.
It can ask, but then don’t be surprised when many people don’t do that or some take the road instead.
The footbridge is the only way across.
You are correct that it cannot force people to take the bridge; they could turn around and go back the way they came, although it does usually force bicyclists to dismount if they want to get across the river.
I’ve personally tried to “trials ride” through them, when no one else is around, but it is very difficult, if not impossible, to make such tight short turns.
There is nothing preventing a bicyclist from hopping back on their bike on the bridge, once they’re through the gate, and then hopping off again to pass the gate at the other side. But since they had to dismount, that removes most of the dangerous momentum and starts pedestrians and bicyclists off on equal footing as they cross the bridge, instead of leaving it 100% up to the bicyclist for deciding when to slow down and become a pedestrian.
I’m not sure what you mean by “take the road instead” – everybody is in the road, until it gets to the bridge, which the road doesn’t cross.
If its so difficult you can’t cycle through it, could you even get a wheelchair through it?
Although sounds like this is more a one off single bridge rather than a general thing.
*Drivers: I have to be careful by not texting gibberish or not watching this entire 7 second TikTok clip
I live! I die! I live again!
Living in Manhattan for decades, I only had 3 issues with cyclists. I’ve had dozens with drivers. I had no issues with skateboarders.
this is what’s wild to me. I’ll be having casual conversation with people and they’ll mention one cyclist that did something they didn’t like. sometimes it’s valid like running a red light, sometimes it’s something stupid like complaining about how they’re not in the non-existent bike lane. the wild part is that they will do this after we just had multiple discussions about how bad drivers were on the way to the location that we are currently hanging out. like, there’s just no recognition for how much worse drivers are and how much more prevalent it is.
no matter what method of transportation I use, drivers are always the worst part of it. always. no matter where I go. a lot of routes around my house don’t even require me to be on public streets except residential streets or to cross streets, and still drivers will fuck up the one of three situations in which I must interact with them.
My issue is if you want to bike in the streetlike a car, then you have to obey car rules. Like stopping at stop lights and stop signs. If you want to ride on the sidewalk then you have to obey pedestrian rules, like crossing at the correct times. Thr number of cyclists I’ve seen blow through stop signs and stop lights is staggering.
Some places you don’t have to. Here, a stop sign is a yield for bikes, and a red light is a stop sign, legally. It works really well imo.
You say that, but drivers would lose their minds bicyclists followed the same rules. Example: Taking the whole lane.
It’s called vehicular cycling and it’s a safer way to cycle.
Also often called “taking the primary position”. It’s often done to prevent close passes by forcing drivers who want to overtake to wait for a gap in the next lane
That or if you are in a group you cycle next to each other, so you are together taking up a comparable width of a car.
That is the one which angers carbrains the most. Yet it is the safer way to ride.
I first found John Forester’s book in the library in the 90s, and it felt like a tome of secret, special knowledge. Then, I read more of it, and it did not match my experiences.
Jason Slaughter has now done a very extensive takedown video on his Not Just Bikes channel, which is far more congruent with what I have seen. Taking the lane is effective when there’s no other choice, when it’s too narrow for cars to pass, but drivers will try anyway.
Otherwise, there’s very little that’s safe about it.
Thanks for shouting it out! I’ve been putting off watching that video for weeks but I’ll give it a go based on the recommendation here.
I wish bikes just took the whole lane like a car. Half assing it either way is really the problem.
I don’t disagree, but the reason we don’t is because of the intense road rage it causes in drivers.
I’m aware
When cycling like a pedestrian here, such as on a shared bike/footpath, you do follow pedestrian rules at crossings. So lights are only advisory and you may cross at any time if you want to.
Dutch people: “both of those are dumb and dangerous”
to be fair, it’s not like fewer cyclists are following the rules than drivers
Man, it’s almost as if we need a third thing. A sort of, road for bicycles (or long, skinny concentration camp, if you prefer) which is suited to bicycling without getting in the way. Get those bloody cyclists off our roads and footpaths, those are for us!
How would you implement this? Are they going to have bridges over every traffic light?
Toronto has a pretty sweet setup with bike lanes that have their own bike street lamps. Seems to work very well for a city of millions.
Extensive unlit tunnels five feet tall and two and a half feet wide. Entry and exit is by vertical shaft only.
I’m so down for this!
The Netherlands would like a word.
Granted. But they were originally built with cyclists in mind. I would love their infrastructure!
But they were originally built with cyclists in mind
No it wasn’t
The Netherlands was as car-brained as most other countries. Then, they changed course after the Stop de Kindermoord (Stop Murdering Children) protests, and started to build for people outside of cars. The process of rebuilding is still underway, now, in 2026.
The difference is not that the Netherlands was originally built for bicycles. It was not. The difference is that Americans don’t give two shits about the lives of children.
I live in a city in the US that has “bike lights” at the intersections. These give bicyclists the right of way without “letting” cars go as well.
Little longer of a traffic light, but makes biking waaaaay more approachable for newbie bicyclists (like me!)
Unfortunately, this is the only place I’ve ever seen them implemented.
A significant portion of accidents involving cyclists is from others not paying enough attention to them - which can be mitigated by proper bike infrastructure.
Unfortunately we cannot mitigate the recklessness of cyclists this way, another big contributor to the accident statistics.
This is me but only bc I’m bad at biking lmaoooo
Today, while I had the green light, had another car blatantly run a red light and almost hit me. I turned left to catch up with him, pounded on his window and told him he was a jackass. When he rolled his window down I recognized him as a state assembly member. Hoping he doesn’t recognize me when he eventually calls the HR office because he’s at the dentists office and doesn’t have his insurance card because he’s a fucking spoiled man-child.
Cyclists: every pavement is a shared space if you’re going fast enough.
For some reason there’s always a guy doing this when there’s a perfectly good cycle lane on the road next to them. Best thing as a pedestrian is to show no fear.
is it a “perfectly good cycle lane” tho? cyclists are just stupid for no reason? or maybe there is a good reason (or maybe even multiple reasons!) they go where they go
let’s try to extend some grace to a person who risks their life so that they pollute less
