And Erik, I am in the middle group. I do ride through red lights if there isn’t traffic. I think most of the reason drivers get worked up about it, is because they wish they were able to do it to. It’s resentment.

I think of it more as giving me more opportunity to stay away from cars for longer periods of time, since it is fair as a rule to say that most automobile drivers don’t pay attention to non-autos/trucks. I have been hit a few times by cars while riding legally…

Drivers who bitch about bicyclists tend to not be too cognizant of the _fact_ that while auto drivers are not at risk from bicyclists, bicyclists are at great risk from drivers, and so our doing things like going through a red light (after stopping and checking, and never if there is oncoming traffic) is a logical choice.

2x I’ve had bikes totalled by car-bike accidents that weren’t my fault. And it doesn’t take much to “total” a bike if your wheels and fork are bent beyond repair. And the car driver sure isn’t gonna pay for it…

For the comment about lane splitting. Guess what, it’s legal. Check out a recent washcycle post about it.

You want me to take up a whole lane of traffic, and not lane split, thereby likely slowing one lane of automobile traffic significantly? I’m game, but it would generate a significant amount of resentment that would put me at risk. See discussion above for how I think that would go over with drivers…

If I had a dollar for every automobile driver who yelled out a nasty comment to me in relation to riding bicycles–not having any thing to do with how I am operating my bicycle–I would be very rich indeed.

-yawn-

Too bad we couldn’t actually have a discussion about bike sharing in DC. Anyone surprised this happens everytime anyone mentions bikes in a blog post absolutely anywhere? We are all now a little bit dumber as a result.

You can check a bike out for up to three hours for free. After that you get a penalty point on your account. Three penalty points and you’re account is canceled.

More kiosks and more bikes are probably going to be needed to make the system work, but it’s like your first apartment, it is what it is and hopefully it will get better. The need to sign up will make it hard for tourists to use, but it isn’t supposed to be a tourist transportation system. It’s for residents. What percentage of traffic is made up of European tourists anyway?

DC is building a bike station near Union Station. Work should start this year.

Lane splitting is legal. As is taking the entire lane – even if it makes it difficult to pass.

And finally I doubt that cyclists break the law more frequently than drivers. There’s been no real study, but I know which side I’d put my money on.

If you blast through red lights, lane-split, speed down active sidewalks when it’s convenient, and ride the wrong way down one-way streets, the clear message to drivers is “just ignore me, I am operating in a completely different universe than you are.”

I nearly ran one down a couple weeks ago. After slamming on my brakes to avoid shanking the guy, I yelled out that I’d nearly killed him because he ran the red light. His response? The salute and an epithet. Nice. That was a traffic light. Stop signs? I simply assume they won’t stop.

The irony is, it’s the bikers who are going to lose in that game of chicken. If they (as a community) want respect then they need to deserve it. I understand that there are many bikers who do respect the rules of the road. But a very significant portion of them do not, enough that it’s not just “a few bad apples.” It’s the attitude in general.