When to yield to cyclists?
 

From my understanding, a person on a bicycle is considered as a vehicle. All rules apply to them as it would to a car.

Often times, I see a bike riding through a pedestrian crosswalk and cars will actually stop and yield to them.
google map example here


This brings another question. If there is a crosswalk designated for cyclists, do they get the right of way when crossing a street? (I dont recall if I seen any of those signs or know if they do exists)

I see that all the time, and every time I think, "oh, so now you're a pedestrian."

Pick one.

Simply put, Never. Why should i give a shit about them when they run red lights, run stop signs, weave in and out of traffic at the lights, get stuck behind them on streets. Also if you want them to stop passing you at lights just hit your windshield wipers, excess will often fly over the window and hit anything around your passengers window.

And then they complain when they get hit. Go figure.

They are NOT pedestrians, they are not permitted to ride on sidewalks or crosswalks as they are considered "vehicles". I refuse to yield to them and lay on the horn if they start to cross. I won't hit them but I'm not cutting them any slack.

It would be nice if this thread didn't degrade to a rant about cyclists, they may not all be great, but neither are most drivers and that makes cycling on public streets tough. Take a second and look at it from the cyclists perspective.

If a cyclist steps off their bike and walks it across through the cross walk are they not then considered pedestrians?

Yes. If they're standing next to their bike, ready to walk it across then they're a pedestrian.

never

Quote:

Originally Posted by MindBomber (Post 7559838) It would be nice if this thread didn't degrade to a rant about cyclists, they may not all be great, but neither are most drivers and that makes cycling on public streets tough. Take a second and look at it from the cyclists perspective

Are you serious? I believe you must have missed the question that started this thread...

Often times, I see a bike riding through a pedestrian crosswalk and cars will actually stop and yield to them

Rights and duties of operator of cycle183 (1) In addition to the duties imposed by this section, a person operating a cycle on a highway has the same rights and duties as a driver of a vehicle.

(2) A person operating a cycle

(a) must not ride on a sidewalk unless authorized by a bylaw made under section 124 or unless otherwise directed by a sign,

(b) must not, for the purpose of crossing a highway, ride on a crosswalk unless authorized to do so by a bylaw made under section 124 or unless otherwise directed by a sign,

I'm very serious.
Look at the ignorant responses in this thread; spraying cyclists with window washer fluid, give me a fucking break. If drivers choose not to show cyclists respect in their vulnerable position on the road, why should cyclists show drivers respect?

Cyclists are allowed to use crosswalks if they dismount as required. Just like everyone going 60 in a 50 though, they stretch the law a bit to their favour since they know they'll face no penalty. I'm not condoning their actions, just stating a fact.

WTF so ive been breaking the law like 4/6 times i go biking? :fulloffuck:

Can i get a ticket for that? Ive ridden by cops and they dont seem to give a care.

Bullshit man, Bikers belong on the sidewalk. F the law, it does not consider the real world and how it works. Its like taking your test for L or N and driving perfect.....who does that in the real world? Personally if i run over a bicyclist because they do something stupid they deserve it, ive almost hit 4 in the past week for running lights or stop signs or failing to yield in a traffic circle. And whose fault is it? Seems like i always get the finger or told off even though i am completely in the right.

Hmm. So when we ride on the road, we piss off drivers in their cars. We decide to try not pissing drivers off by riding on the sidewalk, and its illegal? :okay:

I will treat bicycles like any other vehicle unless they are taking their bike for a walk.

On a side note... On Wednesday or Thursday at 5:50 AM going to work, I was entering the #1 highway off of Hastings St going west and then saw a fucking bicycle taxi taking up the furthest right hand lane. That is fucking dangerous, the guy was going about 30 km/h or slower on the highway with passengers in his cart and a whole bunch of cars had to slow down on their brakes just to pass him. (This was on the second narrows bridge before exits 23.)

That shit should be illegal if it isn't already.

Its because we get asshole cyclists that piss everyone off, break the laws and get away with it. When was the last time you saw a cyclist pulled over for running a light or not wearing a helmet! It NEVER happens. If you dont want to get sprayed wait the fuck back in traffic like everyone else and dont be weaving through traffic at lights. They want to be treated like a vehicle yet they act like pedestrians.

I'm going to be honest, I never really see cyclists weaving through traffic, but I don't spend much time driving downtown. Most cyclists I know ride on the sidewalk and are just respectful to pedestrians, since that interferes less with motorized traffic, is safer and really, unless your dt there aren't enough pedestrians for it to matter.

The solution, more bike lanes so that drivers and cyclists can have their own space, just engineer them properly instead of sticking them in random places with no concern for the impact on traffic flow.
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Just driving 15 minutes to work every morning ill see 2 or 3 of them (not dt). Problem with bike lanes is wherever you build them you'll piss people off. Build them where a lane was it will increase traffic, build them where the sidewalk is you'll piss off pedestrians or you can cut down a few trees but that will piss off all the tree huggers. Engineering them correctly with our government is impossible, its like trying to fit a VHS in a PS3...it just doesnt work.

Yeah, me too. However, if they get off, and walk their bike across, I'd stop for them.

Yesterday, there was a cyclist complaining the truck in front of me wasn't giving him room to pass him and was up in arms complaining. I found it stupid that he insisted on riding on the road and complaining about being held up. I passed him after as well but did not give him any room to get past me when we were at the next red light.

Reason: There is a bike lane on the sidewalk beside us yet he insisted on holding up traffic in the car lane...and on top of that, he wobbles when he starts so he essentially hogs up the whole lane.

I'm a tree hugger and I get called a hippie pretty routinely, I can say that neither myself or anyone I know with similar values would be upset about giving up a couple feet of road shoulder to build a bike lane. Just don't build a bike lane through a rain forest and we won't complain.

Because a ton and a half of steel, glass, plastic and rubber will win over 180 pounds of aluminum and flesh, EVERY TIME.

Ok so lets say the government gets to the point of actually building them, wheres the money going to come from? Its gonna be our tax dollars...and theres something else that will piss people off. I am by no means anything close to a tree hugger but even i couldnt imagine Vancouver without trees on the sidewalk. Like i said before, whatever happens people will get pissed off with it. Its a vicious cycle and theres no winning for everyone involved.

I always see bikes passing me on the right side at intersections as I'm attempting to make right hand turns, Why dear god can they not wait the extra 1-4 seconds behind me instead. I mean in 16 years of driving I have never had a motorcycle try this stupid move. During the turn I have to, slowly move forward,signal, modulate the clutch,peer left to see it is clear, look right to ensure the cross walk is clear when it's all clear I shoiuld be able to go but no because I have to look behind for a damn cyclist being closly chased by darwin. I'm just glad I havn't crushed anyone under a rear tire.

Trees bordering our side walks are part of what make Vancouver a beautiful place to live, but not every street has mature trees, the majority don't.

Your right, the exact problem with any exceptionally progressive move by a politician is paying for it. The vast majority of people would probably be happy to see more bike lanes and would welcome more cyclists in that case, but since they cost money, it's a tough to sell to people outside of the far left wing.

Legalize it, tax it, build bike lanes with the tax revenue.. :woot2:

:okay:

Thank you for everybody's comment and answers. Sorry for inciting anger between bikers + drivers. Now that I know my answer, I can honk bikers riding through marked pedestrian crosswalks (and be an asshole)

there are a lot of logistical problems for bikeists and drivers; speed differentials, amounts of space, etc etc etc.

What it all boils down to is that as bicyclists increase, we need to find ways of giving them better educations and ensuring that they know and acknowledge the rules of the road. We license our dogs, why not our bikes? $40/yr licensing fee gets you a plate or a tag or whatever that gets mounted to your bike. If it's attached with some kind of metal zap strap or bolt it means it'll also function as a way of tracking your bike if it's stolen (something any bikeist would approve of). When you get your license the first time, you need to pass a test for things like signals, rules and responsibilities and the like, just like getting a driver's license.

When I was a kid, I got a kind of bikeist class in school. Now, the community centers don't have enough money for that kind of stuff, and kids aren't learning what their responsibilities and duties are as cyclists. A former coworker of mine once said she was going to buy a bike so that she could try biking downtown. I asked her if she knew the rules and signals, if she had a helmet, all that jazz. Her reply "No, it's ok, I don't need that, I mean there's a bike path, right? So it's fine!"

I asked her what she'd do if she wanted to go to a restaurant four blocks off the path, if someone suggested going somewhere else, what she'd do if she'd get lost.



Some people get caught up in the bikeistismnessness. The rest of us have to deal with them.