There could be plenty of space outside the curb line for them to ride out of traffic but oh no they have to ride out in the middle of the road. I am really surprised there aren't many of them killed by getting run over.
Let me add some perspective.
In the big picture I ride on a regular basis and I'm the only male in my family over age 45 who hasn't got heart problems. So yes, I run some risk of getting hit my clueless drivers on the road, but it's lower than the risks I'd take sitting on the couch eating donuts.
I generally try to put in between 15 and 20 miles a day on my bike. At age 52 my knees won't tolerate the impact of running anymore so a good solid 60 to 90 minutes of biking with my heart rate around 145-150 bpm is how I maintain the cardio fitness and keep the weight off.
I generally stay on less traveled but still paved county roads and I try to stay away from the prime commuting hours.
I also wear a high visibility lime green shirt with matching helmet. At night, my Camelbak has reflective striping, I have a red taillight on the back, a head light on the front, reflective pedals and stripes on my shoes, and a pair of flashing lights on the back of my helmet.
I'm sure you're thinking that's great, proactive, responsible, etc, but you'll probably have a fit when I tell you I also ride about 3 feet out in the road from the fog line.
Why do I do that? Because riding on or inside the fog line makes me harder to see, even dressed in high visibility green. In addition, that the shoulder often disappears inside the fog line, forcing you back onto the road when a driver behind you is not anticipating it, and the cracks that are often in the shoulder beat the tar out of high pressure tires and road bike rims.
Drivers tend to think about other things while driving, and they can get away with that under normal circumstances as their cerebellum can handle those kinds of stay between the lines repetitive driving tasks under normal circumstances without higher brain function being involved at all. People do that a lot on regular routes to and from home, work, etc. Add in the distraction of a phone call, messing with the radio etc, and it gets even worse.
Consequently, drivers tend to not respond to things they see on the shoulder and I suspect the visual angle also leads their cerebellum to assume 'road sign'.
But...put a biker 2'-3' out into the lane and suddenly their higher brain executive functions kick in as they notice the biker.
It ends up being much safer as drivers actual see you.
The reason so many bike riders ignore the rules of the road...Is because the POLICE will NOT enforce the laws!!!!
I take a common sense approach to stop signs. Coming to a full stop is a mixed bag.
The main reason cars are required to stop at stop signs is to given them greater opportunity to look carefully before they cross a street or highway because they have both restricted vision and hearing inside the vehicle.
In contrast, a bike rider has the advantage of having unrestricted visibility as well as hearing to help them detect any cross traffic at a stop sign. How I approach a stop sign will depends on the visibility and also the wind:
- If the intersection allows for unrestricted visibility, I'll slow down to 10 mph or so and proceed through if it's clear.
- If the visibility at the intersection isn't unrestricted I'll slow as much as needed to ensure I can see and hear well enough to ensure the intersection is clear.
If the intersection isn't clear, I'll stop. However, that creates other problems. I don't have a couple hundred horse power and even taking into account my much lighter weight than a car, my power to weight ratios and acceleration from a full stop isn't great. That increases the time needed to cross a road, which makes crossing more difficult and more risky in some circumstances.
This is also time when I'll plant myself right out in the middle of the lane. If I do not, sure as God made little green apples, some jerk will come up to the stop line, block my view to the left and in effect take my break in the traffic, or worse, he'll make an unsignaled turn to the right and cut into me. My only impact with a car (pickup) has been in this situation.
You are correct that police officers (around here at least) do not enforce a full stop on a bicycle, but they are looking for careful behavior when crossing a road and just blowing through with no regard for traffic will result in a citation.
The variations in state laws regarding cyclists are pretty maddening. In some states, they appear to have the same ludicrous untouchability as pedestrians. Mmm'kay, the laws of physics will fix that nonsense for you every day of the week and twice on Sunday.
Here in NV, cyclists are definitely not treated as pedestrians, and many who have moved to Las Vegas have been cited shortly after having been bounced off their bike by a car or truck. Some whining on the local news follows, and those of us who know the rules laugh at them.
Their favorite thing is not dismounting while using a crosswalk. The law is there to stop a person on a bike appearing at full tilt in the crosswalk giving the car/truck/bus driver no chance to miss them and applying the aforementioned laws of physics. The law is for THEIR protection, but it is seen by many cyclists as an imposition. Better to be imposed on than to be dead, I say.
You are correct. In some states it is illegal for a bicyclist to ride on the side walk and they must ride in the road. When I was stationed in Arlington, that, along with clueless, aggressive drivers and poor sight lines around most intersections was enough to put me off biking almost completely.
Things like having to dismount and walk across a cross walk is another reason why biking on a side walk doesn't really work. Try that with pedal clips some time.
