DO CITY BICYCLISTS NEED TO OBSERVE EVERY STOP SIGN AND RED LIGHT, OR IS IT SOMETIMES OKAY TO IGNORE THEM?

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Your link doesn't point to a specific question Howard.  It goes to the main site and the first question that someone lands on is random -or at least isn't the one you are talking about.   I ended up with "What do you do when you drive into a fog bank?"

I'll see if I can find that specific question and directly link to it -although it might not be possible depending on how the website is set up to do that. 

not a black and white answer

Bikes should stop at stop signs when cars have speed-limiters that only allow them to go as fast as a bike. 

Stop signs and red lights should = Yield signs to cyclists...You should only stop at stop signs when someone else gets there before you do...Or at least yield them the right of way which they may then chose to allow you to proceed without stopping...There really is no legal logic behind my stance, I just think that's the way it should be...The laws of physics say you should yield to cars.

There isn't as many distractions or obstructions on a bike so it isn't as dangerous for a cyclist to go through a red light/stop sign once they have determined there are no other cars coming. In cars you have blind spots, radios, kids, dogs, cell phones, etc. which makes much more sense why you need to obey traffic signals which aren't problems for cyclists...Though I have seen some dipshits run red lights on their bikes while talking on the phone so there is that.

I stop for stop signs and stop lights. As bicyclists the law requires us to obey the same rules of the road as do cars and trucks. I am never in a hurry to be somewhere, so the 47 seconds I might save on my commute or pleasure ride are not worth the loss of safety or life.

And while we are at it I think cars should be required to stop for stop signs as well -because they Don't!

The little I do drive in the city I try to always come to a full and complete stop at every stop sign and before turning right on red. And by full and complete I mean full and COMPLETE stop where the wheels are no longer turning and my brakes are fully applied.  This elicits anger and invective from other drivers behind me.  I get horns beeped at me and people yelling out of windows.  I get people flipping me off as they almost crash into me because they didn't expect me to stop fully.    People get PISSED when you actually stop at stop signs because cars don't stop either.    I usually only drive when I'm going out of town but one of the worst spots for this "almost being rear-ended" issue when I come to a complete stop is the last stop sign on Logan Blvd going Westbound before the traffic circle at the "square" (why do they call it a square when it is a circle?)

The times when I've almost been rear-ended for failing to coast through that stop sign are plentiful.  This is one of the spots where coming to a full and complete stop will cause someone to beep at you and or yell and flip you off if their window is down.

So don't give me this BS that bikes are a big deal "blowing stop signs" when the cars don't even stop MOST of the time. It's crap.

In fact, if we want to go down this road the law should be that a car comes to THREE full complete stops before it can continue on.  At least that way at least they might just stop ONE of those times...

Ha! I'll second that. Cyclists will start making stops at traffic signals when cars do it first!

I've been pulled over in the Kinzie bike lane for stopping at a stop sign.  You read that right.

"Pedestrians are complaining that cars aren't stopping at this stop sign."

"Okay...but I stopped.  And I'm not driving a car."

"You need to make sure you always stop at this sign."

"Okay...I did.  Can I go now?"

"Take this bike map."

"No thanks, I already have it."

"You need to take it."

"Are we done now?"

Let me guess -the Bicycle Whaaaaambassadors? 

122782_ said:

I've been pulled over in the Kinzie bike lane for stopping at a stop sign.  You read that right.

"Pedestrians are complaining that cars aren't stopping at this stop sign."

"Okay...but I stopped.  And I'm not driving a car."

"You need to make sure you always stop at this sign."

"Okay...I did.  Can I go now?"

"Take this bike map."

"No thanks, I already have it."

"You need to take it."

"Are we done now?"

Yep - two of them and a cop.  Three people for one biker that actually obeyed the law.  And a car ran the stop sign right in front of us while they had me pulled over.  And guess what happened to that car...absolutely nothing.


James BlackHeron said:

Let me guess -the Bicycle Whaaaaambassadors? 

122782_ said:

I've been pulled over in the Kinzie bike lane for stopping at a stop sign.  You read that right.

"Pedestrians are complaining that cars aren't stopping at this stop sign."

"Okay...but I stopped.  And I'm not driving a car."

"You need to make sure you always stop at this sign."

"Okay...I did.  Can I go now?"

"Take this bike map."

"No thanks, I already have it."

"You need to take it."

"Are we done now?"

This is how to raise up a kid to be a Bicycle Whaaaambassador:



122782_ said:

Yep - two of them and a cop.  Three people for one biker that actually obeyed the law.  And a car ran the stop sign right in front of us while they had me pulled over.  And guess what happened to that car...absolutely nothing.



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