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http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/ct-perspec-0719-biking-2...

 

Crazed cyclists run rampant

Enforce existing bike laws to collect needed revenue

  • By John D. Thomas

My wife and I love Chicago, and we are always thinking about ways that might improve the city. Lately, we came up with an idea that would not only make where we live safer and less stressful but also could substantially fill our depleted municipal coffers. And, best of all, getting it done would merely require enforcing regulations that are already on the books.

What's our plan? Start fining the heck out of the city's insane number of crazed bike riders.

Now don't get me wrong: I do not hate on cyclists. Actually, quite the opposite.

In 1979, when I saw the amazing cycling-coming-of-age film "Breaking Away," I became a lifelong fan of the sport. The movie inspired me to pedal my bike across Florida and Iowa in group tours when I was in my early teens; when I was in college, I dabbled in both road- and mountain-bike racing. I also love to sit for hours watching long stages of theTour de France,which is currently taking place.

I have ridden a bike literally thousands and thousands of miles. That much time in the saddle taught me a lot about how to coexist and respect people driving in cars and to expect them to respect me as well.

All of which makes me very attuned to the driving patterns of Chicago cyclists. And I must say, for the most part they are simply awful. It would not be an exaggeration to say that on an average outing in our car to run a few errands, my wife and I see at least half a dozen egregious driving infractions by cyclists.

They range from blithely running through red lights and stop signs to passing on our right just as we are about to turn. And if we ever yell out a complaint about their poor understanding of the rules of the road, we almost always get that sickeningly smug grin that implies that pedal power trumps a gas guzzler every time, no matter what a bike rider does.

In my experience talking with Chicago bike riders, I get the sense that most believe that our traffic laws do not apply to them. Nothing could be less true and, in fact, the part of the Chicago Municipal Code related to riding bicycles is more than 4,000 words long.

This is my favorite portion of the code, and it is a rule that, if vigorously enforced, would give Chicago an enormous budget surplus:

"(c) Whenever authorized signs are erected indicating that no right or left turn or turn in the opposite direction is permitted, no person operating a bicycle shall disobey the direction of any such sign unless he dismounts from the bicycle to make the turn, in which event he shall then obey the regulations applicable to pedestrians."

"(d) Every person convicted of a violation of any provision of this chapter regulating bicycles shall be fined $25.00."

However, not only have I seen literally hundreds of people on bikes pay absolutely no attention to those kinds of road signs, I have also never seen a Chicago cop giving a cyclist a ticket. And, yes, I have been in many, many situations where I have seen police officers witness horrendous and dangerous bike riding and do nothing about it.

In my mind, all great cities embrace cyclists, and more Chicagoans are biking on our city streets all the time. And while bike lanes and more places to park and lock your bike are great advancements, if the people riding bikes don't do so with a sense of common sense and safety, then what will develop is a vicious car-versus-bike climate that will only end up creating chaos and accidents.

Chicago writer John D. Thomas is currently finishing a book on the cultural history of saliva.

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While I don't think he should being singling out cyclists, he does have a point. I actually do wish that more laws where actually enforced, be if for cyclists, motorists or pedestrians.  The rate that ALL 3 violate codes is dangerous. I don't think cyclists should be targeted more heavily than drivers, but it should be targeted at the same rate.  Chicago is pretty bad in terms of compliance for all modes of transportation. 

Things like red light running and riding without lights are not just dangerous to that individual, they're dangerous to the other road users as well.  I've had several times this summer I had been nearly hit on my bike by another cyclist blowing a red light.  This is not someone who approaches an empty intersection, stops than proceeds if its clear, this is someone who just never bothered to slow down, look or yield to others.  While a bike wouldn't do as much damage to me as a car, I'd rather not find out how much damage getting t-boned by a one will do. 

hey 'in it to win it' - this post totally made my day !!!  (the part about my head "spinning"). thanks dude

 

DHB

 



in it to win it said:

A little research on the author:

 

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2010-07-14/news/ct-oped-0714-mug...

 

Book Description

April 16, 2010
The New York Times says the title of "Karaoke of Blood" is in the running for the best of 2011! Playboy says, "It’s a plot that would have Dan Brown’s head spinning." Karaoke of Blood is the story of an aging lounge singer living in Chicago who has a mysterious gift. That gift leads him to be involved in a scheme run by the Catholic church and the mob to raise money to pay for the church's sexual molestation lawsuits. As Tom Waits would say, a lot of girls, a lot of action. The author is the former editor of Playboy.com and contributing editor at Playboy magazine. He has also been a frequent contributor to The New York Times, Playboy magazine, Chicago Tribune and The Village Voice and is an adjunct profesor in the English Department at Columbia College in Chicago.
 

 

http://www.colum.edu/Academics/English_Department/Faculty/Faculty_P...

 

BTW the Kindle book is selling for $1.00...

I totally agree Liz.  If only enforcement worked -or was even tried...

There was a really interesting segment yesterday on WBEZ about "Why Cars Don't Stop for Pedestrians" and they went into traffic laws/enforcement/attitudes.    What was really intriguing was that laws and even enforcement don't really change behavior.   People only follow the laws (or do anything, for that matter) if they feel it is Worthwhile.    The trick was to convince/educate the scofflaws that what they were doing was not a good idea and that following the laws/rules of the road was actually in everyone's best interests.

They talked about some place in Chile or somewhere in S. America that had horrible driving behaviors.  They actually hired Mimes to lampoon bad drivers and their awful driving behaviors.  And it WORKED!

But be that as it may I think that traffic enforcement hasn't even been tried here.  Autos speed everywhere  and go through stop signs and turn right on red without stopping just as much (if not more) than bikes do. But nothing is done about that.  If you drive the speed limit in this city they will pass you aggressively on the Right in the bike lane or the right-turn only lanes.  If traffic is stopped or going too slow for them they will just pull into the parking or right-turn lane and pass everyone up until the intersection and then drag-race out again to get in front.   

God forbid someone actually STOP for a pedestrian, someone will just race around the stopped car on the right and nearly mow down the peds in the crosswalk as they get near the curb...

They also had a few segments on the "war on cars" and other bike-issues.

I can't find the link to the podcast for this show but it was well worth listening to.

Liz said:

While I don't think he should being singling out cyclists, he does have a point. I actually do wish that more laws where actually enforced, be if for cyclists, motorists or pedestrians.  The rate that ALL 3 violate codes is dangerous. I don't think cyclists should be targeted more heavily than drivers, but it should be targeted at the same rate.  Chicago is pretty bad in terms of compliance for all modes of transportation. 

Things like red light running and riding without lights are not just dangerous to that individual, they're dangerous to the other road users as well.  I've had several times this summer I had been nearly hit on my bike by another cyclist blowing a red light.  This is not someone who approaches an empty intersection, stops than proceeds if its clear, this is someone who just never bothered to slow down, look or yield to others.  While a bike wouldn't do as much damage to me as a car, I'd rather not find out how much damage getting t-boned by a one will do. 

once again, some people do ride bikes for other things then getting groceries

The tour is one of the worlds largest sporting events

I am not trying to start an argument here, but what is wrong with obeying the traffic laws?

I stop for every stop light, every time. I do admit to only yielding the right of way for stop signs

How can we bitch about people parking in bike lanes,being on cell phones and such if we do not follow the same laws?

I was in the Loop as a pedestrian on Tuesday, and I lost count how many times that a motor vehicle failed to yield to me in the crosswalk with the walk sign going.

I had two people scream at me to "Get out of the F ing way!" I know it's hot and everything but I honestly hoped that I would make it to my meeting without harm. The level of aggression was just amazing. Why are some people out there so angry and aggro?

If anything the car driving is getting worse. Since these are such dire budget times for Chicago and Crook county, I fail to see how the car traffic laws are not enforced. There is a lot more money to be found there.

Agree with the comments above that the author is just trying to get a rise (and resultant page views) for the Chicago Titanic. Good luck with that pay wall.

I love how all these people who write these types of articles say "I ride bikes all the time", "I a huge cycling enthusiast," or some other bullshit and then talk about how they drive everywhere. Today I'm gonna work extra hard to ride like an even bigger dick than I already do in honor of Mr. John D. Thomas. 

P to the S. 

Who the fuck uses a middle initial? Sounds like a 1% to me. LAME. 

James, I agree that it will probably take a cultural shift in order to get people to change driving habits. I didn't hear the WBEZ thing, but a couple weeks ago Freakonomics did a podcast on herd mentality talking about the mimes too.   

http://www.freakonomics.com/2012/06/21/riding-the-herd-mentality-a-...

I don't think the conversations of cyclists obeying traffic laws and motorists obeying traffic laws have to be linked together.  Both break many laws, and I feel like any discussions of the topic breaks down into an "I know you are but what am I fight".  

Motorists continuing to violate the law, shouldn't be an excuse for cyclists to do the same. 

I will say that the author has very poor writing skills, doesn't understand economics, and instead of making a clear, level headed argument simply whines about things he doesn't like.  

The article is poorly written and the headline is meant to be sensational

actually, yes:

http://washcycle.typepad.com/home/2008/07/the-myth-of-the.html



MagMileMarauder said:

Has anybody ever read a editorial making similar points regarding the lawlessness of drivers and how law enforcement should crack down harder on them? Yeah, me neither:).

re Middle Initials:

John F. Kennedy

William F. Buckley (Jr)

George C. Scott

Alfred E. Neuman

Adam Kitzmann said:

I love how all these people who write these types of articles say "I ride bikes all the time", "I a huge cycling enthusiast," or some other bullshit and then talk about how they drive everywhere. Today I'm gonna work extra hard to ride like an even bigger dick than I already do in honor of Mr. John D. Thomas. 

P to the S. 

Who the fuck uses a middle initial? Sounds like a 1% to me. LAME. 

I don't really read trib eds, but I did see this

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/suburbs/skokie/chi-dangero...

Also, DUI and seatbelt checkpoints aren't unusual.  I also think that the sight of a car pulled over with a police car just behind with it's lights on is not a rare spotting either.  I've never seen a bicycle pulled over.

I've also been stopped for "not letting the car rock forward, back, and then forward again" to define a complete stop (I stopped.) and the officer hiding half a block down who pulled me over said it was because the neighbors had complained about cars rolling through the intersection.  I would guess that the actual action being taken by police would be the reason why you don't see people writing in to complain about a lack of action being taken by the police.  And I'm sure my ticket wasn't for safety reasons as I was the only one at the intersection.

Anne said:

actually, yes:

http://washcycle.typepad.com/home/2008/07/the-myth-of-the.html



MagMileMarauder said:

Has anybody ever read a editorial making similar points regarding the lawlessness of drivers and how law enforcement should crack down harder on them? Yeah, me neither:).

I suspect there's some trade journal for publishers that regularly runs a list of hot-button topics to help authors get their names out there.

Cameron Puetz said:

Every summer the Tribune runs an I'm a cyclist but not that kind of cyclist article like this one. Typically it appears at the beginning of the summer when large numbers of new riders take to the streets, but the early summer this year seems to have caught them off guard. The author seems to be one of their get off my lawn type filler op-ed writers, who over hypes some societal ill and advocates a crackdown to solve the city's budget woes. In the past he's tackled such tough issues as spitting on the sidewalk and the price of gas and candy.

 

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