Stop sign pet peeve
This morning, riding eastbound on Kinzie.
Approaching an intersection where everyone has a stop sign.
As I approach, an eastbound car is stopped at the stop sign, with its right turn arrow blinking.
I come to a stop.
After I come to a stop, not one, not two, not three, but FOUR cyclists, approaching from behind me, all blow through the stop sign.
WTF!
Views: 614
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Paul Lazzaro on
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Permalink Reply by David Barish on
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There are levels of offense. If they blew through the sign to the right of the driver (and passed you on your right) they are Darwin Award eligible. If they did so to the left of the driver and if they actually considered the intersection and saw no other traffic I would note the offense but not be terribly worked up about it.
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Permalink Reply by Chucko on
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I always think to myself- if you want to get where you're going faster, ride faster, but don't break more rules.
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The problem with this scenario is that the car, which arrived at the intersection first, is not turning. It's stopped. This is an invitation to anyone on a bike that they're 'good to go' thru the intersection.
Control is an illusion. You cannot others, only yourself. I do not 'blow through' stop signs, I flow like water around traffic and thru the streets. Zen and bike riding.
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That's a tough one. When I am driving and come to a stop. I am going to sit for an instant to see what the cyclists are doing so as to avoid giving them the right hook. Had the driver started to make the right turn this thread would have been an angry one about the &$#@* driver who almost took out those four cyclists and had he or she done so we would not be victim blaming or castigating the cyclists. We would have been rallying to their defense against the aggressive driver.
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Permalink Reply by David P. on
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Not such a tough one, I think. Let's modify the language slightly: "The problem with this scenario is that the car, which arrived at the intersection first, is not turning. It's stopped. This is an invitation to anyone else in a car that they're 'good to go' thru the intersection." I think you'd have an easier time recognizing the problem with this rationale in this case. Of course, many drivers of cars do, in fact, treat all-way stops like this; I see it every week, every day, even. I personally do not find it necessary to come to a dead stop at multi-way stops unless the particular circumstances require it, but I will argue that it is necessary to follow the rules of right-of-way. You can "flow like water around traffic" but if you do that at an intersection and get hit you're going to find yourself in trouble. If, referring to David Barish's scenario, a driver had started to make a right turn and gotten hit by a cyclist who was going straight through the intersection, perhaps we would be "rallying to their defense against the aggressive driver", but if we did we would be wrong.
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It is instances such as this and the one in the "Belmont/California/Elston" post that stop me from automatically blaming the automobile in car\bike crashes.
It is also the reason why drivers don't know what to expect out of cyclists at intersections. I've gotten confused looks from drivers when yielding to them when they had the right of way.
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Yes, it's funny when a driver thinks you are going to go even though s/he has the right of way. Experiences like what I describe above on Kinzie explain why they think that.
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Agree completely. Anytime I come to an intersection on my bike it's clear I confuse drivers by stopping. Only time I don't is if I've gotten there first and have the right of way. Even then, I slow down to make sure the drivers aren't blowing the sign. Right of way won't keep me alive if hit by a car.
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