The Chainlink

I came across this image while investigating a bicycle route to Daley Plaza.

And these are the cyclists that give other cyclists a bad name. We can't have anything nice in the City with someone ruining it for everyone else.

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Yawn...

No cars up Des Plaines all the way up the hill to the Jewel, car in front looks to be turning left. No chance of traffic from other direction due to green right turn arrow (car in front has a left turn arrow at that time). Walk signal might just have turned and he got a 1 second head start. He could be practicing an Idaho stop, can't tell. If your ride this route everyday you would understand the dynamics of this intersection.

Anyways, not like it is legal, but again it is a pretty controlled situation this guy clearly understands. I wouldn't get too worked up about it. I'm sure you could find cars in similar situations with ease:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBQBeNSvNtk

Why is it that if we see a cyclist behaving bad 'we all get a bad name', yet when a motorist breaks the law people say 'what an idiot' and move on?

Shame on him for not wearing a helmet either.

he could be turning right with the green arrow...

If you think the cyclist is giving us a bad name look at your post.  There are no "read" lights, how can anybody "blow" one.   Come back and complain after a couple of English classes.

Marc

C'mon folks, you know the cyclist has to be doing something wrong.  It's just a matter of figuring out what.

Tom Z, are you familiar with this term:

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=internalized%20oppre...

exactly what is your point here ?  I seem to be missing something pretty obvious.

+1

Tandemonium said:

Yawn...

No cars up Des Plaines all the way up the hill to the Jewel, car in front looks to be turning left. No chance of traffic from other direction due to green right turn arrow (car in front has a left turn arrow at that time). Walk signal might just have turned and he got a 1 second head start. He could be practicing an Idaho stop, can't tell. If your ride this route everyday you would understand the dynamics of this intersection.

Anyways, not like it is legal, but again it is a pretty controlled situation this guy clearly understands. I wouldn't get too worked up about it. I'm sure you could find cars in similar situations with ease:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBQBeNSvNtk

Why is it that if we see a cyclist behaving bad 'we all get a bad name', yet when a motorist breaks the law people say 'what an idiot' and move on?

I am a newbie biker, and I see other bikers run red all the time.  Based on the responses here, I guess this is accepted by most members here, which is a shame.  

When a car driver runs a red, everyone knows he's breaking the law, and he will be ticketed if he was caught.  But when bikers do it, they are setting an example for beginner bikers that it's ok to run a red and that there's no consequence.  I wish there are "bike cops" in the city that can hand out tickets to bikers that violate rules of the road.

wow, you sound like a real nice, outstanding person.  How about you take a couple of manner classes?

Marc A. Irwin said:

If you think the cyclist is giving us a bad name look at your post.  There are no "read" lights, how can anybody "blow" one.   Come back and complain after a couple of English classes.

Marc

I don't run red lights, and I wouldn't describe it as a behavior that I "accept." That said, I think the mild disapproval you're seeing here just reflects the diversity of bad road behavior that commuting cyclists see and live with every day. We might be irritated by red light-runners, shoalers, and salmon. But what really gets to me? It's the drivers parking bike lanes, it's the drivers veering into the bike lane and suddenly slowing to make a right turn right in front of me, it's the bus drivers that only partially overtake me before starting to edge over toward the curb to make a drop-off, it's the drivers who treat the bike lane like it's an optional lane of traffic, it's the drivers who don't signal their turns or cheat red lights, it's the drivers who interpret a full stop behind another car that's stopped at a stop sign as good enough, it's the drivers who drive like they're tied to the car in front of them with zero independent awareness of those around them, etc., etc. In other words, it's the drivers whose erratic and unpredictable behavior keeps me guessing about all driver behavior, putting me constantly at risk, that I worry about, not the cyclists "setting a bad example" by proceeding through the Dearborn PBL red bike lights with through traffic's green light or running a poorly-timed red light.

In one set of cases, you have people breaking the rules in precisely the same circumstances that the rules are designed to regulate. In the other, you have people breaking rules that fail to make sense in brief, specific circumstances.

Jacky Chau said:

I am a newbie biker, and I see other bikers run red all the time.  Based on the responses here, I guess this is accepted by most members here, which is a shame.  

When a car driver runs a red, everyone knows he's breaking the law, and he will be ticketed if he was caught.  But when bikers do it, they are setting an example for beginner bikers that it's ok to run a red and that there's no consequence.  I wish there are "bike cops" in the city that can hand out tickets to bikers that violate rules of the road.

In general, if you stop and look around and yield to other cars who have a green and treat a red light like a stop sign? It  is ok and there are no consequences. 

Yes, some people are idiots who blow through busy intersections like everyone should stop for them, but those people are rather few and far between. Most cyclists who do this have looked and are aware of what they're doing. 

Most cyclists don't have a death wish. 

Jacky Chau said:

I am a newbie biker, and I see other bikers run red all the time.  Based on the responses here, I guess this is accepted by most members here, which is a shame.  

When a car driver runs a red, everyone knows he's breaking the law, and he will be ticketed if he was caught.  But when bikers do it, they are setting an example for beginner bikers that it's ok to run a red and that there's no consequence.  I wish there are "bike cops" in the city that can hand out tickets to bikers that violate rules of the road.

Well said! 

Simon Phearson said:

I don't run red lights, and I wouldn't describe it as a behavior that I "accept." That said, I think the mild disapproval you're seeing here just reflects the diversity of bad road behavior that commuting cyclists see and live with every day. We might be irritated by red light-runners, shoalers, and salmon. But what really gets to me? It's the drivers parking bike lanes, it's the drivers veering into the bike lane and suddenly slowing to make a right turn right in front of me, it's the bus drivers that only partially overtake me before starting to edge over toward the curb to make a drop-off, it's the drivers who treat the bike lane like it's an optional lane of traffic, it's the drivers who don't signal their turns or cheat red lights, it's the drivers who interpret a full stop behind another car that's stopped at a stop sign as good enough, it's the drivers who drive like they're tied to the car in front of them with zero independent awareness of those around them, etc., etc. In other words, it's the drivers whose erratic and unpredictable behavior keeps me guessing about all driver behavior, putting me constantly at risk, that I worry about, not the cyclists "setting a bad example" by proceeding through the Dearborn PBL red bike lights with through traffic's green light or running a poorly-timed red light.

In one set of cases, you have people breaking the rules in precisely the same circumstances that the rules are designed to regulate. In the other, you have people breaking rules that fail to make sense in brief, specific circumstances.

Jacky Chau said:

I am a newbie biker, and I see other bikers run red all the time.  Based on the responses here, I guess this is accepted by most members here, which is a shame.  

When a car driver runs a red, everyone knows he's breaking the law, and he will be ticketed if he was caught.  But when bikers do it, they are setting an example for beginner bikers that it's ok to run a red and that there's no consequence.  I wish there are "bike cops" in the city that can hand out tickets to bikers that violate rules of the road.

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