Missed connection

[TwoWheelsDC]

@mstone 121548 wrote:

Sure they do, just listen to the complaints.

Fair enough, but in my day-to-day experience on the road, which is what actually affects me, drivers are generally courteous (maybe even frustratingly so, yielding to me when it’s their turn, helpy-helperton style) and not impatient when I follow the spirit of the law at intersections. Now, they may honk at me later if they have to move their wrist half-a-degree to go around me or remove their foot from the accelerator while behind me, but that wasn’t the focus of the question I was addressing.

But yes I agree with your larger point and I think the issue is that there is a general (completely irrational) frustration that drivers have over being impeded by cyclists, and they essentially seize on whatever helps them justify their angst, including our behavior at intersections.

[mstone]

@vern 121560 wrote:

I think it would be very difficult to create meaningful and specific language to codify a legal Idaho stop.

I guess we could just ask how they managed to do it in idaho, no?

[scoot]

@vern 121560 wrote:

I think it would be very difficult to create meaningful and specific language to codify a legal Idaho stop.

Disagree. Idaho stop = interpret stop signs as yields and interpret red traffic signals as if they were flashing red. Seems pretty clear cut.

I regularly ride through a very lightly traveled suburban neighborhood with numerous stop signs. I employ the Idaho stop when no one is around, but will come to a full stop if a conflicting vehicle appears to be waiting for that.

[dkel]

This conversation about Idaho stops seems eerily familiar… Anyway! Who wants to argue about bike headlights? Anyone?

[americancyclo]

@dkel 121572 wrote:

Who wants to argue about bike headlights? Anyone?

High beam strobes on trails, always!

[Crickey7]

In my version of the Idaho stop, I throw a potato at a rider who does what the rider in that video did.

[Subby]

dkel;121572 wrote:

this conversation about idaho stops seems eerily familiar… Anyway! Who wants to argue about bike headlights? Anyone?

PASSES! Do you call them or do you send them via esp?

[DrP]

@Crickey7 121574 wrote:

In my version of the Idaho stop, I throw a potato at a rider who does what the rider in that video did.

You must be weighed down quite a bit with potatoes when you ride. I easily see a few for every ride I am on and quite a lot on my long rides.

[rcannon100]

@americancyclo 121573 wrote:

High beam strobes on trails, always!

[consularrider]

Maybe it would give them a little more panache to call them “Paris stops” (at least for the red lights).

[GovernorSilver]

When I ride in DC (commute), I just follow the other cyclists, then blame them when I get caught.

[kwarkentien]

Ask Rod Smith how well that works (hint: it didn’t).

[dplasters]

@GovernorSilver 121604 wrote:

When I ride in DC (commute), I just follow the other cyclists, then blame them when I get caught.

Speaking of following other cyclists, I was at the place that isn’t the Kennedy Center but is instead the National Opera House according to Google for The Book of Mormon and the cringe-worthiness of bicycle and car and pedestrian traffic at the circle in front of the Watergate. Oh. My. God. That intersection is crazy. Now I know how someone thought up Fairfax Circle.

[Tania]

@dplasters 121608 wrote:

Speaking of following other cyclists, I was at the place that isn’t the Kennedy Center but is instead the National Opera House according to Google for The Book of Mormon and the cringe-worthiness of bicycle and car and pedestrian traffic at the circle in front of the Watergate. Oh. My. God. That intersection is crazy. Now I know how someone thought up Fairfax Circle.

I ride through there on my commute (both ways) and it’s not so bad. Going home when I have to ride through and around the circle I just ride in the center of my lane and clearly signal where I’m going – I think it’s easier for cars to see me that way. The only time I’ve been frustrated through there is when I tried to use the designated crosswalk (uh, no) and the sidewalk which I’m told is the trail (also, no). In fact I’m usually relieved to hit the circle since the threat of pedestrians popping out from between parked cars is mostly gone.

For someone who used to be horrified at the notion of road riding, I can’t believe I just typed that.

(Biking past the White House and crossing 17th to continue on G is WAY worse.)

[GovernorSilver]

@kwarkentien 121605 wrote:

Ask Rod Smith how well that works (hint: it didn’t).

AFAIK things worked out great for Rod Smith. Two Superbowl rings with the Denver Broncos. I think he still holds some franchise records – receiving yards or something.

[Author]

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