[donkeybike]

Hee, my coworker saw this guy get ticketed. She saw the cop car and had stopped.
Riding south on N. Highland St. yesterday, I was stopped at a 4-way stop because I could clearly see a car at the perpendicular stop–and he was there first. I never assume that people are just not using a turn signal. Right behind me comes a cyclist and he blew right through. I just shook my head. Not cool dude, you give us all a bad rap!

[donkeybike]

Columbia Pike will never be bike friendly. I rather like meandering north through neighborhood streets, up Irving usually, but it is time-consuming. It is once I get to 10th St N and Clarendon blvd that I have probs, but anyway…my husband rides through Ft Myer and loves it.

[donkeybike]

2nd St S, which currently has sharrows

[donkeybike]

I don’t use a bell because I prefer to call out, which I always do unless it is clear the situation does not warrant it. I am rarely going that fast and don’t mind slowing down or even stopping if need be. It is alarming to be passed by a speeding bicycle with no warning whatsoever, not to mention how dangerous it is. I stop at red lights also, and I have had cyclists breeze past me and go through the light, with no warning! The passing situation mentioned is even more worrisome–you can always speed back up, so why risk it?

Cyclists have to realize that they have a bad rap–that I don’t think is deserved, but we must be ambassadors until society catches up. The disdain that drivers have toward us is really scary.

[donkeybike]

This problem is continuing, so I put in a call to the non-emergency police number yesterday (as directed by the county). If anyone else is noticing a problem here, please call also.

[donkeybike]

I agree that trying to be a good example is best. I agree we should all do our part, but it is pretty rich for drivers to be lumping all cyclists together as law breakers. It all comes down to education, for us and for drivers. I am both actually, and now that I cycle in traffic more I feel more prepared to pass cyclists, which I admit has made me feel nervous in the past. But then I am never in a hurry and feeling compelled to buzz anyone.
What alarmed me recently was seeing two riders without lights after dark–not even the little flashing ones! That justifiably makes a driver irate.

[donkeybike]

Thanks so much–I wanted to make sure I was being reasonable. I’m going to more carefully observe how far the trucks are into the bike lane (they are certainly close enough where to pass I have to go into the right lane–it is hard to safely pass there as I would most othe rplaces because of the reasons I whined about above). If I confirm that this is continuing and as bad as I think it is, I’ll put in a call. Good to know improvements are coming to that area too!

[donkeybike]

I was a little miffed with the wording of the signs as well–I wanted to see “share the road” promoted more than “cyclists don’t follow traffic laws.” I even sought out this site as a result, wanting to vent.Then this morning on my commute through Clarendon/Courthouse, TWO cyclists blew past me, through red lights that I was patiently stopped at. It is not like I never treat a red light as a stop sign, but I always stop first. Just riding straight through is reckless (how many times do you see drivers run lights?), and it gives us all a bad name.
Anyway, I guess I better understand what bike safety week is about now, but I do hope other campaigns focus on educating everybody. When I crash, it will certainly be because of a pedestrian — they walk out into the road without looking for me (sometimes between cars) all the time!

[Author]

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