tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2727235105309015172.post2753852848078650544..comments2023-09-17T08:18:37.849-07:00Comments on AZ BluesCat: Here Come Da Traffic Law JudgeBluesCathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14131717718194330990noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2727235105309015172.post-60750270212629854092010-09-26T12:41:45.929-07:002010-09-26T12:41:45.929-07:00Oh yeah, one other thing, JRA, I TOTALLY agree wit...Oh yeah, one other thing, JRA, I TOTALLY agree with you about sidewalk riding: it is tricky and not made for the faster moving bicycles. Like you, when I ride it I ONLY ride it for as long as conditions exist which tell me that is the safest place to be.<br /><br />The SECOND I have a chance to move down into the faster traffic lane of the street, I take it. After all: riding the bike is MUCH more satisfying and exhilarating if you're doing it at 15 mph or above!BluesCathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14131717718194330990noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2727235105309015172.post-50370373493691220722010-09-26T11:34:47.126-07:002010-09-26T11:34:47.126-07:00Yeah, JRA, I think --- at least I HOPE --- I was k...Yeah, JRA, I think --- at least I HOPE --- I was kind of alluding to that with the next paragraph, after the "NO cross traffic" statement, where I said I wasn't gonna stop "ESPECIALLY if some motorist is pulling up behind me in the traffic lane, and ESPECIALLY if it is dark."<br /><br />Your other point about "Those DAMNED cyclists!" is well taken, but I'm thinking those people think that ANYWAY, even if you and I are riding strictly following the the letter of the law ... which, BTW, THEY PROBABLY DON'T EVEN KNOW and think you and I being in the traffic lane IS illegal!BluesCathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14131717718194330990noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2727235105309015172.post-78870124612258485332010-09-26T08:20:16.221-07:002010-09-26T08:20:16.221-07:00Politicians have given us too many stop signs wher...Politicians have given us too many stop signs where any reasonable person or competent traffic engineer would put a yield sign instead, no doubt about it. But IMO you should change your "no cross traffic" clause in your California Stop technique to "no traffic whatsoever" if for no other reason than to be self-consistent about your otherwise high level of concern for getting hit from behind--a car also California stopping at the same stop sign coming up behind you before turning left or right may not see you, same for an oncoming one, turning your mutual California stop into a messy California Roll. Also if anyone else is around your action motivated by well-reasoned traffic logic is just as likely to be perceived as one more damned cyclist who considers themselves above the law, and IMHO it won't pay off for any cyclists when some cyclists send that message. As for the sidewalk, though, we live in a state that legally considers it perfectly OK for you to ride as much as you want there in a safe manner, and while I do it for short distances too almost every day, it's generally too slow and too dicey a place for me to feel safe or satisfied to ride any distance, so I don't stay for very long. Crossing and entering scenarios are a high cause of bicycle - motor vehicle accidents, and sidewalks are really engineered for slow-moving peds and not faster flowing bikes. I'm slowly developing an opinion that many of our concepts of what seems "subjectively safe" are objectively unsafe, and I would prefer to be uncomfortably safe rather than comfortably unsafe.John Romeo Alphahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01289456379789026152noreply@blogger.com