Comment 71188

By Undustrial (registered) - website | Posted November 09, 2011 at 19:02:04

I really like this idea if only for the clarity it would provide. More and more, the most obnoxious thing I find myself doing as a cyclist is stopping for stop signs. I'm surprised it hasn't come to blows on a few occasions when drivers fail to see why I won't just cruise through when they waive me on (nearly been killed a few too many times, either by the person waving or others). Frankly, if I've put the effort into stopping and putting my foot down, the most courteous thing a driver who has the right-of-way can do is go ahead and get out of my way. For this reason, I often don't stop (if it's surveyable and safe), and it almost always seems to go over better with drivers. Probably gets them where they're going faster, too.

I don't blame people for not expecting cyclists to stop, which is why we need to start clearly defining these rules. I don't fault people for cycling through a stop sign, provided they're able to stop if they need to, and they yield to people who were waiting. The mechanics of cycling are very different from driving and some things which wouldn't be safe in cars can be safe if done by responsible cyclists. The keyword of course, being "responsible".

"Today, the notion of progress in a single line without goal or limit seems perhaps the most parochial notion of a very parochial century." — Lewis Mumford

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