Sick and tired of bicyclists ignoring traffic law - Straight Dope ...

Quote:

I have seen none of the above. I believe it is because the bicyclists are aware that the road is a flatter surface, (in other words, easier for them to ride their bikes), yet harder on the drivers, and more dangerous for everyone involved.

It's a rare 'bikepath' that's actually reserved for bicycles, rather than shared with every sort of nonmotorized traffic that cares to use it - pedestrians, joggers, pedestrians in groups, pedestrians walking dogs, kids on scooters and skateboards, and so forth.

In the DC area, all of the major bikepaths - C&O, Rock Creek, GW Parkway, W&OD, etc. - are widely used by pretty much all of the above. On weekends (and evenings during the Daylight Savings half of the year), a cyclist can pretty much forget about the prospect of building up any momentum on any of those trails.

Similarly, I've run into many secondary trails over time that were undoubtedly smooth right after they were initially paved, but have taken on the lumpiness of an unmade bed while preserving the solidness of asphalt, as tree roots, temperature changes, and low maintenance budgets have taken their toll.

In either case, it is only natural for cyclists to prefer the road. Not to mention, we do in fact have a legal right to ride on pretty much all roads that aren't limited access, and a few that are.

Sure, there's an added risk. But for the most part, we've got to bike on roads anyway, because outside of some exceptional locales like Portland, OR or Davis, CA, the bikepaths just don't go everywhere. In my part of Maryland, if I want to bike, I've got to bike on roads, period. (There's one little bikepath a few miles away from my home, but it's short and doesn't go anywhere I'm going.) So when I'm cycling in places where there's a bikepath, I'll use the bikepath if I regard it as an improvement on cycling on the roads, but I don't feel any obligation either to the temporary and marginal improvement to my own safety, or to the convenience of motorists, to use the bikepath rather than the road.

Source: http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=696425

James Gandolfini funeral Nelson Mandela Dead Dylan Redwine doma Rachel Jeantel nelson mandela aaron hernandez