It is completely necessary that cyclists get their own bike lines in the HRM. I’m a Halifax resident in the south end and I do not know how many times I’ve almost hit a cyclist due to them weaving in and/or out between both traffic and parked cars or randomly pulling out from a sidewalk. I am in complete support of cycling as it is both healthy and environmentally friendly but I’m sick of those who drive like a nut swerving in and out of lanes and then turn and bitch at those in the cars for “running them off the road.” I understand as a cyclist the road it is extremely dangerous which is what especially leads me to question why they (select few) believe they’re immune to traffic laws. Completely frustrated. We NEED bike lanes in the HRM. —Sick of Almost Being a Felon
This article appears in Oct 18-24, 2012.
I was biking home down a street off Quinpool yesterday (following the rules) when another cyclist pulled out from the line of cars heading the other way. He was biking into on-coming traffic (me) without a helmet, at high speed. WTF?! He was in the middle of the lane for on-coming traffic with a steady flow of vehicles coming and he had nowhere to go. He ended up cutting me off in a desperate attempt to bail onto the only available sidewalk. It was difficult, but I managed not to yell something extremely offensive, I did ‘advise’ him with a few rude gestures tho.
I got the biggest laugh yesterday coming home down Quinpool just before Oxford. A cyclist pulled up beside me and asked “Wanna drag?”.
We drive on the road and in the manner in which we do as we are forced there by circumstance, personal safety and need. These factors have been created by the lack of bike lanes and unruly car drivers. It people like you and I OB who suffer as a result. Stop bitching at me and bitch WITH me. Otherwise, you’re just another cunt.
There are just as many terrible drivers who think they’re similarly immune to traffic laws. The difference is that cyclists, as a general rule, do much less damage when they’re involved in accidents. So I tend to give more benefit of the doubt to moronic cyclists.
It does bother me though when I see cyclists weaving in and out between the shoulder and traffic to get around parked cars. I get that this is a sort of nervous twitch but cyclists should stay keep a straight line at all times, with the exception of crossing lanes to turn, even if it means having to cycle closer than you’d like to traffic. Might be something to do with the fact that, at any given time, a non-negligible fraction of new cyclists are taking a more “hands on” approach to riding in traffic, rather than opening a PDF on the rules of the road.
Anyway, as a general rule I avoid driving on the peninsula, especially in the South End. It’s a decision that will probably add five years to my life expectancy.
nice idea them bike lanes, but here’s the trouble. who the fuck will use them? ceertainly not the morons i see from time to time. i have seen full grown adults ride on sidewalks, and kids actually in the street, riding where they should. and then there are the braindeads thatt don’t wear headgear, but yet the kids do.
walking, i have had close shaves with idiots that are sposed to be adults, and very, very few with kids on bikes.so, what does that show you, that kids are a lot fucking smarter and safer to be around, while they are on their bikes. not all, but some break the laws too, but they are a minority.
The other day while I was trying not to get killed crossing Wyse Rd.,at a light in a crosswalk.Cars were stopped at the red to allow me to cross .This fucker (on an expensive bike with an expensive helmet,along with the expensive biking garb)comes barreling through running his red light almost smaking me, while I crossing….Some folks who drive bikes want to be able to “drive safely” on the roads in this city but,don’t want to obey the laws of the road.
What annoys me about your comment Boru1014 is that, like many other anti-cycling comments that I see on a near daily basis on this site, the exact same comment (“Some folks who drive bikes want to be able to “drive safely” on the roads in this city but,don’t want to obey the laws of the road”) can be made about people who drive cars. Yet cyclists get dumped on way more. Part of that I think is due to the mentality that bad drivers are an accepted “hazard of the road” while bad cyclists are simply viewed as “parasites in need of complete eradication”. It’s true that cars are more common, that people pay more to use their cars, but the consequences of bad driving are far more harmful and destructive than those of bad cycling.
Anyway, the point is that complaints about bad cyclists are far more than proportional to their actual impact on society, relative to that of the old automobile.
Get off the coast and write a letter to your MLA, city councillors, Mr. Mayor.
We should rename this site to LTWWBAC
ltwwb about cyclists
If you are following the rules of the road then hitting a cyclist will not make you a felon. relax and give cyclists a break untill the lanes are installed . Thanks!