I don’t understand cyclists. (Massachusetts cyclists, anyway.)
I was driving home from work last week, and took a short cut along a slow road with three or four traffic lights in the space of a couple of miles. The lights seem to be timed so that one is forced to wait for a few moments at each of them. I was in a group of about five cars, waiting at the first light, when two cyclists, riding expensive-looking bikes, wearing the requisite amount of Spandex, and eyes hidden by mirror shades, flashed past us and ran the red light. The signal changed, the cars started off, overtook the cyclists, and stopped at the next red light. Once again, the cyclists flashed by and ran the red light at full speed. And so on.
This was not an uncommon experience, just a dramatically clear instance of a familiar pattern.
Now I was under the impression that the cyclists’ cri de coeur was “Same roads, same rights, same rules”. So what gives? Yes, I know about signals with detectors that don’t respond to bicycles, but that didn’t apply in this case. And I’ve come across detailed explanations of how – with toe clips and other gear – it’s unsafe to force cyclists to come to a full stop (which seems an extraordinary admission, and an invitation to ban such dangerous equipment). And I’ve read comments by cyclists who claim that drivers are picking on them, and ignoring the far more numerous violations committed by drivers. This seems simply false to me. When it comes to observing red lights, stop signs, and the like, the vast majority of drivers follow the rules; the vast majority of cyclists (here in Massachusetts, anyway) do not. And the police…?
I don’t understand.