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+--- Thread: Cycling in Waterloo Region (/showthread.php?tid=186)
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RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - zanate - 10-27-2015
(10-27-2015, 02:29 PM)Osiris Wrote: Infuriatingly relevant.
Infuriating and possibly related, but relevant? Anyone who's talking seriously about Idaho stops is not proposing changing the rules about right of way at all. Under such a law, anyone proceeding without right of way is still breaking the law.
I'd be mad too when someone steps or bikes or drives in front of my vehicle when I am moving through an intersection. All of these things have happened to me. None of them stop being illegal or infuriating if we move to a stop-as-yield rule for people on bikes.
Here's a starting point for the topic, including discussions of pros and cons:
Quote:The Idaho stop is the common name for a law that allows cyclists to treat a stop sign as a yield sign, and a red light as a stop sign. It first became law in Idaho in 1982, but has not been adopted elsewhere.[1] A limited form of the law called "Stop as Yield", that deals only with stop signs, has expanded to parts of Colorado and been considered in several other states. Advocates argue that current law criminalizes normal cycling behavior, and that the Idaho stop makes cycling easier and safer and places the focus where it should be: on yielding the right-of-way.[2] Opponents think it is less safe because it violates the principles of vehicular cycling and makes cyclists less predictable.
Discuss!
RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - ookpik - 10-27-2015
(10-27-2015, 12:33 PM)MidTowner Wrote:(10-27-2015, 12:23 PM)notmyfriends Wrote: So should pedestrians be allowed to cross at a red light as well?
That's interesting. And I'd be really curious to find out how many citations have been given to people on foot crossing against a red light where no traffic was impeded...
I think, if you walk around, you'll find that it's almost more common to see someone crossing against a red, than waiting for a green, when there's no car traffic.
As a pedestrian I cross when it's safe to do so, irrespective of what the traffic light may indicate. I do this deliberately because it's safer than relying on traffic lights. One example is when I have a green to proceed and all too often a car driver to my left, who has a red, will make a right turn in front of me. Worse, they're looking to their left for approaching car traffic so they don't see me crossing from their right until they've already started their turn. The same applies at STOP signs where again they're looking to their left as I try to cross from their right.
I'd almost welcome a citation for this so I can take the cop to court and grill him on how many car drivers he's cited for making careless right turns on red when pedestrians on a green are trying to cross legally. Unless the cop is willing to perjure himself I bet the truthful answer would be zero.
RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - MidTowner - 10-27-2015
Yeah, the right hook is a constant source of irritation and threat to me, too. I've read that, oftentimes, when a person is struck in this situation, he or she will actually be passing in front of the driver's side of the vehicle, such little attention the driver has been paying to what might be approaching from his or her right.
I'd say that your habit of crossing when it's safe, irrespective of signals and who has the right-of-way, is unfortunately the way many people on foot probably need to behave. That's in a way very analogous to what we are talking about making legal for bicycles: the ability to proceed when it is safe to do so, recognizing that other traffic may have the right-of-way.
RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - clasher - 10-27-2015
I think a lot of people didn't bother to read the actual wikipedia link on the Idaho stop, no one is saying that cyclists will be legally allowed to blow through red lights, to quote "cyclists must stop on red lights and yield before proceeding straight through the intersection, and before turning left at an intersection". So at red lights riders will stop and proceed when it's clear.
To hear drivers rag on cyclists for running stop signs and red lights is pretty ripe considering how people in this area treat yellow lights as a signal to floor it and many people will enter intersections when the lights are red and make their turns even if there are cars waiting to turn left. The pot calling the kettle black doesn't seem apt enough; how many collisions are the result of red-light runners? Many more than can ever be pinned on scofflaw cyclists I reckon.
I've never been keen on passing on the right side of cars, either in traffic or even using the bike boxes that are starting to show up around town... many drivers turning right tend to crowd the curb and I don't see any point in putting myself at risk... I've always moved into the middle of the lane or even the far left if the driver behind me is signalling right.
RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - BuildingScout - 10-28-2015
The Record has a report on the "two abreast by-law". While we were busy discussing two abreast the by-law bans skateboarding and inline rollerskating on all sidewalks.
RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - clasher - 10-28-2015
I think I see more people riding skateboards (longboards) on the road nowadays than skating on the sidewalks. I've yet to see a single longboarder with lights or anything when skating at night.
RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - tomh009 - 10-28-2015
(10-28-2015, 03:36 PM)clasher Wrote: I think I see more people riding skateboards (longboards) on the road nowadays than skating on the sidewalks. I've yet to see a single longboarder with lights or anything when skating at night.
Evolution in action ...
RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - plam - 10-28-2015
(10-28-2015, 03:26 PM)BuildingScout Wrote: The Record has a report on the "two abreast by-law". While we were busy discussing two abreast the by-law bans skateboarding and inline rollerskating on all sidewalks.
Yeah, they're kind of bumpy anyway so it doesn't work as well as one would hope to rollerblade or skateboard on the sidewalk, I think. Maybe someone knows more than me about it. It's because the wheels are small?
RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - Canard - 10-28-2015
The smaller the wheel (with any vehicle), the greater the effective vibration is for a given bump of size n. Roller coasters with larger wheels are smoother than those with smaller wheels, especially over track seams. It has to do with the angle that the bump meets the surface of the wheel at; the angle relative to the point of contact with the ground is greater, the smaller the diameter of the wheel. This is why a pebble can stop a skateboard with relative ease but not a bicycle. It will still result in the same vertical displacement of the vehicle as it passes over it but it is drawn out over a longer distance with a larger wheel.
RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - Markster - 10-28-2015
Yeah, I made some observations last month on Twitter. It bans skateboards from Multi Use Trails too. (in addition to roads and sidewalks)
https://twitter.com/Markster3000/status/647470817014599680?s=17
And it's not just limited to skateboards. Scooters and coasters too:
https://twitter.com/Markster3000/status/647478051941580800?s=17
RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - plam - 10-28-2015
(10-28-2015, 08:12 PM)Markster Wrote: Yeah, I made some observations last month on Twitter. It bans skateboards from Multi Use Trails too. (in addition to roads and sidewalks)
https://twitter.com/Markster3000/status/647470817014599680?s=17
And it's not just limited to skateboards. Scooters and coasters too:
https://twitter.com/Markster3000/status/647478051941580800?s=17
It's funny: in Zurich it's not uncommon to see men in suits riding those foot-powered scooters in town.
RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - Viewfromthe42 - 10-29-2015
I believe the article suggested that skateboarding and rollerblading would become driveway-only (and skatepark) use. As an avid skater, I would hate to become a scofflaw because I want to stretch my legs with rollerblading.
RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - Canard - 10-29-2015
That's terrible and a big step backward, in my opinion. If the idea is to encourage more human-powered mobility, why forbid it?
RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - Section ThirtyOne - 10-29-2015
You guys are going to love this editorial opinion piece from The Record this morning: http://www.therecord.com/opinion-story/6060463-d-amato-on-road-or-sidewalk-cyclists-are-the-tail-that-wags-the-dog/
Quote:Let's recognize that we are a community of people who drive, direct our resources accordingly, and move on.
Wow.
RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - ookpik - 10-29-2015
What did you expect from D'Amato -- less bias than Outhit?
One example that says volumes about how these dinosaurs "think":
Quote:After a special bike crossing signal was installed at Erb and Peppler streets in Waterloo earlier this month, Coun. Mark Whaley actually said: "The era of the car as king is over in Waterloo." That's pie-in-the-sky thinking if ever I heard it.