Rage between cars, bikes is a vicious wheel

Mandy was obeying the traffic laws. I know that not all bicyclists do, but my Mandy was.

It's so easy not to see bicyclists because car drivers are looking for cars, not bikes. Slow down, be aware. When you're stopped at a red light and it turns green, wait a little before starting out, just in case someone runs their red light trying to beat the yellow. So much is lost that would have been if everyone would be a little patient.

I'm so sorry for the person who hit Mandy, and we're praying for her and her family.

I really really wish Mayor Daley would just start solving all this chaos and give one lane everywhere in the city for bikes and buses in the city. However, I do agree with motorists that bikes need to be better about obeying street signs Although motorists are just as guilty. I ride my bike to work everyday and there is not a single week that I do NOT get turned in front of. Yes I may go through a deserted area stop sign BUT you will NEVER see me go through a busy intersection at full speed. I cannot trust motorists to assume that I have right away. I wish cab drivers could go through some training because they are always my culprits. They do not get that I have rights like a car and just turn in front of me still. I think we all just need to be more careful, whatever happened to when you were a little kid and your mom said LOOK BOTH WAYS BEFORE CROSSING! Thanks Kevin, great article!

The article on anger is kind-of wrong. What makes me mad when I'm on my bike is that drivers risk my safety because they're being selfish and careless. I do not threaten their safety in any way. Both sides aren't being buttheads - I don't make those around me think that I might kill them or put them in a wheelchair. (think 2 tons coming towards you at 40 mph. I couldn't do that on my bike if I tried.) I don't think most commuting cyclists get mad at each other, it's much more peaceful than driving, just like walking is. The road is also a much bigger resource on your bike than it is for cars. It's way past time for car use to end.

Bicycles are an obsolete form of transportation. They belong more to the 19th century, than the 21st. They are extremely dangerous to ride in traffic surrounding by 3000 Lb. automobiles. 99.9 % of bikes are ridden as recreation, not transportation despite what a few oddballs might claim. Riding them on most of our roads is akin to riding a horse down the Dan Ryan Expressway and should be made unlawful in the name of public safety. It is extremely poor judgment to place oneself on a unprotected bicycle in the midst of traffic and makes as much sense as sailing a 12 foot sailboat in the supertanker lanes.

Sarah wrote:

The article on anger is kind-of wrong. What makes me mad when I'm on my bike is that drivers risk my safety because they're being selfish and careless. I do not threaten their safety in any way. Both sides aren't being buttheads - I don't make those around me think that I might kill them or put them in a wheelchair.(think 2 tons coming towards you at 40 mph. I couldn't do that on my bike if I tried.) I don't think most commuting cyclists get mad at each other, it's much more peaceful than driving, just like walking is. The road is also a much bigger resource on your bike than it is for cars. It's way past time for car use to end.

You are the one being careless and selfish for placing yourself out there with automobiles on just a bicycle. Why don't you just ride a horse in traffic, it makes just as much sense. "Its way past time for car use to end?" LOL Get real!

and now for a sensible proposal. I have found that a certain amount of unearned rage from motorists is directed at me, a cyclist, when I wait at a red light and the motorist behind me wants to make a right turn. My proposal: no right turn on red in streets with bike lanes and no right turn on red in front of a bike at the intersection, waiting for the light to turn green, and make it a moving violation.

I know it doesn't address cyclists' improprieties, but I think it will make a little dent in some of the motorist rage if they just CAN'T by law make that turn that I'm in the way of.

As for misbehaving cyclists, they **** me off too. I have way more trouble from them (including a broken wrist and a steel plate in my arm holding it together), but I live in Logan Square, and this is actually the third cyclist fatality here in less than a year. So it's kinda nervous-making.

It's easy to find misbehaving users of roadways - cyclists, vehicles, bus drivers, even jaywalking pedestrians. I'm sure we've encountered every one of 'em.

The question is, does encountering one, or even several, of these cause you to assume that all of them are outlaws? I'd bet that in most cases, it's NOT universal. You're more likely to assume that of specific groups.

Better roadway design is probably a start. Traffic calming measures have worked in Europe.

Also, where's my flying car? I was promised flying cars.

Lynn Annis wrote:

Mandy was obeying the traffic laws. I know that not all bicyclists do, but my Mandy was.
It's so easy not to see bicyclists because car drivers are looking for cars, not bikes. Slow down, be aware. When you're stopped at a red light and it turns green, wait a little before starting out, just in case someone runs their red light trying to beat the yellow. So much is lost that would have been if everyone would be a little patient.
I'm so sorry for the person who hit Mandy, and we're praying for her and her family.

I'm so sorry for your loss - you'll be in my thoughts. And will hope that some tiny measure of good comes from this - that maybe people will be more careful around that intersection (and others).

Joe American wrote:

Bicycles are an obsolete form of transportation. They belong more to the 19th century, than the 21st.

They are actually one of the most efficient machines man has ever invented and will never become obsolete.

In the end, your name says it all.

So many of us (myself included) drive like the world is going to end if we don't get where we're going, like, 30 seconds ago. How much does it take to just stop and say, hey, that person has a right to get where they're going and so do I..... So relax, and be safe.

Joe American wrote:

Bicycles are an obsolete form of transportation. They belong more to the 19th century, than the 21st.

I don't know about that. The age of cheap oil is over.

I am an avid road cyclist and I am a driver and see bad behavior on both sides. I screamed at a CAT-2 racer I was riding with, for running a stop causing a motorist to screech to a halt (he had the ROW) On the other side of the windshield, my baby daughter was nearly killed in her stroller by an oblivious driver on a cell phone blowing a red. I say intense enforcement and severe penalties for both.

We need sensible pathways for bicycles. Stopping and starting a bike is not as simple as driving a car. See my suggestion below. Call up your alderman and add your input and suggestions for your area.

All it takes is a little bit of planning to make a safe bicycle city for bicyclists to get safely to every place in town.

Make two parallel streets approximately every eight blocks become one-way streets. Paint a white line down one of the streets and have cars drive only on the right side and bicycles only on the left side of the street. Allow parking on both sides of the streets but post maximum car speed limits of 15 MPH to discourage car traffic on bicycle streets..
Put up stop signs, and choose streets with stoplights to make all cars stop, or cautioned, before crossing a bicycle street. On major streets crossings, put up synchronized stoplights for bicycle crossings.

Do this in every direction, and bingo, we instantly have a safe bicycle city
.

.

When I ride my bike, I obey all laws. I thought as a extra safety measure, I would ride on the sidewalks - I don't have a problem with that.. but i think the sidewalks are more dangerous because drivers DON'T Look both ways before making a turn/and I have almost gotten hit a number of times; drivers come flying out of drive-thurs and gangways; and they pull far out instead of stopping at the crossing lines so you have to go all the way into the intersection or behind them between them and the other car.

Sarah wrote:

The article on anger is kind-of wrong. What makes me mad when I'm on my bike is that drivers risk my safety because they're being selfish and careless. I do not threaten their safety in any way. Both sides aren't being buttheads - I don't make those around me think that I might kill them or put them in a wheelchair.(think 2 tons coming towards you at 40 mph. I couldn't do that on my bike if I tried.) I don't think most commuting cyclists get mad at each other, it's much more peaceful than driving, just like walking is. The road is also a much bigger resource on your bike than it is for cars. It's way past time for car use to end.

The author has a point! You think you're at peace with the world riding your bike, but to the pedestrians that get buzzed on the sidewalks by bikes or cut in front of at intersections when they have the right of way to cross and all cars are stopped but God forbid a biker would have to stop and put their feet on the ground for a moment. Bikes are as obnoxious to pedestrians as cars are to bikers, perhaps more so. At least cars generally stay on the roadway. Bikers feel they have the right to ride anywhere they want, sidewalks, jogging paths, middle of the road, where ever! What needs to be done is mandatory licensing for anyone that rides a wheeled vehicle including bikes. This should also include bikers carrying mandatory insurance as motorized vehicles must. Bike registration and plates should also be issued to pay for the creation of bike lanes and upkeep of same. At least laws could be enforced, bikers couldn't anonymously weave in and out of pedestrians without having their plate number recorded and fines collected against bikers that currently don't follow any rules! If you want to be a peace with the world Sarah, walk!

You're all nuts.

The most recent biking death is unfortunate. Looks like the driver was pretty irresponsible, as the driver was cited for a number of violations, including lack of insurance.
Don't forget that jerkery can occur from both motorists and cyclists. Remember the Tour da Chicago? Those guys played with their lives, and one of them got himself killed.
Bikers and drivers both need to be more careful in general, me included.

I do feel "pedestrian rage" when a biker comes speeding through a crowded crosswalk, going the wrong way on a one way street, when we have the walk light. I also feel it when cars come inches away from me in the crosswalk, trying to make a right on red with no regard for my safety.

Mona wrote:

When I ride my bike, I obey all laws. I thought as a extra safety measure, I would ride on the sidewalks - I don't have a problem with that.. but i think the sidewalks are more dangerous because drivers DON'T Look both ways before making a turn/and I have almost gotten hit a number of times; drivers come flying out of drive-thurs and gangways; and they pull far out instead of stopping at the crossing lines so you have to go all the way into the intersection or behind them between them and the other car.

Mona, you already broke a law. You are not supposed to ride a wheeled vehicle upon a sidewalk! Believe it or not, you can actually be ticket for that. Besides, where are pedestrians supposed to walk now. That is why people have such animosity against bikers, you don't follow any rules! This is because it's not required to learn the rules and be licensed before jumping on a bike. Please stay off of the sidewalks, they are meant only for pedestrians. That is why people pulling out of their driveways don't expect to see a bike zooming in front of them, they are looking for slow moving pedestrians!

This article was completely vacuous. The only thing that he got right is that there is no monopoly on right or wrong on either the drivers' or cyclists' part. From everything I have read, this was the motorists fault in this case, and in a car v. bike wreck, unfortunately, the car always wins.