Comments on Astoria Bike: Run Red Lights, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!

Is walking against the red light acceptable? The a...

2008-10-08T10:24:00.000-04:00

Is walking against the red light acceptable? The answer yes. When it's safe. Same for biking against the red light.

OK, I accept that in some cases you can know the p...

2008-10-08T08:17:00.000-04:00

OK, I accept that in some cases you can know the pavement is clear. Although I would still say that you should be on the road, I can see that you can be on the pavement in that situationwith minimal risk.

However, is running red lights really ever acceptable? Unless it's the same situation - it's midnight and you can see massive swathes of empty road - then I really don't think you can justify your original statement of running lots of red lights every day.

But sometimes you can bike down the sidewalk and k...

2008-10-07T14:50:00.000-04:00

But sometimes you can bike down the sidewalk and know it's clear.

One I often go down is from 37th to 36th Ave on 31st St (to get to the outside ATM by the subway stop). This sidewalk is four sidewalks wide and, at midnight when I ride on it, usually empty.

I don't see any problem with biking there at a slow speed. There's room for everybody.

I'm not saying that bikes should bike on the sidewalk. I'm just saying that are cases where it's OK. So I won't say that bikes should never be on sidewalks.

My bigger issue is that "following the rules of the road" does not always make biking safer. Often it makes biking less safe. The rules of the road are most definitely *not* designed for everybody's safety. They're designed for car-traffic flow. That's the problem.

That's why I stress biking safely. Ultimately, bike safety and following the rules are not the same thing. And nobody, walking or on bike, should get complacent and think they are safe just because they are following the "rules." That's how you get hurt.

But that's just the thing. You can't go on the pav...

2008-10-07T13:46:00.000-04:00

But that's just the thing. You can't go on the pavement and assume it's all going to be clear, for the same reason walking down a road at midnight is equally dangerous.
I don't think it's realistic to suggest a place with both a road and a pavement will be heaving with cars and have no people whatsoever on the pavement.

Until cycle lanes are in place for the duration of your journey, it's clearly safer to ride on the road, and follow the rules of the road. They're designed for everyone's safety.

And the fact that there's a faster way of travelling by running red lights and skipping across the pavement doesn't make it acceptable to do so.

But you can't bike into corners assuming there is ...

2008-10-03T16:21:00.000-04:00

But you can't bike into corners assuming there is no pedestrian. I never do. And if a bike does, then they're breaking the law wrong.

If there were two-direction bike paths on one way streets, bikes would never be on sidewalks.

Yes, it's all very well to pontificate that there'...

2008-10-03T15:57:00.000-04:00

Yes, it's all very well to pontificate that there's a safe way to break laws and that it's more efficient to skip the various safety devices that are in place.

However, these safety devices are in place for just that - safety. Cycling on the pavement is fine when it's clear, but can you really always tell it's clear? Or does the fact that I frequently nearly get hit by bikes when rounding corners just seem like a bizarre coincidence?