Some interesting stuff here, including links to more studies showing similar results in different countries.
The summary is that the reason motorists break more laws is that speeding is so common.
I don’t think this is because motorists are all evil and cyclists are all saints. Probably, the reason motorists break speed limits is that it can be relatively difficult to keep cars below the speed limit. It’s all too easy to absentmindedly speed up. It’s also, perhaps becuase of this, widely seen as socially acceptable to break the speed limit (speaking anecdotally).
One interesting thing here, which may not surprise regular readers of Fuck Cars, is that better cycling infrastructure leads to less lawbreaking by cyclists. As is often the case, it’s the design of roads and cities that changes behaviour, not abstract appeals to road users to be sensible!
It seems rather obvious. Bicycle laws are less strict, so it’s “harder” to break them.
edit: what a bunch of dumb ass replies. no I won’t respond to any of them
In my experience, there are plenty of cyclists out there (and I’m sure it’s not the majority, but enough for me to notice) who are “traffic” when it suits them, and also “pedestrians” when it suits them.
Mostly, bike messengers in Boston are dicks. 😅
Not in all cases, e.g. the “Idaho stop” or laws that allow cycling on the sidewalk or proceeding on red light after a delay.
You’re mentioning extra laws that still need to be followed. They just replaced other vehicular laws. They’re still able to be broken.
Says the troll who didn’t even read the headline of the post before posting just because they saw a car and cycle in the same picture.
Beyond that, I responded to each of their points. If you want a source, ask them to provide them and I will give a rebuttal. I responded to the amount of information they provided. I didn’t see you asking them for a source, but you already have shown you’re obviously biased and don’t actually care about real discussion. Otherwise you wouldn’t just interject an opinion into a topic without even knowing what’s being discussed.
bikers need a driving license
edit: kinda offtopic, but cyclists are as annoying
I find distracted drivers annoying. Also the 10s of thousands of people vehicles kill every year annoying. The cars that drift into my bike lane and nearly kill me are annoying. Your stupid comment is annoying. Just fucking deal with your pathetic annoyance and let’s focus on the ones that actually harm people.
I find distracted drivers annoying.
This. Almost got hit by one the other night who swerved away at the last second (no sidewalk for me to bail to sadly). Having bright lights, wearing reflective clothing and riding cautiously can’t save you from drivers not paying attention
Over here in germany you can lose your drivers license if you violate traffic laws while riding your bike and that is probably sufficient.
also i hate bikers with modded akrapovic exhausts, thats just stupid (straight piped bikes also)…the whole brand and concept is stupid
exactly that was my point. some bikers dont handle their bikes as cars, they just keep slipping between lanes and hitting pedestrations covered by blind angles. that needs to stop
No one disagrees that rule breakers need to stop. But licensing doesn’t look like it’d help, considering drivers are licensed and break more rules than cyclists.
So, your comments here are kind of confusing. If I understand you right, you’re making a distinction between motorbikes (which as the name suggests have a motor) and pushbikes (AKA bicycles - the kind of thing you pedal). This study is about bicycles, not motorbikes.
As to licences, most jurisdictions do require motorcyclists to have a licence, either a full driving licence or a specialist motorbike licence (sometimes both).
Cyclists do not require a licence. While of course they do have the capacity to be ‘annoying’ (because they’re human beings), bicycles are both much simpler to pilot and much safer than either motorbikes or cars. In other words, while cyclists are annoying, motorists are dangerous. There’s a qualitative difference.
if cyclists dont have dedicated lanes somewhere, they need to have a license of some sort, ‘specialist’ cyclist, driving bicycle license, anything, to keep traffic in order
@zoe @frankPodmore Driving licences and traffic lights were invented because car drivers were too dangerous to safely mix with existing road traffic and we needed to restrain them. Bicycles have never been a significant danger to other road traffic. We don’t require licences for people to ride bicycles for the same reason we don’t require licences for pedestrians, it’s a ridiculous idea that would do nothing useful.
A common argument raised around here, is how will kids cycle to school if licenses are needed? Their parents are likely to drive them instead, creating more traffic, and the kids lose out on that exercise and freedom of mobility.
If their parents can’t drive them or afford to own a car it’s tough luck, that kid loses out on an education 🤷♂️
it can be relatively difficult to keep your car under the speed limit
Hard disagree. This is like saying it’s difficult to stay off you phone while driving — it’s just a shitty habit that can be corrected.
https://youtu.be/bglWCuCMSWc?si=8786kjY70qqai4V2
Yes, drivers absolutely should be actively driving, but they don’t. I’ve watched how a lot of people drive over the years, and the vast majority of drivers aren’t actively checking their mirrors, and gauges every few seconds. Road designers have decades of data on how to subconsciously make us slow down. It won’t stop all speeding, but it will drastically reduce it in the US.
It is in america. Roads are too wide and straight, which sends subtle signals that its safe to go faster than the speed limit.
This is especially bad on roads that have had their speed limit reduced without changing anything else.
I blame American road designers for speeding more, because we should be designing roads that reflect the speed we want them to drive.
Though the best solution to speeding is just removing cars, but I doubt that will happen.
I wonder which motor vehicle breaks more rules, motorcycles or buses. Far and away those are the two vehicles I always assume will ignore traffic rules and I am seldom proved wrong, but I wonder which of the two is best-in-show.
Buses are actually the safest form of road transport. Granted, I’ve had a couple of bus drivers nearly hit me on my bike, but that’s not representative!
Buses are actually the safest form of road transport.
Yeah, but not because they are inherently safe, but because they are often driving much slower than regular traffic and in stop and go situations, often in places built around bus infrastructure.
Put them on high-speed roads or outside that tailored infrastructure, and you end up with multi-casualty crashes. Like this, or this, or this, or this.
But to the comment you were replying to, many of the bus drivers around here drive as though they were in a pickup truck. Poorly!
For sure! When a bus violates traffic rules, everyone else gets out of the damn way because it’s a bus. You don’t want to try driving aggressively against one of those. When a bus decides to be in 2 lanes at once without using a turn signal, you just do your best not to be near it.
