Opposite_Match5303 t1_j10p7f9 wrote
Reply to comment by GM_Pax in Boston, rules of the road by PedXing23
Bikes are not subject to the same rules at all? Can use bike lanes, can ride against traffic on many one-way streets, should skip the line at a red light to use the 'bike box', should use right-most lane if not in bike lane or turning, not allowed on highways etc.
More, mindlessly following car rules on a bike is a good way to get flattened by a driver blindly turning right without looking (or caring that bikes "subject to the same rules as cars" have the right of way over cars turning).
I understand that your intent is good, but treating bikes exactly like cars is a good way to put bikes in danger. Bikes shouldn't have to be exactly like cars to use the road. Roads are not for cars: bikes, horses, scooters and everyone else have exactly the same legitimacy.
As for rules of the road -- are you as upset by drivers speeding?
GM_Pax t1_j1111oy wrote
>Bikes are not subject to the same rules at all?
Yes, bicycles ARE subject to the same rules in general.
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>Can use bike lanes, can ride against traffic on many one-way streets, should skip the line at a red light to use the 'bike box', should use right-most lane if not in bike lane or turning, not allowed on highways etc.
There are some bicycle-specific elements to the law, but otherwise yes we do have to follow the same rules.
Use of a bicycle lane is no different in concept from use of an HOV lane, or a Bus-only lane, for example. Use of a bicycle-specific marking (e.g. a bicycle box) is the same sort of thing; you're still obeying traffic control markings - in this case, the paint on the street.
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>I understand that your intent is good, but treating bikes exactly like cars is a good way to put bikes in danger. Bikes shouldn't have to be exactly like cars to use the road.
Tell it to the Massachusetts Legislature. They make the laws, not I.
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>As for rules of the road -- are you as upset by drivers speeding?
FUCK, YES!!
And running red lights and stop signs, too.
Opposite_Match5303 t1_j11c4sc wrote
"Subject to the same rules in general" is dramatically moving the goalposts from your original comment, which stated verbatim that bikes are subject to the same rules as cars without exception.
The Massachusetts legislature makes lots of bad laws, especially about bikes: if law was automatically aligned with good policy we'd have the Idaho Stop here, since it's been shown to substantially reduce accidents.
If you want to be upset at 99% of road users across all categories, live your life I guess?
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