Why bicyclists need to obey traffic signals

In Boston, where even a simple bike lane is a rarity, bikers must continue to run reds for their own safety...

Do you want to give a more detailed explanation for how this is true?

Again, not saying the pedestrian here is at fault, as she had the walk signal, but one should always look.

One shoudl always look, but he who breaks the rule is still at fault. Shame on mrs.bike

Just curious, not trying to provoke, but was that the reason NYC chose to set things up with the "bike signals"- b/c it's safer for cyclists to head out before cars? How are the new signals working out for NYC cyclists?

After a rainstorm, it whines a lot.

It's absolute madness to contend that running red lights is safer for a bicyclist. I amazed by the number of other cyclists who’ve told me proudly, even boastfully, that they never stop for red lights. This to me just defies all logic

That's a nice try at absolutism, with no basis in reality. I was hit and injured right after 'doing the right thing'. I was stopped at a red light for half a minute, on the right-hand side of a left-turn lane, exactly like I was supposed to be.

The light changed, I started forward, and made a gentle turn to the left and was knocked off my bike by the driver who had been behind me, because he was illegally going through the intersection straight from the left-turn only lane. Had I been another foot over to the left, I would have been run OVER, instead of knocked off to the side. That driver broke a bone in my dominant hand, and I was in a cast for more than a month.

I also came within a foot of ending up on the hood of an oncoming cab in Allston, impatiently making a left turn...straight at me. I was wearing reflective leg bands and had a blinking headlight on the front of my bike. What was my reward? I got screamed at in some foreign language by the idiot who drove straight at me.

I've had people open car doors and nearly take me out, I've had pedestrians walk confidently out into the road against a no-walk (with me having a green), ignore a bell, and then swear at me when I successfully avoid them. I've had a pedestrian on a BIKE path ignore repeated bell warnings from 50 feet away, and not looking at me, competely block the path (2-3 of his friends were facing me and could have warned him), then threaten me after I go off the path and nearly hit a light pole head-on.

I've also come within inches of being struck by a bicyclist in JP while I was walking in a crosswalk, and nearly been hit by a bicyclist on the esplenade who decided to make a left turn in front of me with inches to spare, instead of cutting behind me or slowing down. I've seen all sides.

It's not a matter of bragging, boasting, or pride for normal bikers who run reds. It is for the 'Fixie' trendwhores who think it's cool to ride without brakes. They're idiots- they think they can "brake" as well as brakes with their legs because they've never had a proper brake setup (you see, it's "cool" to buy a bike twice as old as you are, until you can afford to spend weeks worth of your coffee-shop-monkey salary on a bike with colored rims.) These trendwhores do the whole "if I touch the ground I'll get cooties" routine, so they do what IS dangerous- bike around in circles in the intersection until it's clear. They also by and large don't have reflectors, helmets, light colored clothing, bells, you name it.

For those of us who are normal riders, it's not "madness" to approach an intersection cautiously and go against a red if it's prudent (AND STOP if it's NOT!) At an intersection, if you're going with the flow of traffic, you have to worry about both being pinned from someone passing you & cutting right, and oncoming drivers trying to make a left turn who are looking for the slightest opening. When the green signal is perpendicular and you can see clearly there's no traffic, you're familiar with said intersection...it's reasonable to go through.

Also: 25mph is a speed that would require a rider in top condition going full-out on a road/race bike. The whinejournal poster was more likely hit by a bicyclist going about 5-10mph; 10mph is a typical biking speed for most people; 15mph being the upper average speed of most commuters, even the relatively serious ones. If it was 25mph, both of them would be in the ER with very serious injuries. Literally, they'd both have concussions, multiple broken bones, and she would have been knocked right off her feet and carried for a couple of yards by the biker's momentum.

I agree, but if he had time to yell, he had time to brake. Everyone has a responsibility to prevent a collision if the rules break down.

That said, from Massbike:

At a traffic signal, a pedestrian shall cross only on the proper pedestrian signal indication or green indication. [720 CMR 9.09 (1,2)] Pedestrians shall attempt to use the right half of crosswalks, must use sidewalks, pedestrian tunnels and overpasses when provided, shall walk along the left shoulder of an undivided highway and the right shoulder of a divided highway [720 CMR 9.09 (4)]. These are regulations for state highways.Local ordinances may differ.

Vehicle operators (including bicyclists) are required to yield to pedestrians legally crossing within a marked crosswalk [MGL Ch. 89 § 11, MGL Ch. 89 § 8, 720 CMR 9.06 (10, 27)], must stop and yield to pedestrians when emerging from an alley or private driveway [720 CMR 9.06 (20)], and must slow down and take special care when approaching a pedestrian on the roadway. [MGL Ch. 90 § 14, MGL Ch. 90 § 14A] Local ordinances may differ.

This, of course, doesn't stop every idiot college student in Allston from simply walking out into the road whenever they feel like it.

Does anyone know what the ordinances in Boston, Cambridge, etc are?

It seems kind of crazy that the Cambridge Police wouldnt stop someone on a bike. Does that mean a cop assigned to traffic wont stop me from killing someone in front of him because he is not on patrol for that?

To say that Cambridge cops don't ticket cyclists is ridiculous. In the past few months alone, I've seen at least a dozen bicyclists ticketed by Cambridge police bicycle patrols for running a red light---usually around Kendall Square (but this is only because this happens to be the area where I regularly bike).

Sorry to hear about another pedestrian hit by a bike. This is a serious problem, especially when the victim is a senior or a person with a disability. Seniors cannot easily recover, and can even die from such a mishap, by throwing a blod clot. So, a broken bone or blood vessel for a senior can be a life or death issue.

"Serious problem"? Please name the last senior hit/injured/killed by a bike.

Some on bikes just do not understand that yelling at seniors to "give way" is silly.

Who proposed this? Don't confuse "bikers should yell out a warning" with, "bikers should yell out a warning and strike down thy evil pedestrian with the wrath of kinetic energy."

The seniors I see religiously use crosswalks and crosswalk signals, and they don't jump out in to the middle of the road...so they're easy for bicyclists to avoid or stop for.

Bikes, like cars, should give way to pedestrians regardless to where they are walking. They might be completely in the wrong, but do you really want to hit them to prove it? Bikers don't really come away from bike-on-pedestrian collisions all too much better than the pedestrian.

You might curse their existence up one side and down the other for having walked out in the middle of the block between 2 parked cars after you just got the green light...but your still have to stop if they're in front of you.

At the same time, pedestrians, keep your ass on the sidewalk when you're not at a marked crosswalk or if the signal isn't your's and the way is not absolutely clear. As a moped driver, I stop at all crosswalks where pedestrians are waiting to cross (Mass Ave, Huntington, Longwood Ave, Coolidge Corner...I go through a ton of them), but the least these people can do is keep to those locations and not just step out anywhere. I'll still stop if they're in my way even if they're not at a crosswalk, but I won't be happy about it.

The way I see it, the chain of priority goes: MBTA > Pedestrian > Bike > Moped > Motorcycle > Car. As long as people understand that this is a city and not a highway nor a burb, then they'll do well to give way to whatever vehicle comes before them in that priority list...unfortunately, I think the MBTA should get the highest priority, but they are almost always at the exact other end of the spectrum in this city (name the last time you saw a car towed from a bus stop...or what in the hell were they thinking when they put those stop signs up for *THE B TRAIN* to stop at the Comm & Linden crossing).