Rules of the Road

This morning I witnessed yet another bicyclist almost get hit by a car.  In fact it was 3 bicyclists that almost got hit, but it was completely their fault.

This is one of my pet peeves.  I recognize that bicyclists have the legal right to ride on the roads of NC.  I don't object to that.  What I do object to is the fact that so many of them want to exercise that right, but also ignore the fact that the law requires them to observe the rules of the road the same as motor vehicles.

I realize that there are bicyclists who follow the rules, and probably get as irritated as I do when they see fellow bicyclists ignore them.  But I cannot tell you the number of times I've seen someone on a bicycle completely ignore a stop light or a stop sign.  I'm not talking about going through a stop light that won't change, but completely ignore it and breeze right through without even slowing down.

This morning I was sitting at a stop light and watched 3 bicyclists ride the wrong way up a one-way street, then turn on to another one-way street (going in the correct direction this time) and move from the right hand lane across a middle lane and into the left lane directly in front of another moving car.  The car, which had turned onto the street coming from the correct direction on the previous one-way street, had to slam on the brakes to avoid hitting them.  There was no other traffic on that road at the moment, and they could have just as easily slowed down a little and moved into the lane behind that car. 

I guarantee you however, if that car had hit one of them, they would have been screaming bloody murder and threatening to sue.  And I guarantee you I would have offered to testify for the driver of that car.  People who think the rules don't apply to them really annoy me.