As a motorcycle rider, welcome to my world.

Seattle, and much of Washington in my opinion is full of passive-aggressive drivers who hate anyone not in their own vehicle.

People who will speed up just to not let you pass. Pull in front of you and then slow down, drive in the left lane with 5-6 cars stacked up behind them, and treating turn signals as an optional item.

But it is ok as they all know that a simple hand wave in the rear view mirror washes them of all guilt to their transgression.

I have been a bicyclist since a young age. I used a bike to commute to work in Seattle in the 60's just after graduating from High School and until a few years ago, when I developed nerve problems in my lower legs, have always owned and used bicycles not just for recreation but also for commuting. I think attitudes have changed, as the author points out, but I have also observed cyclists doing things that are not only annoying but downright dangerous. Why? because they can is the only reason I can think of. A recent example (but hardly an isolated incident) I was driving down a hill and a cyclist was behind me to the right. He was almost perfectly in my car's blind spot, so when I slowed to turn right, he had to suddenly brake to avoid me. I signaled for the turn, slowed, looked all ways and caught a glimpse of him in the inner corner of my right side mirror. Otherwise I would have hit him. Of course he yelled at me and said unrepeatable things but the fault was his. All drivers are taught about blind spots, and some trucks even have signs on them pointing out the blind spot. But many bicyclists seem to ignore this and expect a driver to see them through metal. They should learn to stay out of that right rear quarter where it is difficult to see another car let alone a bicycle.

I admit that in my younger days I was guilty of doing it too. But I learned to assume, that if I was on the right side of a car approaching a corner, that the driver was going to turn right, and stayed out of that spot.

There are other things, such as crossing a busy intersection against the light or turning left across lanes of oncoming traffic. In a car it would be suicide to do this, but many cyclists do it with impunity.

Motorists and cyclists need to share the road, follow the rules and be alert. And they need to be courteous to each other. With the economy the way it is there are only going to be more and more cycles and scooters and other inexpensive means of transportation sharing the roads with cars. As Rodney King said, "why can't we all just get along?"

It's the arrogance of many bicyclists in Seattle and elsewhere. It's their disregard for traffic laws and compensatory aggressiveness toward pedestrians. Many cyclists believe that traffic laws, stop signs, red lights, and crosswalks are meant for motorists and pedestrians, not bicyclists.

Read the author's final paragraph and it's easy to understand. Bicycles have no license plates. Riders are both vulnerable and in denial. Death awaits at the stop sign rolled through; the red light run; the ride downstairs. The guy who runs across I-5 is stupid, and probably dead. The cyclist who runs the red light is defiant, free, and sometimes dead at the wheel of a momentarily inattentive motorist. What's not to hate?

If by hostility you mean rampant frustration, yes we are hostile in the Puget Sound Basin. Mr. Kugiya expresses in the story how a bicyclist is above the law. They play pedestrian when they want to run a red light, they play motorist when they want to claim a lane. There is not enough space to list my personal experiences with bicyclists and ignoring the laws.

Unfortunately, as things get worse and bicyclists get more militant, additional accounts of bike rage vs. road rage come to the forefront. I have no option but to drive a car to work. I live in the suburbs where I can afford to live and have a garden to feed my family. I make my choices and bicyclists make theirs.

I ride recreationally; I have yet to have a car challenge me. I ride cautiously and with great fear. I may have the right to be where I am, but I know my limitations and I know that I am crushable. If bicyclists would obey the laws as they were taught when they were small, there would be less conflict on the roads.

Some of the local Seattle roads just are NOT meant to be chalk filled with 'sharrows' and taken over by have it both ways bicyclists. Just as dogs, cats, and other pets, bicycles should be taxed, registered, and their owners subject to penalty when the appropriate laws are broken.

Yes, Seattle "hates" bicyclists. That's why we siphon money from every pot we can to pander to them.

I don't ride a lot but I have ridden a bicycle in Seattle and environs for a long time. My experience is totally different; I can remember people shouting bad names at me from mildly inconvenienced pickups back in the 80s. Drivers are much more tolerant and considerate now. As the number of bicycles increases the likelihood of accidents also increases; I think that's part of it. Then there's bad bicyclists and bad drivers.

Most bicyclists, like most motorists, are courteous, and yes, there are jerks in both camps. But in my experience, there are far more righteous, aggressive bicyclists than drivers. Whether it's a sense of moral superiority or just petty power plays, these bicyclists seem to go out of their way to delay cars behind them, ignore the rules of the road, then react with hostility when cars pass or come too close. Sharing the road goes both ways.

Like drivers (or anyone for that matter) behaving badly, the bicylists I dislike and am fearful for are those who do behave badly. I don't want to hit anyone, I don't think any thinking person would.

I wish there were a way to safely either get those who behave badly off the road or send them to 'rules of the road' school. I wish each bicyclist were required to pay a small fee and display a license plate for all to see.

I believe that would go a long way to calming our streets.

Agree with seattlelifer, animalal, and Rob French. I, too, have ridden bikes many places for many years always extra careful and courteous to car drivers who I give the benefit of the doubt on good intentions but also assume may not see me. My personal thought on any growing hostility to cyclists from cars is that Seattle's traffic setup was difficult before they started on their crazy "road diets" removing lanes in order to provide more space for bikes, and now with our very busy lives, everything just takes that much longer and breeds commensurate frustration. It doesn't help that Seattle's traffic lights are not well-timed, either. Driving north from Lake Union on Stone is now a tremendous trial ending with a quarter mile backup to get through the light at 45th. It can take 10 minutes. Similarly going east/west on 50th where the road's been narrowed is a trial, and for what? I've never seen a car turn left in the shared middle lane. I think it's actually the increasing hostility to drivers that's the problem. Like seattlelifer, I MUST drive to work from Greenlake to my job in Tacoma. No other reasonable choices for me. By the time I get near home I am exhausted from the hour + drive and still have errands to run some days. I do my best to be courteous to and careful of cyclists because it's the right thing to do and because I hope for the same courtesy when I'm cycling, but things are getting out of balance and I am sick of being vilified for doing what I have to do to live and incovenienced in service of some political b.s. I also believe that cyclists must all be required to license their transportation devices and themselves where appropriate and should be subject to the same traffic enforcement drivers are.

if you are sitting in your car obsessing about bikes not paying road fee's or whatever you need medical help. the tiny level of interference motorists encounter from cyclists compared to the oceanic level of stupidity exhibited by most drivers makes the whole thing laughable. go on a road trip to montana or idaho or arizona or utah where drivers use the left lane to pass, are courteous and chilled out. you can tell when you're back in washington a few minutes after you cross the border by being stuck behind some moron in a suburu driving 40 in the left lane while people stream by on the right.

Hugo's opinion piece falls short on solutions. The motorists unable to deal with Seattle's notoriously dysfunctional roadways will continue to release the frustration on bicyclists. A better understanding of traffic problems does not solve them with a simplistic understanding of how roadways can accommodate bicyclists. Psychoanalysis of the mindset will hardly influence Tea Party radicals nor reckless bicyclists purportedly making a statement about their plight as a target and hapless victim of Seattle roadway circumstances.

When STP rolls into its southern destination, the bicycling differences between these northwest cities is evident. Seattle bicyclists fantasize Ghia Italia along open country roads. Portland bicyclists in hardy household attire initiate routine urban rides at front door steps rather than roof racks.

As Einstein theory postulates: "Going faster is actually going slower and visa versa, going slower is actually going faster." Which city is ahead in the contest for safer bicycling? Why are spandex-clad Seattler racers far behind?

The bored tunnel dooms historic Pioneer Square buildings and the Underground. ALL infrastructure above and nearby is destablized. Mercer West rejuvinates, exacerbates and extends the Mercer Mess to Elliott. Another derisive term to adequately express the more severe accident rate and death toll will be adopted. The Mercer Morgue? A wanton desire -is- the DBT & Mercer West as least-inconvenient motorcar travel to executive level parking aisles.

Police Chief Diaz:
PLEASE start a campaign to bust cyclists who don't wear brain buckets (helmets) and fine them for risking their thick skulls. Bust cyclists who don't wear reflective gear and have enough lights to make them visible in the dark, particularly at dusk. Require commuting cyclists 16 and over to have a cycling endorsement on their driver's license or state ID card (would have to come from DOL--not all cyclists will have driver's licenses.). Bust the scofflaw jerks who run red lights, don't signal when turning, ride under the speed limit in the middle of a lane, etc. Otherwise, please spare the cyclist and turn the unrepentant scofflaws' expensive bikes to twisted metal and airless tires. Thank you.
PS When I see a cyclist riding responsibly and legally, I signal when I pass them and treat them like a car and driver.

@Mspat
Licensing bicycles has been tried, and its never worked. It costs more to run the system than you can take in from it. And bikers don't cause the same wear and tear on the road as drivers anyway. Most of us also have cars, so were paying for roads anyway.

Also, road diets have never reduced car capacity, and many don't have bike lanes. They simply move the left turners and right turners out of the gp lane, so the gp lane actually moves.

I'm a cyclist, and I don't break the law. There are plenty of people like me, yet we all get blamed for a few people's behavior. I see a lit of drivers break the law two, but I don't blame drivers.

Drivers hate bicyclists, because bicyclist represent change. The age of fossil fuel is ending. All of the easy to get oil has been discovered leaving only the difficult stuff, tar sands, deep ocean drilling, arctic drilling, fracking old oil wells. With the rise in energy prices coming being able to drive a car to work by yourself is also going to end. And electric cars aren't going to be a viable replacement. We haven't upgraded the grid. We haven't built up the wind supply, and burning coal is dumping so much CO2 into the air that it's going to destabilize the climate and thus the food supply.

Everybody resents change. We all want it to be like it was before, only better and without any personal sacrifice. If we want to continue to not live close to where we work, we are all going to have to make some major changes in how we get to and from work. A human on a bicycle is one of the most efficient machines ever built by man. Hence many people are using it as an alternative mode of transportation. And it also happens to be fun. Even being stuck in "bicycle traffic" is fun because without the barriers of being inside something you can have a conversation with the riders next to you.

No wonder car drivers are mad. Bicyclists are having more fun, getting exercise, moving for less money, paying less taxes (because they wear the road so much less) then a car driver stuck in traffic, no place to park, paying outrageous money to fuel their vehicle. If I was driving to work, I'd be mad too.

The physical realities of greatly dissimilar vehicles operating within the same close boundaries will always create situations that have deadly outcomes. In spite of how articulate or artful is the demand by cyclists for equality on the road, their safety will ultimately be determined by whether or not a dedicated path separating them from cars can be discovered. Until this happens, sacrificing one’s safety or the safety of others because it ought to be different, or that it’s good for the planet, or because you belong to a large, influential organization is absurd. I see parents pedaling down one of our recently restricted “channelized” streets towing child carriers. It’s a nice picture and I admire them for a second and then it occurs to me how colossally stupid it is to be putting themselves just inches away from disaster, and how irresponsible it is for our city leadership to arrange for them to do it.

I flipped a driver off when I was riding my bike once. I hope, if he is reading this, he forgives me.

"...as common experience, and journalistic record tells us, we apparently hate bicyclists."

"An impolite driver is just a bad apple, or someone having a bad day. An impolite cyclist represents all of his kind."

This piece is rhetorically and logically flawed, and if presented to me in a formal course in Argument, would not merit a 'C' grade.

Can the author, or any reader/discussant, describe who "we" are, much less demonstrate that "we" "hate bicyclists"? I think not; the best that anyone could do would be to generalize about groups who live and commute in Seattle, and cite examples of behavior that have no more than anecdotal value.

The thought that public discourse should be based on, and proceed from, such slender and fragmentary thinking, is appalling.

I am: Occasional bicyclist, more frequent motorist (2 and 4 wheeled vehicles) and most often pedestrian and bus rider.

My provocative screed "Why Do Seattlites Hate Pedestrians, Motor Scooter Riders, Motorcyclists, and Bus Riders?" is in preparation.

Kids die in cars, are hit by cars all the time, yet we don't write articles about how parents hate their children by driving them to school. We take reasonable precautions like using child seats, and putting them in the back seat, but yet kids still die in cars.

Driving a car is inherently dangerous both to the occupant and everybody around them. When is the city going to realize this and ban car driving as a safety issue for everyone??

I share the road, because it's the law, and I do not hate bicyclists, because hate is counterproductive. But I have little use for people like GaryP and natehc who think bicyclists' sh*t doesn't stink.

When Hugo can write, presumably with a straight face, that "You can slip down an alley, ride against traffic in a pinch, roll a stop sign, pass through a red light if there’s an opening, ride downstairs or even on a sidewalk if you are careful," then he has answered his own question.

Ride against traffic? Roll a stop sign? Pass through a red light? Ride on a sidewalk? EXCUSE ME?

No, Hugo, you can NOT do any of those things, and expect that people will not hate you. Obey the damn rules of the road, like everyone else. That's where it starts. When bicyclists come to a complete stop at red lights and stop signs, and quit blocking auto traffic that is moving faster than they are, then maybe even they might begin to perceive a change in people's attitudes toward them.

"Also, road diets have never reduced car capacity, and many don't have bike lanes. They simply move the left turners and right turners out of the gp lane, so the gp lane actually moves"

I'll remember this horsepucky the next time I'm waiting through 4 light cycles to go eastbound through the ridiculous road diet on NE 50th St, or on any of a number of other ones where peak hour capacity WAS reduced and the driver in the right hand lane holds everyone up waiting for pedestrians to cross and can no longer be passed on the left.....

When car drivers drive the "SPEED LIMIT" and not 5mph over, stop for all stop signs and not roll through with a "California stop." Move to the right for slower traffic on the freeway. Move over when impeding more than 5 cars on a two lane road. I'll perceive that car drivers have a legitimate beef with bicycle drivers. Until then, I have no use for such poor driving which endangers everyone around them.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLE1S_7ZqCQ

Must be a slow week at Crosscut. How do we get more comments and pageviews? start a religious war! I love Kugiya's food writing but I don't really see the point of this post, or of all the comments that follow.

Possible topics for next week: why do democrats smell bad? why are Windows users so dumb? who does God hate the most?

5 mph over kills...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpZRxo3EWAc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpZRxo3EWAc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQEboDzE-qE

Slow the F' down.

Redneck PhDs, civil servants working for state offices and businessmen along with Billy-Bob and Samantha whom they ridicule are feeling the economic pinch. Bicyclists? What's a bicycle? Cooking up a batch of speedy brew, or bagging up good pot, or breaking down black tar for Seattle's streets over on the Eastside, (not Bellevue) are what we can expect more of along with dead bicyclists.

I have had two minor accidents with cyclists. Both were, i feel the fault of the cyclists. A cyclists hit me as I was making a right turn. He had the right of way but it was night time and he had no lights. A young boy riding on the sidewalk ignored a red no walk sign and ran into the side of my car again making a right turn.
Cyclists are very vulnerable and should take every precatution. To change few words in an old saying, There are old cyclists and bold cyclists but no old bold cylists.
The city however, should take very precaution. Every cycle trail should be reveiwed to make sure there is enough room to ride and, because of their vulnerablity, give an edge to the cyclist. We should reduce the speed limit on all downtown streets to 25 MPH and look strongly at reducing the limit in other areas. I doubt if this would increase our drive time by other than a few minunites and would certainly save lives and injuries. Lets give the vulnerable a break.
John Lay

I think much of what is being discussed here simply represents the growing pains associated with a gradual transition in how we live, work and travel through cities. Biking is becoming more popular because it is more convenient for a lot of people than sitting in traffic - especially for those common 1-2 mile trips - and they get some exercise in the process. For the vast majority, it's convenience and freedom - not any political motive - that causes people to ride bikes. Yes, some bikers misbehave. So do some drivers. We'd be a lot better off if everyone were a little more polite and took a deep breath or two.

I also think that both drivers and cyclists would benefit if in certain high traffic corridors we replaced "sharrows" (which just confuse everyone) with true bike lanes, often called cycle-tracks, separated from traffic. Drivers would feel less anxious and bikes would feel and be safer.

@Urbanist: Re Cycletracks

The key with a cycle track is that all intersections which cross the cycle track must be "controlled" either by a light or stop signs. The problem is that a bicyclist in a cycle track is out of sight from drivers in the lanes adjacent, so that the intersection is more dangerous to the rider than a road without a cycle track. In addition the "free right on red" has to go as well at these intersections because drivers can't see approaching cyclists who also may be turning right.

The key to safe urban cycling is to lower the speed limit for cars when there are bicycles on the road. The slower speed allows both vehicles to avoid each other. And in the event of a collision there is less likelihood of killing the cyclist.

There is a proposed law to let cities set the speed limit at 20mph. This along with limiting access to side streets would make it possible to have bicycle blvds like they have built in Portland.

Seattle is a far cry from "hating cyclists", this is obvious to anyone who rides regularly and has been a practicing cyclist elsewhere. People don't generally try to run you over or yell obscenities out the window. Seattle is an excellent place to commute by bike or ride recreationally, hands down probably one of the better places in the country. That said we do have room for improvement, highlighted by recent deaths in the headlines. I'm glad there is an article on cycling but I think this one just tries to ignite conflict.

The conflicts that arise on the street do have some roots in cyclists not obeying the laws. I ride every day to work and regularly on weekends as well and have done so for years. I have been cited by the police for failure to come to a complete stop, just like an auto. We are all subject to the rules of the road, but nothing a cyclist does warrants aggressive and/or negligent behavior of an auto and it's driver. I will do very little damage to your car when you run me down and leave my child minus one parent. I have just as much right to every square inch of the street that an auto does. That is the law.

There are a couple of points that the article doesn't mention in regards to the tension between motorists and cyclists:

Neither party receives any training on dealing with the other. Cyclists just learn to ride on their own. Motorists are trained only in relation to driving on roads with other autos. Drivers Ed needs to include the role/rights of cyclists on the streets.

Cyclists are consistently left in the lurch by the city with current bike lanes, signage, and shoulders. Bike lanes just end right before intersections to make room for turn lanes, bike paths funnel bikes into pedestrian sidewalks at intersections. Cyclists are not pedestrians and it is dangerous to put them in the same paths as people on foot. Being allowed to straddle the line between motorist and pedestrian encourages cyclists to break the rules of the road, endangers pedestrians, and encourages the attitude that bikes don't belong on the road.

Having been nearly run down while obeying the rules of the road at least twice a month on my commute I know what it feels like to have death/serious injury knocking on the door. It is common knowledge that when a person has a life threatening experience that they will react with a "fight or flight" response. It is natural to want to slap cars or flip them off when they pass just centimeters off your bars or turn right in front of you. What drivers should realize is that if a cyclist is flipping you off it's most likely misjudged how close you were to the bike you just passed or turned in front of.

Until cyclists are provided consistent space on the road that is consistent with the rules of the road, there will continue to be cyclists not following the rules.

That all said, we still have it good here and I am greatful to live a city so conducive to cycling.

As with all situations: drivers, bikers, pedestrians
There is two sides to everyones story as to who is right to do what they have been doing for centuries.I am the boss not you, I have the right to do this not you. I don't have to obey the laws because there is no legal system to enforce the regulations and keep our streets and whereever we drive ride or walk safe. Then it is all about budget, we don't have because we can not spend it is the proper manner because everyone thinks it should go to them not you or me. There is always the stupid idiots who feel they can do anything and cause accidents, kill another, maime another, etc. and get away because if theyget time the taxpayers and other still pay because the criminal is lounging, eating three meals /day, accessing all that we who follow the rules are being denied for some reason or another. How do criminals in prison pay for the education they come out of prison with if they do not work like the rest of society who are able to work and attend college?

I have been to the Biker meeting and I as a pedestrian have spoken at them and stated bikers don't respect the laws and will deliberately run down pedestrians on the sidewalks. They will also violate regulations as to helmets, signaling, night riding rules and other situations. The ploice will not enforce those laws and when they created the accident they cry wolf and lie just as drivers doing the same to pedestrians.

Get with it people--- share and follow the regulations ---- do what is right, not what your stupid ass brains are telling you when you cause accidents, kill someone, etc.--- be attentive instead of being the aggressive asses because you feel the need to be #1.
Pedestrian deaths are higher than any high rated disease and higher than biker deaths and driver deaths. So everyone get with it and behave like responsible humans not the asshole s you are being these days.

Thanks for that thoughtful analysis, Joeleetalbert. We do have it good here, relatively speaking.

I've posted this elsewhere on Crosscut, but the British news and business magazine The Economist took note of Seattle's high bicyclist death rate last week (https://www.economist.com/node/21528302), and their analysis focuses on the lack of traffic-calming infrastructure in Seattle. In other words, it's not enough just to have bike lanes and sharrows: traffic calming and physical barriers are also essential to protecting bikers from cars, no matter who is at fault in a given circumstance.

I think ultimately some street parking will have to be sacrificed to improve biker safety, combined with barrier walls along higher-speed corridors. It would also be helpful if bike lanes were painted bright red or green as they are in other countries. Many European cities have also seen fit to create dedicated bike highways (e.g., Muenster, Germany, is a university town that has a bicycle-only ring road around the city center). I suspect such things will eventually come to pass here as well.

In the meantime, Joeleetalbert is right that bikers and drivers desperately need training on how to share the road. The level of rage that these bicycling-related posts stirs up just underscores how poorly people understand the situation.

The bore tunnel 'presence' alone dooms historic Pioneer Square buildings, numerous known as unable to handle the least vibration. The Underground too will suffer destabilization as will all infrastructure above and nearby. The underground, under sea level pressures forcefully 'redistribute' the weak soils and the new water flows will develop and carry away soils which no amount of grouting can stop. A "Permanent Destablization" is installed by the purported brainiacs in charge of this fiasco.

Mercer West rejuvinates, exacerbates and EXTENDS the "Mercer Mess" to Elliott with more traffic hazard & worse air quality. Another derisive term to express the higher accident rate 'expected' may be adopted:
The Mercer Morgue?

If Bill Gates learned how the DBT & Mercer West fail, terrifyingly, he would fairly consider the alternate option for lowering Aurora to Harrison with the same crossings of John & Thomas and cappings.
It retains Battery Street Tunnel.

Through Lower Belltown are TWO basic options: TWO stoplight intersections (instead of 5 to 8) to the new Alaskan Way boulevard/mess, OR, below a rebuilt Elliott & Western with safer ENTRANCE south (sightly downhill) & wider EXIT north (slightly uphill) with similarly simple TWO stoplight intersections.
The DBT is your worst plan but the know-it-alls won't listen nor analyze.

No we should not lower the speed limit to 20 OR remove parking to appease what are, at most, about 3% of commuters.

No way, no how.

I agree with keith--it has gotten a lot better around here to be a bike rider. Generally, the younger generations accept cycling as a valid mode of transportation. As more and more of the older, car-centric population retires from driving, things will get better still.

A couple of responses:
To beaky: I don't know if your comment was a direct response to mine, but if it was, please know I am not sitting in my car obsessing about bikes. Oftentimes I AM one. And I share your feelings about other places where drivers are polite, signal, etc. As fearful as I am of the blowback, I must say that I'll take a California driver over a WA one any day. My experience was that one can travel at 70 mph in heavy traffic and still rely on someone to move over if a faster car comes up behind and to actually turn when displaying a signal, and in the same direction as the signal is indicating. Both rare exceptions w/WA drivers (and I drive nearly 90 miles/day 4 days/week).

To natehc: I'm not sure where or why licensing bicycles didn't work but I feel a fair sense of outrage viewing all the new street signs and medallions in the road directing cyclists to their destinations as if they are unable to figure these things out for themselves and we have the money to spare for such vanities in these economic times. Also, I respectfully disagree with your comments about road diets. Perhaps you only cycle and so do not encounter the same frustrations as drivers, but be assured that those frustrations are real. And of the carbon footprint folks I ask how does it improve our carbon footprint to "calm" traffic till it's comatose all the while burning all those fossil fuels as we patiently attempt to get where we're going?

I was born and raised in Seattle. I love this city. I have lived out in the country for many years. I have a son who lives in the city. I frequently stay at his house. When I am there normally I either take public transit or walk. If I do have to drive, I am terrified that a bicyclist will appear from nowhere. Incidentally, as a pedestrian I have had some very scary experiences.

The town in which I live has two roads in and/or out of town. Both are two lane, winding 55 mph highways. You cannot imagine how horrifying it is to come around a curve, going the speed limit, and find that there are bicycles on "leisurely" country rides going three abreast on these 55 mph highways.

In the Summer this can occur any day of the week. In our area there are fantastic walking and biking trails which go for 25+ miles. Why not utilize these wonderful opportunities which ALL of our taxes have paid for?

These riders need to be aware that we are on these roads going to meetings, our kids' sports and other activities, doctor appointments, etc.. Is it fair that we be denied our rights to travel at a reasonable speed without living in fear that some idiots choose to ignore the rules of the highways?

As one of my sons mentioned, these idiots are commonly known as "organ donors". They have no business riding on these highways - particularly if they impede the regular traffic.

I'm so tired of the "I saw a cyclist riding on the sidewalk, therefore I can be a jerk, or better yet, hostile and reckless towards cyclists," line.

I defy anyone using this lame "argument" to get on the freeway and NOT see someone breaking the law by speeding, changing lanes without signaling, texting, driving too close, etc. I defy anyone using this tired argument to sit for 5 minutes at an intersection and NOT see someone run a red right after the light turns, stop completely at a stop sign, or stop for a pedestrian. I defy anyone using this tired argument to go downtown and not see cars illegally parked or driving the wrong way down a one way street.

The difference is 2000+ lbs of steel, even moving at slow speeds, KILLS people.

And the whole weak enforcement line..ridiculous. How many people each day receive a citation for breaking the "law" out of the total number of drivers? Really?

Where's the self-righteous rage for the loss of productivity caused by gridlock, or the filth dumped into our air and water each day, or the tens of thousands of annual traffic fatalities caused by reckless driving. Oh that would require ragin' on your sorry selves. Pathetic!

It was when I was commuting by bike that I began noticing how many cyclists blow off stop signs and red lights, often going through them at full speed. I've come to expect it, and it always makes me mad. I don't yell at them any more, though, I just honk if I'm in my car to let them know I see it. To me it's a civility issue - it's rude to flout the rules of the roads we share just because you can. And with impunity because even though the same traffic laws apply to bikes as to cars, there is no enforcement, at least that I've seen. We are giving cyclists more rights of way, but along with rights should come responsibilities.

Do we really need any more op/ed pieces from people like this, who think their position of moral superiority entitles them to break the traffic law when they feel like it? If you want to be a happy-go-lucky, free spirit, move to the country...life in the city includes motor vehicles, pedestrians and stop signs, among other "hassles." Also get yourself a helmet and, if you insist on riding at night, get lights for your bike and maybe don't wear black clothes. Most Seattle cyclists DO obey the rules...I am totally sick of the noisy ones who don't.

I commute on my bike every day. I have for a long time. I have never encountered any hostility.

Many of the aware drivers are sometimes too courteous - stopping or slowing for no reason other than courtesy.

Crazy speeding people on bikes are annoying and dangerous. Just like reckless drivers.

I see both. I see a lot of guys in bright tights on bikes who take themselves way too seriously and can be stupidly aggressive.

Most people are pretty reasonable.

I like my cars too.

There is hostility to bikers because many, instead of assuming responsibility for their own safety, seem to feel that drivers should shoulder the burden for them. It is hard for a driver to see night riders without lamps or reflectors, frequently in dark clothing, especially in the rain. A driver may know the position of other cars on the road, but isn't expecting and often can't see the rider who weaves through narrow spaces between cars stopped in traffic. A driver can't predict that a rider will suddenly jump from sidewalk to street or make a turn if no signal is given. I commuted by bike for years, always made myself as visible as possible, always rode defensively and still had many close calls. When I drive now, I am keenly aware of cyclists because of my own experiences. Because of those same experiences, it upsets me when I have to look out for some fool who can't be bothered to look out for himself.

"No wonder car drivers are mad. Bicyclists are having more fun, getting exercise, moving for less money, paying less taxes (because they wear the road so much less) then a car driver stuck in traffic, no place to park, paying outrageous money to fuel their vehicle. If I was driving to work, I'd be mad too."

Ok, I've washed my mouth out and gargled with Scope. One tends to need to do such things after throwing up.

It's simple, roads are for cars. Bicycles are for children. These articles always give rise to long threads, full of cycists spouting this serio-religious bile. Enough already. Get off the road! If I could, I would ban bicycles from all public roads. Period. I hate them and I despise the cyclists riding them. When I am stuck behind them, I am polluting more. Get out of the way! I don't want another dollar or another can of green paint wasted on such nonsense. Roads are for cars and trucks and buses - you know, motor vehicles. I despise all of you holier than thou bicycle freaks and I wish you were all gone. Ride a Bus. Take a Taxi, Move to Berkely! I don't care just go away. The internal combustion engine and personal, motorized transportation is here to stay for the forseeable future. Deal.

P.S. You know, not everything is about the tunnel. You anti-tunnel, anti-business nutjobs lost. Get over it.

"It's simple, roads are for cars. Bicycles are for children"

Another misguided driver... lucky you don't live in China where you have to apply for a permit to drive on the roads. They are handed out in a lottery once a month. You can buy a car, but the privilege of actually driving it anywhere is the luck of the draw.

Here in Seattle, we all pay for roads via property and sales taxes. Hence roads are for all of us.

PS
We don't despise you drivers with this attitude. We figure you are already suffering enough in your own hatred and anger as the world changes around you.

BTW:
Peak oil has already come. The internal combustion engine burning fossil fuel is on it's way out. I had hopes for algae creating Hydrogen gas from sunlight but that hasn't worked out yet.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjOFCegjoik

You're right. I don't live in China. Personalized Motorized Transportation is a requirement in the modern world. Fossil Fuels or no, the car is here to stay in our society. I'll still be just as annoyed with cyclists driving my Tesla or Fisker as I am now. As with all fundamentalists, I'm sure that you take any criticism as proof that you're right. You're not. Although if all of you cyclists got raptured, I'd be happy to be wrong about that one.

As for your tired tax argument, do you have the right to walk down the middle of 3rd Avenue at 5pm? nope. Behavior matters. Do you have the right to drive a car that's missing it's muffler or taillights? Nope. The vehicle does matter. Roads are for motorized vehicles. The behavior of cyclists in this city shows nothing but contempt for drivers. Your very presence is proof that you despise us. If you want to ride your bike, then find a bike path, but stay off the roads.

Sorry, electric cars are not in your future: http://market-ticker.org/akcs-www?post=186250 The power/battery usage just doesn't work.

Martin: Do you have the right to ban bicycles from the road, nope there either.
http://apps.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=46.61.755
"Every person riding a bicycle upon a roadway shall be granted all of the rights and shall be subject to all of the duties applicable to the driver of a vehicle by this chapter"

Roads are not just for motorized Vehicles, back to driver's Ed for you...

Washington State needs to encourage more bike riders and not let "cyclists" dominate the image.

Look at the bike-centric cities of Copenhagen or Amsterdam.

Do you see lycra clad Tour de Francers speeding around past red lights at 30 mph?

No...you see smartly dressed professionals on 3-speeds with high handle bars, an upright seat and a wire basket, gently moving along separated cycle tracks.

What is called "bicycling" in Seattle is more like Daredevil stunt riding than any form of recreation or utility commuting.

Judging from the number of comments here Mr Kugiya has written a piece that has touched a nerve. There are a couple of ideas that could help though. Segregate cyclists and motorists where possible. Provide bike lanes on adjacent residential streets or use existing medians parallel to arterials so that cars and bikes are separated where possible. And DO license bicycles - not necessarily for revenue but for identification purposes. The anonymity of the cyclist who runs a red light or weaves through traffic is lost when he can be reported or pulled over by a cop.

As for Hugo's premise, I would say it isn't so much a hatred of bicyclists than it is the seeming hatred Seattle has toward motorists and cars. Motorists feel they've been attacked on all sides and losing rights, parking and traffic lanes for years. Since the 90's on-street parking has been eliminated for bus lanes, security around public buildings, pedestrian bulbs and now storm water detention. It seems like nearly every arterial is re-striped to accomodate a bike lane while traffic gets incresingly worse. Our entire Light-Rail system has been designed to exclude car-commuters. Add the full out assault of the Mayor and Cascade Bike Club, et al against replacement of the Viaduct and of course the constant drone of those who equate the use of cars and gasoline with an eighth deadly sin, well exhibited here. Its no wonder drivers will honk or curse a cyclist who runs the light he is stuck at.

The fact is that not everyone has the luxury of bicycling to work. There are children that need to be picked up and dropped off at school; elderly or those otherwise physically unable to ride a bike anymore; jobs that require us to be able to be at meetings at various locations during the day; or those who don't want to be sweaty at work because they don't have access to a shower. For most of us though we are too busy or tired or lazy to get up the hour earlier in the morning to be able to make it happen in the gloom of November or the rain in May.

Its clear that driving is a privilege and not a right but the American economy has been built around the car for the last 60 years. Personal transportation will always be with us in some form but it seems Seattle planners have decided in the future that will only be for the rich or a much smaller middle class. For the rest of us moving to an economy less reliant on the car is apparently inevitable, otherwise why are they pushing us out of our cars? Is their vision to be a city of young healthy elite singles and childless couples? If so, change will occur but it won't be without pain and struggle. More lower and middle-class families moving out of Seattle are a sign of that change. Angry motorists are another.

I for one try my best to be courteous toward bicyclists as well as pedestrians when driving. The thing that really irritates me is when I see a bicyclist doing things that would immediately get an driver a ticket, being completely ignored by the police. I have watched riders without helmets cut across a road right in front of a cop. Or the rider (and this has happened to me quite a few times) that wants to ride right down the middle of the road at 15 MPH slowing traffic to a crawl. If I drove my car down a two lane road at 15 MPH blocking traffic I would have cops coming to write me a ticket. I think we should all be held to the same standards whether it be on a motorcycle, in a car, or on a bike.

Two peanuts were riding down the road on their bicycles and one of them was a salted!

Broken repeats an oft-heard comment about how bikes should be ticketed for riding too slowly. What law is being broken here? Should garbage trucks and farm tractors also be ticketed? There is no minimum speed limit on most roads, especially the ones bicycles ride on. RCW 46.61.425 does prohibit imbeding traffic but with the important exception: UNLESS IT IS REQUIRED FOR SAFE OPERATION.

I ride on two lane roads frequently and the reason cyclists "take the lane" is because if we move to the side when there is not enough room for a bike and a car in the lane, cars will squeeze by unsafely. We have learned to do this after too many close calls with cars that won't wait for a safe place to pass. I always move to the right when there is enough room for a car to pass in the same lane at a safe distance.

-Fred 117 "not everyone has the luxury of bicycling to work. There are children that need to be picked up and dropped off at school"... This is exactly the problem. Daycare and work are not too far for me to bicycle, but I can't find a route I feel safe on with my kid so I am driving. It should not be a luxury to ride a bike four miles.

I drive on two lane roads frequently and the reason drivers "take the lane" is because if we move to the side when there is not enough room for a bike and a car in the lane, bikes will squeeze by unsafely. We have learned to do this after too many close calls with bikes that won't wait for a safe place to pass. I always move to the left when there is enough room for a bike to pass in the same lane at a safe distance.

It's funny, isn't it? When a cyclist "takes the lane" for safety we're all supposed to respect it, but when a car driver "takes the lane" for safety they are perceived to be hogging the road.

If you want to encourage people to share the road, then I think it would be a good idea to share the road yourself.

The bicycle is a very versatile means of transportation, as it can be taken on streets, sidewalks, trails, open land, crosswalks, busses, trains, cars, & carried into buildings. The most simple way I can think of to say how a cyclist should conduct him or herself in any of those environments, is to make no other user of those environments apprehensive of thier presence. That is, do not make any of your actions cause a driver to slam on thier brakes, swerve, or unnecessarily hold them up (by of course obeying stop lights & signs, signalling, etc), or on a sidewalk and a pedestrian is present, making them jump out of your way in fear (which in most cases means either slowing WAY down or dismounting, or staying on the street). I don't see any problem with going from the street to the sidewalk or crosswalk and back, if I follow that guideline. This is just utilizing the bike's inherent flexibility to it's greatest advantage. I do see a lot of other cyclists criusing around between cars & pedestrians like they are on thier own personal obstacle course, and how bad it looks to everyone around them & how potentially dangerous it is to themselves and others. But, if a driver takes issue when they see me switching from the street to the sidewalk for instance, when it doesn't impact them any other way, it is probably in resentment of my ability to keep going when they are stuck in traffic.

coolpapa, that is the most ridiculous, ill-thought out thing I have seen you write. I am disappointed in you, since your other comments are usually spot-on.

Just for sake of conversation, how would cyclists feel about sharing these new allocations of road space with inline skaters and skateboarders..? Both are legitimate modes of transportation and would further advance this current push to restrict people's use of automobiles.

Then all commuters would be equal...no second class citizens here in our little "urban village."

The traffic in a metropolitan area, as Seattle, is packed with so many things to watch for, to stop for, to practice self defense through the maze. But in a flow of trucks and cars, a bicycle is absorbed into the maze of motions, and usually without going the same speed as the traffic.
The larger motorcycles and now the minature two seater cars are easily lost in the rearview and side mirrors. There must be a secondary road that could safely accommodate bicyclists, instead of main arterials. There is no contest with a 2000 lb car or a bicycle...... the Metro bus makes more sense and safety.

The Stranger, too, weighed in, mightily, on the issue this week:

http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/okay-fine-its-war/Content?oid=9937449

As entirely pedestrian for the past ten years, but when I take the bus, the only untoward behavior I have noticed on the part of bicyclists - and thi has improved considerably over the years - is their failure, at night, to have lights or reflector markings of any kind.

I encourage modes of transportation other than automobile driving for in city travel. I do not appreciate the way many bicyclists behave toward pedestrians. As a pedestrian I should not have to share a sidewalk with bicycles. When crossing a street at an intersection I should not have to beware of bicyclists running red lights.

Bicyclist groups would improve the acceptance of bicycle travel if they would devote more time to encouraging lawful behavior among their members than they spend lobbying and demonstrating for more privileges.

We hate bicyclists in Seattle? Only the rude agressive nasty ones.

Uggs Nederland Verkooppunten

why does seattle hate bicycle riders ? well gee.. i dont know.. they shoot out of no where in front of you.. use half assed hand signals to let you know which direction they;re going in.. go 1 mph talking on a cell phone in front of you..throw water bottles at your vehicle.. dont stop at red lights or stop signs.. never use all the new bicycle paths they whined for ..ride in the street.. dont use helmets .. arent registered or pay tab fees.. are arrogant self centered little goobers. i used to drive home through Fremont every night.. and every night it was like a nightmare.. ive even had them hanging on to the back of my truck..what the heck is that all about ? and most of all.. to all the guys wearing those dumb bike shorts and t shirts ?i dont want to look at your bony butt in front of me.. thats a sight NO one should be subjected to ..you;re NOT lance armstrong.. get over it !

I don't know whether this writer--or any writer--chooses the photos that run with their stories. But look at this one. It was taken in NYC (not Seattle), the woman is not wearing a helmet, she's sitting on her bike pretty far into the street, and she's check her f-ing messages, not looking at traffic.

Could you find a worse photo to run on a piece like this? I doubt it.

I am a designer/urban planner by trade. I have lived and worked in each major region of the US and visited every state. The US hates bicyclists relative to other places in the world but comparing places within in the US, Seattle is one of the best cities for being bike friendly. That opinion comes also from teaching for 10 years at CU in Boulder CO and working as an urban designer for the city there. Due to the economy I am behind on child support and the powers that be here have a wonderful incentive to get you to pay when you are out of work. They take away your drivers license so you can't get to work to make any money to make your payments. Well thanks now I don't have the temptation and feel healthier and happier with no car access. Here I ride 10-40 miles a day, have a monthly bus pass and ride anywhere from 2 to 10 transit trips a day. I can get pretty much anywhere and have learned to bus up the hills and ride down at 55 years old. I don't find particular hostility to cyclists here, on the contrary I find it a welcoming place for bikes, probably the best of any major city in the country. I think there is confusion between hostility and ignorance. People in cars are just self interested and isolated. They act as metal bullies because they can not because they even think about it and choose to. It will hopefully continue to be a better mix but Seattle is at least going in the right direction compared to much of the country.I once went to LA, called city hall and asked for the official city bike map and was told, we don't have one.

If the woman in the photo rides more than 5 blocks in those high heels I would be amazed. That it's a 2006 photo before NYC got serious about bike lanes and cycle tracks is even more amazing. As for being representative of the Seattle riders it's not even close.

Here's a link to an actual ride up Pike by a woman in the rain.

http://citytank.org/2011/05/20/why-more-people-dont-ride-bikes/