"The findings showed that those on bikes ignored stop signs far more than those in cars, with 56 percent of cyclists ignoring stop signals or traffic lights compared with just seven percent of motorists."
Portland State Study Shows Cyclists’ Bad Behavior - BikeRadar
10 comments:
They didn't seem to define "ignore".
If a slow cyclist doesn't slow down or stop, I suppose that's "ignoring" the stop sign. But if a motorist slows to the same speed as that slow cyclist, does that count as "not ignoring" the stop sign?
Does yielding count as not ignoring, even without a full stop?
If the only two categories were "ignore" and "full stop", I'd expect both groups to be near 0%.
If the only two categories were "ignore" and "pretty much stopped", then the percentages they quote seem plausible.
did y'all happen to see the video of one of the intersections that accompanied the study? The students also videotaped the intersections. The video was hardly alarming, mostly showing cyclists crossing against red lights with no cars in sight.
The guy on a bike I yelled at matches what I'd call "ignore." He proceeded ahead through the stop sign with no evident reduction in his pedaling cadence. Who knows what definition they might be using in Portland. After all, they tried to convince PM that they are a "University Town."
I have a hard time believing that 93 percent of motorists out there come to a complete stop at every stop sign when the compliance rate over here in the other corner of the country is almost exactly the opposite.
My guess is that the organization who conducted this survey held cyclists and motorists to different standards.
Also, unaddressed in the "cyclists run stop signs" stories is the incredible proliferation of stop signs in recent decades. I ride through older developments in my town with absolutely no stop signs, and there are no issues. I also ride through new developments with similar street patterns and traffic volumes, and there are all-way stops at every intersection. Signs create safety no more than any other magic paint, and loading them up only encourages people to ignore them.
“It was suggested, though never expressly stated that it [a cycle track] was exempt from the standard rules,” said Cole. “The lack of information and nature of the Cycle Track has likely led to some of these perceptions.”
It's funny to see people who lobby and depend on government for facilities embrace total anarchy within those facilities.
Given what I see on the road every day, I find it hard to believe that motorists had a 93% compliance rate.
They do indeed need to define the word "ignore." I get no understanding of their results without that.
I live and bike in Portland and I do see a lot more red lights run by bikes downtown compared to other areas. (I have a couple theories on this.) I don't think you'd get the same result city-wide. Basically, I'm conjecturing to stick up for my town (my adopted home after Big D). :-)
I also agree that we could do with fewer stop signs. People thinking for themselves and paying attention is always a good safety strategy.
(also, hi PM!)
Hi Katy!
http://www.kptv.com/story/16676412/bicyclist-hit-by-semi-truck-in-north-portland
PM,
Re: your link
Yikes! Glad everyone involved is alive and hope they never run a light again.
I sometimes try to speculate about why people run red lights, but at *that* location in the middle of the night?! I just don't know.
The high incidence of running of red lights downtown puzzles me as well. I see confused drivers(visitors, maybe?) all the time going the wrong way on one-way streets, visibility around the corners is relatively poor, and the density of traffic cops is high. People are weird.
(Confession: I have crossed against a red light in the middle of the night w/o another human being or vehicle in sight after stopping completely for a long time and realizing that the light might never change.)
Dreaming of the Idaho Stop,
kt
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