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Congratulations (I think!) to Bill on Capitol Hill (which has always reminded me of Beef on Weck, except not really) for capturing this satisfyingly hilarious video which has gone somewhat viral.

Video: Cab Driver Cuts Into Bike Lane, Gets Caught by Will Sommer on WashingtonCityPaper.com

Kind of sad that this will be what your great-great grandchildren remember you for, huh? :)

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I always find the righteous indignation of the ardent bicycle brigades (easily identifiable by the Tour de France outfits used while commuting to and from work) about drivers, but then notice that these same people ignore stop lights, blow through stop signs without slowing down, run through crosswalks with no consideration for the pedestrians that are using it, or ride down the wrong lane. Yes ticket the scofflaw drivers, but it would be nice to have a bit of enforcement of the bicyclists as well.

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I always find the righteous indignation of the ardent bicycle brigades (easily identifiable by the Tour de France outfits used while commuting to and from work) about drivers, but then notice that these same people ignore stop lights, blow through stop signs without slowing down, run through crosswalks with no consideration for the pedestrians that are using it, or ride down the wrong lane. Yes ticket the scofflaw drivers, but it would be nice to have a bit of enforcement of the bicyclists as well.

I should know better than to stir up a hornet's nest, but I'm always amazed at this view that cyclists are the out-of-control dangers of the road. The truth is that people notice the small percentage of adrenaline junkie, bat-out-of-hell cyclists because, well, the human brain is wired to identify them. The bikers who (mostly) follow the rules blend in (thought experiment: you probably could not for the life of you recall the make and model or even color of a car you followed for a majority of a normal commute on any given day last week, but if some a**hole driver cut you off or did something dangerously out of the ordinary you could probably recall lots of details about them or their car).

More to the point, sometimes bikers bend or break the rules because it's what gets us home to our families alive. If I do an Idaho stop (treat a red light as a 2-way stop, proceed when crossing traffic is clear) it's safer for me because now I am ahead of traffic until the next intersection and visible to any driver who is approaching and no longer in danger of the dreaded "right hook". I'm fully aware that it's against DC regulations, but my experience with traffic downtown tells me unequivocally that it reduces the chance of getting flattened when the light turns green. Furthermore, there are drivers out there who are actively trying to hurt us. And I'm not talking about people not paying attention to the road or engrossed in their phones, I mean people who actively force emergency evasion simply because they don't like the fact that we are on the road at all and they perceive we are costing them 30 seconds or so of their commute (which we aren't). Think about how f*cked up that is for a minute.

So, please spare us the righteous indignation of the sainted car driver beset on all sides by the barbarian pedal pushers.

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So, please spare us the righteous indignation of the sainted car driver beset on all sides by the barbarian pedal pushers.

My usual problem with bicyclists is when I am walking, not driving. I have been bumped into while in a crosswalk by some a-hole on a bike and he yelled at me as if I should have looked out for him. I have almost been run down in my quiet residential neighborhood as I try to cross at a stop sign while walking my dogs. These are not isolated incidents. Do I believe that most bicyclists are that way? I am sure that it is a small minority as you say, but like it or not that small minority is the face that most non-cyclists see.

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My usual problem with bicyclists is when I am walking, not driving. I have been bumped into while in a crosswalk by some a-hole on a bike and he yelled at me as if I should have looked out for him. I have almost been run down in my quiet residential neighborhood as I try to cross at a stop sign while walking my dogs. These are not isolated incidents. Do I believe that most bicyclists are that way? I am sure that it is a small minority as you say, but like it or not that small minority is the face that most non-cyclists see.

That's kind of point: we've normalized dangerous behavior by cars, even when the rate of incidents (close calls and actual collisions) is much closer to that of cyclists than we would like to believe based on oft-quoted personal anecdotes. How many pedestrian injuries are due to cyclists vs. cars? Even normalizing for miles driven/ridden it's not even close.

In my personal kingdom there would be two basic requirements for citizenship that everybody would have to complete that would make our society the most polite one in the world:

1) Everybody would need to spend at least a year working in the service industry (counter clerk, checkout person, waiter, bus driver, whatever) to gain appreciation for how the "other side" makes a living

2) Everybody would need to spend a cumulative week each year using each of the following for at least a significant percentage of their commute (where possible): driving, public transportation, biking, walking

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In my world I believe that unless proven otherwise everyone is an oblivious self-important a-hole no matter what their preferred form of transportation.

Anecdotes are far more powerful influence on people's views than statistics, because they become life's lessons. I know when I see a guy on his road bike dressed like he is the next Bradley Wiggins coming down my street I know that he is going to blow right through the stop sign without slowing down just as I know that my neighbor will do the same thing in his car - you are more likely to see a DC cop use his turn signal than either happening.

My point was not to vilify bicyclists (one of my skiing buddies and a longtime friend is the founder of Velonation so I know that most cyclists are not a-holes), but to point out the lack of enforcement against dangerous cyclists.

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I should know better than to stir up a hornet's nest, but I'm always amazed at this view that cyclists are the out-of-control dangers of the road. The truth is that people notice the small percentage of adrenaline junkie, bat-out-of-hell cyclists because, well, the human brain is wired to identify them. The bikers who (mostly) follow the rules blend in (thought experiment: you probably could not for the life of you recall the make and model or even color of a car you followed for a majority of a normal commute on any given day last week, but if some a**hole driver cut you off or did something dangerously out of the ordinary you could probably recall lots of details about them or their car).

More to the point, sometimes bikers bend or break the rules because it's what gets us home to our families alive. If I do an Idaho stop (treat a red light as a 2-way stop, proceed when crossing traffic is clear) it's safer for me because now I am ahead of traffic until the next intersection and visible to any driver who is approaching and no longer in danger of the dreaded "right hook". I'm fully aware that it's against DC regulations, but my experience with traffic downtown tells me unequivocally that it reduces the chance of getting flattened when the light turns green. Furthermore, there are drivers out there who are actively trying to hurt us. And I'm not talking about people not paying attention to the road or engrossed in their phones, I mean people who actively force emergency evasion simply because they don't like the fact that we are on the road at all and they perceive we are costing them 30 seconds or so of their commute (which we aren't). Think about how f*cked up that is for a minute.

So, please spare us the righteous indignation of the sainted car driver beset on all sides by the barbarian pedal pushers.

Point one-I have encountered signs downtown recently that say bikers may progress through the intersection with the pedestrian walk signal. Many intersections now have a 5 second pedestrian start before the light turns green. This allows the biker to be "ahead of traffic until the next intersection" as you mention.

Point two-you may be a conscientious biker, but I have encountered many more who are not in my daily commute. Bending or breaking the rules to get you home safely is one thing, doing stupid things like coming upon a stopped vehicle and darting into the lane with a car coming (with the biker to the right of the car) is extremely dangerous to both the biker and the car and gets no one home more quickly or safely. And since L Street has become a biker lane, I am still amazed how many bikers do not stay to the right in the areas where cars are allowed to turn left, as the lane is marked for them to do so. Another example of not being a smart rider, putting oneself at risk and not getting the biker home any more quickly or safely.

So to use your phrase, please spare us the righteous indignation of the sainted bike rider beset on all sides by the barbarian car drivers. There are good and bad on both sides. And unsafe car drivers who do stupid things to other car drivers as well.

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Throwing my hat in this ring, I sympathize with both drivers and cyclists here.

Drivers, because cyclists are all too often entitled A-holes who don't seem to realize that, despite a car having the capability to snuff out a life within two seconds, they choose to scoff at that inconvenient truth, and daredevil their way through intersections (refer to W.A.R. as an earlier example), loudly slapping cars if they aren't satisfied with how they act, and cowardly pedaling away.

Cyclists, because drivers are all too often entitled A-holes who don't seem to realize that, despite cyclists horning in on a transportation system that was designed for cars, cyclists are using no gas, take up about 1/10th of the space of a driver, and are much healthier for the environment - my brain lies with drivers; my heart lies with cyclists.

How's that for wishy-washy? Actually, it's not wishy-washy; it's merely acknowledging there are two sides with legitimate viewpoints on this very difficult issue without an easy answer - I hope one day we can all get along, but our road system in DC isn't set up for it. Turn to Copenhagen for an example of somewhere that is.

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I commuted for a while by bike when I was living 2 1/2 miles from my job in Rockville. I started my commuting days obeying every stop sign and traffic light I encountered. It was just plain scary dangerous. I was run off the road by a metro bus, winged with a rear view mirror, and blasted with a horn from behind by a driver who sped into the oncoming lane almost crushing me just to get ahead of me 20 feet from a stop sign. This was all in ONE morning commute! So, my traffic law abiding days as a commuted ended very quickly. I did whatever was necessary to make it to and from work in one piece. Sometimes that meant hoping onto the sidewalk to go around corners. sometimes it meant getting the jump when the opposite light turned yellow instead of waiting for my own green. Morning commuters are glassy eyed, on the phone, fully wrapped up in a cup of coffee, or just plain not paying attention. Yes, I have seen a lot of cyclist blow lights and stop signs and riding dangerously. Enforcement of laws should go both ways. But, until it does, it is not always safe as a cyclist to strictly black and white obey all traffic laws.

Both sides have extremely valid points. At the end of the day, in a collision between a bike and a car, the car wins. Every time! So, yeah, I will break a couple laws to avoid that collision.

Best of Luck all of you commuters.

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So in DC it's illegal to u-turn when there's a bike lane in the middle of the road? Only in DC do I see morons making u-turns with on-coming traffic.

Get an outside seat at any watering hole on Elm Street in Bethesda on the block between Woodmont and Arlington Road starting around 5pm on a weekday, and I guarantee you will see every offense possible that can be committed by pedestrians and motorists alike committed in less than the time it takes to finish a single beer.

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easily identifiable by the Tour de France outfits used while commuting to and from work

I know when I see a guy on his road bike dressed like he is the next Bradley Wiggins coming down my street I know that he is going to blow right through the stop sign without slowing down ...

My point was not to vilify bicyclists

But you see that by making generalizations you are, right? And that this re-enforces or normalizes attitudes that put law-abiding cyclists in danger, right? It's fine to point out that some bikers are dangerous road users because they absolutely are, but the default seems to lump every biker into the same bucket: guilty until proven sufficiently subservient to cars.. Statements like the ones quoted above make some people think sh*t like this is "OK", because, ya know, scofflaw cyclists! For some reason we would not find it acceptable to swung a baseball bat at somebody for walking too slowly in front of you on a narrow sidewalk, but it's cool to aim a multi-ton vehicle at an unarmored person if they get in your way. Again: think about how f*cked up that is.

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But you see that by making generalizations you are, right? And that this re-enforces or normalizes attitudes that put law-abiding cyclists in danger, right? It's fine to point out that some bikers are dangerous road users because they absolutely are, but the default seems to lump every biker into the same bucket: guilty until proven sufficiently subservient to cars.. Statements like the ones quoted above make some people think sh*t like this is "OK", because, ya know, scofflaw cyclists! For some reason we would not find it acceptable to swung a baseball bat at somebody for walking too slowly in front of you on a narrow sidewalk, but it's cool to aim a multi-ton vehicle at an unarmored person if they get in your way. Again: think about how f*cked up that is.

You seem to miss that I have mostly referred to the way these cyclists are around pedestrians not drivers, but how is it that pointing out this out lead directly to the idea that I or the majority of people pissed off at this kind of dangerous riding would turn to violence to rectify it? That is absolutely absurd.

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You seem to miss that I have mostly referred to the way these cyclists are around pedestrians not drivers, but how is it that pointing out this out lead directly to the idea that I or the majority of people pissed off at this kind of dangerous riding would turn to violence to rectify it? That is absolutely absurd.

It doesn't have to be you. Somebody out there in society is coming to that conclusion because they perceive it as acceptable, precisely because of the subtle and not-so-subtle cues that cyclists are somehow unworthy as road users and a universal danger to everybody else. Does that clear it up? It's about changing the attitude that somehow you "know that he is going to blow right through the stop sign without slowing down" based solely on "the way these cyclists are around pedestrians". When in a vast majority of the cases that is not the outcome.

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And if you do hit a cyclist, don't tweet about it. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-norfolk-22602141

Kudos to that gentleman. Has anyone noticed his books on the left of the middle shelf? Take a look.

It doesn't have to be you. Somebody out there in society is coming to that conclusion because they perceive it as acceptable, precisely because of the subtle and not-so-subtle cues that cyclists are somehow unworthy as road users and a universal danger to everybody else. Does that clear it up? It's about changing the attitude that somehow you "know that he is going to blow right through the stop sign without slowing down" based solely on "the way these cyclists are around pedestrians". When in a vast majority of the cases that is not the outcome.

TedE, I think you're missing an opportunity to seek common ground with a potential detractor. Read Sthitch's words more carefully - you two aren't that far off.

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"Dangerous U-Turn In DC Leads To Accidents" by Mark Segraves on nbcwashington.com

You know what, Bill? I'm sure you know I sympathize with you, but this afternoon it took me an *hour* to drive from Ballston to Osteria Elisir and park. I also needed to tinkle *the entire time*.

At what point does this indescribably intolerable commute become The Wild West? For me, that point was today.

Bike lanes or not, legality or not, these streets are no more of a place to bike than the Beltway. Cyclists are in danger here.

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Not sure I see the connection, other than ... boy, that trip would have been much faster by bike!

But I'm pretty coddled -- my commute is a couple of blocks of quiet Capitol Hill streets, then the Capitol grounds, then the Pennsylvania Avenue bike lane and then the 15th Street bike lane. And just three miles: enough to call it exercise but not enough for it to ever seem like an inconvenience. My fastest ride home at night was within a minute or so of the 12 minutes it takes by car.

"Dangerous U-Turn In DC Leads To Accidents" by Mark Segraves on nbcwashington.com

You know what, Bill? I'm sure you know I sympathize with you, but this afternoon it took me an *hour* to drive from Ballston to Osteria Elisir and park. I also needed to tinkle *the entire time*.

At what point does this indescribably intolerable commute become The Wild West? For me, that point was today.

Bike lanes or not, legality or not, these streets are no more of a place to bike than the Beltway. Cyclists are in danger here.

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Not sure I see the connection, other than ... boy, that trip would have been much faster by bike!

There really isn't a connection, other than two things:

1) I was thinking about you during the commute, and actively feeling sorry for the cyclists.

2) As I was driving (and thinking about it), there was no question in my mind that the cyclists were creating yet another *huge* variable for drivers to worry about in the already-dangerous commute (I think cell phones have made ordinary commuting dangerous).

The situation has changed dramatically in the past 5-10 years. It's not as simple as saying "lose the car and buy a bike, buddy!" (I already have a pretty nice Fuji!) - this was a driver's town until just a few years ago, so much so that commuters were dropping quarters in 2-hour meters downtown 4 times a day! I moved equidistant from 1) my son 2) my mom and 3) Restaurant Land several years ago; if I had it to do now, I'd skew my residence more towards a Metro station, or find another line of work.

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