[blacksmith_tb]

I often see complaints along these lines - and of course, there are scofflaw cyclists, undeniably. But how many motorists do you see in a day do something illegal? 1? 10? 50? I suspect the percentages of cyclists doing illegal things are similar to those of motorists, but there are (depending on your location) 10X to 100X as many motorists. And physics is on their side - motorists are far more dangerous to themselves, and everyone else, than cyclists are.

[roninb]

It may be the area I'm in, but the proportion of cyclists I see: - run a red light, riding past stopped traffic (often, cutting into the crosswalk as if that makes it any safer or more defensible...) - not stop at stop signs - ignore emergency vehicles - commit road rage is closer to 2 in 3 or 3 in 4. So much so that in my experience, I see far more cyclist "crimes" in a week than I do motorist ones. I've also, in my few years living in this city, seen far more accidents involving bikes than cars. (Now that I think about it, I haven't seen either in a few month. So, maybe the bike lanes are helping and I'm just not seeing how...)

You are completely right about physics being on their side though. I'm not afraid a cyclist is going to kill me by T-Boning me running a stop sign, but I am afraid my SO will get PTSD if they T-Bone a cyclist running a stop sign. (I am also worried about a phantom collision [Florida's term for an accident caused by a vehicle that was not damaged] being caused by my reaction(s) to a criminal biker. I do concede that I could do my part trying to find some course that teaches me defensive driving against cyclists.)

[gozur88]

From what I can tell cyclists tend to ignore the rules more often in an attempt to conserve that all-important momentum. Particularly in downtown areas where traffic lights are very close together.