[makecheck]

The overwhelmingly most common one I see is cyclists not stopping at STOP signs (or worse, red lights), and the real crazy ones appear to not even slow down.

It is illegal to run a stop sign, and it is certainly possible a car (crossways or turning) will arrive first and have right of way. So a car is turning, why should it expect a cyclist to come plowing through on a whim?

Again: it is ILLEGAL for cyclists to run stop signs. You have to stop, just like a car. (And in case you think it’s no big deal, I see plenty of cars that aren’t too good at stopping either. You want to hit them?)

[larrymyers]

It actually depends on the state laws in the US. More states are starting to adopt the Idaho stop. Though I agree that cyclists who abandon all situational awareness when arriving at intersections are just future organ donors.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idaho_stop

[crispyambulance]

  > ...overwhelmingly most common one I see is cyclists not stopping at STOP signs

It's common, yes, but it's not even close to the primary cause of any of the accidents in the article.

For whatever reasons, many folks have a serious problem with cyclists pragmatically taking certain liberties that they, as motorists, don't have. You would be correct in situations where cyclists blindly zip through intersections without awareness, but that's almost never the case. What actually happens is that cyclists assess the intersection from a point of view that's far better than a motorist who is lower and can't hear or see as well as a cyclist because of their position/enclosure. Cyclists choose to take the risk to proceed because it takes physical exertion to come to a full stop and then start-up again. That's very taxing on a commute.

  > ... Again: it is ILLEGAL for cyclists to run stop signs

Sure it is, if you're one of those "letter of the law" people (and your usage of CAPS suggests that you are). In practice, it's allowed with a common sense judgement call. I've done it more times that I can remember in front of police. I have heard of police enforcing this occasionally to "send a message" but it's never sustained.

It's also "ILLEGAL" to run red lights on a bike, but that is done anyways for pragmatic reasons. If you're a cyclist, the most dangerous time is when traffic starts moving again. Motor vehicles can be going at speed just as you're getting clipped in and starting to move. In certain cases, it's just better to get yourself through the intersection and to the other side before the cars start moving. That way, you can position yourself and be visible to them. There's fewer surprises that way for everyone.

[kqr]

In some situations, it is empirically safer for cyclists to clear intersections against red/stop signs. Usually because there's no other traffic crossing their path at those times.

Of course, the egregious cases you've witnessed are probably not those situations, so this is more as a reminder that sometimes the dichotomy of the law is not what matters most to the individual.

[avianlyric]

Speeding is ILLEGAL as well. Yet car drivers don't seem that bothered. Funny how a car driver doing something ILLEGAL which substantially increases the risk of death for other road users is acceptable, but a cyclist doing something ILLEGAL which doesn't increase the risk of death for other road users is completely unacceptable.

[adrianN]

Everyone breaks laws. Cars and cyclists just break different laws. For example it is also illegal to drive so close to the car in front of you that you can't brake, and yet we have lots of rear-end accidents.