If you can't take back the streets responsibly...

[somnialcat]

I was biking to work this morning, taking a left turn on a green light, having waited through the red and signaled my turn from my position in the rightmost left-turning lane, when another cyclist came zipping along the cross street. Despite the fact that I announced my presence to him (*ringring*) he proceeded straight through the red light and

Comments

[srakkt]

I am *absolutely* there with you. This is a pet peeve of mine.

[rax]

I'm mostly on the same page, and I actually think licensing might be a good idea. Not sure how to enforce it though; I worry that plating would be quite expensive for people who bike around because it's cheaper than anything else, and random stops of cyclists are oh my god not OK. Or, you could make plating cheap, but then would the state lose money on it? I guess you could probably make that money right back by ticketing egregious offenders, of whom there are plenty... I probably see at least two dozen stoplight/sign violations each time I go to work. :) If you're actually only seeing one every couple of weeks, where are you commuting?

[somnialcat]

I would think that licensing enforcement could work the same for cyclists as it does for motorists; that being that it's only checked if the operator is stopped for some other violation or a routine check. I'm probably underestimating the number of stop violations I see, but I don't generally encounter other cyclists on my route until I get into Cambridge. Since you asked, though, this is my current commute.

[rax]

That actually looks like a pretty fun ride! 28 goes OK for you? Maybe I should try riding to the zoo sometime...

[somnialcat]

MA-28's wide enough for biking, but I only take it from Assembly Sq. to Wellington Cir. (just over the Mystic River) because I don't want to deal with the MA-38 underpass to the south and Middlesex/Highland Ave. takes me closer to home to the north.

Generally it's an easy ride. The only treacherous part is coming down School St., which the Boston bike map labels "easy" despite it being a steep downhill grade, one way with parking on both sides and not enough room for a car to pass safely. I take Central St. back up the hill on my way home, which is slightly wider but also one-way for part.

From your place to the zoo, I'd probably take Harvard St. from Powderhouse Sq. across MA-38 to MA-16E, where there are nice paved paths along the north side of the river that will take you to Wellington Cir., and there you can pick up MA-28N.

[reveille_d]

Yell at them when they do that. I do. It's fucking rude, and we rules-following cyclists shouldn't have to put up with idiots like that.

[somnialcat]

Given up on expecting law enforcement officers to act with circumspection and deference, I hope, and not on stopping at stop signs altogether. :S

[somnialcat]

*hugsback* :3