Cyclists

There are good drivers and bad drivers.  There are also good cyclists and bad cyclists.  I would say the proportion of bad cyclists is MUCH higher than the proportion of bad drivers.  And I’m sick of them.  Cyclists shouldn’t cycle on the sidewalk (pavement), because that is for pedestrians – which is why I will never step off from the concrete of a sidewalk (pavement) to some patch of muddy ground to let a cyclist pass.  They can wait for me – pedestrians have the right of way!  Or they can go onto the road, which is where they are supposed to be.  And the cyclists who swap freely between the sidewalk (pavement) and road as it suits them are perhaps the worst.  However, if you are cycling on the road then you have to obey the laws of the road.  That means stopping at stop signs, stopping at red lights and stopping at zebra crossings.  The number of times I’ve seen a cyclist power through a red light is shocking – sometimes via the pedestrian crossing, sometimes regardless of traffic – to the extent that a few times I’ve leaned on my horn or wound my window down and dished a few profanities.  I’m not sure if it is a law in Seattle that you have to wear a bike helmet, but if it isn’t then it should be.  I consider this equivalent to wearing a seat belt – so if you’re caught not wearing one then you should be fined the same as if you were caught not wearing a seat belt in a car.  And if there is a designated cycle lane, then use it – it’s there for you!  Don’t decide to cycle down a parallel road without a cycle lane resulting in backed up car traffic unable to pass you and a lot of pissed off drivers.  That’s why I have sympathy for the mysterious person in Seattle who has been leaving tacks on cycle paths causing loads of punctures and who the police are now looking for.  I can understand why someone would want to do that – cyclists infuriate me as well.