BIKE: How to break the law?

[Michael Bluejay]

> I have a real problem with punks ... you're not very intelligent.

Umm....


> and calling me by my last name in a conversation I'm involved in is 
> not helping matters.

I apologize, I didn't know this was your preference.  People have 
called me by my last name all my life and I've never thought twice 
about it.


>> This is probably the biggest straw man argument I've ever seen in my 
>> life.  Who exactly is it who's advocating that cyclists run stop 
>> signs when it's not safe to do so?
>
> It's never safe to do so. But since you disagree, then I trust you'll 
> be with Patrick in pushing for removing the legal requirement to stop 
> at all stop signs in the city for motorists as well as cyclists. Ready 
> to put your body where your mouth is? Ready to assume that the 
> motorist coming up to the stop sign at the cross street is going to 
> see you and decide to stop this time?

Well then, I assert that this is proof positive that you don't 
understand what Patrick and I are talking about.  You simply don't run 
the sign when there's a motorist coming up to the sign at a cross 
street.  THAT'S what we mean about only running a sign when it's safe 
to do so.

As far as putting my body where my mouth is by running stop signs, 
hello, I do this every day.  And I never have close calls because I 
only do it when it's safe to do so.  On the other hand, I've nearly 
been hit several times by motorists running red lights, and I've 
actually been hit several times by motorists running stop signs.  I've 
never been hit by a bicyclist.

The idea that it is *never* safe to run stop signs is ridiculous.  How 
exactly do you propose that I will be hit by a nonexistent car?

By the way, someone here referred to Idaho's law allowing cyclists to 
treat red lights as stop signs.  Actually that's not quite right, the 
law allows cyclists to treat stop signs as yield signs.  This brings up 
an interesting question, Mike:  Is Idaho's law unsafe, or is it 
magically safe because it's not against the law?

Love,

-MBJ-