What Cyclists Wish Drivers Knew #5: We actually do obey traffic laws.

I haven't always lived in Indy; in fact I've spent less than half my life in Indiana even though I moved away when I was well into my twenties. I recently moved back to town after "serving a seven-year sentence" in Houston, Texas. If there's one urban legend that permeates the driving community in Houston (where, in an average year, a dozen cyclists die on the roads, most in hit-and-runs), it's that "95% of cyclists run every stop sign and red light."

Well, I must be one of the 5%, then: I'm nowhere near stupid enough to run a red light in Indy, much less in Houston! As for stop signs, well, I'll admit to "Idaho stops" when there are no moving vehicles approaching from any direction. Over the past ten or so years (more than 20K miles on the bikes, I have never had a near miss because I ran a stop sign or stop light. I've had a couple of very close calls when drivers ran stop signs, though.


Those claims that cyclists "always break laws," however, are not necessarily rooted in fact. A study by a University of Colorado civil engineering professor found that cyclists and drivers disobey traffic laws at similar rates. The study, published in 2015, found that both break traffic laws at a rate of about 8-10%. That leaves me with two questions: First, why do people swear that cyclists almost always run stop signs and red lights? And second, has the rate of traffic infractions increased since the study was run?

As for question one, I see two reasons: first, drivers (humans in general, in fact) don't generally notice anything that's standing still, so they don't notice a cyclist standing quietly waiting for traffic to clear, but see all of them that are in motion. Second, a surprising number of drivers seem to think that bikes have no rights in traffic, and get peeved when we "wander away from the curb." I've even been told that I was "three feet from the gutter" by an irate ass on a cell phone.

As for question two, I doubt that anyone in Indy disagrees that drivers flat-out ignore stop signs these days. At least they do in my neighborhood. That's all the more reason to be defensive when we're on the streets; and to use warning lights even in broad daylight.

That's my story and I'm stickin' to it: stay safe out there!
copyright © 2018 scmrak