And how many cars cut her off?

what a complete bitch. completely insensitive.

She has a point, until cyclists start obeying the law and riding safe (especially around pedestrians) they have little room to talk against motorists doing the same thing.

I'm sure Sally Clark posts entries describing days when she drives to work, walks around, and almost gets hit by cars using the roads recklessly.

riding in the center lane is legal, and many times prudent and safer than the bike lane.

but sure, how many cars rolled stoplights and used cellphones?

I offer the "bike license challenge" to any drivers who offer the idea in this thread. I will donate $100 to some auto cause* if you all agree to shut up about bike licensing for a year.

*giggle.

She has a point, until motorists start obeying the law and driving safe (especially around pedestrians) they have little room to talk against cyclists doing the same thing.

The bike lane on 2nd is a death trap. Especially during the morning/evening commute.

Totally unreasonable that she didn't give complete context, do the usual "both sides are wrong", combine her first hand experience today with generalities about the mistakes that we all know drivers make, and maybe get into a history of road use by bicycles and automobiles in a 140 character tweet about her experience biking to work. What a bitch.

@8 Actually, all three sides have little room to accuse either of dangerous activity. I'm watching a group of pedestrians jaywalking right now. I'll probably dodge a couple of cyclists when I walk to the doctor's appointment in a couple hours, probably even almost get hit by a car, and see a lot more pedestrians jaywalking. Only those of us who obey the laws can say much on the subject, I personally say ban all wheeled transportation in downtown at least, but meh, sadly voting doesn't require you be a law abiding citizen, it just requires you don't get caught for certain crimes.

Pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists, and drivers of extremely small cars would all be well-served to assume that all drivers are: blind, stupid, maniacally murderous, getting a blowjob, and/or just stole the car and are fleeing pursuit. Just assume they're going to try to kill you if they see you. Take evasive maneuvers. (I drive a Miata. I am invisible to blonde women in SUVs who have had cell phones surgically implanted in their ears.)

Wow. Like I needed another reason not to vote for Sally Clark. Does she really even ride a bike? If she did then she'd know that the 2nd Ave bike lane is a suicide mission.

"Would be nice to see Clark use her bully pulpit to find common ground instead of imply blame."

Coming from you, comedy gold.

until every bicyclist respects every law 100% of the time, clueless drivers and jaywalkers are beyond reproach.

@12 Ditto.

@9: So what? She wrote about what *she* saw. She didn't say that was the only thing that ever happened, or generalize at all.

I don't get the outrage here. It's like if someone wrote "I saw 'My Idiot Brother' and it was terrible, stupid, not funny" and people piled on them for not talking about the merits of legit theater, Citizen Kane, and novels.

@7 Seconded! The bike lane on 2nd seems to have been put there as some sort of "Fuck You!" to anyone who wants to get down 2nd safely. Taking the lane on 2nd is a necessity. It doesn't block traffic either. I usually have to slow down to keep pace with traffic.

@7 & @11 & @16

Then are you advocating that the 2nd Ave bike lane be removed?

Would be nice to see Clark use her bully pulpit to find common ground instead of imply blame.

What are you, some kinda Commie?

The bike lane on 2nd scares the crap out of me, any time of day.

@17: The Second Avenue bike lane could be moved to the right side of the street. Or the Third Avenue stoplights could be better synchronized, since that's otherwise a better street to ride due to it's bike/bus only restriction.

@17 - 2nd is actually an interesting microcosm of how the Bike Master Plan has helped improve SDOT's thinking about bike facilities in general. That lane existed prior to the development of the BMP, and has design issues both north and south of Virginia.

Bike lane downhill - it is pretty easy to keep up with traffic going downhill on 2nd. The lane misdirects both motorists and cyclists. Cyclists should generally position themselves in a traffic lane for safety. Having an unused bike lane present also pisses off motorists - 'why aren't you in the bike lane' syndrome.

North of Virginia - A bike lane would generally be appropriate there, but moving to the right side would be a better spot for it. There are a ton of opportunities to get left hooked there. I generally just use the right lane since there is a lot of jousting among cars to get to the left.

@17

Like others say, I would prefer it to be improved.

I, like other skilled cyclists, would be fine with no bike lanes anywhere downtown, but I know that many people are afraid of roads without bike lanes. So I support them.

Poor bicyclists were scolded by Sally Clark and they can't get up! Quick, call the w....

I see more cyclists run a red light than I do drivers of cars, buses or police vehicles. When it comes to pushing for tougher laws or street improvements that make cyclists safer, it doesnt help when you can stand on the corner of 4th and Pike and witness several violations made by cyclists.

If cyclists dont take the street laws seriously, why should anyone be serious in making the streets safe for cyclists?

It might very well have been me in the center lane. I am fit and ride a fast road bike and can always go the speed limit on 2nd. It is downhill slightly. If I do the speed limit in the bike lane I am dead, no ifs, ands, or buts, I am dead. The bicycle lane on 2nd has been turned into a turning lane for cars. Cars will pull to the left to get out of the way for cars behind them without checking what is in the bike lane.

I do not apologize for riding in the center lane to stay safe. Oh did I mention it is legal to ride in the road?

I'm tired of the, well cars run light too! argument. They do...but not nearly as much as bikes.

Every single time I go out for a walk I see a biker violate a traffic law. Every single time. I don't see cars do it nearly as frequently. I see bikes on Pine & 12th breezing thru the red light right in front of the police station. I've never seen a car do that (right by a police station I mean). It's been years since I've seen a car driving w/o any lights after dark. I see that w/bikes every night (which isn't just dangerous for me, it's very dangerous for them).

Of course there are bikers and drivers that obey the laws. And the laws should be better enforced for both. That's the first immediate thing that could be done; enforce what's already on the books. If both sides felt enforcement was being stepped up, then no one side would feel "picked on" and maybe everyone would calm down.

@24 Law breakers don't deserve safety? Ok I will remember that next time you speed in your car and something fires their rifle at you. I mean, you were speeding after all, that gives another person the right to attempt to kill you according to your own logic.

@ 8 FTW.

When I see bicyclists obeying the law, as I did last night (2 cyclists hand-signaling their turn from one busy street to another), it stands out to me because it's so rare.

I hate to say it, but seriously, nine times out of ten when I see cyclists on the Hill or downtown, they are most emphatically NOT obeying traffic laws.

@24: Poster child for the problems of arguing about generalizations based on generalizations.

Most DV crime is committed by men. Why should the police respond to a call where a DV victim is male?

Bankers committed all sorts of fraud and crashed the financial system. Why should anyone care about embezzlement from banks?

Do you see the problem here? Bicyclists in general need to behave better. Drivers in general need to behave better. The two are not mutually exclusive.

@28 You are wrong. You like every other human are susceptible to a cognitive selection bias that leads to polarization of opinion. This is well understood by science.

The statement that your subjective experience should be extrapolated to measure the behavior of hundreds of thousands of people in the Seattle area is plainly obvious as fallacious.

Everyone needs to stop pointing out how they see people break laws on bikes. Those of you who are looking for law breakers will find it. You probably don't notice how you speed at least once every time you drive a car do you?

@30: Good thing you're not subject to the same bias, otherwise your assertion that @28 is "wrong" would be suspect.

Cyclists need to stop making excuses for not obeying the law.

Drivers need to stop making excuses for not obeying the law.

Police officers need to ticket parties in both categories when this happens, especially downtown and on the Hill, where most of these complaints come from.

As a pedestrian/bus rider, I see tons of cyclists run red lights downtown, ride slower than the speed limit in the middle of the road, and hop from sidewalk to street and back again, weaving through cars and pedestrians without concern; I also see drivers who use bike lanes as turn lanes, don't specifically look for cyclists when changing lanes/turning, and block intersections during rush hour.

We are all culpable, and we all have individual experiences each day that stand out to us. Sally Clark's experience, *today*, was that of someone who watched cyclists put their own lives in danger, willingly, just after another cyclist lost his life in an accident that, as far as I'm aware, has NOT been pinned on either him or the driver of the vehicle...yet.

Is it really so important that we figure out who deserves more blame, cyclists or drivers? Can't we start shaming the *individuals* who break these laws instead of choosing which vehicle we're going to hate?

I'd rather shun some asshole cyclist who thinks he's above traffic laws, and in the same breath tell a distracted driver to fuck himself, than to have to take sides.

So we'll ticket the scofflaws on 4th and the salmon on 2nd, and then vote Sally Clark out of office for thinking the downhill 2nd ave bike lane is a safe and reasonable route. Problems solved.

@24 if the street laws don't take making the streets safe for cyclists seriously, why should cyclists take the street laws seriously?

think about it this way: if you have get used to watching out for actual traffic to maintain your safety, you stop relying on signals to do it for you. traffic laws were designed for cars, which are big, heavy, fast, easy to see, react poorly and have limited visibility. assuming the same rules will translate to bikes directly is shortsighted at best, and has lead to much of the current antagonism.

@ 30 - When I state my experience, I am "wrong"? Really??

You wrote: "The statement that your subjective experience should be extrapolated to measure the behavior of hundreds of thousands of people in the Seattle area is plainly obvious as fallacious." This 'statement' you reference is also not in existence, since nowhere in my post did I say anything of the sort.

In my post I specifically did NOT expand on my experience to a blanket statement like "All cyclists are scofflaws" - I didn't do this BECAUSE it would be specious and illogical. I was simply offering my experience, and an observation based on my experience.

I wish it were not the case that law-obeying cyclists are so rare, in my experience. But that's just not the case, in my experience.

#26 Hey asshole, every single time I am on the street I watch drivers yakking on their cell phones. Every single time. And not only is i illegal, unlike a cyclist going through a red light, an inattentive driver can KILL other people. Whole bunches of them.
Funny how you notice the cyclists but not the drivers.

Also, Dominic, I have to call you out a bit on the title you gave this post.

Sally Clark tweeted about cyclists she saw this one particular morning. To state otherwise is a bit, uh... misleading, at best.

Also, @21 nails it. Please apply for a job at SDOT.

@32: "As a pedestrian/bus rider, I see tons of cyclists ... ride slower than the speed limit in the middle of the road"

Is THAT why cars always seem to want to run me over -- that speed limit thingy is a MINIMUM? Guess you can't believe everything you read in the state driver's handbook. What other laws should I ignore? Maybe the part about stopping for red lights, just like the bus drivers?

The CONTEXT and the OUTRAGE here for her post is that there are some very recently DEAD bikers. Not dead drivers. Or even injured drivers. So far, there is very little evidence that many of the bikers did anything wrong or illegal. In fact, quite a few of the DRIVERS were either MURDEROUS, NEGLIGENT, or BREAKING THE LAW.
Her post...heck, its an outrageously IRRELEVANT NONSEQUITIR.
A woman wearing a helmet and a safety vest who was riding on the side of the road gets mowed down from behind? WELL BIKERS SHOULD RESPECT THE ROAD! A guy was going straight, was wearing a helmet and a car turns left in front of him? WELL BIKERS SHOULD FOLLOW THE LAW! A biker dies in a hit and run? OH THAT WAR ON CARS! BIKERS BEHAVE OR GET OFF THE ROAD.
Context. Context. Context.

TWO bikers just died over the weekend. two people DIED. she knows this.
and there is absolutely no proof yet that they were doing anything wrong. none.