[coaster_dot]

I have a similar experience. When I was 12 I used to bike to my friends house all the time. And I did two things wrong all the time...one, I biked on the sidewalk and two I never stopped at a stop sign. I was biking back to my house late in the night when I went through a stop sign...unfortunately a driver was drunk and he also blew through the stop sign. When i saw him coming I hit my brake and luckily he only hit my front tire. However, that caused me to fly off my bike. I wasn't hurt but the guy didn't stop at all. I got his plate and he was charged with a DUI later in the night.

[ShepherdsDog]

WDHIII WDHIII:

Brenda Brenda:

It is still 33 here!

(lets call it brainfreeze in your case )

Yeah Ive got a sister on hoidays in the Okanagan - she called me last night around this time and told me it was still 35 and shed just gotten out of the lake

I hung up on her

Jesus, it must nice. The only time I get to see temps that cool are when I crank up the A/C full, or I piss the wife off.

[Praxius]

Mustang1 Mustang1:

2Cdo 2Cdo:

bootlegga bootlegga:

Yes, without a doubt.

Agreed! They should also be licensed and insured.

Agreed!!! And it should be enforced by the police as well!

Where I live (Nova Scotia) the laws are enforced, and those who do not obey the road laws get fined and/or have their bike taken away.

You have to treat all the road signs exactly as if you are driving a vehicle. You have to have the proper reflectors, helmets and bright clothing that a rider requires. At night, you are required to have actual lights on the bike or expect to have it taken away.

My brother who used to live in Toronto got a speeding ticket for going too fast in a 50kmh zone.

License and Insure Bicyclists?? Does anybody else see how silly that sounds?

People driving a scooter don't need a license or insurance, yet people want bikes restricted like cars?

Did anybody take into account 3-4 year old kids just learning to ride a bike? Should they have to take a driver's course for riding their bikes? Do they need to pay insurance every year out of their allowance to satisfy people's anger at the police for not enforcing the already existing laws out there for bike riders?

Or shall we just simply restrict the age of riders to 16 like driving a car to avoid this little problem?

What's next? Roller blades and skateboards?

If some idiot wants to run a stop sign and drive wrecklessly with a bike on the roads, here's what you do:

Report them to the police.

If the police don't want to do anything about it.... then get on the asses to do their damn jobs.

And if that doesn't work.... then screw it... run these bikers over when you have the right of way and teach them a lesson to not be so damn stupid.

Why any police force would allow bikers to treat a stop sign or red light as a yield is way beyond me.... but forcing little children to get licenses and insurance for the actions of a few adult/teen morons is even further beyond me.

Added:

And all my life I was always taught to stop at stop signs, even if the intersection is completely empty, to stay on the right side of the road and be as defensive as possible.... not because I might get a fine/ticket or have my bike taken away, but because I would be killed.

Worked pretty good for me so far. (Then again, 90% of the time, I rode my bike in the woods and on trails well away from roads)

[PublicAnimalNo9]

In bizarre twist, many years ago in Windsor, some kid got pulled over by the cops for failing to stop at a stop sign. He was given the same fine as a car driver for doing the same thing. The public outcry was pathetic and disgusting.
The officer was practically vilified by many residents of Windsor. With complaints ranging from 'the cop was just a big bully' to 'don't the police have better things to do than harrass kids on bikes'. The will of the people can be very fickle at times.

[coaster_dot]

PublicAnimalNo9 PublicAnimalNo9:

In bizarre twist, many years ago in Windsor, some kid got pulled over by the cops for failing to stop at a stop sign. He was given the same fine as a car driver for doing the same thing. The public outcry was pathetic and disgusting.
The officer was practically vilified by many residents of Windsor. With complaints ranging from 'the cop was just a big bully' to 'don't the police have better things to do than harrass kids on bikes'. The will of the people can be very fickle at times.

I see both sides of the story though.

-Yes the kid should have stopped and he should know better. But I don't think he should have gotten the same fine. I mean a car going through a stop sign can cause a lot of damage and kill someone. Its a little bit different on a bike. He should have stopped the kid talked to him but not give him a fine.

[PublicAnimalNo9]

I do agree up to a point, but there could have just as well been a car coming that had the right of way and shmucked him. Nope, I think the lesson was best taught with a fine. Generally speaking, anyone with some intelligence will learn a lesson quicker if it costs them financially.
The officer acted well within his responsibility to enforce the law. Cops will give tickets for "Califormia" stops where there's very little chance of an accident so why not teach the kid a lesson he'll remember? I guess I should have mentioned we're not talking about some 8 yr old, the kid was 15-16 and should have known better.

[Praxius]

PublicAnimalNo9 PublicAnimalNo9:

In bizarre twist, many years ago in Windsor, some kid got pulled over by the cops for failing to stop at a stop sign. He was given the same fine as a car driver for doing the same thing. The public outcry was pathetic and disgusting.
The officer was practically vilified by many residents of Windsor. With complaints ranging from 'the cop was just a big bully' to 'don't the police have better things to do than harrass kids on bikes'. The will of the people can be very fickle at times.

This is also why the public are not the police, thank Jebus.

[Praxius]

coaster_dot coaster_dot:

I see both sides of the story though.

-Yes the kid should have stopped and he should know better. But I don't think he should have gotten the same fine. I mean a car going through a stop sign can cause a lot of damage and kill someone. Its a little bit different on a bike. He should have stopped the kid talked to him but not give him a fine.

It maybe a little different in regards to the bike causing damage to a car it hits vs. another car hitting the same car, but the punishment isn't so much for the protection of vehicle drivers but himself, the rider.... because if he runs a stop sign and then gets smeared along the road by a dump truck.... well....

If the risk of getting flattened by a vehicle and his skull splattering like a watermellon accross the intersection doesn't make him re-check his priorities for his own safety, perhaps getting a fine that hits his wallet will deter him none the less.

Then again, the other danger is also to his or her body flying into someone walking along the sidewalk and injuring or killing them.

A projectile human body can be just as deadly.

[PublicAnimalNo9]

Plus another side of it. If that kid had been hit and killed by a car with the right-of-way, the driver of that car would most likely saddled with a tremendous amount of guilt.
I'll give you a real life example altho it's not about someone on a bike.
Many years ago a very good friend of mine was driving home from work. It was dark and rainy. As he was approaching an intersection 2 blocks from his house, some kid ran out against the red light and my friend hit him full on. He had no chance to stop. The kid was a teenager. She was rushed to the hospital where she passed away, but not before absolving my friend by admitting it was her fault. That didn't seem to matter to her parents who started a lawsuit against my friend. 6 months after the accident and before the court procedings started, the guilt got so bad he took his own life. He was never criminally charged with anything as well he shouldn't have been but for him, knowing that he killed someone even if by accident, it was too much for him to bear.

R.I.P Scotty

[Praxius]

PublicAnimalNo9 PublicAnimalNo9:

Plus another side of it. If that kid had been hit and killed by a car with the right-of-way, the driver of that car would most likely saddled with a tremendous amount of guilt.
I'll give you a real life example altho it's not about someone on a bike.
Many years ago a very good friend of mine was driving home from work. It was dark and rainy. As he was approaching an intersection 2 blocks from his house, some kid ran out against the red light and my friend hit him full on. He had no chance to stop. The kid was a teenager. She was rushed to the hospital where she passed away, but not before absolving my friend by admitting it was her fault. That didn't seem to matter to her parents who started a lawsuit against my friend. 6 months after the accident and before the court procedings started, the guilt got so bad he took his own life. He was never criminally charged with anything as well he shouldn't have been but for him, knowing that he killed someone even if by accident, it was too much for him to bear.

R.I.P Scotty

Good point.