Charlotte Bicyclists A Whole Lot of Stupid

Around Charlotte the common refrain is "I have a right to use the whole lane" and it is true:

A bicyclist may use a full marked lane. “Bicyclists usually ride on the right side of the lane, but are entitled to use the full lane…. Drivers wishing to pass a bicyclist may do so only when there is abundant clearance and no oncoming traffic is in the opposing lane. When passing a bicyclist, always remember the bicyclist is entitled to use of the full lane.”   – North Carolina Driver’s Handbook, p.95.  

Cyclists have a right to use the entire width of the roadway. However, common sense dictates that doing so is probably not very smart. Many a bicyclist was fully within his or her rights to use the entire lane, yet sadly getting killed because the law says they have the right, doesn't make the bicyclist any less dead.

Charlotte has a serious problem with arrogant rude cyclists, and that frankly, is not going to get any better. A group of pro bike idiots blocking traffic uptown and in south end last Friday certainly didn't benefit anyone and rather than earn motorists respect just tossed more fuel on the hate fire. 

But what makes these people such idiots?

The majority of cyclists operating on Charlotte's major streets do so in a careless and reckless manner. Most ride with total hubris, an exaggerated sense of self worth that equals their level of intolerance and is exceeded only by their stunning level of stupid.

Nothing will earn a pedal pusher the scorn of motorized traffic faster than passing a dozen stopped cars at a traffic signal. To bicyclists the question is always why not? Never mind that, the correct answer is because the rules say thou shall not: 

Bicyclists may not overtake other traffic on the right except when in a separate marked travel lane. § 20-150.1.  When passing on the right is permitted. The driver of a vehicle may overtake and pass upon the right of another vehicle only under the following conditions: (1) When the vehicle overtaken is in a lane designated for left turns; (2) Upon a street or highway with unobstructed pavement of sufficient width which have been marked for two or more lanes of moving vehicles in each direction and are not occupied by parked vehicles; (3) Upon a one-way street, or upon a highway on which traffic is restricted to one direction of movement when such street or highway is free from obstructions and is of sufficient width and is marked for two or more lanes of moving vehicles which are not occupied by parked vehicles; (4)        When driving in a lane designating a right turn on a red traffic signal light. (1953, c. 679.)

Imagine following a long line of cars, each taking turns, carefully passing a cyclist doing 15-20 mph and finally your turn comes and once again your on your way. Only to have the line of cars snag a traffic signal and watch the cyclist breeze back to the head of the line and start the process all over again.

The hate is real.

Of course the real hate comes from the idea that all cyclists are Joe Biden supporters, cheering on the rapid rise in fuel prices. As a neighbor explained to me the other day "These liberal bike pukes are all about climate change, tofu and granola."

When I asked if he thought cyclists understood the correlation between fuel prices and the cost of granola his answer was a simple hell no.

So back to that brilliant idea to clog traffic on purpose the last Friday of every month. Seriously this is their plan.

From the local paper: 

Cyclists hope to fill uptown and neighborhood streets Friday night on a 7-mile ride to protest what they call city and state transportation plans far too focused on accommodating cars over people. “People in this city routinely forget that the roads belong to everyone equally — motorists, cyclists, skaters, scooters and pedestrians all have an inherent right to exist on our streets,” John Holmes, an organizer of Charlotte Critical Mass Ride, posted on Reddit. “The roads are not just for cars, and to act as if they are is in defiance of hundreds, if not thousands, of years of people existing freely on our streetscapes,” Holmes wrote. “This ride is a physical reminder of that right.”

But before the protest ride could get rolling they were already back peddling: 

The local media took their message to the airwaves and then CMPD got involved. Then the defund the police, ACAB and BLM flavor of the group came to light. The group quickly trying to walk back the negative press.

“We do not need a permit,” John Holmes the activist organizer told The Local Paper, because cyclists have as much of a right to the streets as cars do.

According to the paper: "The riders also didn’t seek a police escort, at the request of Black community members who don’t view police the same way many whites do, he said. A city of Charlotte spokesperson did not immediately reply to a request for comment about Friday’s event."

Of course it was a clown show, part bike parade, part gay pride parade and it made travel just stupid for anyone else needing to get somewhere into or out of Uptown or SouthEnd on a Friday start to a holiday weekend.

The only thing the "Critical Mass Ride" accomplished was to piss off more drivers. Now someone is floating the counter protest call "Operation Door Prize". You can imagine how this will turn out.

Let's face it, these Cyclists are a burden to the motoring public, few commuters enjoy the drive from Lancaster to Uptown or Riverhills to SouthPark. But both routes along with others like Providence, Central and Monroe Road are littered with potholes, school zones, garbage trucks, non functioning traffic signals that endlessly add to driver's drive time, so the last thing these drivers need is an arrogant cuss on a Trek Bicycle running red-lights and playing real life version of "Frogger" for which the result is often as expected:

Thankfully the cyclist survived his encounter with the Impala. But had no insurance to pay for the damages.

Its time we "drivers" demand restrictions on the bike riders, limiting access to certain not safe and highly traveled commuter routes. A daylight only rule should be adopted. Insurance should be a must, if not straight up insurance then lets have the state tax these bikes and contribute the funds to a state pool to cover the uninsured bikers.

And finally lets not have an Operation Door Prize that is just as counter productive as Vi Lyles Black Lives Matter mural and only further divides that cyclists from the normal people.

Post Script: As I write this the voice of my good friend Bill Fehr is bouncing around my head. Bill understood the metrics of car vs bike. Bill was an endless source of information and laughs. We never completed our planned trip to Parris Island but just weeks after his death I stood at attention as the Garrison Ensign was raised at 0800 on yet another graduation day and thought of Bill.  

Bill was top shelf and a bicyclist, he is truly missed. Some day I'll retell a story about "route-Irish".