Same Rights, Same Rules? I Don't Think So

I was given a scolding today by a police officer for running a stop sign. I smiled and assured him that I would stop at all stop signs from now on.

Boy was that a lie. Neither I, nor any other bike rider, present, past, or future, have ever, nor will ever, come to a complete stop at a stop sign. I mean a COMPLETE stop, one where you either need to balance to counter gravity, or put a foot down.

So do I have to? I say no. I say that those who argue that bikes have the same rights as cars and should follow the same rules as cars are deluding themselves. Bikes clearly don't have the same rights, nor are they expected to follow most rules. Examples?

When was the last time you saw a bike with brake lights and turn signals? When was the last time you saw a car or motorcycle without them? When was the last time you saw a car parking on the sidewalk or driving on the shoulder? Have you ever tried to ride in the middle of the lane of a busy four-lane highway? That's what cars and motorcycles get to do. Have you ever seen a car driving on the sidewalk? That's what I have to do when I commute to work because I can't ride in the lane of said four-lane highway. Have you ever seen a bike parking in the middle of a parking place in a busy parking lot? Of course not: It would be moved up to the sidewalk where bikes "belong". Can a bike rider get a ticket for DUI (or RUI)? Good luck with that.

And let's not forget traffic lights with sensors. How often have I pulled up to the light and waited and waited and waited until a car came along for it to change because my bike won't trigger it? The only way I could continue would be to run the red light, if there were no cars.

Some argue that bikes should use hand signals that were invented for cars before turn signals. (You know, left hand out means left turn; left hand up means right turn; left hand down means stop.) But this is pretty idiotic. If I'm going fast and need to stop, I'm supposed to take one hand off the handle bar to signal it? Or, even worse, going fast through a turn, I'm suppose to do it one-handed? And why is it a good idea to signal a right turn with my left hand? I can understand it for cars (you'd need a pretty long right arm to reach out the passenger side window), but for bikes it's idiotic. And what to we do at night?

In fact, bikes have more of the rights and regulations of pedestrians or skate boarders, who don't need to stop for stop signs or have brake lights or turn signals.

So as I was riding along on the wide shoulder of the state highway, passing the cars stopped at the stop sign (did the policeman want me to stop behind the last car in line? or was it ok for me to pass the line of cars, as long as I stopped at the stop sign?), then running the stop sign to go all the way across the road to the wide shoulder of the road I was turning onto, I was behaving more like a pedestrian than a vehicle. I shouldn't have had to stop at the stop sign, as long I could cross safely.

Until I have the right to ride in the middle of the lane of all busy highways (not hugging the shoulder trying to stay out of the way of traffic), I don't think I should need to follow the laws of motor vehicles, particularly not when I'm being asked to follow them selectively.