BikePGH Message Board Archive

Who is more law abiding cyclists or motorists? In Milwaukee it is.....

Cyclists, per a Study commissioned by the City.

Breaking the law: motorists vs. cyclists

By Tom Held of the Journal Sentinel Sept. 21, 2010

As the Milwaukee Common Council takes up the Milwaukee by Bike Master plan, blogger Dave Schlabowske plugs some numbers into the ongoing argument over disobedience on the streets.

Schlabowske, the bicycle and pedestrian coordinator for the city of Milwaukee, builds a statistical case showing motorists violate traffic laws at a greater rate than cyclists. The majority of motorists speed and the vast majority fail to obey laws requiring them to yield to pedestrians, according to his statistics.

The data was based on observations conducted as part of traffic counts in the city.

Similar counts revealed that the majority of cyclists conform to traffic laws. The data collected, however, only represents a single snapshot of action at a particular location, which leaves it less than definitive.

I've never been fond of the argument that one group - motorists or cyclists - is superior because the other is worse. That's the type of "but he started it" logic best kept to playgrounds and politics.

Taken to its extreme, a rapist would argue that he's not bad because some else murdered.

The better practice is simple: follow the rules of the road regardless of your mode of transportation.

Link to report on findings: http://overthebarsinmilwaukee.wordpress.com/2010/09/21/scorchers-and-scofflaws-just-the-facts-please/

swalfoort

2012-08-03 15:10:37

I particularly liked this comment:

"Also try to remember that these traffic signals and stop signs are only necessary because most people drive cars. No volume of pedestrians or bicycles warrant a traffic signal or stop sign. So it is difficult for some people to obey laws that are only necessary so people can drive cars."

Yes and no. In America, with the numbers of pedestrians and cyclists, there are not enough of them to cause enough traffic that would require traffic signals specifically for them. But, in places like Copenhagen, that has a third of all traffic being cycles, it is reasonable to expect that some management is necessary.

Oh, to dream that day might come here.

Another line of comments mirrored what was in the book "Traffic" that it was something about being in a car and the design of the roads that made one more prone to violate the law. It's not just "jerks whether being on a bike or in a car" but "something about being safely encased within 2 tons of hurtling steel."

kordite

2012-08-03 15:56:30