Busting the myth of the "scofflaw cyclist" Danish Road Directorate studies reveal that while 66% of motorists routinely break road traffic laws only 5% of cyclists do so. Law breaking by cyclists is higher where there is no cycle-specific infrastructure.

Some interesting stuff here, including links to more studies showing similar results in different countries.

The summary is that the reason motorists break more laws is that speeding is so common.

I don’t think this is because motorists are all evil and cyclists are all saints. Probably, the reason motorists break speed limits is that it can be relatively difficult to keep cars below the speed limit. It’s all too easy to absentmindedly speed up. It’s also, perhaps becuase of this, widely seen as socially acceptable to break the speed limit (speaking anecdotally).

One interesting thing here, which may not surprise regular readers of Fuck Cars, is that better cycling infrastructure leads to less lawbreaking by cyclists. As is often the case, it’s the design of roads and cities that changes behaviour, not abstract appeals to road users to be sensible!

      • @HawkeEnglish
        0•1 year ago

        Not in all cases, e.g. the “Idaho stop” or laws that allow cycling on the sidewalk or proceeding on red light after a delay.

        • pjhenry1216
          1•1 year ago

          You’re mentioning extra laws that still need to be followed. They just replaced other vehicular laws. They’re still able to be broken.

          • @HawkeEnglish
            3•1 year ago

            Yes but they are not “the same rules of the road”; they are different rules for bikes vs cars.

            • pjhenry1216
              2•1 year ago

              They’re a fairly small subset and still very easy to break though. All of those laws you mentioned would be broken if someone absent mindedly wasn’t paying attention.

              • @HawkeEnglish
                2•1 year ago

                I’m really not sure how you’d go about breaking the Idaho stop law. Stopping when you didn’t really need to?

                Regardless the point is that cyclists do not need to follow the same rules of the road as cars do.

                • pjhenry1216
                  2•1 year ago

                  Regardless, that’s not the same as saying they’re not as strict which is what I was replying to.

                  Idaho stop is broken the same way a car not following a yield sign is broken. It’s still really easy and one of the most common complaint about cyclists to begin with.

      • @[email protected]English
        -3•1 year ago

        In my experience, there are plenty of cyclists out there (and I’m sure it’s not the majority, but enough for me to notice) who are “traffic” when it suits them, and also “pedestrians” when it suits them.

        Mostly, bike messengers in Boston are dicks. 😅

        • pjhenry1216
          6•1 year ago

          That’s just describing the cyclists who break rules though. It doesn’t mean they are required to follow fewer laws.

        • pjhenry1216
          5•1 year ago

          Says the troll who didn’t even read the headline of the post before posting just because they saw a car and cycle in the same picture.

          Beyond that, I responded to each of their points. If you want a source, ask them to provide them and I will give a rebuttal. I responded to the amount of information they provided. I didn’t see you asking them for a source, but you already have shown you’re obviously biased and don’t actually care about real discussion. Otherwise you wouldn’t just interject an opinion into a topic without even knowing what’s being discussed.

    • @[email protected]OPEnglish
      10•1 year ago

      Hmm, I don’t know about that. Cycling over a pavement or through a red light is much easier on a bike than in a car!

    • DestideEnglish
      4•1 year ago

      I personally love a bit of wanton furious cycling!