However, is the scofflaw problem you’ve observed a safety threat to others, the cyclists, or a perception of unfair enforcement against drivers and not cyclists? Most of us ride, drive, and walk, and we witness scofflaw behavior across all transit modes. Most drivers speed, few stop completely for stop signs. Most pedestrians jaywalk. Unfortunately, cars pose the greatest threat to life, as the number one cause of death for ages 1-34. This cyclist may have acted like a fool, but the driver’s attempt to end his life with the car as a weapon is grossly out of proportion to the gestured offense. Scofflaw or no, we should not try to kill somebody for flipping the bird, especially when piloting a 3,000 pound vehicle. The last time a person died while riding a bike in Denton and was found at fault was 2005. Since then, 44 people have died from auto and motorcycle accidents. I ask “are we trying to save lives, or are we seeking a sense of fair enforcement?”

Also, there’s also a large problem that many, many, many red lights (using inductive loops) do not detect bicycles and won’t change. By ignoring people on bikes on the engineering side, we reinforce negative behavior that includes running all traffic lights and di. Engineering, education, enforcement, and encouragement are the primary means to improve things, and right now we have very little of any of those in Denton.

On the other hand, while the road should be shared for cyclists, there is a large problem that I’ve observed with cyclists completely ignoring traffic control devices, both stop signs and red lights. I think some community supported PSAs are in order to inform the biking public that when you’re on a bike using the roads, you are subject to the same traffic rules that the cars are, except you’re probably not going to get a speeding ticket. Every time I see a cyclist ignore the red light that all the cars stopped for (half the time he/she doesn’t even slow down to look), I wonder if that’ll be the last time they do it after getting t-boned by someone when they run the red without looking or slowing down.

And I agree with James, a color and some kind of vehicle description would have been very helpful in finding the miscreant.