I Hate Bicyclists!

I suppose I'm not on hiatus anymore.

I love my new job but the one thing I hate about it - and it's the same thing I hated about my last job, are bicyclists.

I don't know how they behave in other areas of the country but here in Portland they are about as militant as Black Panthers. I'm serious. Militant and stupid as all get out. Some of them display wisdom when around large vehicles (like transit buses, school buses or trucks) but many don't even acknowledge you on the road. They act as if they own the road. It's no wonder so many of them get killed here. I can't stand them and if it were left up to me, it would be illegal for bicycles to travel on major arterial streets, roads or bridges. Any cyclist caught would be fined $500.00 for being on the road. Caught a second time and he/she would be jailed. But that's just me.

The Hawthorn bridge, Hawthorn street and 21st street starting from Powell and going all the way down to Broadway are just about the worst areas when it comes to being forced to deal with bone-headed cyclists. I had to deal with a large "gaggle" of them yesterday going over the Hawthorne bridge in my bus. Even the other passengers noted how rude, insensitive and stupid they were behaving. They were darting in and out of traffic around us, some ran red lights, squeezed in between my bus and the curb when there was no more than a few inches between them and my bus and then when the light turned green they would simply dart out in front of me - I suppose they don't have to follow rules. The things they did were simply amazing. and there's so many of them. They swarm around like roaches on Portland streets these days, thanks to high gas prices.

The city of Portland rewards this behavior by creating too many bike lanes that make it very difficult for large vehicles to navigate through the city and the latest stupidity are the green bike boxes. All these silly things do is create less room to manuever safely for cars, trucks and buses, while giving bicyclists a pass on reckless riding! It's like rewarding spoiled brats with more ice cream or something! In my opinion, bicyclists are a major safety hazard by virtue of the fact that they are riding around on the streets on non-motorized vehicles. It shouldn't be allowed. But no one asked me, I guess. Humph!