Pearls Before Swine by Stephan Pastis for May 13, 2021

They should also have insurance.

hmm lol nice one

I believe that they should have to ride on the left-hand side of the road in countries where cars drive on the right, and vice versa. That will make them a lot less likely to hold up traffic.

Cyclists are the worst kind of people riding the roads. I used to be one of them years ago.

oh, hello, cyclist Jef

One way to stir the pot and fill the inbox

A perennial hot button.

I’ve VERY nearly run into more than one bicyclist who turned in front of me. In the dark. Wearing dark clothing. Without lights. And I’ve come very close to being rear-ended when I stopped for a bicyclist who was running a light. Of course, I also have a friend who was hit from behind, in the bike lane (our town has them) and left lying on the ground. He’s almost able to walk by himself now, about 15 months later. And I’ve personally been forced off the road into the roadside ditch by a large truck whose driver was wandering outside his lane.

We’re all better off when ALL the drivers are paying attention, no matter WHAT they drive.

When you get close to a Stop sign, just go on the sidewalk.

Cyclists should be required to pass a basic Rules of the Road test (not just the motor vehicle operator test), be licensed and carry insurance (their stupidity cause property damage, and they injury pedestrians), pay tolls and parking like everyone else.

Ah, the vicious cyclists of life.

To paraphrase Dylan, Everybody Must Get Stopped

with a snap of a finger, it just happened XD

Soooo true!!

“People, I just want to say, you know, can we all get along? Can we get along?” – Rodney King

Cyclists should obey the law just like motorists, but most of this stupid hate of cyclists is just envy of people fit enough to ride a bike.

I wonder if this is a reference to the architect Helmut Jahn who missed a stop sign while on his bike. He was hit by not one but two cars. Needless to say, he didn’t survive.

Guess what people, bikes and cars are not the same thing. Everyone should be given the proper right of way.

I really dislike most bicyclist. I am so tire of the author writing himslef into the strip. So tired I am gone. I hope sees this.

“… stop at stop signs like the rest of us?”

Is that an actual stop? or a pause? or a “rolling ‘stop’”?

Is that behind the stop sign? or half way into the intersection?

Using turn signals? turning lanes? Waiting your turn?

From what I hear on cycling in the US cyclist better all have nine lives.Cycling extremists aside. It would be good for everybody if cycling in the US was safer as it would mean more people cycling. When ever one person uses a bicycle for commuting it means one less car on the road, which in turn means more room for the other cars, less pollution because of the one less car, less pollution because traffic in general, less need for parking space and the exercise for the cyclist is good for both physical and mental health.Here in Copenhagen 62% of people commute by bike, some 3/4 million miles is cycled by people everyday and studies show it benefits in lots of ways. Because of the factors I suggested above it is really a win for everyone with the exception of the auto industry.

Cycling: giving middle aged men a reason to wear spandex.

Have you ever stuck a pipe in a cyclist’s spokes? Especially fun in NYC.

Next stop, politics, Pastis…that should leave your inbox brimming over for weeks!

Yes; cyclists should obey the rules of the roads just like drivers.I am one that does.

Jef the Cyclist is such a perfect portrayal of arrogant cyclists

To use the highways Cyclists should be required to do all the things a motor vehicle owner does : Inspection ,Insurance, Driver’s tests and pay highway taxes to support the roads they want to use . You want to play you got to pay.

If I’m crossing the street with a green light and a car is coming, I just cross, because I KNOW he’s going to stop for his red light. But if a bicycle is coming, I wait to see what he’s going to do, because I know that he probably WON’T stop for the red light, even if I’m crossing the street.

There’s a bike path near the pier with red lights specifically for bicycles so that pedestrians can cross. They completely ignore it. I was once hit (not seriously) while crossing, even though there was a red light.

They’re supposed to observe all the same rules of the road as other vehicles. I yell at bicyclists for breaking them. If cops would issue more tickets to bicyclists for violations, maybe there wouldn’t be so many.

Gotta watch out for those militant bikers! (I give them a wide berth)!

And thus, readers were united! In their dislike of entitled bikesters.

There are different types of bicyclists. There are the tight pants, sport types who often ride in packs and can be annoying. But there are also regular folks who can’t afford a car and ride to work every day, regardless of weather. They deserve to be able to get to work safely without being harassed by cars. And yes, cars do harass cyclists, often trying to edge them off the road. Though no country accommodates cyclists extremely well, the US makes it extremely dangerous, and frankly, we should be encouraging cycling.

Pandering! It’s called pandering!

What about e-bike drivers?

Seems like a trick to get us all to send Steph an email. I didn’t realize he had a mailing list!

JEF!!! HE’S BACK!!!!! And the cyclists are back out here in MO. So farmers get to play Dodge the Spandex again. O boy.

What artist reads their fan mail?

both need improvement, leave it at that

Wasn’t there a time when pedestrians had to look both ways before crossing the street?

I’m a cyclist, and I DO stop at stop signs. And red lights. And I ALWAYS signal my turns.

Portland monitored an intersection where several bikees got hit. In four hours, they gave out 49 tickets, 45 of them to cyclists for running the stop signs. One was given to the person who managed bike paths for Portland.

Pay road use taxes.

And athletic supporters

That is Actually the LAW. As a moving vehicle, cyclists are required to obey the rules of the road. (That works: ROFLOL)https://floridabicycle.org/bicycle-traffic-law/#:~:text=Bicycle%20Regulations%20(see%20Section%20316.2065,it%20is%20designed%20or%20equipped.

https://blog.mapmyrun.com/rules-road-cyclists-need-know/

A jab at Mallett – Love it!!

Bikers are most annoying in a two lane road.

And a sense of humor.

Once when biking to work I ran down a girl. Two lanes approaching a light; left lane (straight) has to stop, right lane (mine) has a green arrow to turn. I’m approaching the turn, and this girl pops out from between the cars in the left lane stopped at the light. Wham! She had seen a friend across the street and was running over to meet him. If I hadn’t hit her, the car behind me would’ve. Picked myself up, straightened my wheel, and I’m fine. So was she: I wasn’t going fast, coming up on the turn.

In Canada, stop signs are treated with increasing disregard by both motorists and cyclists. When I began driving back in /62, we knew that no signage was necessary at most T intersections. Then a single yield sign appeared at some, then it became a stop sign, now most T intersections have three stop signs.

Can’t we just all get along? :-(

i’m a cyclist who also owns cars and tons of insurance on all the above, but he’s not wrong. I cut one stop sign a week on my bike when im tired and making good time, but i dont in my truck or my car.

Stephan and a lot of these Commenters should check your state laws on Cycling and Bicycle Lanes. You might be very surprised.

what happens when car drivers don’t obey the rules? somebody comes by and gives them a fine. It should be the same with cyclists. The rules are set for everybody

Their feet are locked onto the pedals with clips and it is inconvenient to downshift and unlock them so they can stick a foot out and not fall down. Outlaw pedal foot clips on bicycles on streets and install electric motors on the bicycles so they start easier and shift less like the professional bicycle racers.

I wonder why they wear those helmets.

I’m a cyclist and I obey stop signs.

Go suck a handlebar, Jef—

All other considerations aside, common sense tells us that automobiles (except maybe those goofy smart cars) are larger and therefore more dangerous to bicycles than vice versa.

They should also have to take a driving test and have a licence.

I find being required to stop at stop signs to be an unwarranted infringement of my personal freedom and liberty; you know, like masking during a pandemic. /S

Is that actually the email?

A recent visit to Israel I was impressed by the number of electric bikes. Not available everywhere but in some of the areas there were actual roadways for the bikes. These roads clearly marked and in some areas are a bright color.

In Denver, cyclists no longer have to stop at stop signs, though they must yield tp right of way.

We arrested a cyclist for impaired when he t-boned our cruiser and ended up on our hood. Impounding the vehicle was easy, it went in the trunk.

I totally agree. I have to wonder why they prefer riding in the street, holding up vehicular traffic when they would be much safer if they rode their bikes on the sidewalks.

BTW, cars/trucks v bicycles the car/truck will win 10 out of 10 times

Bicycle riders-the adult version-are very arrogant, especially thinking that they somehow get the right of way at intersections with 2 or 4 way stop signs or simply ignoring traffic lites. Which is really really stupid. No doubt those people are pushing hard for a Darwin Award

I think it’s probably safer for cyclists to treat stop signs as yield signs. Allows them to maintain momentum, control and balance, rather than dismounting unnecessarily, suddenly becoming a pedestrian in the street, encumbered with a bike.

The ones who don’t wear helmets have nothing above their shoulders worth protecting.

They should also pay road tax.

I have something that would fill his inbox. Emails.

Hey, hey, can we not get along?

Stop signs are there for a reason, cyclists should not be allowed a “pass”. Cyclists should all be licensed insured.

“In my day,” the local police would occasionally put a squad car just past a stop sign at the bottom of a steep hill to trap cyclists that ran the sign

You forgot bikes beat pedestrians. I really would like the law to crack down hard on bicyclist riding on the sidewalks. Even motocycles are riding on the sidewalks these days.

I was coming home from work late one night in a dark neighborhood. I stopped at the four-way stop sign and then proceeded to pull through. Just then, a bicyclist, wearing dark clothes and no light, blew through the stop at full speed, not even trying to slow down. It was not as if he couldn’t see my head lights as I was the only car around. I missed him by inches and scared the life out of me considering how close I came to hitting him.

In my town of Arlington, MA, it is actually more difficult to turn right than left. That’s because almost every road has a bicycle lane. It is much harder to see a bicycle coming up from the right rear than to see a car approaching from ahead. I never make a right without checking the mirror several times. And not just because my teenage daughter is one of them.

p.s. If this were Holland or Sweden, it wouldn’t even be a contest. Bikes rule!

Drivers rarely stop for a right turn on red any more. And tell the giant pickup drivers to buy something with a hood you can see over. Stop squashing your own kids. Tell them to look both ways. Tell them you can’t see them through their tinted windows. Tell them the speed limit is not just a suggestion..or a fiction. In fact, tell the average American that laws actually matter…

I watched a cyclist blow a stop sign and cause an accident. He was quite surprised when a city officer took care of the accident… while I cited him for the stop sign violation and careless driving. I don’t know if his liability insurance covered the damage he caused or not.

Thanks, Jef, for your POV. It’s funny, true… but topic is also deadly serious.

Stop signs can be a good excuse to practice trackstands, which may or may not be legal in your area. I’ll unclip a cleated shoe from the pedal to plant on the ground if I can’t maintain the trackstand to do the full stop. Always try to do a complete stop at all stop signs & red traffic lights + yielding right-of-way to pedestrians & other traffic.

Use a bright headlight & taillights at all times. Love the Asloh trigger bicycle bell to alert cyclists, runners, walkers, dog-walkers, skateboarders, and children, animals, & others playing in the streets of your presence. Seems like everybody is in the street since the pandemic. Be always ready to stop/slow down. —Asloh trigger bicycle bell — nice designhttps://www.osloh.com/products/trigger-bell

Cycling has been wonderful during the pandemic… less traffic! Does shaming work? I.e., if the cyclist can do complete stops complying w/ rules of the road, why can’t some motorists stop doing rolling stops? I think that is what Jef is yelling about. Therefore, lead by example.

When you’re out there doing it in the road, it’s a two-way street for courtesy. The following two (2) articles discuss why some people hate cyclists.

“Why Bikes Make Smart People Say Dumb Things [Carl Alviani / Medium]https://medium.com/cycling-in-the-city/why-bikes-make-smart-people-say-dumb-things-9316abbd5735

“The strange psychological phenomenon that explains why people hate cyclists” — Fundamental Attribution Error. [Thomas Dunn / BoingBoing]https://boingboing.net/2021/03/17/the-strange-psychological-phenomenon-that-explains-why-people-hate-cyclists.html

Blatant manipulation of email volume.

cyclists are an angry bunch

I thought that technically, bikers DO have to stop at stop signs because they are still a vehicle and not a pedestrian? I once saw a police show where they were ticketing cyclists for running stop signs.

I think the volume comes in cycles.

When I was younger, we always rode on the shoulder of the road facing on coming traffic. Yes, I’m old enough to not have to wear a helmet.

I actually do stop and stop signs and lights when I ride a bike, and I agree with Stephen that everyone on a bike should.

I find cyclists are much less arrogant once you’ve knocked them into a hydrant or two.

Um…actually…at least in the state of California, Vehicle Code says that bicyclists have to obey the same rules that cars do. They have to stop at stop signs and red lights. It’s the law.

A debate that will never be resolved to everyone’s satisfaction. A bicycle is least under control when starting and stopping. Deven well experienced riders sometimes have problems with a clip that will not lock, unlock, etc. I feel safer slowing down, looking for and stopping for cross traffic, but not coming to a full stop.

My city is studying a proposal to allow bicyclists to pass through stop signs without stopping, just yielding the right-of-way.

They should also have license plates so you can call the cops on them.

Part of the problem is a defect in the US educational system: we (semi-)systematically teach students the rules of the road before they get a driver’s license, but we don’t teach students the rules of the road before they get on bicycles. Even if cyclists go on to drive cars, they don’t all seem to transfer learning from cars back to bikes, but continue bad habits learned early on. I hate to overload school teachers, but I would like to think that just 30 to 60 minutes of cycling instruction (ending with a short quiz) each year (or twice a year) to, say, fourth-graders through tenth-graders might go a long way. Bonus: it might make them safer drivers, too.

Suddenly comments are up as well. 293 and counting.

Bicycles are supposed to follow all the rules of the road, including stopping at stop signs.

Guys, guys. Just about EVERYONE is an a**hole. Do you know how I know? Because everyone is a pedestrian at some point, and I’d say that only one in a thousand pedestrians cede the right of way when they’re supposed to.

Is this a comic Sayang we should email pearlscomic@gmail.com ?

My wife is afraid I might get hit by a car during my daily walk. I’m more afraid of the cyclists – they run stop signs, ignore red lights, zoom right past me on the sidewalk, essentially scare the @#$% out of me.

Pretty fresh from the headlines: bicycling famed architect Helmut Jahn ran a stop sign, was struck by one and then another car, and died.

So, shut your stupid yap, Jef the Cyclist, or risk death by your own moronic sense of invincibility….

Steph, hope you see One Big Happy at https://www.creators.com/read/one-big-happy for 5/24/21 for slightly addled but plainly sincere compliment!

I just e-mailed, “Pearls”—and the message did not bounce back. Looks like the address is legit.

LOL I sense a lot of love. Let’s get to 500 comments.

It sure did the job as far as the comments section is concerned.

Maybe they shouldn’t die so easily when they get run over.

Wow. I thought I was the only one to believe that.