I've been driven over the edge...AgAiN

Driving in the city brings on its own set of challenges for me, especially coming from a little country town that has no stop light, not much traffic and almost no traffic after 7:00pm. But when leaving town and venturing out the the city I've learned that I have to watch for things like stop lights, people crossing the road actually "in the cross walks", road rage, trains, irresponsible drivers, UTA buses stopping at the drop of a hat, and of course all of the many other cars that are on the road as well..I can handle pretty much all of that, yes every bit of it, but throw in a a bicyclist and I get furious....if you are one of these fearless pedestrians on wheels/motor vehicles, this is nothing personal and I don't want your hate mail...I am venting! (I am not talking about or to the occasional person riding their bike across the road or having to ride a bit on the side because their is no where else to go, no- I am not talking to you)

 

Visualize with me...Here I am driving down the road in the middle of the city and I think I have things under control, I come upon a stop light and start to brake, coming to a complete stop. And then I look in my rear view mirror to see some irresponsible bicyclist with a helmet on, driving up the narrow strip of road between me and the car next to me, just to get to the front of the line (in front of me of course)....OKAY, MY BIG BEEF WITH THIS IS- if you are a car, automobile, and part of the traffic you are to stay in your place and wait your turn, (after all none of us THAT ARE PART OF THE TRAFFIC CAN sneak to the front of the line) if you are a pedestrian and, yes we the fearless "car drivers"  have to "Yield" to all pedestrians, GET OFF THE ROAD AND ONTO THE SIDEWALK AND BE A PEDESTRIAN!!! And...then there are those times when I am just driving along at the speed limit (which a bicyclist usually can't keep up with) and come upon this "bicyclist" that is driving down the middle of my lane, who can't keep up with those of us who actually have motors. They slow the rest of us down to a snails pace, but won't move out of the way. I know there are signs to "share the road" but I don't think that means the rest of us that choose to drive our cars, are at the mercy of those with only 2 wheels. I think if you are going to ride a bicycle in the traffic you should obey all the traffic laws, the first one being...go the speed limit or get out of the way. Second being...pretend you are a car and act the part, stay in place and don't sneak in and out of cars to get to the front of the line at a stop light just in time for it to turn green and you to slow us all down again. Third being... make up your mind and decide whether you are going to be a pedestrian or a moving vehicle. You can't be both. We hear of accidents all the time with cars and bicyclist on the road, especially in the spring and summer months, all of which are horrible tragedies. But honestly, I think that if bicyclists were required to wear bright orange vests (which make them stand out a little more and not blend into their surroundings), and stay off the roads when possible, there wouldn't be so many accidents....there you have it, I've got it off my chest and out in the open. This is a huge "drive me crazy" kind of thing. Nothing that anyone says will ever change the way I feel about it. It has always driven me over the edge, it will continue to drive me over the edge and I will go to my grave with the absolute frustration of the "car vs the bike" theory, eating away at my sanity!