Why should people who ride bike go by traffic laws?

I read a question the other day and it was either an answerer or the questioner(dont remember) who said we should stop at traffic lights and all that. Why should we? Its not like we have a motor attached to our bikes. Am i right?

Man i know all of trhat but WHY? One of the best parts of riding my Haro is beating drivers to the light..

Yes mate, - We should!

I am a roadie, and surprisingly enough I spend all of my cycling time on the highway.

Whilst riding in towns, I am mostly able to keep up with the traffic, so I adopt the primary road position anyway (middle of the lane).

I act like a valid road user and I expect to get treated like one!

It's all in the Highway Code.

EDIT: You can still beat traffic to the lights, - I have been known to overtake slow or stationary traffic in order to get to the lights before they changed (just like a motorbike does!!) but undertaking is too risky!

.

1. So we don't get in an accident.

2. So we don't piss off drivers.

For your own safety man. If you ran the light, you'd get creamed by cars.

No, you're not. In most jurisdictions you are bound by the traffic laws just as motorists are. You can be ticketed and/or arrested for violations just like someone driving a car.

Any doubts, look it up in your state or city codes, or ask the next police officer you see.

Aside from that, annoying people operating vehicles 20 times as heavy as you, and several times as fast is a bad idea. You never know which one is mentally unstable, drunk, not paying attention, or having a really bad day. The law doesn't matter if you're splattered on someones windshield.

My father taught me (and Bill Cosby agrees), "The answer to WHY? is BECAUSE!"

To further elaborate he goes on, "the answer to Because Why? -- Because I said so is why".

It is the law = Because I said so is why.

Some times it's better.

If you want to keep riding your bike on the road, cooperate with all the other vehicles and obey the law.

If you ran a red light and a car hit you, who would come out second best? You would mate and then you wouldn't be able to ride your bike.

So you are wrong

Remember a tie goes to the bigger object, car vs bike, I think the car wins. It is also cheaper to follow the rules, some cities charge big for bike tickets $$$$. But on the other side of the argument, it is safer in some places to ride on the sidewalk, being in the traffic lane in San Francisco is asking to get killed. It is really your choice, but you must be ready to suffer the consequences of your actions, getting hit by a car is no fun (2x for me) or paying big tickets (3x for me).