jade408

Brad L 

I came close to hitting one as well many years ago. I was waiting to turn right onto a one-way street. Traffic was heavy so I was waiting for a gap and, moments before I could make my jump, a guy on a bike rides the wrong way down the street.

Ottomotion

Patriot1

Clipped_in

I'm not sure why the middle finger itches so much more than the others in those types of situations, but it does. . .

But in my case, I tend to yell.

tkamd73 

Ottomotion

Yes...I just about have your biography finished based on your post.

Patriot1

Ottomotion

Maybe it would benefit me and others if you would explain what it is that you took exception with and why.
I'm enough of a man to extend the olive branch and not too old to learn from others....

But maybe since I am on your ignore list, you wont go there....

..if you do, please PM me as it would probably be best not to take up forum space with spats. At least that's how the other forums I visit prefer to operate.

wphamilton

No, believe me it wouldn't benefit anyone. I don't know the other guy at all, he may be generally laid back and personable for all I know, but FWIW I got a chuckle out of your biography come-back.

Ottomotion

I'm thinking maybe he drives a Lays Potato Chip truck for a living?

(...nothing wrong with that.)

canklecat

Doesn't sound like a "cyclist." Sounds like a pedestrian on bicycle. It's sorta like calling someone who drives fast a "race car driver." There are drivers and then there are drivers. Like folks on bicycles, they ain't all the same.

I have this same debate with friends who gripe about "cyclists" riding unsafely. To them anyone on a bicycle is the same species. They can't see the difference between the situation you described, and me practicing the Idaho Stop for my own safety -- rolling through stop signs when there are no drivers around, or stop and go and red lights when it's safe to do so. It doesn't mean carte blanche to blow through stop signs and traffic lights recklessly and heedlessly. But even some cyclists don't understand or acknowledge those distinctions so the debate is never settled.

Most of the folks on bicycles on my end of town -- a declining former solidly middle class neighborhood gone to poverty -- are salmon ninjas riding randomly and erratically. They're de-horsed by the economy, DUIs, whatever, and just ride for transportation. They blow through red lights, make unexpected U-turns in the middle of busy boulevards, veer between cars on and off the street and sidewalk and parking lots, sometimes looking at their phones while riding.

While it's annoying to be lumped into the same category as my neighbor's kids gutter riding salmon style on Big Wheels, there isn't much we can do to change drivers' perceptions. And I don't want to see hamfisted regulation of bicycles since they're the last ditch transportation of choice for many folks living in poverty. We don't have adequate public transportation to make that a viable alternative.

Best solution would be to modify existing infrastructure to create safer cycling/pedestrian access, but any traffic calming measures are a hard sell in my city. A few city authorities have suggested common sense stuff such as reducing speed limits in older neighborhoods with narrow streets and curbside parking to 15 mph, but the voters won't have it. Apps like Waze have encouraged impatient drivers to veer off the highways and use residential streets as shortcuts, increasing the traffic beyond original design and making it more dangerous for everyone.

mcours2006

There are pedestrians who just walk out on the road to cross without even looking. They assume that drivers will see them and avoid them. Most drivers do and do, but talk about stupid. I see it on my bike all the time. It wouldn't be too far-fetched to find some of these pedestrians no bikes also.

Notso_fastLane

I didn't come close to hitting him, but there was bike riding down Main St. in Layton this morning, 5:30 AM. Wearing dark clothes, not even a reflector on his bike. There's a nice bike lane there, but I see cars with their right tires well over those lines all the time, and the speed limit is 45, which means traffic is doing ~50ish.

I hope he's still alive.....

Lemond1985

I see this all the time too. My personal pet peeve is people who open car doors without looking. Often their timing is impeccable, like when a traffic light changes, and a line of cars that have been waiting five minutes begins to move forward, just as some idiot parked on the street flings open their door driver's side door and blocks them.

livedarklions

If I'm a pedestrian at a cross-walk, and I see a car a half-block away or so coming my way, I am going to step out into that cross-walk as he has plenty of time to obey the law and stop. I'm pretty sure some of these drivers think that's crazy, but to me, that's no different from a car proceeding after stopping at a four-way stop sign when he sees another car approaching the intersection on the cross-street.

BTW, I just saw a bicyclist last weekend do the cross without looking bit, but he did it running a red light at a very busy intersection. It was such a dumb thing to do, I literally gasped out of fear for him.

Notso_fastLane

It was nice knowing you.

I get your point, but being right sometimes gets you killed. I've had two instances on my bicycle of hit and run (on me) by cars running a red light LONG after it changed and I had the right of way.

livedarklions

These cars have several seconds to stop. If they're hitting me, they're doing so intentionally. I'm not stupid enough to assert my rights by stepping right in front of the moving car on a high-speed street. They're only surprised because they don't think anyone should expect them to respect the law.

So is the point of your red light running stories that we should never cross the intersection?

mcours2006

Yeah, I'm not talking about crossing at pedestrian cross walks nor stop signs nor stop lights.

livedarklions

I was quoting you, but not assuming you felt that way, and if that was unclear, I apologize.
I was really just reporting that some drivers seem to think that way about pedestrians who are doing perfectly legal and sensible things. I absolutely didn't intend to accuse you of that, and should have been careful to say so.

I'll try to do better.

rayooo

It's been my experience that, people who cycle- make mistakes, do stupid things, etc.etc. from time to time. Myself Included.... People in cars- make mistakes, do stupid things, etc.etc. from time to time. Myself included.

'about the only thing I can do is try try try to drive and/or ride intelligently and defensively. Unfortunately for me, my "humanness" still kicks in from time to time.
Why is it that I'm more upset with someone else doing the same dumb thing I've done than I am when I do it?

livedarklions

Who is you and what is it?

livedarklions

It's pretty clear virtually everyone does that--it even has a fancy name:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fundam...ribution_error

Clyde1820

Had a situation, the other day, with a cyclist "salmoning" toward me in the RH lane of a multi-lane city street during the commute hour. Trouble is, the streets are somewhat more narrow than one might expect.

Cyclist was without lights, and with darker clothing that blended-in with surroundings, going the wrong way on the one-way street. I couldn't move out of the lane. And the next lane over had plenty of cars nearby (so that a rapid exit into that lane would have been dangerous).

I slowed to a stop about 15ft in front of the cyclist. The cyclist had about 10in of space in addition to the gutter area, in which to pass onrushing cars. Extremely dangerous situation.

In this instance, the guy on the bike got very angry that he was incapable of continuing wrong-way against traffic. After about 20 seconds, he decided to actually hop up onto the six-foot wide sidewalk area. I hope he eventually recognized he and everyone else was far safer with him doing it that way. On the sidewalk. Out of traffic, if going the wrong way.

rayooo

Ha, Cool, thanks! I've got to remember this... FAE! fundamental attribution error! I don't think I've done it yet today, but, there's still time!