Coincidentally to this thread, just today I was crossing a roadway where two 4-lane roads meet with bike lanes, sidewalks, and Walk/Don't walk signage. I always look at the traffic (not necessarily the signal), but generally I might glance up at the signal also, but today I "thought" I had a green light. My traffic check showed zero traffic behind me and to my left two vehicles dead stopped facing me from the other side of the intersection. All is well right? So i cross in the bike lane and immediately hear a loud engine gunning directly behind me close enough to startle me. I mean, the entire world was stopped except for me when I crossed. My first thought was "Did I mess up and run a stale red light?" It was a dark SUV that startled me but not so close as to be a collision concern, just LOUD and unexpected.
I looked back to see the SUV taking off down the road crossing my lane behind me. His/her light was coal red, the rest of the traffic where he/she started was still dead stopped. My light was green as grass. So I guess the SUV pulled an Idaho Stop. Pretty common here in NOLA.
Just to be clear, it wasn't a danger to me. Just wasn't expecting to hear a car roaring up behind me since the coast was clear two seconds earlier.
Last edited by JoeyBike; 06-01-23 at 07:51 PM.