Luddite

I was riding down Commercial (Vancouverites will know of which I speak) unlike the idiots I see riding their bikes on the sidewalks on Commercial, anyway, I digress.

A crackhead/drunk/semi-hobo guy dashed out in front of me (without warning) not in an intersection, completely and utterly jaywalking. He either saw me and didn't care, or didn't look in the first place. I had to pile on the brakes to avoid hitting him. I yelled "Use the crosswalk!" and he yelled "**** you, *****!" or words to that effect. Anyway, why do jaywalkers dash in front of us cyclists when they would never do that in front of a car in the same manner? I'm often a pedestrian and a definite jaywalker but I only cross when it's completely clear, I don't cut off cyclists etc.

Moral of the story, watch out for stupid jaywalkers on Commercial Drive, eh?

dwilbur3

Sacramento is Jaywalk City. If you ride down here, you have to stay on your toes. It's only fair since the cars don't seem to pay any attention to the crosswalks.

Luddite

When I walk on Commercial, there's LOADS of pedestrian crossings, I can't remember having an issue with cagers not stopping. The marked pedestrian crossings are very frequent, unlike other places where they are few and far between. Closer to where I live big trucks etc blow the pedestrian crossings (when the light indicates the pedestrian has the right to cross) which is scary.

Also, it annoys me to no end, especially when I'm a pedestrian how many cyclists ride the sidewalks on Commercial. Get.on.the.road. where you belong.

xenologer

He yelled back at you cause he didn't know he was doing anything dangerous and figured you were a busybody not minding your own business. Next time run into the jaywalker and prove the point by example.
Or ring your bell incessantly, its harder to argue with it since its not words.

annc

If it makes you feel better, jaywalkers dart in front of cars also.

Luddite

I have a bell, but my LBS sells Air Zounds. For $20. I'm seriously considering buying one. Imagine the fun! Jaywalker tries to cut in front of me..."AIR ZOUND!" Jaywalker = almost has heart attack.

AdamDZ

Come to NYC for a few days Here, very few people are NOT jaywalking. They dash in front of city buses, vans, fire trucks, ambulances. Yeah, I'm tempted to get Air Zounds too

A.

Luddite

We should both get one (or two) and stop procrastinating. I sometimes ride on the cycle path around Stanley Park here and the gorram pedestrians walk on the Bike/roller blader side and sometimes yelling at them to move/ringing bell doesn't work. I imagine an Air Zound would be verrrryyy effective.

AdamDZ

All right. I'll pass by few bike shops tomorrow and if they don't have it I'll order online. I think it'll be useful in NY traffic. I also read on hiking forums that people carry those attached to their backpacks while hiking in bear country, they're apparently effective in scaring bears and other wild animals away. Some people reported that they were able to scare away attacking dogs with it as well.

Adam

Luddite

Oh awesome! I found some youtube videos of air zounds in action...hilarious stuff.

AdamDZ

Yeah, but we need to avoid the temptation to abuse it. I saw statements from cyclists who on suppose pull up close to pedestrians or cars with opened windows and blast their horns to startle people, that's not very cool.

Adam

Luddite

True, though I can see the LULZ in messing with cagers.

closetbiker

I see peds jaywalking in the dark on my morning commute all the time.

Just the other week, a jaywalker dressed in black bolted across an unlit section of road directly in my path. He was hard to see, but I was watching carefully. I planned on going around the back end of him when he saw me and stopped mid road. As passed him, I said, "Invisible". I hope he thought about that.

One of the reasons pedestrians are injured on a regular basis is because they jaywalk amongst moving vehicles. Another reason they are is because motorists aren't looking for and can't (or won't) stop for pedestrians when they're driving (even if they're in a cross walk).

It's careless behavior that leads to injuries, not whether you're on foot, riding a bicycle, or driving a car. Keep your eyes peeled for bozos.

Wogster

A lot of this is because people have over the last 50 years or so, become conditioned to listen for a motor vehicle engine when crossing the street, and they don't look anymore. Of course the increasing popularity of bicycles, hybrids and electric scooters mean that not looking is going to result in some non-looking pedestrians ending up with their names in the newspaper, and some will end up featured on the dearly departed page.

UnsafeAlpine

What a surprise. Another thread where Luddite complains about something. I'm shocked.

Maybe just realize that not everyone is paying attention to you and write it off as living in the vicinity of other people. You didn't hit him, you didn't go down, you both got to continue with your lives, he to using crack and you to *****ing about every little thing...

Luddite

fify.

DataJunkie

As far as airzounds go, I had a friend let one off near me. It is deafening. I would not be surprised if that elicited a hostile reaction.

Digital_Cowboy

Was your jaywalker yaking on the cell phone, or listening to an iPod? Over the summer I had a dummy get off of the bus put phone to ear and step off of the sidewalk right into my path. Luckily for her it was a Sunday, and I was paying attention. The irony is that she was just a couple of yards from a crosswalk.

And the irony is that people complain about cyclists but how often do ya hear about people complaining about pedestrians?

Luddite

Nope. No iPod/phone etc was in evidence. I'm sure some cagers...somewhere...are complaining about pedestrians.

Digital_Cowboy

I've seem the Air Zounds, if it wasn't for the fact that I don't have anywhere to affix it I've considered getting one. I'd be better off with a regular air horn tucked into one of my jersey pockets.

Digital_Cowboy

One can only hope, one can only hope.

closetbiker

not much because most people walk. It's always easier to blame others (and not yourself) for bad behavior. Cyclists are an easy group to blame because they're a minority. Different.

mikewille

Any rugby players on bikeforums? Maybe they'd have some good input to the
idea of crashing with a pedestrian while staying on the bike. Do bike cops
get trained in that kind of thing? Bike rugby could be fun... I'm not advocating
mowing down peds here, just learning how to deal with a collision

Yan 

I don't mind jaywalkers as long as they have the decency of at least jogging across your way. The ones I hate are those who clearly see you and expect you to slow down for them as they casually walk across. The last time someone did this to me (some white trash gangsta guy, who looked me in the eye and then kept on struting slowly after I yelled at him from 20 metres away), I kept my speed until imminent impact, at which point I squeezed my front brake hard enough to lift my rear wheel slightly off the ground. This was also during the period when my pads were out of adjustment and were squacking like crazy. It scared the crap out of him and he ran onto the sidewalk.

JoeyBike

I could post that every single day. Status Quo in New Orleans. It's amazing that I have only tagged one of them in 30 years.