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The warm months are here, and drivers tend to not see pedestrians or bicycles using the crosswalks properly.
Why do you look right at me, and still floor it through a right turn when I'm using the cross sign ?
Every year - first time out it happens, like today. She looked right at me for one minute and then floored it. And of course the five cars behind her.
Now, I have to wait through another light and five cars, and the same thing.
Just share a few seconds people, we all exist here !
People need to respect each other on the road, period. Cars need to actually stop before making that turn on red, and yield. Bicycles need to obey traffic signals and not become angry when honked at for running a light, especially when riding in circles waiting for a light to change. And pedestrians need to watch the signal too. Seems like many wait til their light is red and then amble across the road. Some smile with delight when they delay traffic. Drivers who take off and "strand" a pedestrian are no better.
Don't make it any worse than it has to be. Remember, no matter what you drive or ride there is always a vehicle larger than you so don't tempt fate.
The other day I hit the brakes in plenty of time to let two bikers pass in front of me. They seemed grateful. They seemed clean cut and were wearing helmets. Mormons?
They were riding unicycles — some kind of weird design with large-diameter tires and handlebars coming out the front of the seat.
That's one skill I will likely forever regret not mastering.
Thank you for not hitting me with you're Land Rover. Yes, you're right in saying we're all flippent A- holes using the cross signs as requrierd by law.
I hope your insurance pays up.
I also stop for turtles. One less frapachino. ; )
The big picture is EVERYONE needs to be more courteous of rules of the streets. My husband goes billistic when idiot folk talking on cell phones cross streets and look neither way.
What was that phrase we were taught , Stop look and listen. Drivers, bikers and walkers should adher.
Ran a few errands, the me me attitude was very prevalant today. Full moon maybe?
Everywhere I've been...Motorists fail to respect motorcyclists, they both don't respect bicyclists, bicyclists fail to respect most pedestrians, and joggers tend to be pushy towards walkers. Yet, it goes back up the chain, when one realizes encumbrance and moveability. For pedestrians have better control than joggers, joggers better control than cyclists, etc. One must be aware and yet, also assume that the other person doesn't see you coming up from around behind you.
Detroit is slowing accepting cyclists. Yet, when I went an entire decade without a driver's license [[my choice, being idealistically stubborn), I was treated with immense hostility riding my bike around Dearborn, Garden City, and Dearborn Heights. The cars wanted to flatten me and cut me off, and the glowering was intense.
Boston [[much like it's self-professed civil-enlightenment and tolerance, which did little to mask it's genuinely racist nature) pretended to be very accepting to cyclists. They had bike lanes in most parts, large bike communities, pamphlets given to cyclists, and even the Mayor "Mumbles" Menino [[the one who bad mouthed Detroit) shook my hand for a photo-op at a bike giveaway program for charity volunteers [[got the Mongoose I needed). Even us at F-N-B refused to transport food unless it was by bike and bike cart, even in long distances [[Stoney Brook to Boston Commons) in bad, frozen weather. Bicycles were even allowed even on the MBTA trains [[subway cars). One would think it was a natural part of life there.
Yet, there was another side to it: no matter how much folks obeyed traffic and safety laws, Boston drivers [[who are-statistically speaking-the worst drivers-I have political cartoons highlighting this revelation) were immensely disrespectful to cyclists. The stories I heard were very consistent-from couriers to activists and whatnot. It mostly happened with jerks around North Boston [[which blends into North Eastern Cambridge, where I got the worst of it commuting to my job at Marshall's on the border of Somerville); these Ja-Mokes hated cyclists and like to edge them off into traffic, throw cans at them, or wait to "door" them.
The cops were just as bad. I heard many stories about them pulling over strings of Pedicabs over nothing. Many times I heard how some of these blockheads in uniform would pull a bike over and cite some made-up rule that didn't exist, and they would dig their heals in even though these folks could site the bike laws and ordinances by rote and produce the city-issued booklets to prove it. Eventually, they'd lose their temper, and send them away unscathed, all pissed off.
Bicycling was treacherous for me there. Even though the city had trash cans everywhere, people still littered [[mostly shattered glass bottles scattered around). I always found it ironic that everytime I chained my bike to a legitimate station in the open, I'd find a pin-hole in the evenly inflated tire and tube. I got so sick of flats there [[which happened on a weekly basis, versus only one time in the entire ten years in Dearborn-figure that one out!).
One thieving, drug-addicted guy at the shelter program [[a "respectable" dry one that took me six months to get into-I can go on about how I was led into that trap) I stayed at, really wanted to know what kind of bike I rode, so, I had to chain up my bike at any variety of a dozen spots many blocks away and hidden out of sight from the shelter. Yet, there was a strange and creative salvage artist from Rhode Island staying there who'd salvage eight different junker bikes, paint them a gaudy variety of splotched colors [[no missing that they were his), and plant them at various accessible locations around the areas.
Madison was better about bikes, but folks did complain about haughty cyclists whizzing past them carelessly [[always wise to yell "On you right/left!"). There was one dude who started some contemporary "ministry" in Madison [[would stencil the name right on the glass of businesses-what a way to rack up discrediting points right there!). He had some "Robin Hood" thing where he'd steal student bikes chained up around U of W facilities and turn around and "give" them to the poor. Of course, when the cops would track down the bike, imagine how bad it looked for the poor homeless guy who was in possession of it. More proof of how folks are out to set-up the poor, and how one has to actually turn-down more opportunities than accept them [[as odd as that sounds-but I have loads of experience to justify that.).
If we can learn better than this, have drivers [[especially bus drivers) who won't run us over, and not treat it like some status symbol for the elitist hipsters [[thus, a passing fancy trend), bicycling will endure here. Just as a side note, growing up in Detroit, one of the most feared and hated personalities that always lurked around us in the neighborhood were bike thieves. So, Beware!
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Originally Posted by G-DDT
I symp-o-thize. Doesn't matter how much infrastructure is devoted to cycling, the fact remains, the cohabitation with pedestrians and motorists is all abit crazy.
Everyone needs to follow the rules. It will remove 99% of close calls. Because I abide by the rules as a cyclist, I haven't been hit by any cars. When I'm driving, I'm always looking on BOTH sides before making turns.
And most important, never open a car door into traffic. Always look first. It's illegal to open a car door with traffic present. In Chicago, it's a $1000.00 fine for opening a car door in front of a cyclist. IIRC, I believe it's the most expensive traffic ticket in the city, but dooring a cyclist can be one of the deadliest.
Also, when cycling, avoid underpasses, viaducts of any kind and service roads or anything too close to an expressway.
Honestly though, among the worst areas for cycling are cycling paths along designated parkland. I can't vouch for cycling habits in other cities but here in Montreal, the Lachine canal path is used by families and would be racers in flashy suits. It is worse than a highway for casual bikers and little kids because the speed limits are nonexistent. It's a free-for-all where even pedestrians walk on paths designed for biking. The mix is pretty potent for accidents to happen; conversationalists cycling side by side, would be Lance Armstrongsuits and trainingwheelers. The scarediest cyclists are the 70yr old Viagra-injected fluorescent-suited guys on 5k bikes. They are on a mission while the rest of us are on a cruise.