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Entry tags:
cycling hazards
Bicyclists oft complain about drivers, and I understand the perspective: if there is an accident involving a car and a bike, you know that the damage will not be distributed evenly. Locally there has been some effort for the last few years to create more bike lanes and educate drivers, and we have a law about passing distance. This makes sense. Bike lanes make things safer for all of us, and some drivers (a minority in my experience) don't understand what to do with bikes on the road.
But. I am finding it very hard to remain sympathetic when the very same people who complain about dangers from cars are themselves dangers to pedestrians. Cyclists, you have to rein in your own -- the blatant disregard for traffic laws is bad enough when you just do it to drivers, but it's inexcusable when you're running down people who have no defense against you.
Friday night while walking home from services I was crossing Forbes at a marked crosswalk. This crosswalk is marked not only with painted lines, and not only with one of those signboards in the middle of the road, but also with flashing yellow lights on either side. It's the most visible crosswalk in the neighborhood. Nonetheless I always stop and look at oncoming drivers to try to confirm that they see me and are slowing down.
Friday night I looked both ways as usual and then started to cross. A bicycle whizzed in front of me at high speed (much faster than the last car to pass), its rider cursing at the "f---ing b----" in his way. I stopped and turned to stare, looking in vain for anything I could use to identify him. That's when two more whizzed by me, also cursing. One of them grazed me (I'm not sure with what, but no blood). All of them continued on, spewing vulgarities.
They had no headlights, by the way, and all were wearing dark clothes. Not that it was, legally, my job to see them -- just self-defense, which I attempted. I, on the other hand, was in a marked crosswalk wearing brightly-colored clothes.
This infuriates me. Not only did they blatantly ignore traffic laws, not only did they nearly mow me down, not only did they not even stop, but they acted like I was the problem. I think drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians all need to learn to share the roads, but some need to learn way more badly than others. These cyclists clearly thought they shouldn't have to care about anybody else.
Just the previous day I'd been nearly run down by two (more-slowly-moving, but still) cyclists on the sidewalk. That happens to me a couple times a month on average, not counting children -- I just mean adult cyclists here. Sidewalks are for pedestrians; we shouldn't have to be constantly on the lookout for speeding traffic hazards of the wheeled variety.
I am going to write a letter to my City Council representative (can't hurt, could possibly help), but I'd like to go beyond complaining. What concrete suggestions can I make, as our city expends effort (and money) altering public roads to work better with cyclists? What has actually worked in other cities to get everybody on board with sharing the road, and what has been done to hold cyclists accountable for following the rules of the road (and sidewalk)?
They are unregistered, so there are no license plates to spot; they are unlicensed, so their privilege to use the roads can't be taken away; they are almost never seen in the act by police officers, because that would require quite a bit of luck; they can easily leave the scene of any problem, so if the police are not already there they will get away with whatever they were doing. Does anybody require licenses or registration? What else can be done?
I'm not trying to persecute cyclists. I recognize that not all cyclists are like those ones on Friday. But I am trying to find a way to get them all to play by the rules -- and maybe even to recognize that when they do to pedestrians what they accuse drivers of doing to them, they do not help their cause.
Any ideas? Short of wearing armor when walking, and maybe carrying a range weapon, I mean? (If only I'd had a paintball gun and good aim... if I could have tagged 'em I could have called the police. But that's just not going to work.)
What concrete suggestions can I take to my local government?
But. I am finding it very hard to remain sympathetic when the very same people who complain about dangers from cars are themselves dangers to pedestrians. Cyclists, you have to rein in your own -- the blatant disregard for traffic laws is bad enough when you just do it to drivers, but it's inexcusable when you're running down people who have no defense against you.
Friday night while walking home from services I was crossing Forbes at a marked crosswalk. This crosswalk is marked not only with painted lines, and not only with one of those signboards in the middle of the road, but also with flashing yellow lights on either side. It's the most visible crosswalk in the neighborhood. Nonetheless I always stop and look at oncoming drivers to try to confirm that they see me and are slowing down.
Friday night I looked both ways as usual and then started to cross. A bicycle whizzed in front of me at high speed (much faster than the last car to pass), its rider cursing at the "f---ing b----" in his way. I stopped and turned to stare, looking in vain for anything I could use to identify him. That's when two more whizzed by me, also cursing. One of them grazed me (I'm not sure with what, but no blood). All of them continued on, spewing vulgarities.
They had no headlights, by the way, and all were wearing dark clothes. Not that it was, legally, my job to see them -- just self-defense, which I attempted. I, on the other hand, was in a marked crosswalk wearing brightly-colored clothes.
This infuriates me. Not only did they blatantly ignore traffic laws, not only did they nearly mow me down, not only did they not even stop, but they acted like I was the problem. I think drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians all need to learn to share the roads, but some need to learn way more badly than others. These cyclists clearly thought they shouldn't have to care about anybody else.
Just the previous day I'd been nearly run down by two (more-slowly-moving, but still) cyclists on the sidewalk. That happens to me a couple times a month on average, not counting children -- I just mean adult cyclists here. Sidewalks are for pedestrians; we shouldn't have to be constantly on the lookout for speeding traffic hazards of the wheeled variety.
I am going to write a letter to my City Council representative (can't hurt, could possibly help), but I'd like to go beyond complaining. What concrete suggestions can I make, as our city expends effort (and money) altering public roads to work better with cyclists? What has actually worked in other cities to get everybody on board with sharing the road, and what has been done to hold cyclists accountable for following the rules of the road (and sidewalk)?
They are unregistered, so there are no license plates to spot; they are unlicensed, so their privilege to use the roads can't be taken away; they are almost never seen in the act by police officers, because that would require quite a bit of luck; they can easily leave the scene of any problem, so if the police are not already there they will get away with whatever they were doing. Does anybody require licenses or registration? What else can be done?
I'm not trying to persecute cyclists. I recognize that not all cyclists are like those ones on Friday. But I am trying to find a way to get them all to play by the rules -- and maybe even to recognize that when they do to pedestrians what they accuse drivers of doing to them, they do not help their cause.
Any ideas? Short of wearing armor when walking, and maybe carrying a range weapon, I mean? (If only I'd had a paintball gun and good aim... if I could have tagged 'em I could have called the police. But that's just not going to work.)
What concrete suggestions can I take to my local government?
no subject
All of the errors were the cyclists: they were not wearing lights or reflective clothing. They assumed that you saw them. They did not stop for you in the crosswalk even if you saw them (the comment above about stopping/starting being the most dangerous time is correct; all of my cycling injuries, including the broken elbow, have been a loss of control while stopping, not whatever I was stopping for).
Things you can do...
The arbiters of local cycling culture are the clubs and the LBS (local bike store). It looks like Pittsburgh Major Taylor Cycling Club (http://www.pmtcc.com/) is one of the largest in Pittsburgh, but if you're in a suburb you might try looking for smaller local club (in the DC area we have WABA (http://www.waba.org/) and then local clubs, but I'm not sure how much of that is because WABA is also a lobbying organization).
Talk to the clubs and LBS and encourage them to remind their members/customers how important it is to wear proper gear/lighting as it's getting dark sooner (so you don't get surprised again), and to remind folks that bicycles are moving vehicles and should yield to people in crosswalks.
The way the local government helps is that as infrastructure is built that allows cyclists to feel safer on the roads (seperation, lower auto speeds, etc), their adrenline levels will decrease and they'll be assholes less often.
Riding a bike on the roads is often taking a large risk with your life, and it takes a LONG TIME to be comfortable with that. Folks who aren't yet comfortable with it (who are also likely to be less experienced riders caught out without their lights, and surprised by a pedestrian at a crosswalk) ride with a constant level of adrenline and it doesn't take much surprise/fright to put someone in full asshole mode when they're already primed for it.
Better road infrastructure for cyclists will also reduce the number of sidewalk riding cyclists you see. They're on the sidewalk because they don't feel safe on the road.
no subject
I'm too much of a coward to ride a bike on the roads (since I am not an experienced rider), so I understand the fear. I hadn't made the connection that the ones who aren't experienced are also not experienced with paying attention, riding defensively, and reacting effectively, and that that's going to feed into them flipping the asshole bit.
Pittsburgh has been expanding bike lanes for the last several years. They're not (usually) protected by barriers, but lanes for car traffic have been replaced by bike lanes in places and we have a "no passing within four feet" law now, so there's some motion. (In case you're wondering, that law does allow crossing the yellow line to pass a bike, if safe of course.)