Intentional jogger collision

On Jul 21, 11:20*am, "His Highness the TibetanMonkey, Creator of the
Movement of Tantra-Hammock" wrote:
On Jul 20, 11:00*pm, Me wrote:



I ride along a boulevard with a clearly marked (white lines and bike *
icons) bike lane in both directions. This is a heavily used bike lane by *
bicyclists and, unfortunately, joggers and people with SUV-proportion *
strollers. I'd say 90% of the joggers jog in the opposite direction of *
traffic flow. About half of these will move off the bike lane to *
accommodate bicyclists, the rest just don't move.

This morning I was biking up hill and a jogger was moving against traffic *
flow towards me in the middle of the path. She didn't make any signs of *
moving away from me so I glanced over my left shoulder to make sure there *
wasn't any oncoming traffic. This is important because moving to the left, *
away from traffic, puts me in the dreaded door zone - a bad idea along *
this stretch where mini-vans dump out a half dozen kids for school.

While I was still looking over my shoulder she slammed into me (her right *
shoulder slammed into my right shoulder), nearly knocking me off my bike. *
She screamed obscenities at me and hit me so hard it knocked me to the *
right, where I saw a fist nearly miss my head.

There were no other cyclists around, but enough joggers I figured it was *
wiser to keep pedaling rather than confront this nut. I briefly thought *
about calling the cops but the only witnesses around were joggers and it *
would be my word against hers - I'd lose a few hours of work over an *
incident that would leave more frustrated.

In all the years of commuting (I ride about 5,000 miles just commuting and *
tend to stick to published bike routes and lanes) I've had only one other *
encounter with a hostile jogger on a bike lane - last year. Given the *
number of joggers/walkers/stroller-tank drivers that just don't move off *
the lane I'm wondering if this is going to be the issue du-jour for bike *
lanes? It's become such a problem for this bike lane (not a multi-purpose *
path but a bike lane) I'm going to move a few streets over to avoid these *
folks.

Anyone else seeing this trend? Outside of converting my Burley Nomad to a *
battle wagon there's not much a cyclist can do in these situations. I *
perhaps could have made an argument that a jogger in the bike lane was in *
the wrong place, but how could I prove she intentionally ran into me? *
Though she was facing me there weren't any other bikers in the area to *
substantiate my claim she struck me. And with no damage to the bike or me *
there was no proof the event even happened.

More and more I find myself avoiding bike lanes and bike routes because of *
people walking dogs on long leashes in the streets, jogger superiority *
complex, and strollers larger than my last car ...

- joel

Joggers are retarded. They know they should be walking or riding a
bike, not destroying their knees.

I run 5 or ten miles at a time and my knees feel great.

On Wed, 28 Jul 2010 09:50:04 -0700 (PDT), Jack
wrote:

On Jul 21, 8:03*pm, J. D. Slocomb wrote:
On Wed, 21 Jul 2010 08:14:52 -0600, Me wrote:
On Wed, 21 Jul 2010 07:23:17 -0600, Paul O *
wrote:

Joel,
You are the SUV of the bike lane. Be nice.
Paul O.

A bike in a bike lane is an SUV? I'd say a bike on a sidewalk is an SUV. *
However, a bike in a bike lane is still just a bike.

I suggest the real question is whether the "bike lane" is a legally
designated area? What are the penalties for use of the "bike lane" by
any other user then a bike? What is the legal definition of a "bike".

Or is the "bike lane" simply a matter of some painted lines on the
pavement to appease some people who happen to be riding bicycles?

Cheers,

John D. Slocomb
(jdslocombatgmail)

What more could there be than painted lines? You want a ribbon
cutting ceremony?


Anyone can paint lines on the road for any reason. My point is are
there real, legally designated, "bike lanes" and if so what does the
law actually say about these lanes? Are these lanes specified to be
for the sole use of bicycles? Or are they to be used equally by
anyone?

Get the fact first and rant second.

You may discover that these "bike lanes" are actually "for
recreational use" and the runner has an equal right to use them; or
even that they aren't actually, under the law, specified for bicycles
and fall under the same directives as a sidewalk.

Cheers,

Schweik
(goodsoldierschweikatgmail)

On Jul 28, 8:39*pm, Schweik wrote:
On Wed, 28 Jul 2010 09:50:04 -0700 (PDT), Jack



wrote:
On Jul 21, 8:03*pm, J. D. Slocomb wrote:
On Wed, 21 Jul 2010 08:14:52 -0600, Me wrote:
On Wed, 21 Jul 2010 07:23:17 -0600, Paul O *
wrote:

Joel,
You are the SUV of the bike lane. Be nice.
Paul O.

A bike in a bike lane is an SUV? I'd say a bike on a sidewalk is an SUV. *
However, a bike in a bike lane is still just a bike.

I suggest the real question is whether the "bike lane" is a legally
designated area? What are the penalties for use of the "bike lane" by
any other user then a bike? What is the legal definition of a "bike".

Or is the "bike lane" simply a matter of some painted lines on the
pavement to appease some people who happen to be riding bicycles?

Cheers,

John D. Slocomb
(jdslocombatgmail)

What more could there be than painted lines? *You want a ribbon
cutting ceremony?

Anyone can paint lines on the road for any reason. My point is are
there real, legally designated, "bike lanes" and if so what does the
law actually say about these lanes? Are these lanes specified to be
for the sole use of bicycles? Or are they to be used equally by
anyone?

Get the fact first and rant second.

You may discover that these "bike lanes" are actually "for
recreational use" and the runner has an equal right to use them; or
even that they aren't actually, under the law, specified for bicycles
and fall under the same directives as a sidewalk.

Cheers,

Schweik
(goodsoldierschweikatgmail)

Bike lanes have signs that say "bike lane."

On Thu, 29 Jul 2010 08:19:24 -0700 (PDT), Jack
wrote:

On Jul 28, 8:39*pm, Schweik wrote:
On Wed, 28 Jul 2010 09:50:04 -0700 (PDT), Jack



wrote:
On Jul 21, 8:03*pm, J. D. Slocomb wrote:
On Wed, 21 Jul 2010 08:14:52 -0600, Me wrote:
On Wed, 21 Jul 2010 07:23:17 -0600, Paul O *
wrote:

Joel,
You are the SUV of the bike lane. Be nice.
Paul O.

A bike in a bike lane is an SUV? I'd say a bike on a sidewalk is an SUV. *
However, a bike in a bike lane is still just a bike.

I suggest the real question is whether the "bike lane" is a legally
designated area? What are the penalties for use of the "bike lane" by
any other user then a bike? What is the legal definition of a "bike".

Or is the "bike lane" simply a matter of some painted lines on the
pavement to appease some people who happen to be riding bicycles?

Cheers,

John D. Slocomb
(jdslocombatgmail)

What more could there be than painted lines? *You want a ribbon
cutting ceremony?

Anyone can paint lines on the road for any reason. My point is are
there real, legally designated, "bike lanes" and if so what does the
law actually say about these lanes? Are these lanes specified to be
for the sole use of bicycles? Or are they to be used equally by
anyone?

Get the fact first and rant second.

You may discover that these "bike lanes" are actually "for
recreational use" and the runner has an equal right to use them; or
even that they aren't actually, under the law, specified for bicycles
and fall under the same directives as a sidewalk.

Cheers,

Schweik
(goodsoldierschweikatgmail)

Bike lanes have signs that say "bike lane."

I believe that the point was to determine whether a "bike lane" was in
fact a legal designation and whether there was any specific legal
terms designating its use.

If, for example, the use "bike lane" is specified, legally, as for
"bicycles only" then the O.P. has a legitimate complaint and should
have taken it to the appropriate legal agency. If there is no legal
designation as to the establishment or use of these so called "bike
lanes" then it would appear that use of the lane is not denied to any
user and thus the O.P. has no valid complaint.

Cheers,

John D. Slocomb
(jdslocombatgmail)