Idiot pedestrians

It baffles me that people can walk around, outside,
near traffic, be totally oblivious to their surroundings,
and still be alive.

Friday I was biking to the ER (son ran into door). My
path took me through an intersection where the street
you're on, if you go straight, turns into a bike path.
So cars have to turn either left or right, but bikes
can go straight. As I was approaching the intersection
on my bike, prepared to go straight, I noticed a woman
on a cell phone, and I saw that our paths would intersect
if I kept going straight. So I slightly adjusted my
trajectory so that I would pass in front of her by
a meter or so. This all happened in about 2 seconds,
and my light was green.

As you leave this particular intersection, there is a
fairly large bump. My ancient old u-lock typically
just hangs on my handlebars, knocking against the bike
frame (which explains all the paint dings). It makes
a God-awful noise when you go over a bump, so Madame
Oblivious Cellphoner heard a huge racket right in
front of her, then I whizzed by right in front of her
(she probably couldn't see me rolling my eyes) as I
heard her breath catch.

In retrospect, I probably should have gone behind her,
as she could have fallen forward at any time, or
accelerated her pace. Maybe next time. And I know
I should have been more friendly to her, she's
probably cursing all bikers now. But boy was that
satisfying, for some odd reason.

Scott

While I've loved bikes all my life, to me, there are an awful lot of idiot
cyclists too. I live downtown, and I see cyclists speeding through
intersections without even slowing to make sure it's safe, red lights, wrong
way streets, etc. multiple times every single day. Many are on fast fixed
gear bikes without brakes, which seems to be a fad around here at least. In
the context of city streets, often with heavy traffic, they seemingly appear
out of nowhere, and they do things that are unexpected if you're a
pedestrian. Even as a cyclist doubling as a frequent pedestrian, I've had a
number of close calls at intersections/crosswalks already just since the
Spring, and I know two people who have been hit by bicycles and suffered
broken bones. Especially among young men in their 20's, it seems to be a
macho thing to completely disregard not just traffic rules, but any common
sense at all when it comes to riding in the city.


"Scott" wrote in message
...

It baffles me that people can walk around, outside,
near traffic, be totally oblivious to their surroundings,
and still be alive.

Friday I was biking to the ER (son ran into door). My
path took me through an intersection where the street
you're on, if you go straight, turns into a bike path.
So cars have to turn either left or right, but bikes
can go straight. As I was approaching the intersection
on my bike, prepared to go straight, I noticed a woman
on a cell phone, and I saw that our paths would intersect
if I kept going straight. So I slightly adjusted my
trajectory so that I would pass in front of her by
a meter or so. This all happened in about 2 seconds,
and my light was green.

As you leave this particular intersection, there is a
fairly large bump. My ancient old u-lock typically
just hangs on my handlebars, knocking against the bike
frame (which explains all the paint dings). It makes
a God-awful noise when you go over a bump, so Madame
Oblivious Cellphoner heard a huge racket right in
front of her, then I whizzed by right in front of her
(she probably couldn't see me rolling my eyes) as I
heard her breath catch.

In retrospect, I probably should have gone behind her,
as she could have fallen forward at any time, or
accelerated her pace. Maybe next time. And I know
I should have been more friendly to her, she's
probably cursing all bikers now. But boy was that
satisfying, for some odd reason.

Scott

Pete wrote:
Many are on fast fixed
gear bikes without brakes, which seems to be a fad around here at least.

NO brakes at all? What kind of bikes are these?

Dan

In article ,
Scott writes:

In retrospect, I probably should have gone behind her,
as she could have fallen forward at any time, or
accelerated her pace. Maybe next time.

If she was on the sidewalk or crosswalk, she probably
(depending on your local by-laws) had her ROW, and a
reasonable expectation for it to be respected.

I frequently see drivers barging out of alleys, gas
stations and parking lots, without yielding to "idiot"
pedestrians on the sidewalk, too.


cheers,
Tom

--
-- Nothing is safe from me.
Above address is just a spam midden.
I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn [point] bc [point] ca

On Mon, 27 Jun 2005 13:08:22 -0700, (Tom Keats)
wrote:

In article ,
Scott writes:

In retrospect, I probably should have gone behind her,
as she could have fallen forward at any time, or
accelerated her pace. Maybe next time.

If she was on the sidewalk or crosswalk, she probably
(depending on your local by-laws) had her ROW, and a
reasonable expectation for it to be respected.

I have to agree. I think the cyclist should have yielded to the ped.,
though to be fair it might be a 'you had to be there' sitch.

Rather than learning the hard way, why not listen to your 'calm' self,
which in the OP's commentary was the little voice saying 'wait and go
behind her'? It's not so much that the cyclist was wrong...

Sometimes you have to realize that when we're riding and the juices are
flowing sometimes the less wise choice, but the more exhuberant one is
made.

Though I can't do it consistently, to me, the ultimate in effective cycling
is being able to react instantly and find that open space, or to turn
-with- the obstacle so as to not T-bone a right hookers. Too often we are
mesmerized and determined to hold our line we end up colliding and braking
when it's not necessary.

Might be that the almost single-minded drive to 'keep going' overtakes the
more sensible 'flow through' mode. Might be helpful to employ some
self-talk, of the 'stay loose', flow through untouched and silent. Still
easier said than done. ;-)

jj

I frequently see drivers barging out of alleys, gas
stations and parking lots, without yielding to "idiot"
pedestrians on the sidewalk, too.


cheers,
Tom

Scott wrote:
In retrospect, I probably should have gone behind her,
as she could have fallen forward at any time, or
accelerated her pace. Maybe next time. And I know
I should have been more friendly to her, she's
probably cursing all bikers now. But boy was that
satisfying, for some odd reason.

Quite possibly, by law, you should have gone behind her. Without knowing
your state/municipal laws, it's not altogether clear whether you or she was
the idiot.

Austin (never been an idiot myself ; )

"Pete" wrote in message
...
While I've loved bikes all my life, to me, there are an awful lot of idiot
cyclists too.

I think it's the time of the season for every one to ask in unison:
'Doesn't it seem like there are more sidewalk riders than in past years?'

--
'Things forbidden have a secret charm.'
-tacitus

"Scott" wrote in message
...

It baffles me that people can walk around, outside,
near traffic, be totally oblivious to their surroundings,
and still be alive.

Friday I was biking to the ER (son ran into door). My
path took me through an intersection where the street
you're on, if you go straight, turns into a bike path.
So cars have to turn either left or right, but bikes
can go straight. As I was approaching the intersection
on my bike, prepared to go straight, I noticed a woman
on a cell phone, and I saw that our paths would intersect
if I kept going straight. So I slightly adjusted my
trajectory so that I would pass in front of her by
a meter or so. This all happened in about 2 seconds,
and my light was green.

As a cyclist I would think you get so much of a "get out of my way attitude"
from motor vehicle drivers that you would spare pedestrians that.

Dan wrote:
Pete wrote:
Many are on fast fixed
gear bikes without brakes, which seems to be a fad around here at least.

NO brakes at all? What kind of bikes are these?

Fixed gear bikes (as the OP mentioned). i.e. They can be stopped by
putting back-pressure on the pedals, unlike a bike equipped with a
freewheel. Most *sane* riders at least equip a front brake in addition
to this however.

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/fixed.html

--
Dane Jackson - z u v e m b i @ u n i x b i g o t s . o r g
Bombeck's Rule of Medicine:
Never go to a doctor whose office plants have died.

Dane Jackson wrote:
Dan wrote:

Pete wrote:

Many are on fast fixed
gear bikes without brakes, which seems to be a fad around here at least.

NO brakes at all? What kind of bikes are these?


Fixed gear bikes (as the OP mentioned). i.e. They can be stopped by
putting back-pressure on the pedals, unlike a bike equipped with a
freewheel. Most *sane* riders at least equip a front brake in addition
to this however.

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/fixed.html



OH, coaster brakes. Well, that's not technically NO brakes ;-) Yeah I
had bikes like that as a kid, can't really remember how effective they
were (though I do recall I never ran into anything myself, & we all
loved the "skidmark" contests the brakes afforded... )

Dan