mangosteen | I just don't fucking get it.

Current Mood: shaking

I just don't fucking get it.

To the bicyclist that I almost ran over on the way home a few minutes ago:

Wearing dark clothing
on a dark bicycle
at night
making a wide turn
onto a dimly-lit street
WITH NO REFLECTORS
AND NO LIGHTS
IS NOT OKAY!!!!

NOT FUCKING OKAY AT ALL!!!!!

GOT IT?!?!?!?!??!?!?!?!?!?

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I've lost track of how many times I've either witnessed or experienced the same kind of thing. It's even more special when they're also wearing a walkman and headphones. I honestly have no idea how these people manage to avoid getting killed. Morons.

I saw a 7-8 year old boy get run into by some blithering idiot on a bicycle yesterday. We're talking "child, crossing at crosswalk. Crosswalk has crossing guard, sign, whistle, lights, and traffic stopped in both directions" . . . but no, cyclist doesn't even slow down.

Hits the kid, leaves the kid in tears, cradling his wrist - and buggers off.

Damn but I wanted to door him.

Sounds like a prime candidate for a Darwin Award.

No, it's not OK.
Now we need a law which says that an unlit cyclist is at least half responsible for any accidents they are involved in, so if you're not negligent it's their fault if you hit them.

Definitely not okay. Pity bikes don't have license plates, so you can't report the ass to the cops.

Bikes should have lights at a minimum for riding at night.

Other complaints about many cyclists that I see:

Ignore stoplights and stop signs
Ride the on the wrong side of a two-way street, or the wrong way on a one-way street
Ignore pedestrians in crosswalks
Fail to signal turns
Ride two (or more) abreast, blocking traffic
Cut onto sidewalks where streets are inconvenient

I think there are more, but those are the ones that come to mind. It's been tempting to carry a stick to put in the back wheel of those cyclists who pull shenanigans like this. They give the few remaining good cyclists out there a bad name. However, the few times I've seen a cyclist signal a turn or stop and wait for a red light, I've (quite literally) applauded -- it's that rare.

*hugs*

I'm sorry you're so shaken up. That cyclist gives the rest of us a bad rep. I see so many stupid cyclists out here in LA (where we have the worst drivers).

*hugs*

Erk. No lights and no reflectors *bad*. I must confess to normally wearing dark(ish) clothes, on a bicycle or not. Though I would've thought the bright red bicycle, the red reflector on the back, the yellow reflectors on the pedals, the white reflectors in the spokes and the white reflector at the front did *something* towards visibility (not to mention the switched-on lights night-time).

Wow, what a lot of rantage.

Massachusetts requires bicycles ridden at night to have a headlight. When lack of same causes an accident, it does seem to be a significant factor for assigning blame, although the general trend is "blame the bicyclist" anyway.

JB, you might have been vaguely remembering MGL Ch. 85 §11B, which explicitly allows bicycling on all roads in the Commonwealth not explicitly posted otherwise.

Being somewhat of a Devil's Advocate, given that I'm in the "obey signals religiously" camp, some rhetorical questions: almost no pedestrians obey walk/don't-walk signals. Most cars obey drive/don't-drive signals. Why should the bicycles make like the cars instead of the pedestrians? Where do you draw the line and why?

I understand the shaking. Even if the bicyclist is behaving recklessly and totally in the wrong, if you hit him/her, you can't help feeling that you're the villain.

I think that more bicyclists obey traffic laws (or at least disobey them in a safe manner) than don't, else we'd see a lot more accidents. But the ones who act like jerks stick out, just like the bad drivers, crazy motorcyclists, or oblivious pedestrians out there.

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