Author Topic: Illegal things car drivers do to cyclists (a place to vent)  (Read 12250 times)

FrogStash

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 83
  • Location: TX
  • Get there...FASTER!
Re: Illegal things car drivers do to cyclists (a place to vent)
« Reply #50 on: March 15, 2017, 08:22:34 AM »
I'm lucky to live in a very bike-friendly city, so close calls and bad driver-behavior are rare.  It seems that the anti-biking crowd has resigned themselves to play by the rules and avoid putting lives at risk with their vehicles.  Instead they just yell... It bothers me the most when I get yelled at while following the rules to the letter!  Like taking my turn at a 4-way stop and being called an asshole for it.

On the other end, some drivers are way too courteous... When I'm waiting at a stop sign for my safe chance to cross a 2-way, 4 lane street, there's no reason for a driver to stop!  They cause confusion and an unsafe situation for the other drivers, without making it any safer for me to cross anyway - the other 3 lanes are still active, and sometimes worse as angry drivers switch lanes to speed past the car that stopped....  I get that they're trying to be nice, but just stick with the rules of the road and it will be safer for everyone!

Ha, I completely agree.  People who stop to "be nice" are the kind of people I love to have as friends, but hate to drive or ride near.  Good intentions, terrible execution.

PizzaSteve

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 501
Re: Illegal things car drivers do to cyclists (a place to vent)
« Reply #51 on: March 15, 2017, 08:27:41 AM »
I wish everyone, including cyclists, would realize traffic laws and stop lights are there for everyones safety.  The selfish behaviour pains me as i see fatalities rise.  Please guys, the bit of extra time snd momentum running a light is not worth killing an unseen pedestrian.  Be safe.

Just Joe

  • Walrus Stache
  • *******
  • Posts: 6720
  • Location: In the middle....
  • Teach me something.
Re: Illegal things car drivers do to cyclists (a place to vent)
« Reply #52 on: March 15, 2017, 08:56:12 AM »
Do any of the cyclists here use a "dashcam" on their bike or have a REALLY loud horn? I've heard both recommended over the years.

Retire-Canada

  • Walrus Stache
  • *******
  • Posts: 8680
Re: Illegal things car drivers do to cyclists (a place to vent)
« Reply #53 on: March 15, 2017, 09:20:12 AM »
Do any of the cyclists here use a "dashcam" on their bike or have a REALLY loud horn? I've heard both recommended over the years.

Nope. I don't find either necessary for my riding.

PathtoFIRE

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 873
  • Age: 44
  • Location: San Diego
Re: Illegal things car drivers do to cyclists (a place to vent)
« Reply #54 on: March 15, 2017, 09:29:11 AM »
...when you make the hang up gesture with your hand...

What's the gesture? Thumb and pinky fingers pointed down (upside down shaka)?

acroy

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1697
  • Age: 46
  • Location: Dallas TX
    • SWAMI
Re: Illegal things car drivers do to cyclists (a place to vent)
« Reply #55 on: March 15, 2017, 09:47:20 AM »
Do any of the cyclists here use a "dashcam" on their bike or have a REALLY loud horn? I've heard both recommended over the years.

I have a cam, and when needed, a loud voice.

The college town / bedroom community I live in has become much more bike-aware over the years, but still:

- Bus drivers are terrible. School bus, city bus. Very aggressive. 2 weeks ago a school bus got her nose in front of me, then turned Right on a side street (no stop sign) on top of me. If I'd not dodged I'd be killed. I ran her down at her next pickup, stood in the bus door and we had a come-to-Jesus meeting. She was belligerent (somehow it was my fault) till I said 'hey, I have the incident on camera, and you're on camera now' while pointing to the cam. She then became very polite & apologetic. Unknown to her, the battery had dies a few minutes previously....

- Inattentive drivers - relatively easy to avoid

-Overly attentive drivers - stopping at the wrong places etc. I appreciate the kind intentions, but it makes it worse.

I mostly just try to stay out of the way. If there is no interaction with a car, there is no way to be hit by a car. By law, I'm a 'motor vehicle' and entitled to a lane, but taking a full lane on main thoroughfares would be inconsiderate to other users and dangerous to me. So side streets it is. Risk management!

I have spent far more time on 2 wheels than any other wheeled mode of transportation. It has made me an extremely defensive driver. Motorcycling was easy and natural to pick up.

Side note: all 9(!) of us made a pizza run last night. The 1month old is bundled up and strapped into one of the 2 trailers :)

ministashy

  • Stubble
  • **
  • Posts: 233
Re: Illegal things car drivers do to cyclists (a place to vent)
« Reply #56 on: March 15, 2017, 10:01:38 AM »
Does anyone else have issues with pedestrians treating protected bike lanes as extensions of the sidewalk?  Because that's my current pet peeve--currently Seattle has exactly one (1!) protected bike lane in the downtown corridor.  It's pretty new, and while the cars seem to have gotten a little better at not ignoring the 'no left turn' light across the lane, almost every single day I have to scream at some pedestrian to get out of the road.  And I do mean scream, because either they're oblivious/drugged up (usually the homeless) or they have earbuds/earphones on (almost everyone else) and no polite little 'coming through' is going to penetrate.  It's seriously starting to tick me off ... bike lanes are not sidewalk extensions, and yet I'm willing to bet I'd be the one who'd get sued if I hit a pedestrian.

And yes, here in Seattle I have an Orp (combination flashing light/horn), loud voice, and I'm adding a camera.  Sadly, daily bike commuting has taught me I need all three ...

sol

  • Walrus Stache
  • *******
  • Posts: 8433
  • Age: 47
  • Location: Pacific Northwest
Re: Illegal things car drivers do to cyclists (a place to vent)
« Reply #57 on: March 15, 2017, 10:16:30 AM »
I never have bad interactions with pedestrians anymore, probably because I ride in traffic now.  Pedestrians are afraid to use the spaces I ride in.

But cars tend to treat me as a pedestrian, in the sense that they seem to think I am stationary even when I am riding with the flow of traffic.  Like its pretty common for a car to speed past my left side and then slam on the brakes to turn right in front of me into an alley or driveway.  I have to assume they thought I wasn't moving full speed into the space they just occupied across my bike lane or shoulder.

There is one section of my commute on a busy five lane arterial where I have no choice but the sidewalk, interrupted every few feet by driveways into retail parking lots.  It is still terrifying after years of riding it.  People whip in and out of those driveways at 35mph from both sides of the street without ever checking the sidewalk for cross traffic. 

Vanguards and Lentils

  • Bristles
  • ***
  • Posts: 288
  • Age: 33
Re: Illegal things car drivers do to cyclists (a place to vent)
« Reply #58 on: March 15, 2017, 12:07:09 PM »
Side note: all 9(!) of us made a pizza run last night. The 1month old is bundled up and strapped into one of the 2 trailers :)

You are all amazing. That is so effing cute and it makes me want to have my own brood. And they are really lucky to be learning so early about biking as a form of transport.

BlueHouse

  • Magnum Stache
  • ******
  • Posts: 4136
  • Location: WDC
Re: Illegal things car drivers do to cyclists (a place to vent)
« Reply #59 on: March 15, 2017, 12:31:44 PM »
Does anyone else have issues with pedestrians treating protected bike lanes as extensions of the sidewalk?  Because that's my current pet peeve--currently Seattle has exactly one (1!) protected bike lane in the downtown corridor.  It's pretty new, and while the cars seem to have gotten a little better at not ignoring the 'no left turn' light across the lane, almost every single day I have to scream at some pedestrian to get out of the road.  And I do mean scream, because either they're oblivious/drugged up (usually the homeless) or they have earbuds/earphones on (almost everyone else) and no polite little 'coming through' is going to penetrate.  It's seriously starting to tick me off ... bike lanes are not sidewalk extensions, and yet I'm willing to bet I'd be the one who'd get sued if I hit a pedestrian.

And yes, here in Seattle I have an Orp (combination flashing light/horn), loud voice, and I'm adding a camera.  Sadly, daily bike commuting has taught me I need all three ...

FYI, last week a pedestrian was struck and killed by a bicycle in DC.  Very tragic.  Not that your point doesn't have merit, but just remember no matter how frustrating it is, an object moving faster than another object is more dangerous.

johnny847

  • Magnum Stache
  • ******
  • Posts: 3188
    • My Blog
Re: Illegal things car drivers do to cyclists (a place to vent)
« Reply #60 on: March 15, 2017, 12:36:44 PM »
Do any of the cyclists here use a "dashcam" on their bike or have a REALLY loud horn? I've heard both recommended over the years.

I have the latter. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000ACAMJC/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1
It's as loud as a car horn. It's designed with an air canister, so to "recharge" it you just pump it up with a standard Schraeder pump.

It's definitely saved my ass a couple times

sol

  • Walrus Stache
  • *******
  • Posts: 8433
  • Age: 47
  • Location: Pacific Northwest
Re: Illegal things car drivers do to cyclists (a place to vent)
« Reply #61 on: March 15, 2017, 12:48:59 PM »
FYI, last week a pedestrian was struck and killed by a bicycle in DC. 

Don't even get me started on how disingenuous this is.

Every year approximately 5000 pedestrians are struck and killed by cars.  Also about 800 bicyclists.  And those numbers  combined are still less than 20% of all fatalities caused by cars in the US each year.

By contrast, while there are very rarely pedestrians killed by cyclists, would you like to guess how many drivers are killed by cyclists each year?

Want to talk about injuries instead of fatalities?  Multiply all those numbers by at least 10.  Drivers injured by cyclists will still be zero.

So don't cloud the issue by ignoring the real problems here.  If you want to stay safe, stop traveling.  If you want to protect pedestrians, stop driving and ride a bike instead.

Sorry bluehouse, I know you meant well but it enrages me to see good people believing and then spreading such deceptive lies.  Bikes are not the problem here.

shelivesthedream

  • Walrus Stache
  • *******
  • Posts: 6744
  • Location: London, UK
Re: Illegal things car drivers do to cyclists (a place to vent)
« Reply #62 on: March 15, 2017, 01:18:32 PM »
OK, y'all, let's not have a big debate about this. I created this thread because when I was on my bike I was mad that some asshole driver cut me off and drove in the bike lane. Other threads can be created for talking/bitching about stuff other than noble cyclists and asshole drivers.

Goldielocks

  • Walrus Stache
  • *******
  • Posts: 7062
  • Location: BC
Re: Illegal things car drivers do to cyclists (a place to vent)
« Reply #63 on: March 15, 2017, 01:58:43 PM »
To get us back on topic --

My "angry at the driver" incident -- I was riding with my then 11 year old son, on the designated bike routes.  Here, the bike route is a painted line / section along the side of a road (beside parked cars, about 15" wide strip), and on lesser roads, just a sign on the side of the road saying to share the road with cyclists / watch out for cyclists...  (sometimes with a painted image of a bicycle in the middle of the road, too).

We turned onto a short 3 block stretch, where cyclists and cars need to share the road (by the signs, this was a designated bike route).   After the 3 blocks, the dedicated cycling lane reappears..

We had a taxi driver choose to overtake my son on his bike, in a space that was too narrow, (one lane with parked cars on the right --  my son was positioned in the correct area, about 12" away from the parked cars)  and the taxi brushed his handle bars with his rear right panel of the taxi.   DS wobbled a bit but recovered as he is coordinated.  He was exceptionally shaken up by the incident.  We discussed after about how to take up the whole lane when it narrows (ride in the center), but due to the road design, where there were no parked cars, it was not obvious, so he did not realize.  He refused to ride longer distances with me again for the rest of that year.

Nudging kids on a designated bike route with your car, is NOT OK.

sol

  • Walrus Stache
  • *******
  • Posts: 8433
  • Age: 47
  • Location: Pacific Northwest
Re: Illegal things car drivers do to cyclists (a place to vent)
« Reply #64 on: March 15, 2017, 02:44:14 PM »
To get us back on topic --

My "angry at the driver" incident -- I was riding with my then 11 year old son, on the designated bike routes.  Here, the bike route is a painted line / section along the side of a road (beside parked cars, about 15" wide strip), and on lesser roads, just a sign on the side of the road saying to share the road with cyclists / watch out for cyclists...  (sometimes with a painted image of a bicycle in the middle of the road, too).

We turned onto a short 3 block stretch, where cyclists and cars need to share the road (by the signs, this was a designated bike route).   After the 3 blocks, the dedicated cycling lane reappears..

We had a taxi driver choose to overtake my son on his bike, in a space that was too narrow, (one lane with parked cars on the right --  my son was positioned in the correct area, about 12" away from the parked cars)  and the taxi brushed his handle bars with his rear right panel of the taxi.   DS wobbled a bit but recovered as he is coordinated.  He was exceptionally shaken up by the incident.  We discussed after about how to take up the whole lane when it narrows (ride in the center), but due to the road design, where there were no parked cars, it was not obvious, so he did not realize.  He refused to ride longer distances with me again for the rest of that year.

Nudging kids on a designated bike route with your car, is NOT OK.

I would have reported that incident to the police as a hit and run. 

BlueHouse

  • Magnum Stache
  • ******
  • Posts: 4136
  • Location: WDC
Re: Illegal things car drivers do to cyclists (a place to vent)
« Reply #65 on: March 16, 2017, 06:40:45 AM »

Sorry bluehouse, I know you meant well but it enrages me to see good people believing and then spreading such deceptive lies.  Bikes are not the problem here.
Sol, it is not a lie.  If you want to challenge my statement for being not relevant to the original poster, then that's fair play.  But to call it a deceptive lie is pretty far off base. 

Here is part of the statement from the Wash Area Bicyclist Assoc., and the point I was trying to make when another poster brought up the topic of pedestrians in bike lanes
Quote
... the same principle applies to bicycling as it does to driving: if you can’t see and react to a human being on the road in front of you, you are going too fast. Yield to people who are more vulnerable. This is not just the law, it’s how to be a responsible member of the community. It is your responsibility not to hurt anyone with your vehicle, whether you’re riding a bike or driving a car.

And here is a news story about the death.
http://www.bizjournals.com/washington/news/2017/03/13/senior-kiplinger-editor-killed-after-being-struck.html
http://www.waba.org/blog/2017/03/statement-on-the-death-of-jane-bennett-clark/

Modified for clarity and because I cooled down after being called a deceptive liar.  NOW the conversation can get back on track.  That is all.
« Last Edit: March 16, 2017, 07:26:03 AM by BlueHouse »

Fudge102

  • Stubble
  • **
  • Posts: 166
  • Location: Albany, NY
Re: Illegal things car drivers do to cyclists (a place to vent)
« Reply #66 on: March 16, 2017, 07:25:02 AM »
I wanted to chime in about the whole bike lane vs optional bike lane thing I read earlier...

It was something I never paid attention to when I was driving a car.  The bike lane looks quite clear and clean.  And then I started riding a bike.  Things look night and day different when you ride a bike.  The lanes were far less clean than I thought, and with the way they paved the roads, with the sun angle just right, every rock in the road surface looks like glass.  The roads are clean from the cars going across constantly, but the bike lanes are far dirtier even though they appear clean.  There are many times when I've just hugged the edge of the bike lane, pretty much on the road, because it was just easier to see and know where I was going, than to drive through the "clean" bike lane.  Sure, there may be some bad cyclists out there, but unless you're actually in the lane and seeing the same thing as them, you don't know what exactly they're seeing.  What's smooth and doesn't bother a car can puncture a bike tire.

Giro

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 629
Re: Illegal things car drivers do to cyclists (a place to vent)
« Reply #67 on: March 16, 2017, 12:39:11 PM »
Today DH and I were towing a trailer behind his truck through town on a flat, smooth, divided four lane road, complete with center divider and generous bike lanes. Fucking bicyclist was cruising along a full foot outside the bike lane, which was clean, btw. Glass was the first thing I looked for when I saw him outside the bike lane. I rolled down the window and yelled that we were pulling a trailer and that if he valued his life, he'd get back in the bike lane, which he promptly did.

Being a jerk goes both ways. We had a saying in my hard-core cycling days. There's right and then there's dead right. Don't be the latter. If I hadn't yelled at him, our completely legal trailer, moving at or below the speed limit, might have squashed him like a bug. So happy it didn't, but WTF, bicyclist?

This was a tad infuriating.  I hope you read up on the laws because it seems that YOU were the one at fault not the cyclist.  A bicycle has the same right as ANY vehicle when on the road, regardless of whether there is a bike lane available.  If you had passed him legally by entering the PASSING LANE you would have had no issue with him being in his lane.  WTF is right.

shelivesthedream

  • Walrus Stache
  • *******
  • Posts: 6744
  • Location: London, UK
Re: Illegal things car drivers do to cyclists (a place to vent)
« Reply #68 on: March 16, 2017, 12:43:15 PM »
Today DH and I were towing a trailer behind his truck through town on a flat, smooth, divided four lane road, complete with center divider and generous bike lanes. Fucking bicyclist was cruising along a full foot outside the bike lane, which was clean, btw. Glass was the first thing I looked for when I saw him outside the bike lane. I rolled down the window and yelled that we were pulling a trailer and that if he valued his life, he'd get back in the bike lane, which he promptly did.

Being a jerk goes both ways. We had a saying in my hard-core cycling days. There's right and then there's dead right. Don't be the latter. If I hadn't yelled at him, our completely legal trailer, moving at or below the speed limit, might have squashed him like a bug. So happy it didn't, but WTF, bicyclist?

This was a tad infuriating.  I hope you read up on the laws because it seems that YOU were the one at fault not the cyclist.  A bicycle has the same right as ANY vehicle when on the road, regardless of whether there is a bike lane available.  If you had passed him legally by entering the PASSING LANE you would have had no issue with him being in his lane.  WTF is right.

We have finished discussing this on this thread.

Edit: quote tag issues
« Last Edit: March 16, 2017, 02:41:46 PM by shelivesthedream »

Schaefer Light

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1328
Re: Illegal things car drivers do to cyclists (a place to vent)
« Reply #69 on: March 16, 2017, 02:25:40 PM »

Here is part of the statement from the Wash Area Bicyclist Assoc., and the point I was trying to make when another poster brought up the topic of pedestrians in bike lanes
Quote
... the same principle applies to bicycling as it does to driving: if you can’t see and react to a human being on the road in front of you, you are going too fast. Yield to people who are more vulnerable. This is not just the law, it’s how to be a responsible member of the community. It is your responsibility not to hurt anyone with your vehicle, whether you’re riding a bike or driving a car.


If those damn bikers would go as fast as my car, then I wouldn't have any problems with them.

moof

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 809
  • Location: Beaver Town Orygun
Re: Illegal things car drivers do to cyclists (a place to vent)
« Reply #70 on: March 20, 2017, 11:15:32 PM »
Another typical ride home from work today...

Joined the line of cars at the first light.  Mountain biker went by on the sidewalk and goes over to the walk button to wait, apparently unaware he is not a pedestrian.  Later another cyclist lane splits by me and sits in the corner of the through lane and signals left.  3 bikers, three approaches to the intersection, only one legal.  No wonder some folks hate cyclists.

In downtown Beaverton had a small sedan fail to signal until she was already turning into me.  Scared the crap out of her when I hollered "Whoa Jesus!"  I am not religious.  Pretty sure she needed new shorts more than me, but only because I am more used to nearly getting run over on a weekly basis than she is to committing manslaughter.  Apparently blinky lights, and flourescent trimmngs are still not enough to get seen.  Should I add a loud speaker and play my irish punk music to get folks attention?

Over at Nike HQ 3 cars get trapped in the intersection when the light changes and have to scurry into the far lane to stop blocking cross traffic.  Classic.  These are the same sort of folks I often have to deal with as they often sit in the bike lane to make a late merge to get back into the through lane after 2 short blocks.  Thankfully today that is not the case for once.

Good times.

Goldielocks

  • Walrus Stache
  • *******
  • Posts: 7062
  • Location: BC
Re: Illegal things car drivers do to cyclists (a place to vent)
« Reply #71 on: March 20, 2017, 11:27:39 PM »
Another typical ride home from work today...

Joined the line of cars at the first light.  ... Later another cyclist lane splits by me and sits in the corner of the through lane and signals left. 

Isn't this the same as getting into the left hand lane, to turn left?  or are you indicating that they cycled past the line of stopped cars to get in front of the first one, then will turn left from there as the first vehicle (instead of waiting their turn)?

Usually those folks actually turn left into the closest cross walk, not really stopping for the light, and the ride on the wrong side of the street for the next block (on the sidewalk), in my area.

bunchbikes

  • Bristles
  • ***
  • Posts: 325
Re: Illegal things car drivers do to cyclists (a place to vent)
« Reply #72 on: March 24, 2017, 10:57:04 AM »
3 bikers, three approaches to the intersection, only one legal.  No wonder some folks hate cyclists.

Shitty infrastructure that doesn't make sense for cyclists means people won't follow the rules.


People hate cyclists because they are trying to fit in to a system that wasn't meant for them.


Cyclists don't use sidewalks when they have bike lanes.

LennStar

  • Magnum Stache
  • ******
  • Posts: 3681
  • Location: Germany
Re: Illegal things car drivers do to cyclists (a place to vent)
« Reply #73 on: March 24, 2017, 11:23:49 AM »
In my suburban college town, where drivers should know better by now, I have been told several times to

  • "Get off the road!" or
  • "Get on the sidewalk!"
or just been honked at (presumably for biking on the road). Not technically illegal, but they don't know the laws around us apparently. Even the "Bike Route" and "Share the Road" signs aren't enough, apparently.
It's not illegal in your jursisdiction to soudn a danger alarm sign when there is no danger?

Quote
In my experience, car and bicycle operators are equally guilty of breaking the rules.

The only difference is that the only party likely to die when the rules are broken is the cyclist.
There is a second difference: Car driver had to learn all that stuff of traffic for their license, bikers not.

Quote
In the city, I always ride as far to the right as is safe.
Which, in theory, is in the middle of the right lane. Because on the right ouside you are in the most dangerous position: cars drive too close when overtaking you while traffic comes from front, intentional or unintentinal holes are there, everything thrown away.

Quote
Streets, and even paved streets, have been around a lot longer than automobiles.
Even a lot longer then bikes. With stones about 6000 years and for asphalt there are hints that the old Babylonians had some.

Vanguards and Lentils

  • Bristles
  • ***
  • Posts: 288
  • Age: 33
Re: Illegal things car drivers do to cyclists (a place to vent)
« Reply #74 on: March 24, 2017, 11:29:45 AM »
In my suburban college town, where drivers should know better by now, I have been told several times to

  • "Get off the road!" or
  • "Get on the sidewalk!"
or just been honked at (presumably for biking on the road). Not technically illegal, but they don't know the laws around us apparently. Even the "Bike Route" and "Share the Road" signs aren't enough, apparently.
It's not illegal in your jursisdiction to soudn a danger alarm sign when there is no danger?

Cool thanks! I just looked this up and didn't know that such honking was against the law. Hopefully someone gets ticketed in the future, because the honkers in my experiences were pretty much just expressing anger at having to bike behind me for a few seconds.

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!