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Want some fun? Try being someone who commutes in the Bay area via a combination of walking and public transit. Cars give me very little trouble. Bicycles, thou

Want some fun? Try being someone who commutes in the Bay area via a combination of walking and public transit. Cars give me very little trouble. Bicycles, though.. at least a couple times a week I nearly get killed by one. At crosswalks, typically I'm in a crowd of people and drivers know better than to try to make a turn through the crowd. Cyclists, though, will blow through, even just flat running a red light, and seem to have blind trust they'll be able to avoid hitting anyone even at high speed. One recent example: a guy on a bike, coming off a downhill stretch and towing something behind him, ran a red while I was in a crosswalk, close enough that I literally had to jump back. He was doing easily 30mph, and I'd be dead or seriously injured if he'd hit me, but did he care? Nope, he had places to be! Same thing happens with bikes zooming down the wheelchair ramps off the Caltrain platforms; there are signs telling cyclists to dismount and walk the bike, but they know nobody's going to enforce it on them. The one and only time I've seen anything done was about three months ago when a bike, stuck in traffic on the street, suddenly hopped onto the sidewalk and scattered a bunch of pedestrians in doing so. Lucky for them and unlucky for the cyclist, he did it right in front of a motorcycle cop who ran over, grabbed him, and gave him an earful and a citation. And don't even get me started on trying to get home the nights Critical Mass does its rides. I just leave early and hope to avoid them.

igf 10y ago
Bicycles are a tool for turning ordinary people into selfish jerks, jealously guarding their precious forward momentum. A pedestrian doesn't mind if they have to stop for a moment, it's no big deal. A driver doesn't mind stopping for a moment either, it's easy to get back up to speed again. But for a cyclist, having to stop is a minor disaster requiring a massive effort to get back up to speed, so they start behaving like desperate people, and desperate people have little regard for the rules or for the wellbeing of others. Combine that with the feeling of moral superiority which inflicts those of an environmentalist bent when they're doing something which they consider virtuous, and you've got a recipe for major jerkhood.
- Thlom 10y ago
  I'm a pretty relaxed cyclist. I ride more or less upright, but the forward momentum is precious. It's no problem to stop while walking, it takes no more energy to start walking than to continue walking. Same goes for driving a car. On a bike on the other hand, starting to cycle requires much more energy than keeping momentum. That said, some "avid cyclists" are total jerks.
  - ubernostrum 10y ago
    On a bike on the other hand, starting to cycle requires much more energy than keeping momentum. To which I have to say: that's on you. The only way to have multiple modes of transportation -- motorized, pedal, and foot -- coexist is for everybody to give a little. Which means there are times when you will have to stop and yield and wait for someone else, even if it costs you "momentum". (and this is the polite version of the response; the impolite version points out that your argument is no better than a driver who gets impatient in stop-and-go traffic; manual transmissions are horrendous to drive in those conditions, but nobody suggests manual drivers should get legal exemptions to red lights and stop signs the way people suggest -- and some places have even established -- for cyclists)
    - kazinator 10y ago
      Take out "motorized" and the traffic code pretty much goes away. Intersections with semaphore lights, all of it. It's all for the sake of motor vehicles. Pedestrians and cyclists can stay out of each other's way without anyone having to stop.
    - kazinator 10y ago
      I never had a problem with a manual transmission in heavy traffic. If you look some five to ten cars ahead to anticipate what is going on and leave a bit of space, you don't have to come to a full stop. You can use first gear to creep very slowly, if necessary. Also, as long as you have some forward momentum, the clutch picks up very easily in second. I handled most congested situations in second gear with just clutch work every now and then. Also, if I had to come to a full stop, I wouldn't start again if it was obvious that the car ahead of me would be only able to move three feet before coming to a full stop again. Automatic transmission drivers tend to stare at the bumper of the car ahead of them and track every minute movement.
pif 10y ago
You sure you are talking about the Bay? That's exactly what happens in Geneva.
- pif 10y ago
  To the guy who down-voted my comment, please care to explain?
  - 7Z7 10y ago
    It was a woman, muhahahahah
Anasufovic 10y ago
Yeah, the pedestrians don't do themselves a service either. Crossing on red is common and now in the uprise of having something in your ears or looking at something in your hands there are a lot of obvious missteps into a cyclists line. I think we should not be as quick to dismiss dasil003's comment. We can all back off a bit, cyclists, drivers, and pedestrians alike. Stop riding the edge, back off, and just take an extra second to proceed, an extra one or two seconds can make all the difference.
revelation 10y ago
The number of deaths in bicycle - pedestrian collisions is about 1 (one) every few years. I'm sure there are idiots cycling just as there are idiots driving, but if I get a choice between an idiot on a bike and an idiot in his truck potentially hitting me I'll take the bike every time. These things quite frankly don't compare.
- allengeorge 10y ago
  Yeah, but the number of cyclists compared to motorists is probably a couple of orders of magnitude lower as well.
throwanem 10y ago
Baltimore is surprisingly much the same, with the delightful twist of cyclists who cheerfully (and ubiquitously) ride on the sidewalks, and who then try to act like you're the asshole when you explain politely to them that they need to get off the God damn sidewalk and into the God damn road. Don't even get me started on cyclists who use the light rail. They're worse than football fans, which is saying a lot; football fans pregame and travel in packs, but at least they are susceptible to an authoritative baritone instructing them to move into open space rather than packing up by the doors, and to make way when passengers need to board and disembark. Football fans don't try to be rude; they just don't know any better, and are willing enough to be told. People with bikes are just likely to act like they own the whole damn train, and take great offense to the news that they do not. Cars are fine. As a pedestrian, I love cars. They behave predictably and their drivers are often polite to a fault - I've developed a whole physical language to explain that, while I greatly appreciate a driver's consideration and courtesy, I also feel it benefits no one for a much faster-moving vehicle to await someone on foot, and therefore to please go ahead and make the turn or whatever, so you don't have to wait and I don't have to hurry, but thanks again for looking out. This is tough to fit in a single gesture, but I think I've got it taped now. The key is not to mind hamming it up a little, because it does after all have to be easy to read from a distance, and to get the whole upper part of your body involved - you want to combine a smile of thanks with a forward incline of the head, connoting a degree of deference, with a rather sweeping motion of the arm across the billboard of the torso and out to full extension in the direction the driver was about to go anyway, to convey the intended outcome. Laugh all you like, but this works; I rarely have to repeat myself even once, and I usually get an answering smile and wave from the driver besides. So yeah, cars are great. Cars are whales. Bicycles are sharks, fast and deadly and hard to hear coming up from behind. Usually piloted by assholes, too, which I guess sharks aren't, but when I'm just trying to get to work in one piece and I'm having to deal with the adrenaline shock of yet another near miss, I get a little loose with my metaphors.
- pif 10y ago
  Sir, your comment is a piece of art. The third paragraph, in particular, a masterwork.

igf 10y ago

Bicycles are a tool for turning ordinary people into selfish jerks, jealously guarding their precious forward momentum. A pedestrian doesn't mind if they have to stop for a moment, it's no big deal. A driver doesn't mind stopping for a moment either, it's easy to get back up to speed again. But for a cyclist, having to stop is a minor disaster requiring a massive effort to get back up to speed, so they start behaving like desperate people, and desperate people have little regard for the rules or for the wellbeing of others. Combine that with the feeling of moral superiority which inflicts those of an environmentalist bent when they're doing something which they consider virtuous, and you've got a recipe for major jerkhood.

Thlom 10y ago
I'm a pretty relaxed cyclist. I ride more or less upright, but the forward momentum is precious. It's no problem to stop while walking, it takes no more energy to start walking than to continue walking. Same goes for driving a car. On a bike on the other hand, starting to cycle requires much more energy than keeping momentum. That said, some "avid cyclists" are total jerks.
- ubernostrum 10y ago
  On a bike on the other hand, starting to cycle requires much more energy than keeping momentum. To which I have to say: that's on you. The only way to have multiple modes of transportation -- motorized, pedal, and foot -- coexist is for everybody to give a little. Which means there are times when you will have to stop and yield and wait for someone else, even if it costs you "momentum". (and this is the polite version of the response; the impolite version points out that your argument is no better than a driver who gets impatient in stop-and-go traffic; manual transmissions are horrendous to drive in those conditions, but nobody suggests manual drivers should get legal exemptions to red lights and stop signs the way people suggest -- and some places have even established -- for cyclists)
  - kazinator 10y ago
    Take out "motorized" and the traffic code pretty much goes away. Intersections with semaphore lights, all of it. It's all for the sake of motor vehicles. Pedestrians and cyclists can stay out of each other's way without anyone having to stop.
  - kazinator 10y ago
    I never had a problem with a manual transmission in heavy traffic. If you look some five to ten cars ahead to anticipate what is going on and leave a bit of space, you don't have to come to a full stop. You can use first gear to creep very slowly, if necessary. Also, as long as you have some forward momentum, the clutch picks up very easily in second. I handled most congested situations in second gear with just clutch work every now and then. Also, if I had to come to a full stop, I wouldn't start again if it was obvious that the car ahead of me would be only able to move three feet before coming to a full stop again. Automatic transmission drivers tend to stare at the bumper of the car ahead of them and track every minute movement.

pif 10y ago

You sure you are talking about the Bay? That's exactly what happens in Geneva.

pif 10y ago
To the guy who down-voted my comment, please care to explain?
- 7Z7 10y ago
  It was a woman, muhahahahah

Anasufovic 10y ago

Yeah, the pedestrians don't do themselves a service either. Crossing on red is common and now in the uprise of having something in your ears or looking at something in your hands there are a lot of obvious missteps into a cyclists line. I think we should not be as quick to dismiss dasil003's comment. We can all back off a bit, cyclists, drivers, and pedestrians alike. Stop riding the edge, back off, and just take an extra second to proceed, an extra one or two seconds can make all the difference.

revelation 10y ago

The number of deaths in bicycle - pedestrian collisions is about 1 (one) every few years. I'm sure there are idiots cycling just as there are idiots driving, but if I get a choice between an idiot on a bike and an idiot in his truck potentially hitting me I'll take the bike every time. These things quite frankly don't compare.

allengeorge 10y ago
Yeah, but the number of cyclists compared to motorists is probably a couple of orders of magnitude lower as well.

throwanem 10y ago

Baltimore is surprisingly much the same, with the delightful twist of cyclists who cheerfully (and ubiquitously) ride on the sidewalks, and who then try to act like you're the asshole when you explain politely to them that they need to get off the God damn sidewalk and into the God damn road. Don't even get me started on cyclists who use the light rail. They're worse than football fans, which is saying a lot; football fans pregame and travel in packs, but at least they are susceptible to an authoritative baritone instructing them to move into open space rather than packing up by the doors, and to make way when passengers need to board and disembark. Football fans don't try to be rude; they just don't know any better, and are willing enough to be told. People with bikes are just likely to act like they own the whole damn train, and take great offense to the news that they do not. Cars are fine. As a pedestrian, I love cars. They behave predictably and their drivers are often polite to a fault - I've developed a whole physical language to explain that, while I greatly appreciate a driver's consideration and courtesy, I also feel it benefits no one for a much faster-moving vehicle to await someone on foot, and therefore to please go ahead and make the turn or whatever, so you don't have to wait and I don't have to hurry, but thanks again for looking out. This is tough to fit in a single gesture, but I think I've got it taped now. The key is not to mind hamming it up a little, because it does after all have to be easy to read from a distance, and to get the whole upper part of your body involved - you want to combine a smile of thanks with a forward incline of the head, connoting a degree of deference, with a rather sweeping motion of the arm across the billboard of the torso and out to full extension in the direction the driver was about to go anyway, to convey the intended outcome. Laugh all you like, but this works; I rarely have to repeat myself even once, and I usually get an answering smile and wave from the driver besides. So yeah, cars are great. Cars are whales. Bicycles are sharks, fast and deadly and hard to hear coming up from behind. Usually piloted by assholes, too, which I guess sharks aren't, but when I'm just trying to get to work in one piece and I'm having to deal with the adrenaline shock of yet another near miss, I get a little loose with my metaphors.

pif 10y ago
Sir, your comment is a piece of art. The third paragraph, in particular, a masterwork.