The Dumb Cyclists and Pedestrians thread...

[bychosis]

"People just don't take notice anymore – they're looking down at their phones and things like that," Cr Pickering said.

After nearly hitting my head on something I knew was there over the weekend, the sticky outy bits on these are just asking for trouble, unless they were to place something on the ground that would prevent you from walking into them or alternatively lift them above head height. Removal is a shame, but we aren't always looking at our phones when we hit our heads on tree branches etc.

I had a couple of boards hanging out of the ute by half a metre or so at about head height walked past them to the bins, walked back and brushed my forehead against them. Was looking were my feet were going not my head. Could see the back of the ute, but not what was above my line of sight. I knew they were there, I thought to myself I'd better watch out or I'll hit my head on those and still nearly did. Placed a soft surface over the top until it was time to move the car and still had a couple more near misses.

[duncanm]

I agree -- they're a bad height for some people.

Tip them on their hind legs + tails and they'd be fine.

[fat and old]

Not really cycling related but certainly comes under the category of dumb pedestrians

http://www.canberratimes.com.au/nsw/wes ... vro2x.html

West Ryde Plaza's Origami Horses sculpture to be taken down because peds keep walking into them.

Meh, I can see the angst. To compare:

A while back the local council did some streetscaping in conjunction with new tram lines (High St, Northcote for Melb based peeps). There were steel sculpture things placed in raised islands in the middle of the tracks on a hilly bit. Cyclists raised hell over the "death traps". They were removed.

I see no difference.

[Jash Rider]

Shout out to the bloke in the red jersey on the Petrie to Kippa-Ring path at 5:48am near Mango Hill Station that didn't want to wait until I'd past the pedestrians he was behind and decided instead to try and pass them anyway, even though I was right there about to pass on my side of the path.

Caused me to almost leave the path and caused the pedestrians to have to jump out of the way once they realised you were going past no matter what.

If I see you again we will be having a lesson in shared path etiquette.

[redsonic]

The cyclist who was throwing out bread for the birds as he rode along the shared path early this morning.
The result was a path crowded with birds, and I nearly hit 2 Rainbow Lorikeets.
When I caught up with him, I suggested he throw the bread to the side of the path

[tallywhacker]

first rain in months + white lines + lapse in concentration = a few grazes and broken ribs
At least the bike is OK

[g-boaf]

first rain in months + white lines + lapse in concentration = a few grazes and broken ribs
At least the bike is OK

Rest up, hope you recover quickly. Broken ribs is really bad luck from that.

[jasonc]

Ouch tallywacker. Heal well

[thecraig]

This could have easily have gone into the Moron Motorists section as well, however the reaction of the cyclist doesn't sit well.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... -rage.html

[battler2]

doesn't sit well? does it sit well when a motorist verbally abuses a cyclist for doing absolutely nothing wrong? chases a cyclist down the street wanting to assault them? throwing objects at riders (eg. bottles). had all of the above happen to me.

punching a window and spitting on someone doesn't even come close to the severity of the above.

the above video is a common way to get knocked over (or worse) in peak hour traffic as well. cars stop to leave a gap but those crossing the gap don't even think to give way to bike riders coming up on the inside that they can't see/don't care.

[silentC]

Is that bike lane he's riding in?

[duncanm]

This could have easily have gone into the Moron Motorists section as well, however the reaction of the cyclist doesn't sit well.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... -rage.html

was that cyclist paying any attention to his surroundings? Doesn't even look right or flinch as the car nearly knocks him for six.

What odd behaviour.

.. and as others have said - that gap in the stopped traffic would be sending off my spidey senses to look for incoming.

[Scott_C]

Is that bike lane he's riding in?

From Google Maps it is at least a road shoulder marked with a bicycle symbol. I don't have access to Streetview at the moment due to being on an ancient version of IE but suspect it isn't a legal bike lane.

Notably, the car is entering a driveway. i.e. they are leaving the road and entering a road-related area and should have been prepared to give way to anyone on the road, shoulder or footpath (Road Rule 75).

Even though the cyclist clearly has the right of way under law I agree that riding across a gap in traffic like that without looking for crossing vehicles is a risky way of riding.

[jasonc]

Cruising up a hill on the way home tonight on a bike path, person riding an ebike over takes me. Doesn't see/look and there was a bike coming the other way. Bike coming down the hill was doing 40km/h+. He locked it up and the numnut eventually moved over. Caught up to the numnut and I asked him not to ride like that having nearly killed that bloke (ebike rider would be 120kg+). He didn't know what I was talking about

[battler2]

This could have easily have gone into the Moron Motorists section as well, however the reaction of the cyclist doesn't sit well.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... -rage.html

was that cyclist paying any attention to his surroundings? Doesn't even look right or flinch as the car nearly knocks him for six.

What odd behaviour.

.. and as others have said - that gap in the stopped traffic would be sending off my spidey senses to look for incoming.

he doesn't really have any surroundings to pay attention to. he is not required to give way and his view of the car cutting across two lanes of traffic was impeded by the cars banked up giving way.

my spidey senses in this exact situation never tingled until many years ago i was knocked off (luckily i slammed on the brakes, barely clipped his car (as he actually slowed down as if to make sure i hit him - then told me after and i quote "did you see me speed up?"). of course he attempted to drive off, and i yelled STOP! probably the daughter in the car he was dropping off to school told him to stop. otherwise doubt he would have. didn't produce a drivers licence either. amazingly came out with a pile of credit cards (no wallet, no surprise as to why). got a mobile number scribbled on a piece of paper! how nice of him.

it's a downside of bike lanes that gets caught in the friendly motorist thing of allowing a gap for people to pass when banked up in traffic.

looking at her instagram, she was in an almost exact same incident in her car (where she didn't have to give way either)
https://www.instagram.com/p/BRu0piuhjso ... ygabriel77

why she sent this one into daily mail specifically, i'd love to know.

scroll even further she's attended the TDU and apparently had a great time....

i'm confused...

[duncanm]

This could have easily have gone into the Moron Motorists section as well, however the reaction of the cyclist doesn't sit well.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... -rage.html

was that cyclist paying any attention to his surroundings? Doesn't even look right or flinch as the car nearly knocks him for six.

What odd behaviour.

.. and as others have said - that gap in the stopped traffic would be sending off my spidey senses to look for incoming.

he doesn't really have any surroundings to pay attention to. he is not required to give way and his view of the car cutting across two lanes of traffic was impeded by the cars banked up giving way.

which is exactly when he should be looking around for idiots. Stopped traffic + gap = expect some idiot to drive into it.

I'm not excusing the driver; but riding like a zombie, you're going to get cleaned up one day.

[battler2]

the problem is most riders are completely unaware they need to do this. especially in this kind of situation. when i see banked up cars and a clear bike lane ahead at peak hour i think it's smooth sailing. then i come across a gap and remember what happened to me years ago and slam on the brakes.

most dont even think to do this. sometimes the gap is hardly noticeable when you're cruising at 30km/h, or spotting glass in the lane, and watching for opening doors.

one idiot commented saying the usual 'cyclists fault because he's an entitled arrogant jerk that doesnt understand courtesy of giving way etc'. the same can be said for the motorist that just assumes the significantly disadvantaged road user in terms of visibility and braking power would stop when not required to by law.

it's 100% the drivers fault but it's just one scenario where we have to yield even if we don't have to for safety's sake.

again. most riders don't even know this. and you can hardly 'campaign' for this because it's not our responsibility to give way here. try campaigning on dashcam pages and see how far that gets you

[human909]

Typical of most of conflicts.

One party clearly in the wrong. One party who could have mitigated the circumstances that lead to the incident. That said the same could be said for random street assaults....

Sure the cyclist could have practiced increased caution to avoid the incident. But would we expect the same from other road users? If I practiced increased caution while driving I'll be slowing/stopping at every intersection and green light...

[CXCommuter]

Typical of most of conflicts.

One party clearly in the wrong. One party who could have mitigated the circumstances that lead to the incident. That said the same could be said for random street assaults....

Sure the cyclist could have practiced increased caution to avoid the incident. But would we expect the same from other road users? If I practiced increased caution while riding I'll be slowing/stopping at every stop sign and red light.

FTFY

[bychosis]

If I practiced increased caution while driving I'll be slowing/stopping at every intersection and green light...

This is lost on many drivers. I was failed in my first driving test as I did not cover the brakes when crossing an intersection in which the other traffic was signed to stop/give way. Doing so is a defensive driving technique, but 'we' are 'trained' to charge on as if the road ahead is always clear.

[BJL]

If I practiced increased caution while driving I'll be slowing/stopping at every intersection and green light...

This is lost on many drivers. I was failed in my first driving test as I did not cover the brakes when crossing an intersection in which the other traffic was signed to stop/give way. Doing so is a defensive driving technique, but 'we' are 'trained' to charge on as if the road ahead is always clear.

I always cover the brakes (both riding and driving) approaching intersections too. Had too many drivers pull out in front of me having misjudged the gap or just didn't see me.

I think they're both at fault. The driver obviously wasn't expecting a cyclist to be in the bike lane, because he wasn't looking for a cyclist in the bike lane. If he was, he wouldn't have had to slam on the brakes when the cyclist appeared because he would have been crawling through the gap ensuring each lane was clear before proceeding. On the flip side, I agree with others on here that the cyclist should have been more cautious. But don't forget that when motorists leave a gap like this,it's often not much more than a car length of two. Very difficult to see in a line of traffic from the cyclist's point of view. I almost got caught out by this once as I was going down a hill (Heading East, Whitehorse Rd, descent before Box Hill for those in Melbourne's east) and whilst only rolling, going at a decent speed when this happened to me. A line of traffic had left a small gap for someone to turn right into a side street. The gap wasn't apparent until I was almost on top of it. Luckily the driver was awake and saw me but I still had a minor heart attack! I'm now much more cautious when passing a line of traffic.

[Arbuckle23]

I always cover the brakes (both riding and driving) approaching intersections too. Had too many drivers pull out in front of me having misjudged the gap or just didn't see me.

Agreed 100%.
Cars pulling into gaps happens when I am in my car as well.
Riding or driving down an inside lane (including cycle lanes) when traffic in the right lane is pulled up is a recipe for a prang when a gap is left to allow a car to turn in.
Defensive cycling (and driving) should always be employed in such situations.
In a perfect world it shouldn't happen, but the world is not perfect.

[g-boaf]

I really don't like undertaking cars, I try to avoid it, as I also generally avoid filtering between them.

I agree with covering the brakes all the time, especially with cars nosing out of side streets all the time. Happens frequently that I have to be starting to brake until they see me- then accelerate again. Annoying, but better to be safe.

[fat and old]

I'm not seeing any fault with the cyclist here. A little to trusting of others yes. Reaction is acceptable if he's prepared for any consequences (I'm assuming a male, under 60yo driver).

Sure the cyclist could have practiced increased caution to avoid the incident. But would we expect the same from other road users?

That's not like you Human. Isn't increased caution around vulnerable road users exactly what we as cyclists expect? I do, and that's what I do in the vehicle. I had a cyclist ride up beside me (I was in a 16t tipper) on my drivers side this morning as I was turning right into a narrow street that had a splitter island immediately as we turned. He decided to ride on after I had started, and wasn't squashed due to my decisions, not his.

Here,

https://www.google.com.au/maps/(AT)-37.778 ... 312!8i6656

Have a look at the expert motorist in the streetview!!


There is a nice wide cycle lane marked on the left btw. Any inner Melbs cyclist would know this intersection. Very cycle heavy in peak, so extra attention has to be paid when driving a heavy vehicle. Just a fact of life.

[wellington_street]

https://www.google.com.au/maps/(AT)-37.778 ... 312!8i6656

Have a look at the expert motorist in the streetview!!

If you move down Stranger Street towards the lights you can see the white car turn into Stranger Street on the wrong side of the road and then move back to the correct side - Say What!