The Dumb Cyclists and Pedestrians thread...

[lobstermash]

Lovely bunch of lads on my way home today... Heading home, scooting along Commonwealth Ave toward Capital Hill, I get a group of 8-9 converge on me, drop me into the middle of the pack for a couple of hundred metres and then cut me off when they headed down State Circle. Maybe I'm overthinking this, but their behaviour seemed both intimidating and rude...

[g-boaf]

I always find it very amusing when people can't empathise with being a pedestrian, even though we are all pedestrians. Just like drivers that run down pedestrians enroute to their car doors. I also do not think sharepaths are a good idea, nor do I think beyond "being on the footpath" should I have to continually practice vigilance as a pedestrian. More simply I just don't have the mental space for doing that every time I merely go for a walk, and it probably largely defeats the purpose of going for a walk.

so why should i have to be so vigilant, riding on the road? it's one for us, another for them. i don't buy the "pedestrians are a protected species" argument. the value of human life doesn't change, depending on their mode of transport or the type of path/road they choose to use. i always find it ironic (or hypocritical) when pedestrians complain about close passes from cyclists - they're like "that's why cyclists don't deserve respect on the roads!" but in reality we don't get it anyway, they just think they're special.

having said that, i do support the strict liability collision rule for cyclists on shared paths. it should just be extended to motorists on the roads.

In response to Zero, I'm more of a pedestrian than I am a bicycle rider. I suppose I don't have a lot of mental space either, but it seems to come naturally to be aware of what is around me. It doesn't change the fact that I'm walking, and my legs certainly don't care about it. It doesn't affect my ability to enjoy walking.

Do you walk in another zone along a footpath where there are car driveways and cars might suddenly turn into these driveways or come out of them?

As a bicycle rider, being excessively careful around pedestrians wins you no respect at all. Pedestrians see it as patronising, they see it as a bicycle rider thinking that pedestrians are unpredictable fools who cannot be trusted to move about on their own two feet. They get cranky about it.

I say to those pedestrians, well, you wanted us to give way to you, you didn't want us to pass by you at any speed higher than walking pace, you have your Mr Scruby whinging and complaining about bicycles. Now we give you what you want, and you are still displeased?

[burger]

be aware of what is around me.

I reinforce this into my boys all the time. Why?

Two reasons . . . their safety and plain old fashioned courtesy.

[jules21]

As a bicycle rider, being excessively careful around pedestrians wins you no respect at all. Pedestrians see it as patronising, they see it as a bicycle rider thinking that pedestrians are unpredictable fools who cannot be trusted to move about on their own two feet. They get cranky about it.

it depends on the situation. i'm more careful when coming up behind pedestrians and will tend to slow down. this morning i rang my bell as i approached two joggers running shoulder-to-shoulder across the MYT. the jogger on the RHS fell in behind, clearing the way for me to overtake. then as i reached them, she inexplicably moved back onto the RHS, without looking. her husband/running partner saw this and grabbed her and she quickly realised her 'error' and apologised. as i'd slowed down, i simply waited calmly for her to sort herself out before safely proceeding - no fuss. i was quite proud of myself obviously had i been pushing along, there may have been a collision.

OTOH, i had some joggers coming towards me this morning too, spread across the whole path. the runner on 'my' side seemed not to notice me until the last minute, when she moved out of the way with a bit of a smirk on her face. sometimes they genuinely aren't looking, but other times they think it's smart to block your way. i won't run into them but i don't give them the impression i'm going to pull over either.

[outnabike]

OTOH,.

OTOH?
Do you blokes just keep making these up as you go along? I have 3 pages of them from bike forums alone and they just seem to keep being expanded on...

[jules21]

on the other hand?

[Mulger bill]

be aware of what is around me.

I reinforce this into my boys all the time. Why?

Two reasons . . . their safety and plain old fashioned courtesy.

Good man, grettings to a fellow "modern weirdo"

[jasonc]

stole this from elsewhere

[g-boaf]

Good grief, that guy has a death wish, surely! Everything is really moving fast through there.

[jules21]

rode to work with the wife this morning, so i took it a bit easier than normal. OK, i now understand why people hate lycra loons.

some of the overtakes by faster riders were just appalling. one guy came past us, forcing a lady heading towards us off the shared path. it wouldn't have killed him to wait 5 seconds. if that had been me (walking), i'd have stood my ground.

[il padrone]

OTOH,.

OTOH?
Do you blokes just keep making these up as you go along? I have 3 pages of them from bike forums alone and they just seem to keep being expanded on...

Maybe you've been so used to TLAs that you have not gained a full vocab of FLABs

[kb]

There's a CLI program Say What that helps with TLAs (& FLABs). Works for me but YMMV. HTH, HAND.

[g-boaf]

Maybe you've been so used to TLAs that you have not gained a full vocab of FLABs

So used to "throttle lever angles"? Hehe - that's old Concorde vocabulary for certain power settings used on descent.

I'll nominate the side-by-side walkers who refused to budge this morning. Quite deliberate. Not that it mattered that much, I go pretty slowly in that area anyway. Just seemed a bit rude and not in the spirit of sharing.

[outnabike]

Maybe you've been so used to TLAs that you have not gained a full vocab of FLABs [/quote]

Ha Ha made me look...

[nezumi]

Not neccesarily dumb cyclists, but several anti-social ones on my commute home today.

Crossing Victoria St onto Nicholson St at Richmond, I was first at the lights. I then had a girl on a MTB roll up my left (on the pedestrian area) and jump in front of me, in the pedestrian crossing and on the kerb. I look back and there are about 7 other cyclists behind me, waiting in line.

Lights go green and she meanders through the intersection. I pass her before we are halfway across the street.

Had another hit a red light on the cross street as my light went green. He decided that his needs were higher than others, and turned right to ride along the pedestrian crossing and then on the footpath.

[tekapo]

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/artic ... d=11182745" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Its sad that someone died, but did the cyclist just turn left on a red? I am not familiar with NZ rules on left turn on red. But its in the middle of Auckland on a fairly busy road. Wouldn't you stop and check before turning left?

This tragic accident a side. I was riding down St Kilda Road a while back in the middle of the day. Traffic was light, and I was stopped at one of those red lights where there is no cross traffic and just a pedestrian crossing. While I was waiting for the green, one cyclist passed me on the right and another on the left........ It seems some just don't respect the lights....

[zero]

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/artic ... d=11182745

Its sad that someone died, but did the cyclist just turn left on a red? I am not familiar with NZ rules on left turn on red. But its in the middle of Auckland on a fairly busy road. Wouldn't you stop and check before turning left?

This tragic accident a side. I was riding down St Kilda Road a while back in the middle of the day. Traffic was light, and I was stopped at one of those red lights where there is no cross traffic and just a pedestrian crossing. While I was waiting for the green, one cyclist passed me on the right and another on the left........ It seems some just don't respect the lights....

I would expect that most deliberate red light runners inspect the cross traffic quite carefully. Compared to frequency of event, red light running is not a particularly common source of collision for cyclists with vehicles. (does cause a fair few collisions with pedestrians mind).

The main reason why you wouldn't stop and check is because you believed the lights were green, or in very rare cases, the light was in fact green. One way I've fooled my own eyes was doing a lane change right at the moment the lights went yellow, which meant when I looked back my brain painted them in as green until they went red. I managed to stop in the pedestrian crossing. I reviewed the cam afterwards, and the lights went yellow at the moment I was doing a head check - ie it wasn't a superfast snap yellow to red. Another way of fooling yourself is trusting the pattern too much from previous entries.

[il padrone]

A great tragedy. It seems to be the ultimate red-light runner's price being paid

[SquareWheels]

I was coming off of the Perth PSP this morning and heading over the freeway on one of the overpasses and was dismayed to see an older women coming the other way on her BSO whistling for her really small dog as she headed toward the PSP.

Said dog was not on a leash and she had to stop at least twice to encourage it to keep up and not do its own thing. I didn't say anything since she scowled at me as I tried to squeeze past her blocking the overpass while she waited for the dog and i figured "your fault if it gets cleaned up". One hopes any cyclist that potentially smears it are okay though (it was seriously tiny).

[g-boaf]

Those types always scowl at you. You wonder if their previous employment might have been the KGB...

They had a god-given right to let the always innocent little fido go where it wants, unrestrained and heaven help anyone who disagrees with that. I had a ripper argument with one dog walker one morning who decided to get a bit sarcastic because I stopped and waited for him to put the dog on a leash. He continued to carry on until he finally went to far and I snapped. As soon as I put the bike against a sign post and stormed up to him, he deflated very fast. I remained civil, but blunt.

[TimW]

I had a ripper argument with one dog walker one morning who decided to get a bit sarcastic because I stopped and waited for him to put the dog on a leash. He continued to carry on until he finally went to far and I snapped. As soon as I put the bike against a sign post and stormed up to him, he deflated very fast. I remained civil, but blunt.

[biker jk]

I had a ripper argument with one dog walker one morning who decided to get a bit sarcastic because I stopped and waited for him to put the dog on a leash. He continued to carry on until he finally went to far and I snapped. As soon as I put the bike against a sign post and stormed up to him, he deflated very fast. I remained civil, but blunt.

I don't believe g-boaf suggested violence. Probably more likely he threatened to read extracts from his copy of Centennial of Flight Limited Edition. That sure would have frightened the pedestrian into submission.

[TimW]

lol very true

[g-boaf]

That's quite enough from both of you, thanks.

[Mulger bill]

Was that blunt like a high school home eco knife or blunt like the business end of a swinging sledgehammer?