Bad cyclists giving us all a bad name

[shpadre]

I just had to post here to say how sick and tired I am of seeing fellow cyclists on my ride to and from work every weekday trying to mow down pedestrians. Yesterday on the ride home through Columbia Heights, one woman crowded through the crosswalk (*on* the zebra stripe) and got in the way of two groups of pedestrians only to wait there for the light to turn green. She wouldn’t give the pedestrians their right-of-way (when they had a walk sign) because she needed to be within the crosswalk so she could wait? What’s that all about? And downtown, I see cyclists cutting off pedestrians who are on their way to work – scores of people crossing the street at once, and a cyclist has to run through them, nearing hitting a few, in order to get through the intersection against the light.

Anybody have a good thing to say to these sort of cyclists when I witness an incident like this (besides a few swear words)? I have no authority to arrest them, but they should be called on their behavior, which is first rude but second dangerous.

I feel these sort of riders are giving the rest of us a bad name – causing us to be hated by pedestrians. I am a cyclist but also a pedestrian (and a driver). I don’t like to be mowed down by either cars or cyclists when I’m walking and trying to cross the street. Yet each group seems to feel the other groups are to be damned on the street – cyclists think pedestrians are to be damned, and drivers think both cyclists and pedestrians are to be damned. The more they try to kill, the better! It seems that each group doesn’t want to respect the more vulnerable group that moves slower than they do and that has less protection than they do.

As long as I’ve lived in this city, I have believed that all groups need some education, but especially drivers and cyclists. They need to learn to respect all other users of the streets and maybe try to obey a few laws. Breaking them seems to be this city’s sport!

[americancyclo]

If I recall correctly, there are very few bicycle/pedestrian collisions reported.
If you see cyclists encroaching on crosswalks, that might suggest that the cycling facilities are inadequate.
I often have to weave through pedestrians on Penn at 18th because they cross against the light when I have a green.

Lead by example and others will follow.

[dasgeh]

I was biking from Courthouse to Clarendon yesterday evening, dutifully waiting at a light (maybe at Wayne?). Car traffic cleared in the opposing direction. A FLOOD of pedestrians jaywalked on red. I think 2 stayed back waiting for green. There happened to be no cars in my direction (I know, odd). I dutifully stayed put at the stop line. When my direction finally turned green, 3 peds jumped out into the street to jay walk right in front of me. I only didn’t hit them because I didn’t take off as soon as the light turned green.

There are bad apples in all groups, and we’d all be better off if (1) the rules were well calibrated to maximize efficiency for everyone and (2) everyone obeyed the rules.

I (and many others, apparently) have little faith that the rules are calibrated with peds and cyclists in mind, so I cut people slack for not obeying every rule relentlessly. But if we could work on #1, that’d be great.

As to what to say to offending cyclists, it might be better to apologize to witnessing peds – something along the lines of “sorry, she’s a jerk; all cyclists aren’t like that” — which will ring true when you’re modeling good behavior.

[baiskeli]

@dasgeh 18550 wrote:

As to what to say to offending cyclists, it might be better to apologize to witnessing peds – something along the lines of “sorry, she’s a jerk; all cyclists aren’t like that” — which will ring true when you’re modeling good behavior.

I was patiently waiting at a light on Penn. as peds walked in front of me, and your messenger-type cyclist (no brakes, no rules, no long-term disability insurance) comes flying around a walker, just barely missing her, on a right turn. Our eyes meet and we both roll them, and she mutter something about cyclists. So I say “Yep. Notice that I’m waiting at the red light.”

[eminva]

@americancyclo 18544 wrote:

Lead by example and others will follow.

Welcome aboard, shpadre, and this topic has come up often on this forum. I think americancyclo distills our collective wisdom well with his last point. Or, as another frequent forum participant, Dirt, puts it, aspire to “love and respect all mankind.”

Liz

[Terpfan]

I see it occassionally and I usually say something to the offending cyclist if they pass me. More often than not what I see is pedestrians walking into the cycletrack or crosswalk when they don’t have the crosswalk either to get a head start or because they think that’s the starting space because there is parking on other side of cycletrack. Then the ultimate offender, at least on my computer, is 15th and I St, where the cars/buses/trucks always block the intersection forcing pedestrians and cyclists into closer quarters and sometimes into moving traffic from 15th. I don’t support speed cameras or red light cameras, but here is somewhere I think a red light camera would work wonders.

[TwoWheelsDC]

It’s also important to remember that cycling isn’t a club where you have to recite some oath and pledge to uphold the rules. It can seem that way in the echo chamber of the forums and among the relatively small group of advocates, but most people on bikes are just that and you can’t assume that everyone on a bike is aware of or even cares about etiquette, advocacy, or best practices. And just think, statistically, most of the a-hole drivers we all complain about also own and ride bikes, meaning most people on bikes also are a-holes. Totally sucks for the minority who are trying to make change happen, but that’s life…things will get better though as cycling becomes a more normal part of the streetscape.

[MCL1981]

I was told by other certain people on this forum that this member’s bad behavior doesn’t reflect badly on all of us and if it isn’t an official law, then they don’t care. So don’t expect the behavior to change when people have that kind of mindset.

[Fallguy51]

Very well said. And “Amen”, bro/sis…

[brendan]

Yeah. I very often don’t stop exactly behind the stop line (if there is one) and/or will filter forward ahead of cars for visibility (which are often also not stopped behind the stop line). Since I’m usually riding a long bike, I am especially mindful of leaving a safe path for pedestrians, which often leads to some creative placement of the bike, but I do sometimes encroach on their crosswalk space at least to some degree.

Group rides (formal or informal) seem to lead to flooding the crosswalk with bikes a lot, as everyone takes the red lights as times to chat.

I usually say something to folks I know if they’re blocking. And sometimes to myself when I end up being unintentionally rude.

Brendan

[Mark Blacknell]

Apropos – http://www.londoncyclist.co.uk/tips/7-things-you-should-give-up-to-be-a-happy-cyclist/

(I’m onboard with every one, except 7. Because that’s just unacceptable.)

[TwoWheelsDC]

@Mark Blacknell 18753 wrote:

Apropos – http://www.londoncyclist.co.uk/tips/7-things-you-should-give-up-to-be-a-happy-cyclist/

(I’m onboard with every one, except 7. Because that’s just unacceptable.)

But if we did all that, there would never be any postings in the commuter forum!

[rcannon100]

Agreed fully; all but 7. Anything that moved, no matter how slow, passed me last night.

Of course this morning, nothing passed me. What a bunch of ‘posers. A wee little bit of rain and I have the Custis Trail all to myself. :p

That said…. pedestrians wearing ipods. Need I say more? As Cyco said, their are bad apples in every group. (one difference is that some of the bad apples are driving one ton hunks of metal that kill).

As was also said, the infrastructure was not designed for bikes. No matter what we do, we are the bastard step children. There are many traffic situations where there is absolutely no way for a bicyclists to “obey the law.” There is no option that would permit that. In other situations, blind obedience to the law results in laughable scenarios where you are doing nothing for nobody. The bad apples include traffic designers who regularly design faulty infrastructure (traffic lights throw reds for no reason – but that cant sensor bicyclists).

As the London Cyclists thingy suggested, you want to be a happy cyclists…. stop being so judgmental that everyone conform your notion of what a good cyclist is. (oooooh people are going to yell at me for that one)

You want to set an example, let safety be your priority (law and safety have a loose correlation)

[eminva]

I would add that I’m not all that crazy about #5, either. I’m okay with someone drafting me in broad daylight, but I think the first message I posted on this forum was after getting totally freaked out by another cyclist riding right behind me without announcement for several miles of the W&OD on a dark winter night. Just be polite and say hello if you are going to do that so I know it’s not about to turn into a scene from a horror movie.

Liz

[KelOnWheels]

Dear dude on a Bianchi at 6th & D who decided it would be a good plan to do circles in the crosswalk until traffic was clear enough to run the red: I make scowly face in your general direction. :p

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