Missed connection

[scorchedearth]

@CaseyKane50 90992 wrote:

The following missed connections all happened on Sunday in Old Town Alexandria in the span of 10 minutes

1. Union Street

Me: Southbound on Union Street approaching Franklin Street
Car: Eastbound on Franklin Street, stopped at stop sign with left turn signal on
Me: Stopping at the stop sign
Car: Starting to execute their turn after confirming my stop
You: Cyclist heading southbound on Union Street blowing through the stop sign
Car: Breaking to avoid hitting you
You: Waving to the driver and preparing to blow through the stop sign at Jefferson Street

2. Royal Street

Me: Northbound on Royal Street
Pedestrian with dog: Crossing Royal Street in the crosswalk at Franklin Street
Me: Stopping at the crosswalk to wait for the pedestrian to get across the street
You: Cyclist heading northbound on Royal Street blowing through the stop sign, forcing the pedestrian to stop

3. Royal Street

Me: Northbound on Royal Street approaching the intersection of Royal and Duke
You: A group of eight cyclists headed westbound on Duke Street approaching the same intersection
Me: Slowing down to stop
You: All eight cyclists blowing through the stop sign

A short while later I caught up with this group of riders on Jamieson Avenue. They were in the process of running the red light at Jamieson and Holland.

These kinds of incidents are the precise reason why APD has been enforcing stop sign behavior in Old Town.

[KLizotte]

@Drewdane 91240 wrote:

To the guy who yelled “Watch It!” at me because I was in his lane while passing some folks on the WOD this morning: I do apologize, that was my bad.

I was just so dumbfounded and distracted by the gas-powered engine mounted on the bike of the guy I was passing, and so busy trying to formulate a constructive way to communicate that his assist was probably illegal, stank to High Heaven, and that I didn’t appreciate having to gulp his fumes for the previous 200 yards, that I completely forgot to move back into the correct lane.

Oops.

I think I’ve seen that guy! Just last week in Pentagon City with some friends. A mountain bike outfitted with what sounded like a lawn mower engine that he could throttle. And it stank too. He was riding in the bike lane with it. Grrrrrr

[PeteD]

You: Person turning right onto Walter Reed from Four Mile Run.
Me: Riding down the W&OD

I was slowing down as the walk signal and light on 4MR were still red, then changed. I watched you in your commercial vehicle have to come to a quick stop after you had started to not hit the two folks on bicycles that were crossing the street legally. I was thankful for you not plowing into them, but your actions caused me to not realize that the person in the white mini van, which had pulled up and stopped, had indeed not seen me at all, and was in the process of pulling up to turn right when even emergency braking, I ran into the side of her mini van.

After 15 seconds of Jackie Mason / Sam Kinison level cursing (I think caused by my realization that I had come close to actually being rolled over by her rear wheel), I then channeled my inner Dirt and realized that she was shaking she was so upset, so we hugged it out. Other than my bruised butt cheek, everything worked out OK. I only had to adjust my handle bars a few degrees (always carry a wrench set in the seat bag). Front wheel spins true still, just a slight scuff on the left break hood.

Needless to say, I will no longer be riding the trail as it parallels South 4 Mile Run ever again. Two Accidents and too many close calls (especially there at Walter Reed).

–Pete

[peterw_diy]

Today’s lessons:
1) Yes, the guy in the suit with the newspaper really might be foolish enough to blindly follow the jaywalker into my path. Affluence is not the same as spatial awareness.
2) My bell sounds nice & cheery, but in a panic stop situation I should probably just yell so I can keep both hands on the brake levers …though perhaps it was a better lesson for the guy in the suit that I came within a couple feet of knocking him on his tail than it would have been if I had stopped before the crosswalk.
3) It’s not so bad that I have not yet adjusted my front brake to be silent when I’m grabbing the levers as hard as I can.

[Terpfan]

Semi-made connection:

You: The driver of a metallic-gold colored large suv (suburban maybe?) with MD tags turning right onto the Whitehurst Freeway from Key Bridge north-bound.
You: The 20 something male jogger.
Me: The cyclist approaching on the jogger’s left arriving at the crosswalk at the same time as the jogger and suburban.
You (suburban): From a near standstill, look at both of us entering the crosswalk and then pull into it.
Me: Slamming my brakes and missing you by an inch.
You (jogger): Visibly pissed off and rightfully you slapped the back of the suv so loud that it probably dented.
Me: thumbs up to the jogger as we both continued on.

And Courtland Milloy claims it’s always cyclists hitting cars when they’re angry. Nonsense, this suv earned it, but was hit by the jogger, not me .

[krazygl00]

@Phatboing 91230 wrote:

Me: tired cyclist executing a dead stop at the W&OD and West St crosswalk in Falls Church.
You: Lady person driving a black refrigerator on West St.

As you went by, you shot me a confused “why didn’t you cross” look, and made a dismissive gesture of some sort.

I feel like I should explain. You see, I stopped dead and didn’t cross because YOU WEREN’T SLOWING DOWN, you preposterously silly person.

I feel this is appropriate at this juncture:

[dasgeh]

@PeteD 91280 wrote:

You: Person turning right onto Walter Reed from Four Mile Run.
Me: Riding down the W&OD

I was slowing down as the walk signal and light on 4MR were still red, then changed. I watched you in your commercial vehicle have to come to a quick stop after you had started to not hit the two folks on bicycles that were crossing the street legally. I was thankful for you not plowing into them, but your actions caused me to not realize that the person in the white mini van, which had pulled up and stopped, had indeed not seen me at all, and was in the process of pulling up to turn right when even emergency braking, I ran into the side of her mini van.

After 15 seconds of Jackie Mason / Sam Kinison level cursing (I think caused by my realization that I had come close to actually being rolled over by her rear wheel), I then channeled my inner Dirt and realized that she was shaking she was so upset, so we hugged it out. Other than my bruised butt cheek, everything worked out OK. I only had to adjust my handle bars a few degrees (always carry a wrench set in the seat bag). Front wheel spins true still, just a slight scuff on the left break hood.

Needless to say, I will no longer be riding the trail as it parallels South 4 Mile Run ever again. Two Accidents and too many close calls (especially there at Walter Reed).

–Pete

I’m so glad you’re ok. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE report this collision to ACPD. They need to know where collisions happen so they can focus enforcement and hopefully infrastructure changes.

[jrenaut]

No, waving your arms and yelling ineffectually inside your metal box does NOT entitle you to turn right from the center lane of Thomas Circle.

[dplasters]

You: Blue SUV at the intersection of Virginia Center Blvd and Nutley St.

Me: The cyclist behind you at the red light

You seriously have a mount for your phone that attaches to the inside of your steering wheel so you can watch music videos as you drive????:confused::confused::confused: I appreciate that I was able to watch the new Ariana Grande video.. but that doesn’t exactly seem safe.

[ebubar]

Dear Ninja Prius with DC plates,

You are quite the jokester! I can only assume that you were trying to be ironic or something by nearly running me off the road and into the “SHARE THE ROAD WITH BIKES” sign on Sligo Creek.

I’m really quite ashamed that I can only accelerate so fast from a stop sign and that the pace I can maintain 5 minutes into my ride to work is only 18-20 mph. I should be ashamed and deserve
to be menaced by drivers for going 5-7 mph under the speed limit. As we all know, speed limits are really just guidelines and you are supposed to consider them the minimum acceptable
speed on a road (not the maximum as the term “limit” would imply).

I’m seriously considering returning my newly purchased Garmin 500 (when it arrives) and getting a Go Pro to record such things!

[cyclingfool]

You: Man turning left from southbound lanes of Crystal Drive into the Archstone Building at the end of 18th St.
Me: Cyclist headed north.

I know you’re in a shiny new BMW, and that probably gives you some sort of entitlement over the world, but I don’t need you to wave me through the intersection like you’re doing me some sort of favor. I have a green light. That means I get to keep going. You may also have a green light, but as you’re making a left, that means you have to yield ROW to oncoming traffic. You don’t magically get to decide whether I can proceed and signal me to keep going. The law has already done that. Thanks.

You’re just the latest in a long string of occurences like this, though. Drivers do this kind of thing all the time. I even get it from people turning right from a side street onto a main thoroughfare, where I’m proceeding straight on the main thoroughfare through a green light or an unmarked, i.e., no stop sign, (for me) intersection and they wave me through while they’re sitting at a red or a stop sign. In cases like this morning, I try so hard to give benefit of the doubt that they’re trying to communicate that they see me and let me know they’re not going to run me over, but even if I generously assume half of them are worthy of the benefit of the doubt, that means the other 50% assume they get to direct me in traffic (b/c they’re in a car presumably?)…

[mstone]

I’m personally happy for motorists to err on the side of communication.

[Emm]

@cyclingfool 91440 wrote:

In cases like this morning, I try so hard to give benefit of the doubt that they’re trying to communicate that they see me and let me know they’re not going to run me over, but even if I generously assume half of them are worthy of the benefit of the doubt, that means the other 50% assume they get to direct me in traffic (b/c they’re in a car presumably?)…

As a driver, I do this sometimes if it’s a busy intersection. It’s so the biker knows I am aware of them and not about to turn and hit them. I think I started this after almost being hit twice by drivers turning left at a light in Del Ray while I was going straight through the intersection. My goal is to be polite and signal “hey, I see you and am not about to do something crazy like hit you, so proceed at a comfortable speed without staring at my oncoming SUV wondering what I’m about to do”.

If this really is something that pisses cyclists off though, I’ll just let them bike slowly through the intersections while praying I don’t slam into them . All other drivers should continue waving though. I like knowing they see me at intersections and wont hit me.

[cyclingfool]

I feel like just making proper eye contact and maybe a nod of the head would be more appropriate. I’m probably being oversensitive, and I actually don’t care that much, it’s just one of those things that’s compounded over time to the point that I had to say something about it. Obviously, I’d rather they wave me through than run me over. But, OTOH, I see the waving someone through as a gesture appropriate in cases where either: who has ROW is unclear OR you have ROW, but you have decided to forego it for whatever reason and want to communicate that to someone else. The times I see it and am complaining about is when there is absolutely no doubt I have ROW, in which case waving me through feels paternalistic or as if the drivers in question somehow have the right to decide whether or not they are going to stop and wait for me to pass. This feeling is magnified when there’s no one else around and the intersection is not busy at the time, like this morning.

[Phatboing]

@cyclingfool 91472 wrote:

I feel like just making proper eye contact and maybe a nod of the head would be more appropriate. I’m probably being oversensitive, and I actually don’t care that much, it’s just one of those things that’s compounded over time to the point that I had to say something about it. Obviously, I’d rather they wave me through than run me over. But, OTOH, I see the waving someone through as a gesture appropriate in cases where either: who has ROW is unclear OR you have ROW, but you have decided to forego it for whatever reason and want to communicate that to someone else. The times I see it and am complaining about is when there is absolutely no doubt I have ROW, in which case waving me through feels paternalistic or as if the drivers in question somehow have the right to decide whether or not they are going to stop and wait for me to pass. This feeling is magnified when there’s no one else around and the intersection is not busy at the time, like this morning.

My rule is that when a driver waves me through like it’s an “I’ll let you pass, serf” gesture, I don’t wave thank you. At crosswalks, I’ve very pointedly not waved at one driver while doing so enthusiastically at the other.

That’ll teach em.

(Yes I’m petty)

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