Missed connection

[DrP]

Sunday morning, 9:30-ish, at the W&OD crosswalk at Maple in Vienna.

Us: Two cyclists heading SE who waited for the light to turn and the cars to stop. Then began to cross when the two lanes on our side were stopped, the far one in the other direction was stopped and your lane appeared to be empty. On the other side was a pair of women with a baby carriage also waiting to cross.

You: Entitled driver of a giant, black, SUV with a “Kids first” VA plate (noted by my friend after the fact), who was not paying any attention to anyone else and drove right passed the stopped cars and through the red light, then slowed down once in the intersection, noting the error of your ways after you missed two cyclists and a couple of women with a baby carriage (who, luckily, saw you and did not leave the curb) and waved “sorry” as you continued on your mad spree across Vienna.

Us: yelling and cursing you and being very thankful that the women with the carriage had not started crossing yet. So, did you think the “kids first” plate meant you were supposed to try to hit them first?

[jnva]

@DrP 147768 wrote:

So, did you think the “kids first” plate meant you were supposed to try to hit them first?

[dbb]

You: The runner entering the MVT northbound from the DCA parking lot at the bottom of the northern bridge.

Me: Cyclist bombing down the slope of the bridge approaching part of the trail between the fence and the GWMP

You: Ear buds in, ignoring (or not hearing) my bell, getting on the trail without looking to see if it was clear.

Me: Hoping I didn’t startle you (too badly) when I shouted “Watch it” which penetrated your ear buds

Hope you had a less exciting remainder of your run.

[Steve O]

Me: Northbound, downhill commuter cyclist on Roosevelt Blvd exactly at the Falls Church/Arlington county line, appreciating and riding on the large painted sharrows directly in the middle of the right lane.
You: Driver annoyed that a person on a bike was riding on the street and deliberately revving engine and passing within about 2 feet despite the entire left lane being open, then swerving back into the right lane and speeding away. This pass was clearly intended to be a signal that I was in your way.
Me: “Yow! WTF!” and then pondering the usefulness of a video camera. I was too freaked out to really notice much about the car and certainly not alert enough to get a plate #.
And even more so now that JorgeGortex posted this.

[sjclaeys]

@jnva 147677 wrote:

Why, did the rules change?

No, which is why he can participate in Freezing Saddles.

[huskerdont]

Approx. 6:45 a.m., eastbound on M. Street in Georgetown. I’m in the center lane (right lane blocked with cars) going about 27 mph with a slight downhill and a headwind. I can’t describe you because I never saw you clearly, but you laid into the horn hard right behind me (twice!) before you turned off on 30th, I suppose because 27 mph wasn’t fast enough for you to make your turn. You are a lazy POS sitting inside your sealed metal box so you don’t think a horn is loud or could startle a cyclist and cause a problem, but if you hadn’t turned off, I would have “educated” you.

[Crickey7]

@huskerdont 148044 wrote:

. . . . you laid into the horn hard right behind me (twice!) . . . you don’t think a horn is loud or could startle a cyclist and cause a problem, but if you hadn’t turned off, I would have “educated” you.

Bummer. I hate people honking at me.

[huskerdont]

@Crickey7 148050 wrote:

Bummer. I hate people honking at me.

At first I thought I was about to be hit by a car. Then I was irrationally angry. Since becoming this angry is something I’m trying to stop doing, that made me angry too.

People using their horn as a weapon is a pet peeve of mine. Another thing I need to work on since the world isn’t going to change.

[Crickey7]

You are totally preaching to the choir. I’m working on the same issues. Ironically, what helped a bit was reviewing videos of my own behavior when I was “right”.

Yep, I was right. And a righteous jerk who created more danger for myself than if I let the non-critical stuff slide.

[jrenaut]

I find I always feel better about myself in these situations when I can remain calm, refrain from swearing, and perhaps teach someone something. It doesn’t always work. I try to channel my anger into volume rather than profanity. It gets harder because as we get better and better climate control inside our metal boxes, fewer and fewer people open their windows, so you have to yell even louder. The cold weather doesn’t help either.

But it really does make me happier to be less of a jerk, even when someone is actively trying to kill me and my children. Thanks, Dirt!

[bentbike33]

There was a nearly perfect ninja on the Trollheim this morning heading north as I was (fortunately) crawling south just past the split: dead flat black clothing from collar to ankle without a pixel of reflective material anywhere. I loudly suggested he get himself a light. But it was likely a fruitless exercise as I noticed the pale glow of his white earbud wires in the faint light of the crescent moon as we passed.

To the reasonably well-lit cyclist I shortly thereafter passed, my apologies. No, I was not ranting at you, but it would not surprise me at all if you did not see the ninja at whom my comments were directed.

[Emm]

Trail ninja on the MVT at Belle Haven Park this morning + cyclist passing in the pitch black on a curve led to what was very luckily a missed connection and not a crash.

I had slowed down a bit since the trail gets curvy right in that zone, and since there’s a big parking lot there I didn’t want to ride fast since many people enter the trail in that area. In the daylight you can see around the bends fine–its in the dark it becomes really tough if not impossible. So of course a cyclist decided one of the curves was a great place to pass me, and nearly biked head-on into a woman walking on the trail. The very startled and angry woman yelped and jumped, and the cyclist just went on like nothing happened. The walker had zero reflective gear on (I think she was in a dress actually–she seemed really out of place at 6:30 am on the trail to be honest…), but the cyclist shouldn’t have passed if she couldn’t see far enough ahead past the curve, so I think both parties failed today.

[TwoWheelsDC]

@Emm 148075 wrote:

the cyclist shouldn’t have passed if she couldn’t see far enough ahead past the curve, so I think both parties failed today.

I have this internal debate in my head every fall it seems. There’s the part of me that instinctively cries “wear reflective gear on the trail!” at everyone indiscriminately. But at the same time I don’t expect people in “normal” clothes to wear reflective gear anywhere else, so can I really blame these people for not wearing reflective gear on the trail, which essentially is a sidewalk for many? I think where I’ve come down on this issue–based on police admonishing kids to wear reflective costumes, which is BS–is that level of speed is proportional to level of responsibility to see others and be seen. So essentially, on the trail, cyclists are responsible for seeing all others and for being readily visible. Runners, less so. Walkers should pay attention to where they’re going (because we live in a society), but aren’t responsible for being seen by faster moving traffic. If a cyclist (or runner) hits a walker on the trail (excepting Crazy Ivan type behavior), the cyclist (or runner) bears the blame. I think walkers, particularly those just trying to get from one destination to another, should not have to meet some subjective level of visibility to have the expectation of not being hit by faster moving traffic.

If your light isn’t good enough to give you enough visibility to stop for a walker (or any other slow moving object) in your path, you need to either slow down or get a new light.

All that said, when I’m out on the trail, my gut reaction continues to be “get reflective gear, dumbass!”, and it’s only afterward that I remind myself of what I just said above.

[MFC]

@TwoWheelsDC 148081 wrote:

I have this internal debate in my head every fall it seems. There’s the part of me that instinctively cries “wear reflective gear on the trail!” at everyone indiscriminately. But at the same time I don’t expect people in “normal” clothes to wear reflective gear anywhere else, so can I really blame these people for not wearing reflective gear on the trail, which essentially is a sidewalk for many? I think where I’ve come down on this issue–based on police admonishing kids to wear reflective costumes, which is BS–is that level of speed is proportional to level of responsibility to see others and be seen. So essentially, on the trail, cyclists are responsible for seeing all others and for being readily visible. Runners, less so. Walkers should pay attention to where they’re going (because we live in a society), but aren’t responsible for being seen by faster moving traffic. If a cyclist (or runner) hits a walker on the trail (excepting Crazy Ivan type behavior), the cyclist (or runner) bears the blame. I think walkers, particularly those just trying to get from one destination to another, should not have to meet some subjective level of visibility to have the expectation of not being hit by faster moving traffic.

If your light isn’t good enough to give you enough visibility to stop for a walker (or any other slow moving object) in your path, you need to either slow down or get a new light.

All that said, when I’m out on the trail, my gut reaction continues to be “get reflective gear, dumbass!”, and it’s only afterward that I remind myself of what I just said above.

The MVT is a multi-use trail, not a sidewalk, and people should act cooperatively. Bikers need to slow the hell down going around blind or limited site distance corners. Walkers should realize the MVT has a lot of different users, and should try to wear something reflective or carry a light, or realize they are taking a risk of causing an accident.

[TwoWheelsDC]

@MFC 148085 wrote:

The MVT is a multi-use trail, not a sidewalk, and people should act cooperatively. Bikers need to slow the hell down going around blind or limited site distance corners. Walkers should realize the MVT has a lot of different users, and should try to wear something reflective or carry a light, or realize they are taking a risk of causing an accident.

Well, it is essentially a sidewalk for many, as I said…it is a connection for pedestrians to get from one destination to another. I can’t expect someone walking to/from DCA or to/from Potomac Yard to put on a reflective vest before they step foot on the trail. Same with people at EFC walking along the W&OD.

@MFC 148085 wrote:

they are taking a risk of causing an accident.

Nope. Pedestrians walking normally do not cause “accidents.” Pedestrians are at the bottom of the “yield-to” chain, meaning the onus is always on those above them in the chain to yield/avoid accordingly.

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