MT Vernon Trail DCA Detour

[Rootchopper]

This is especially messed up because the SUV had to cross three sets of rumble strips to get to that crosswalk.

[PotomacCyclist]

I encountered a taxi driver in Pentagon City who did something similar a while back. I was riding on 12th St. with a green light. He was approaching in the opposite direction, from the mall, also with the green light. He began a left turn. I was already halfway through the intersection, crossing Hayes St. toward the mall. I’m pretty sure he could see me. Even though it was in the evening, that area is very brightly lit. He actually sped up to make his turn, so that he would reach the intersection at the same time as I did. There was no other traffic so he wasn’t trying to beat any oncoming car traffic or anything else. He was asserting his right to run me over. I had to speed up to avoid him, even though I knew he was entirely in the wrong. If I slowed down to make a point, that would only have gotten me run over.

Unfortunately, there are some homicidal jerks on the roads, which really isn’t a surprise to most people who have spent time riding around. Most drivers are not like this, but a significant minority are.

[Rootchopper]

Don’t take this so personally. I was driving in DC on Sunday and the number of boneheaded, dangerous, aggressive things I saw drivers do was truly impressive.

[GovernorSilver]

I assume drivers are not going to stop for anybody – pedestrian or cyclist (mounted or not) – on a crosswalk. It shouldn’t be that way but that’s how it is. I go when a car actually stops.

Sometimes there’s confusion like on the crosswalk on Braddock, between the end of Potomac Ave Trail and the 7-Eleven. One car will stop to let me cross, but the other car on the next lane over rolls right through.

[MFC]

On a different note, there is a Strava segment for part of that detour named Col de Wood Chip, which should be in the running best segment name. It also has a top speed of 76.4 mph, which seems a little suspect.

[Raymo853]

@GovernorSilver 129781 wrote:

I assume drivers are not going to stop for anybody – pedestrian or cyclist

It is always better to be happy (and healthy) than right.

[Brendan von Buckingham]

I had a similar but different experience crossing GWP at south side of Memorial Circle earlier this fall. I was standing waiting for cars to yield to me as required by the sign. The far lane yielded. The near lane did not yield. I told the near car what I thought of his maneuver and proceeded across. Once across I heard screeching tires to my right and looked over that shoulder to see that the car that previously couldn’t yield for me had come to a screeching halt 30 feet past the crosswalk. The driver got out of his car and began to sprint at me across the circle. Which I had to laugh at since it would be charitable to call his foot-speed a “sprint” and the longer he tried to catch me the funnier it got. Funny except for the fact that he was obviously troubled and his abandoned car was blocking half of the parkway. So I stopped toying with him and picked up the pace to my regular cadence and let him be.

[Fairlington124]

You should have strung him along by keeping just a hair above his pace, but close enough to him so that he might think he could catch up with you.

[Author]

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