127.0.0.1

MUP

Somerville to Bedford, on my SS road bike in the dark.

At the last road crossing before I95 headed to Bedford, is a crossing over rt4.

The MUP has a crosswalk, and a walk button that work instantly if it hasn't
been used in 5 minutes. So I roll up real slow to the sidewalk and lean against
the pole, getting ready to smack the button and get an immediate yellow
for cross traffic.

I am stationary and chilling.

So some cars are coming but it doesn't matter, I smack the button. Instant yellow. NOW... most
folks would expect if there is a car within 30 feet it will just continue past the yellow, and
even another car may cruise by. I always wait and let cars buffer out.

Anyhow, yellow comes on and a car 30 feet away going west about 30 mph LOCKS the brakes and
skids into the crosswalk and ends halfway onto the paint. And the car behind him smashes his bumper.

So...driver #1 is a tool for jamming the breaks instantly...he should have rolled through the yellow
like a normal person. Yellow means it is about to change red, but go through for cripes sake if you
are right there

and driver #2 is a tool for following too closely.

I wait for my green/white crossing, and roll through at 3 mph just shaking my head and
looking dumbfounded...'cuz I was.

i dunno if my post has a point but it was really funny that a driver wanted to stop so damn bad
for me that they broke normal driving rules and locked them up. I'd much rather have them blast
by like any normal driver. a yellow does not mean stop. it certainly doesn't mean lock them up
and skid into the sidewalk.

couchman

D'oh!

I can't say much about this in particular, but I think there has been an increase rear end collisions at lights in places where there are camera's. If there person thought there was a camera or something, they may have over reacted.

Dchiefransom

Maybe the driver was from another area of the country. I've met people from some cities that told me the police still ticket people for going through a yellow light.

Mr Danw

Stinks to be them. I am shocked to hear that there are actually MUP crossings with traffic lights.

Hickeydog

Dang. That is pretty funny. Thanks for sharing. lol1

srmatte

As a witness to an accident why didn't you leave any info?

apricissimus 

Yellow means stop if it is safe to do so. Clearly it was not.

unkchunk

From what I recall the officer telling me was, yellow is for clearing the intersection. If your front wheels are over the stop line and the lights turn yellow, you may proceed through the intersection. If your front wheels have not crossed the stop line before the the light turns yellow then you may not proceed through the intersection and that was why he had to fill out the citation.

apricissimus 

That seems pretty extreme to me. Depending on your speed and where the stop line is, it may be pretty hazardous to stop for every yellow. But a lot depends on placement of the stop line which I'm sure varies greatly from place to place.

127.0.0.1

I am a bike rider, def. not interested in sparing time to witness for some crumpled bumper

I have better stuff to do, like finish riding

no one was laying in agony bleeding




if it was a more messed up accident, loose dog, some other anomaly i'd stick
around. but it was just a 'tool driver', and just some crinkled bumper, which nowadays
is 1000 or more to repair. clearly, for whatever reason, the driver in back who
did the hitting is guilty.

it is clear cut and inescapable. no witness needed.
no matter the circumstances, no matter what, if you rear
end someone, you are guilty of following too close for conditions or not paying attention

The Paper Boy

Nice justification of your inaction. Let's hope you don't need a witness someday.

10 Wheels

Wish I lived there. I would do that every day for laughs.

apricissimus 

Jeez Louise, he didn't witness a murder or anything. Not a big deal.

AlmostTrick

Almost all drivers routinely follow the vehicle in front of them way too closely. It is virtually impossible to rear end someone no matter what they do if you maintain a generous buffer. No one is ever going to get me to rear end them. It doesn't sound like you needed to stick around for this either.

fordfasterr

silly cagers.

127.0.0.1

inaction ? I pressed the damn button.

127.0.0.1

about 2 miles down the path is a second light I get to trigger, the road to the Air Force Base. people
on that strip usually drive a lot better though.

xenologer

Hey get with the program.
Nowadays people Do Not interact with other people; those driver's may be crazed or dangerous psychos!
Or the cop might flip out and pull crazy **** when he sticks around to talk!

When you see something happen, it's best to get out of there fast and stay uninvolved.

annc

That doesn't make sense. If the light turns yellow and you're five feet before the intersection then there's no way you'll be able to stop before entering the intersection (assuming 25 mph in a normal car). As long as the car clears the intersection before the light turns red then there's no problem. That's why yellow lights are on longer for intersections with faster traffic.

127.0.0.1

Lexington Bike Cops would:

1) laugh in my face about waiting around as a witness for a rear-end collision fender bender

2) high five me for triggering this because jerk drivers are always going fast here anyway

in Mass. the only ones who care are the insurance companies. it's a crinkled fender. who the
hell is going to stick around for that except an attention wh*re ********** I quit staring at fires and
listening to fire and police sirens back when I was 12. I just move aside.

Square & Compas

Despite the both drivers stupidity why didn't you call 911 and check to see if anyone needed help? Someone could have been injured. Also I thought if you witness an accident you are supposed to stick around to help with the police report. Most people would also render aid to anyone injured. Someone could have had an injury that was not bleeding. Also can't witnesses who do not stick around be cited for leaving the scene, regardless of how major or minor it is? What if the guilty party challenges the citation, if there was one given, and it goes to court. They will need all witnesses for this purpose. You were a witness who left the scene. Again this is regardless of how severe the accident is.

I hate to say it but some may think if you are ever in an accident and injured and require medical aid and there is a witness to it who left the scene when he or she could have and should stayed around to help you, but did not would be sort of a return or pay back for what you did. Put yourself in that situation.

The fact is you did not know how bad if anyone was hurt or if anyone was even hurt at all. Sure it looked like a fender bender and only minor damage to the cars. But that' doesn't mean no one was hurt.

Also you admitting that you caused an accident and then took off after on an internet forum is probably not to smart of a move on your part. You basically admitted to a crime. You may as well just wait for the police to come knocking on your door at this point.

2manybikes

You need to get a helmet camera for next time !

apricissimus 

Yes, he should have called 911 so they could sort out all the dead bodies, and who knows, maybe coax some of the critically injured back to life.

I got the impression from this thread that this was a minor fender bender.

A&S clairvoyants come out to correct the evaluation of the situation by the OP, who was actually there when it happened.

apricissimus 

The OP hit the traffic signal button. The light changed from green to yellow, then to red. The OP then moved across the street. In what sense did he cause an accident?

I-Like-To-Bike

In the sense that the A&S clairvoyant in question is also a Drama Queen. Call 911 for an obviously minor fender bender? Good Grief!