Child Endangerment?
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Child Endangerment?
I live in Pennsylvania, in a suburb of Wilmington, DE. It is a formerly rural area with narrow, winding roads with little or no shoulder. Former ox cart paths have been transformed into major travel roads with little improvement except for paving. As I was driving to work ths morning, I saw a guy riding a bike on route 896, a major travel road with about 1 foot of shoulder on each side. Numerous cars are blasting by him with less than a foot of clearance. Just about the time I am silently cursing the guy for being enough of a moron to ride on that road during morning rush hour, I see that he has a passenger, a small child in a bike seat. I was appalled. Disregarding your own safety is bad enough, but the child has no say in the matter. Is he breaking any laws? If so, I will report him the next time I see him.
#2
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Wait... are you serious...?
Firstly is there an alternative route for the cyclist near that particular place? And secondly is it allowed on the highway code to ride a bicycle on such a road in pennsylvania?
If there is no chance for the cyclist to ride elsewhere then it's an infrastructural problem and not really the fault of thy cyclist.
Where I come from I know a few places where the traffic very dangerous for a cyclist, but there is simply no alternative. Should you have a child with you on the bike, you would have to use that dangerous route for the law is what it is. Thankfully Finnish drivers realize driving is a priviledge, not a given and also have a fairly high regard for human life.
Firstly is there an alternative route for the cyclist near that particular place? And secondly is it allowed on the highway code to ride a bicycle on such a road in pennsylvania?
If there is no chance for the cyclist to ride elsewhere then it's an infrastructural problem and not really the fault of thy cyclist.
Where I come from I know a few places where the traffic very dangerous for a cyclist, but there is simply no alternative. Should you have a child with you on the bike, you would have to use that dangerous route for the law is what it is. Thankfully Finnish drivers realize driving is a priviledge, not a given and also have a fairly high regard for human life.
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1 foot? Plenty of shoulder. I ride with my child with sort of clearance in Seoul which has a huge volume of traffic.
#4
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And if you think about cycling as a mode of transportation and not as a hobby that is a situation lot of cyclists face every day. Maybe someone will realize that bicycle specific routes are needed for safety.
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Numerous cars are blasting by him with less than a foot of clearance. Just about the time I am silently cursing the guy for being enough of a moron to ride on that road during morning rush hour
There is a solution to the problem of numerous cars blasting by him dangerously close. When you see him, slow down and pass when it's safe to do so.
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I live in Pennsylvania, in a suburb of Wilmington, DE. It is a formerly rural area with narrow, winding roads with little or no shoulder. Former ox cart paths have been transformed into major travel roads with little improvement except for paving. As I was driving to work ths morning, I saw a guy riding a bike on route 896, a major travel road with about 1 foot of shoulder on each side. Numerous cars are blasting by him with less than a foot of clearance. Just about the time I am silently cursing the guy for being enough of a moron to ride on that road during morning rush hour, I see that he has a passenger, a small child in a bike seat. I was appalled. Disregarding your own safety is bad enough, but the child has no say in the matter. Is he breaking any laws? If so, I will report him the next time I see him.
You damn well should report those DRIVERS.
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I live in Pennsylvania, in a suburb of Wilmington, DE. It is a formerly rural area with narrow, winding roads with little or no shoulder. Former ox cart paths have been transformed into major travel roads with little improvement except for paving. As I was driving to work ths morning, I saw a guy riding a bike on route 896, a major travel road with about 1 foot of shoulder on each side. Numerous cars are blasting by him with less than a foot of clearance. Just about the time I am silently cursing the guy for being enough of a moron to ride on that road during morning rush hour, I see that he has a passenger, a small child in a bike seat. I was appalled. Disregarding your own safety is bad enough, but the child has no say in the matter. Is he breaking any laws? If so, I will report him the next time I see him.
So if a motorist were to hit the bicycle, violating the 4 foot law, the fault is with the motorist. But lets say that a car does hit the man with the child on the bike and the child is injured or killed. The local county children's services would look at the circumstances. They could determine that the bicyclist was showing a disregard for the safety of the child and possible press criminal charges.
My wife and I have been on the roads in your area from numerous trips to the old du Pont black powder plant. Sometimes the white line on the right of the road is on the very edge of the asphalt with a sharp drop and then a guard rail. When I looked at that I could just imagine the results of dropping a wheel into that and going over the guard rail.
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I live in Pennsylvania, in a suburb of Wilmington, DE. It is a formerly rural area with narrow, winding roads with little or no shoulder. Former ox cart paths have been transformed into major travel roads with little improvement except for paving. As I was driving to work ths morning, I saw a guy riding a bike on route 896, a major travel road with about 1 foot of shoulder on each side. Numerous cars are blasting by him with less than a foot of clearance. Just about the time I am silently cursing the guy for being enough of a moron to ride on that road during morning rush hour, I see that he has a passenger, a small child in a bike seat. I was appalled. Disregarding your own safety is bad enough, but the child has no say in the matter. Is he breaking any laws? If so, I will report him the next time I see him.
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Yeah, yeah, yeah, in a perfect world that road would have a bike lane, and drivers would cheerfully slow down to 10 mph until it is safe to pass with a wide berth. We don't live in that world, we live in this one. That road will never have a bike lane in my life time. Most drivers on their way to work are focused on getting there in the least amount of time possible, and are barely aware of their surroundings. Anybody who takes their small child on a bike during morning rush hour in that environment is an irresponsible idiot, nothing more. If I can't legally stop him from endangering his child, I will be extra careful on my way to work, and will make sure that I am not the one who hits them.
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When do you expect someone who is probably taking their child to day care on the way to work to ride, other than when everyone is going to work?
Do you know for sure that there are alternate routes available to the cyclist from where he's coming from to where he's going? If not, what is the problem?
If cars are passing within 1 foot, the drivers need to be ticketed for unsafe passing of another legal vehicle.
Do you know for sure that there are alternate routes available to the cyclist from where he's coming from to where he's going? If not, what is the problem?
If cars are passing within 1 foot, the drivers need to be ticketed for unsafe passing of another legal vehicle.
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I live in Pennsylvania, work in Delaware. The observation happened in Pennsylvania.
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.... Anybody who takes their small child on a bike during morning rush hour in that environment is an irresponsible idiot, nothing more. If I can't legally stop him from endangering his child, I will be extra careful on my way to work, and will make sure that I am not the one who hits them.
It's true that you can't alter everyone else's driving, except indirectly by slowing them down behind you when you react to the cyclist in a legal and safe manner. That's all anyone should expect of you, and hopefully it will catch on with other drivers in your area.
#14
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Sounds like it was all the drivers who were, "blasting past him" that were the ones acting in a dangerous manner, not the cyclist.
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it's illegal to pass within 4 feet in Pennsylvania. Sounds like there needs to be some enforcement
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Yeah, yeah, yeah, in a perfect world that road would have a bike lane, and drivers would cheerfully slow down to 10 mph until it is safe to pass with a wide berth. We don't live in that world, we live in this one. That road will never have a bike lane in my life time. Most drivers on their way to work are focused on getting there in the least amount of time possible, and are barely aware of their surroundings. Anybody who takes their small child on a bike during morning rush hour in that environment is an irresponsible idiot, nothing more. If I can't legally stop him from endangering his child, I will be extra careful on my way to work, and will make sure that I am not the one who hits them.
Why was that not your first reaction?
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Chap. 35
Sub. Chap. A
Sec. 4
Sub. Sec. (b) -No pedalcycle shall be used to carry more persons at one time than the number for which the pedalcycle is designed and equipped except that an adult rider may transport a child in a pedalcycle child carrier which is securely attached to the pedalcycle or in a trailer which is towed by a pedalcycle.
Pennsylvania's 'bike passing' law, is four feet.
But, Despite the creation of the 'passing' laws, as was mentioned in another thread about the bias, that law enforcement and the judicial system continually display. Finding in favor of the motorist, and finding fault with the cyclist. Albeit indirect, this is just another example of authorities continually blaming the cyclist, even when they are in the right.
Last edited by Chris516; 04-10-13 at 01:11 PM.
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What would that accomplish? What action do you expect LEO to take on non-event call-ins?
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The caller would have to be pretty darn ignorant if he even dreamed he would ever collect a dime from such phone calls, and just as clever if he thinks the LEO will take any specific action on the called in "violator" based on such phone calls of non events. The best that could be hoped for is an enforcement campaign that is far more likely by writing or talking in person to the appropriate LEO or political officials.
If anyone has evidence of otherwise, inform me.
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Is he breaking any laws? If so, I will report him the next time I see him.
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I agree w OP -- bad parenting
#23
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Looking at the more rural sections of Rt 896 ( and the developed ones, for good measure ) in Google Street View - those shoulders are fine, and in some cases, absolutely huge.
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Calling in the violation is a waste of time, and may be a violation itself if done from a moving vehicle.
I believe we are in agreement that the OP should mind his own darn business if he can't even figure out who is endangering whom.
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I agree that drivers violating the law by driving too close are the bad buys here and should be ticketed, not the bicyclist.
Calling in the violation is a waste of time, and may be a violation itself if done from a moving vehicle.
I believe we are in agreement that the OP should mind his own darn business if he can't even figure out who is endangering whom.
Calling in the violation is a waste of time, and may be a violation itself if done from a moving vehicle.
I believe we are in agreement that the OP should mind his own darn business if he can't even figure out who is endangering whom.