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05-15-06, 11:43 AM
First let me admit there is a lot I do not know about this situation. Only what I saw. I do not know if the cyclist changed his mind & decided to make a change in direction at the last second. I do not know if he made a mistake that could have cause him injury or worse. I do not know if he is unfamiliar with the other route options that are available & he thought the one he was on was the only one. I do not know if he was a die hard VC advocate & was exersicing that right. I do not know if this was a lapse in judgment & he made a mistake that could have cost him.
Second this cyclist did everything right up until he cut across stopped traffic to get into a left turn lane & he did not do so as a pedestrian but more as either a "jaywalker" or a vehicle of the road making an unsafe & illegal lane change.
Third, I do not know who the cyclist is, did not recognize him. If I do see him on a club ride I may ask him why he did such a thing, giving him the benefit of the doubt of course & having a polite conversation about it.
Let me explain about the roadway this happened on:
This happened on Hamilton Blvd. Many of you have seen me mention this roadway. The section that has the heaviest traffic & where the roadway is more narrow then the rest is between Stone Park Blvd & the interstate. Hamilton is a north/south arterial roadway in Sioux City. Even though it is legal to ride on any section of Hamilton I do not recommend riding in this section of it. There are residential streets that parallel Hamilton that are a lot less traffic at lower speeds west & east of Hamilton. There are other options that will not take any more time or go out of the way. This section of Hamilton is commercial with a lot of traffic during the day.
Here is what I do know based on what I saw. While driving south on Hamilton we saw a cyclist was riding south. He was doing everthing right. Riding as far to the right as he could, etc. Traffic was heavy enough & due to construction in the area & having to go around the cyclist it did slow down a bit so the cyclist managed to stay with the group of traffic my wife & I were in the middle of.
Up until we got to the intersection of Hamilton & W 19th st. My wife & I were stopped at a red light about 4 cars back when we saw the cyclist turn in front of all of the traffic ride to the left turn lane to turn left going east up W 19th St. The left turning traffic still had the green arrow & there was still turning traffic coming as he did this. the turning traffic could not have seen him & he could not see them coming. He could have been hit & got lucky he wasn't. Or the light for the traffic that was stopped could have changed to green & he could have been hit by traffic wanting to continue south on Hamilton.
What ever the reason he wanted to head east on W 19th what he should have done is entirely differant. One option he had is to go around the block, head 1 block west at W 18th st then turn back south to go toward W 19th then east on W 19th meaning he would cross the intersection at W 19th & Hamilton safely. Another option is he could have gone all the way to the intersection ridden onto the sidewalk, dismounted his bike & walked across as a pedestrian, remounted his bike & continue up W 19th. Or he could have changed lanes a lot earlier to safely make it into the turn lane. He may not have done this because traffic was pretty heavy at the time. But I think traffic may have let him over. Another option he had was to stay off of Hamilton, ride on an adjacent residential street that intersects with W 19th & then head east up W 19th safely crossing Hamilton.
Again there is a lot I do not know but what he did was dangerous, stupid & it gives the rest of us cyclists bad names in the eyes of motorists.
Second this cyclist did everything right up until he cut across stopped traffic to get into a left turn lane & he did not do so as a pedestrian but more as either a "jaywalker" or a vehicle of the road making an unsafe & illegal lane change.
Third, I do not know who the cyclist is, did not recognize him. If I do see him on a club ride I may ask him why he did such a thing, giving him the benefit of the doubt of course & having a polite conversation about it.
Let me explain about the roadway this happened on:
This happened on Hamilton Blvd. Many of you have seen me mention this roadway. The section that has the heaviest traffic & where the roadway is more narrow then the rest is between Stone Park Blvd & the interstate. Hamilton is a north/south arterial roadway in Sioux City. Even though it is legal to ride on any section of Hamilton I do not recommend riding in this section of it. There are residential streets that parallel Hamilton that are a lot less traffic at lower speeds west & east of Hamilton. There are other options that will not take any more time or go out of the way. This section of Hamilton is commercial with a lot of traffic during the day.
Here is what I do know based on what I saw. While driving south on Hamilton we saw a cyclist was riding south. He was doing everthing right. Riding as far to the right as he could, etc. Traffic was heavy enough & due to construction in the area & having to go around the cyclist it did slow down a bit so the cyclist managed to stay with the group of traffic my wife & I were in the middle of.
Up until we got to the intersection of Hamilton & W 19th st. My wife & I were stopped at a red light about 4 cars back when we saw the cyclist turn in front of all of the traffic ride to the left turn lane to turn left going east up W 19th St. The left turning traffic still had the green arrow & there was still turning traffic coming as he did this. the turning traffic could not have seen him & he could not see them coming. He could have been hit & got lucky he wasn't. Or the light for the traffic that was stopped could have changed to green & he could have been hit by traffic wanting to continue south on Hamilton.
What ever the reason he wanted to head east on W 19th what he should have done is entirely differant. One option he had is to go around the block, head 1 block west at W 18th st then turn back south to go toward W 19th then east on W 19th meaning he would cross the intersection at W 19th & Hamilton safely. Another option is he could have gone all the way to the intersection ridden onto the sidewalk, dismounted his bike & walked across as a pedestrian, remounted his bike & continue up W 19th. Or he could have changed lanes a lot earlier to safely make it into the turn lane. He may not have done this because traffic was pretty heavy at the time. But I think traffic may have let him over. Another option he had was to stay off of Hamilton, ride on an adjacent residential street that intersects with W 19th & then head east up W 19th safely crossing Hamilton.
Again there is a lot I do not know but what he did was dangerous, stupid & it gives the rest of us cyclists bad names in the eyes of motorists.