Commuting - dancing in the dark

I nearly ran over someone last week. He was walking in the street, against traffic and wearing dark clothes. Of course it was 6:45am and pitch black. I turned around from checking on a car that was behind me and there he was 5 feet in front of me. All I could see was a grey shirt. I managed to slalom out of the way. It happened so fast that I didn’t even make a comment to him. I had good headlight on, a yellow shirt and a blinky light too. I know he saw me. Yet he made no effort what so ever to get out of my way. The knuckle head never realized (and probably still doesn’t) that he would have been my airbag if I had hit him going 16 miles an hour.

wassupwidat? :mad:

CD

I'm glad you weren't hurt. Never underestimate the injuries you might incur by hitting an absent-minded pedestrian.

I hate to sound critical, but don't people realize that vehicles are known to travel fast on those paved areas with the painted lines on them? Some people just seem to wander across the street at night like dark shadows, with hardly a care in the world, as if an invisible power were protecting them.

I don't really get it.

The only serious injury I ever had on a bike came from a collision with a pedestrian, a drunk who seemed intent on staying in my way no matter what I did.

But we cyclists do need to remember that the traffic code most places does provide for peds walking within the roadway, facing traffic. It's our responsibility not to hit them.

Peds are one of the main reasons I carry a *lot* of light.

RichC

Ive had pedestrians suddenly sprint into me at high speed, and bounce off. Ive been hit by skaters. Sometimes I feel like The Invisible Man.
What I dont get is that those cyclists who ride at night, in dark clothes without any lights, seem to incabable of seeing MY lights.

"I hate to sound critical, but don't people realize that vehicles are known to travel fast on those paved areas with the painted lines on them? Some people just seem to wander across the street at night like dark shadows, with hardly a care in the world, as if an invisible power were protecting them."

If there is a god, it's not a god that keeps drunks from getting hit by vehicles in the road, as statistics will show.

I was once in a school bus that almost hit a drunk who didn't look where he was walking. i tell ya, if i had to get hit by something, i'd prefer it be bike, and not a school bus.

The knuckle head never realized (and probably still doesn’t) that he would have been my airbag if I had hit him going 16 miles an hour.

At that speed you may well have injured yourself, too. It's best just to take evasive action in these situations and spare yourself the risk of injury. With a little luck, darwinism will take care of the knuckle head later on.