Advocacy & Safety - I need to vent-stupid pedestrians

I was riding along, enjoying the nice weather we're having (sunny and 25 deg. C), when I came upon four ladys walking in the MIDDLE of the street (This is a small town, but it's still stupid to walk four abreast in the middle of the street). They were walking toward me and they looked right at me. two of them stepped to the side, but the other two cluelessly stepped RIGHT IN FRONT of me! I had to slam on the brakes and veer off the road to avoid hitting them. They just gave me a loud girly "I'm scared" shreak. I didn't say anything because I didn't want to say anything I would regret later. Maybe I should have. Oh well, enough venting, I'm going to go ride some more-right after I attach the battering ram and rocket launcher on to the front of my bike. :)

Sometimes peds are clueless. It happens .I sometimes also feel like attaching offensive weapons to my bicycle,then i realize it will make the handling all squirrely and i don't. ;)

They just gave me a loud girly "I'm scared" shreak.
excellent :lol:

Don't you have a bell, horn or something else (including your voice - "on your left") to warn pedestrians? It is required by law in many jurisdictions to give an audible warning when passing pedestrians; if you don't give an audible warning and hit a ped, you would generally be considered 'at fault'.

Don't you have a bell, horn or something else (including your voice - "on your left") to warn pedestrians? It is required by law in many jurisdictions to give an audible warning when passing pedestrians; if you don't give an audible warning and hit a ped, you would generally be considered 'at fault'.

Been riding this bike path lately... which is parallel to a walking path... oddly enough, the walkers prefer the bike path...

Anyway I have started to say loudly "coming up behind you" about 4-5 bike lengths back... they do something and I then figure out which way to go and say "thank you."

If I do an "on your left" and they don't have a clue.

Had one older lady jump out of her skin last night... I went by and said "relax, just letting you know I am coming," it was both sad and a bit funny.

'Course those walkers with headphones... I just don't know.

Also almost ran into a woman biker, who was way over on my side of this 8-9 (10?) foot path... she was looking down... I gave her a "heads up!"

Nice riding this, as I get the joy of the ride without the hassle of the rush hour traffic. Been coming back on some new, well built, subdivision roads... they too are pretty clear. Ahhhhh... no attitude, no super swivel neck watching for jerk drivers, no close calls... man, I tell you... this is what it is all about. :D

Dog walkers with those retractable leashes.

Joggers and runners running against traffic on clearly marked bike lanes.

Gotta love them

Sounds like they could have better dealt with an approaching cyclist.

But I wouldn't be too hard on them. I regulary walk with my wife in the middle of the lane facing traffic in the quiet residential streets in my immediate neighborhood. I'll move a bit over if a car is coming, but not off the street. If a cyclist came toward me I'd expect them to easily pass using the other lane. Sure its not how the rules of the road are, but when its your neighborhood you get used to it and too some effect these adults may be doing some traffic calming indirectly. Similrarly I see kids playing in the streets and adults standing in the exact center of the street chatting and when a car comes by it usually slows way down and they wave and say hi as it might be a neighbor they know.

But they did handle it bad by stepping off in different directions. If they had stayed put you probably could have passed them safely.

Al

Joggers and runners running against traffic on clearly marked bike lanes.

When I used to run a lot I always ran on the pavement facing traffic. If it happened to be a bike lane I'd run in it. If I saw an approaching cyclist I would always step back onto the sidewalk well before the bike got to me. I ran on the road because the asphault is a better running surface and mainly because of the same reason one doesn't cycle in the gutter - it give good visibility of you and you get good sightlines of what is coming, espeically when running by the many driveways and sidestreets.

Al

Sure they weren't flirting with you? :)

Be nice to the pedestrians, people, even if they are walking down the middle of the road. I think quiet roads should be places where people should feel free to walk down without being harassed.

Angry remarks about "clueless peds" are on the same level as "Get off the road!" rants from motorists. All of us -- motorists and bicyclists alike -- would do well to learn patience in the presence of slower travelers.

RFM

Be nice to the pedestrians, people, even if they are walking down the middle of the road. I think quiet roads should be places where people should feel free to walk down without being harassed.


This is exactly right, but they did suddenly step directly into his path.

I have no problem with pedestrians using the road like this if conditions permit, as long as they act predictably.

If they'd had a bit of sense and stepped aside to the kerbside, or even just held their line, which is always my preference, we'd never have heard about it.

I yell at peds on the bike paths to "Stay put!" so I can ride around them.

I gave a loud girly-shriek today as a bunch of pedestrians crossed in front of me (I had the green light and they were just moseying their way across the street against their light). It stopped 'em and I rode around them. Worked like a charm.

I yell at peds on the bike paths to "Stay put!" so I can ride around them.

Don't move... haha, i'll keep that in mind. Good tip. I woner if you yelled freeze, if they'd do the opposite.

I have no problem with pedestrians using the road like this if conditions permit, as long as they act predictably.

If they'd had a bit of sense and stepped aside to the kerbside, or even just held their line, which is always my preference, we'd never have heard about it.
Pedestrian lanes would help.

Don't move... haha, i'll keep that in mind. Good tip. I woner if you yelled freeze, if they'd do the opposite.
The results will surprise you.

If I am on the MUP with the kids, I ride to the rear and make sure they call out "Passing", on your left tends to confuse the pedestrians who often think we mean for them to move left. DOY...... Youngest one has a bell that works better than saying anything, they associate it with a bike and just like Pavlov's dog, they scoot to the side! Being behind 2 kids, I make a habit of watching reactions and for those who don't, I yell up to the lead of our little line, you warned them, if they choose not to move you have the option of running them over. Works everytime!! ;-)....

Worst I ever encountered was 2 women both with dogs, the type who thinks the entire 20 miles of trail and whole national park were built just for their exclusive use. They were walking 2 abreast, and I had plenty of room to pass them, but still announced my intention to pass. She started moving to the left to block the entire trail and said you'll just have to wait, I went to the edge of the trail and breezed by her making sure to brush her with my arm, and left her with an expletive I won't repeat here. Got a thumbs up from a pace line heading the other way and made my day!

The ones with the headphones never get a warning, I prefer to breeze by and startle them, something needs to wake them up.

Usually folks are pretty good about letting me pass, and whenever I see someone make a move to the right so I can pass, I make sure to thank them. Those two were the exception!

Usually when I encounter pedestrians, I call out "passing on your left," and it almost always works. But in this case, I didn't shout because they were coming right at me, and I figured they saw me. Oh well, I cooled down from my earlier frustration and had a rather nice ride.

Usually when I encounter pedestrians, I call out "passing on your left," and it almost always works. But in this case, I didn't shout because they were coming right at me, and I figured they saw me. Oh well, I cooled down from my earlier frustration and had a rather nice ride.


That usually results in the pedestrian moving right into your path.

I get a couple of stupid pedestrians every day blindly stepping in the street while talking on cellphones as I'm barrelling towards them. Some lady today got mad at me when I yelled at her to watch out as I was riding towards her. What a ditz.

Koffee

Another interesting one is yelling, "Look up!" at oncoming bicycle riders on pathways, because they are looking some other direction instead of straight ahead at me coming at them at 18-22 mph.

Jeez, you all are treating pedestrians just like cagers treat you. Grow up.

Jeez, you all are treating pedestrians just like cagers treat you. Grow up.
Agreed. I give peds right of way even if it is borderline if they deserve it and will go as far as stopping until it is safe to pass. The only cases where one can complain are on a MUP that has clearly designated bike only section marked on the path itself (not just a sign at the trailhead that says stay to the left or right) or on roads where a ped jaywalks into your path when there is a x-walk nearby.

Al

Unfortunately in todays society you have to yell to get any attention.
You could have just screamed:
"Out of my way eh"
"Get out of the street eh"
"I'm gonna crash eh"

Enjoy

I have found that groups of pedestrians are the most troublesome. The MUP I ride has signs reminding bike riders to give peds the right of way and it seems like a decent thing to do. I have never had a problem with joggers or single pedestrians (and so far no problem dogwalkers), but I have found groups of peds can be unpredictable. Like any other herd animal they tend to spread out, spook at loud noises or sudden movements and sometimes change course unpredicably. Riding defensively seems like the best course of action as well as verbal warnings that you're passing.

I do yell at folks to get out of my way if they've strayed into the bike path (esp. on the Bklyn Bridge) and it is easy to lose patience w/ clueless peds, but I try to treat it like sailing, in that motorboats are supposed to give way to and look out for sailboats, and bigger defer to smaller as much as possible. They're the ones who'll be most hurt if I nail 'em at speed, so I try to bike defensively and thus protect them from themselves. My commute is not a time trial (though I like to pretend it is sometimes) and for uninterruped riding at speed I'm lucky there are a few places nearby where I can ride loops w/little or no interruption.

Its all a matter of perspective. I've often become enraged at cyclists while driving and become enraged at vehciles and pedestrians while cycling. Whether you are walking/cycling/or driving, some people have a tendency to assume whatever mode of transportation they are using should be the only type allowed on the road and/or that all others should move out of their way. I find it best when dealing with cars and peds while cycling to put myself into their mind and try and act accordingly. Usually this involves slowing down so I can figure out what they are going to do.

Certainly, there are oblivion drivers, oblivion pedestrians, and yes, even oblivion cyclists. The important thing is to try to be curteous to everyone. That being said, it does drive me nuts when I am on a BIKE PATH and I see a group of yuppies walking 4 abreast with their miniature poodles tangled all around them.

I have also found yelling "on your left" to sometimes be counterproductive and people tend to move to the left or sometimes they are so oblivious to the outside world that they just freeze and look around frantically. The "on your left" is great when passing other cyclists who knowswhat it means, but half of the time people do just the oppossite (As I suppose I did the first time i heard it).

The lesson: always be aware of your surroundings.

I love the scenery on our MUP (River Trail). However, it's covered with snow and debris all winter. As soon as the weather gets nice, it's covered with pedestrians, Sunday bikeriders and bladerollers. There is about a two day period between snow and tourists--and that's about the only time it's good for cycling!