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Almost killed one of us today

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Almost killed one of us today

Old 07-29-08, 02:20 PM
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Almost killed one of us today

So Im coming back from lunch, driving since I have to be home right after work, and I turn off of a 4 lane, onto another 4 lane going South, and I just about pancake some older kid/guy coming North up the 4 lane I turn on to. Ummm.....S*#%*&#)$*%)!! I've never quite looked at it from this perspective before until the last month or so.


Wow.....I hope he has an organ card.
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Old 07-29-08, 02:24 PM
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Be careful it might be me.
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Old 07-29-08, 02:36 PM
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Originally Posted by 10 Wheels
Be careful it might be me.
Riding North in the Southbound Lane? With no shoulder? You might wanna re-think your riding habits, there 'Wheels
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Old 07-29-08, 02:39 PM
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There has got to be a rash of this. I didn't post it, but last night on the bike path I passed someone going the wrong way on a street. Right next to me. Literally.

And there's been a slew of them other places. People here have a mentality of "I can see the cars coming better that way"...
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Old 07-29-08, 02:47 PM
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drives me crazy. That and sidewalk riding, but to be honest I'd rather these wrong way cyclists would just keep to the sidewalks and off the road headed straight at ME


my way to deal with wrong way cyclists on my bike is to move as close to the curb as I can and force them to pass me on my left. No way in hell i'm gonna move out into traffic because some jerk wants to ride in the wrong direction.
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Old 07-29-08, 02:48 PM
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I remember being told as a child to WALK that way if possible, but never to ride that way. Thats a really busy intersection with OC/ 14th and then another 2 lane called Warlick that feeds off of a Hwy about 2 miles away turning and runs into the junction. I hate driving it-if you miss what you are doing you end up on the outer edge of Lincoln starting at a dirt road.
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Old 07-29-08, 03:16 PM
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It is frustrating. There is this old guy who commutes into the work the same way as me, only an hour and a half later and on the wrong side! I'm allready tearing it up in my garbage truck at six when he rides through town. One of these mornings I'm gonna get out and introduce myself and ask him what's up? I am getting curious as to what motivates these wrong way riders to keep doing it. I have seen this one guy have several close calls. One of them with me! I'm glad you missed that guy. Good driving. Maybee you scared some sense into him.
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Old 07-29-08, 03:20 PM
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A few weeks ago I passed a cyclist in the center of the left lane (2-lane road, he was going the wrong way). At night, dressed in black, with just a little white LED on the front of the bike. No helmet, natch. We were headed up a steep short hill too, putting him in a perfect position to get nailed by someone hustling over the hill. I didn't hear any sirens passing by later so I assume he survived the ride. Why on earth would anyone think this is a wise thing to do?
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Old 07-29-08, 03:27 PM
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It is a survival of the fitist thing, Usually done by young males under the age of 21. If they survive until then they usually get over it. Some never do.
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Old 07-29-08, 03:35 PM
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So, I nearly hit one of these wrong way kids leaving my driveway this afternoon. I was going for a quick ride, waiting at the end of my driveway to turn right. Last car passes me, I start to pull out, and realize there's a kid on a bike, riding the wrong way, about 15 feet away from me. I yelled at him to ride on the right, but I doubt he'll learn.
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Old 07-29-08, 04:20 PM
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Originally Posted by deez
drives me crazy. That and sidewalk riding, but to be honest I'd rather these wrong way cyclists would just keep to the sidewalks and off the road headed straight at ME


my way to deal with wrong way cyclists on my bike is to move as close to the curb as I can and force them to pass me on my left. No way in hell i'm gonna move out into traffic because some jerk wants to ride in the wrong direction.
I think the wrong way and sidewalk riders are new riders, or people who have not ridden in a long time. A large portion of the problem is to be blamed on the North American auto-centric thinking (perpetuated by car company marketing) that links bicycle use to childish activity and driving to adult activity, so that if you want to be seen as an adult, as a teenager you must drive a car, everywhere. Ask the average rider returning to riding in their 40's why they stopped, and the answer is usually that they got a car.

Now of course in middle age, with friends dying of heart attacks, they look at their expanding middles and high blood sugars, and high cholesterol, and getting in shape becomes a priority, high gasoline prices, has led a lot of them back to 2 wheeled human powered transportation. Problem is, they don't really remember how. Look at the bicycles of most cyclists and you see either a helmet or bar mounted mirror, which makes proper, right way riding much easier.

I am starting to think the solution is another licence class, for human powered vehicles, this would have a provincial or state riders guide, which is written by someone in the ministry (department) of transportation, who has actually read the laws pertaining to bicycling. You would apply, get a copy of the guide, write a short exam, and get your bicycle licence, which you must keep on you at all times when riding. At the same time, the province or state would have another guide for police officers, explaining to them how the law applies, as many police officers are clueless on bicycling laws.

Last edited by Wogster; 07-29-08 at 04:21 PM. Reason: a couple of spelling errors.
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Old 07-29-08, 04:26 PM
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That would shoot down that whole "well, its not fair that you are on the roads and don't have to have a license, pay taxes, blah blah blah..." argument, wouldn't it?
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Old 07-29-08, 04:32 PM
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one of my coworkers leaving the office hit a guy going against traffic on a one way street. I see it outside my window all the time. I just want to scream "hey idiot, you are supposed to ride WITH traffic, not against it."
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Old 07-29-08, 05:22 PM
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Originally Posted by deez
my way to deal with wrong way cyclists on my bike is to move as close to the curb as I can and force them to pass me on my left. No way in hell i'm gonna move out into traffic because some jerk wants to ride in the wrong direction.
Exactly what I did. I have had this happen once on the 55mph (where everyone does 65) road I commute into work on. The shoulder is nice and wide (width of a full lane) but I am not going to move nearer the traffic voluntarily.
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Old 07-29-08, 05:38 PM
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not to sound snobby but you didnt almost kill "one of us", you almost killed a guy on a bike going the wrong way...
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Old 07-29-08, 05:39 PM
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I work in a shore town here in southern NJ and I'm amazed a bicyclist hasn't been killed yet. They blow stop signs, red lights, ride against opposing traffic etc. It's nuts. Now a majority of them are foreign kids here working during the summer but there are quite a few "locals" and tourists who should know better.
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Old 07-29-08, 06:38 PM
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My most humble apologies.

Really, though, ive noticed that I pay more attention driving now, and I notice a lot more cyclists than I used to.



Originally Posted by Fribley
not to sound snobby but you didnt almost kill "one of us", you almost killed a guy on a bike going the wrong way...
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Old 07-29-08, 07:12 PM
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We had a guy killed a week ago doing stupid crap like this.
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Old 07-29-08, 09:08 PM
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I'm afraid we are going to lose someone around here too. I can't tell you how many riders are on the sidewalks or riding the wrong way. I would way that it is more common to see someone doing it wrong then doing it right. This week I saw a grade school aged girl riding the wrong direction on the street. She pulled out from behind a parked car and almost got hit by a car. I'm sure that the driver was scared out of her wits, but there was no way of knowing that the girl was there. Also, as much as I would like to say that it is just younger riders that mess up, I see older one that don't get it right either. My wife walks to work 2-3 times a week with our 3 year daughter in a jogging stroller. All most every day a older rider in full kit gear about hits her riding on the sidewalk AND traveling the wrong way. It has happened enough that I am considering riding along with her to catch the guy and confront him about it. There is no reason for him to be riding on the sidewalk, there is a very nice marked bike lane on the road. As much as I dislike the idea of a bicycle road test in some ways, I am starting to see the value that it might have.
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Old 07-29-08, 10:35 PM
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Wogsterca wrote:
I am starting to think the solution is another licence class, for human powered vehicles, this would have a provincial or state riders guide, which is written by someone in the ministry (department) of transportation,
No offense intended Mr Wogster, but IMO you've been living in the nanny state known as Toronto the Bad for too long.

We don't need more laws -- we need people to accept responsibility for their actions.
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Old 07-29-08, 10:46 PM
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I was driving into work about 3 weeks ago(I know... driving=bad) and I was listening to talk radio. The topic was the increase of bikes on the roads

Anyways, the host asked people to call in and explain some bike safety rules and this idiot lady calls in and says that she thinks that bikes should ride against traffic so you can see whats coming and get outa the way....

Yeah... I woulda called in if I hadn't forgotten my cell.

So many things wrong with that and I'll bet that 200 parents told their kids to ride against traffic because of it. I was sooooo surprised no one called in to correct that idiot woman.

Unfortionately the host didn't know any better so he agreed with her.(it makes logical sense, just not practical sense)
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Old 07-30-08, 06:09 AM
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Originally Posted by Wogsterca
I am starting to think the solution is another licence class, for human powered vehicles, this would have a provincial or state riders guide, which is written by someone in the ministry (department) of transportation, who has actually read the laws pertaining to bicycling. You would apply, get a copy of the guide, write a short exam, and get your bicycle licence, which you must keep on you at all times when riding. At the same time, the province or state would have another guide for police officers, explaining to them how the law applies, as many police officers are clueless on bicycling laws.
It wasn't too long ago that I pitched a similar idea in a thread where we were discussing whether bicyclists should be required to carry liability insurance. I thought both licensing cyclists and making them carry liability insurance was a great idea and I couldn't agree more with your thoughts. However I feel it is more likely to have the drivers manual revised to include a section on bicyclists and actually have a portion of the written test reflect bicycle laws. I think that if cyclists had license plates which could easily identify them a lot of asshattery (run red lights, stops signs, unsafe behavior, wrong way riding, lane splitting etc.) would stop once a couple of tickets start rolling in.

But then again that would make me a pinko commie
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Old 07-30-08, 06:51 AM
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I see a lot of this as well. The worst was when I encountered a big group of guys doing this - more than a dozen cyclsts in a pack, riding wrong-way on route 27 in Edison.
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Old 07-30-08, 07:37 AM
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Originally Posted by Wavy
No offense intended Mr Wogster, but IMO you've been living in the nanny state known as Toronto the Bad for too long.

We don't need more laws -- we need people to accept responsibility for their actions.
No offence taken, I think you have part of the right idea, which I underlined above, the problem is, this isn't happening, and when it doesn't the state needs to step in, to force the issue,
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Old 07-30-08, 08:19 AM
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I grew up in Madison, WI and 35-years ago, we were required to be licensed to ride a bicycle. The program was administered by the fire department. When I got my new Schwinn Continental I had to go to the local fire house, fill out the application, pay the fee, and perform a riding test. They then gave out a serialized sticker that had to be in place in order to ride in the street, and since it was illeagle to ride on the sidewalks, there was no choice.

As I recall though the only people who ever got in trouble for, "riding an unregestered bike," were the kids who got in trouble for something else like being out after curfew...
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