notfred

I was driving about 15mph down a small road, behind one other car. On my left, two cyclists, who weren't wearing any helmets or any protective gear of any kind were riding the wrong way down the street, in the same direction I was travelling. The cyclists were travelling at roughly the same speed as the cars.

The driver in front of me made a left turn into a parking lot, cutting in front of the cyclists going the wrong direction on the other side of the street. The driver was completely in the right, in my opinion. He has no obligation to look behind him when making a left turn.

Anyway, one of the cyclists came within a foot of running into the side of the car turning left. Had he been riding in the proper place on the right side of the road, there wouldn't have been an issue at all.

I was unable to keep myself from saying anything. I shouted out my window, "Ride on the right side of the road!"

To which he replied, "Shut the f**k up!"

Oh well, maybe he'll get a clue next time, when the car actually hits him and he ends up in the hospital.

Edit: If any of the moderators want to fix the typo in the subject, that would be great.

nick burns

I'm not defending the wrong way cyclists, but it is not a bad practice when driving a car to take a glance behind you before making a left turn. You never know, someone may be in the process of passing you on the left, even if you have your turn signal on.

jdtschida

I kinda think those cyclists deserve to get at least bumped since they were riding the wrong way at a decent speed. Hopefully though they don't get hurt, just educated.

vrkelley

Funny how "wrong-way" riders never seem to get hit. There's a old guy on my home-bound route who insists on crossing diagonally across a very big intersection. No lights, dark clothes.

He's always desperate to pass me. The light changes, and I catch up to him with little effort. This has been going on for about 6mo.s HE NEVER GETS HIT!

staple

I had a run-in while driving a couple of months ago with a couple of guys riding the wrong way up a busy street (a major 4-lane arterial) after dark, with no lights, no helmets, and dark clothing. I was making a right turn onto the busy street. I had a green light. They suddenly appeared out of nowhere in front of me (so, yes, that means they were also ignoring a red light). Fortunately, my brakes were good enough that I didn't hit them. But I was still pretty spooked.

Then they started yelling at me and displaying their middle fingers, so I decided they deserved whatever they were eventually going to get for riding so dangerously.

bostontrevor

A friend of mine who is both a AAA-trained driver and Road I-trained cyclist had a head on with a wrong-way cyclist. He took a legal right just as this dude was arriving at the intersection.

Pow!

Watcha gonna do?

jeff-o

Sue. It's the American Way.

d2create

Or beat his ass. I guess it depends on the situation which action to take.

jeff-o

Or what part of America you happen to be in at the time.

supcom

Actually, the two most common causes on bike injury are riding on the wrong side of the road and riding at night without lights.

And regarding yelling at cyclists on the wrong side of the road, it's a waste of time. Just yelling to someone to get on the other side of theroad is hardly going to influence them since you are unable to explain the reason to do so. Add to that the fact that cyclists generally don't look to motorists for riding advice and you may as well just let nature takes it's course.

Gus Riley

Jump up real quick and kick him in the face before he gets up!! Just kidding, but it felt good!

primaryreality

The vast majority of cyclists I see around town are riding on the wrong side of the road, or on the sidewalk, are unhelmeted, and often wearing headphones on both ears. It seems to be the rule rather than the exception--and this includes adult riders.

Leaving work today, I was riding in the bike lane along a street that is very busy, with very fast traffic. There's a marked bike lane, but it's not very wide.

I looked up to see coming toward me in the lane a man on a bicycle, with a toddler--2 or 3 years old, maybe--sitting on the top tube of his bike, hanging on to his handlebars. Neither of them were wearing a helmet. For both of us to pass without one of us being forced out into traffic or into the curb was going to be a very tight squeeze, and squeeze we did, because I wasn't going out into the traffic lane (we're talking 45-50 mph here, and a lot of cars) to make it easy for him. I held my line and made him pass me on the traffic side.

As we passed with probably an inch of clearance between us, I didn't yell at him, but I did say, calmly and quietly, "You're going the wrong way."

I got a string of obscenities in return, vitriol way in excess of anything warranted by the situation or my comment, given that he was unquestionably in the wrong.

I really don't think it's that most of these idiots don't know better. They just don't care. And none of them are interested in having anyone point out the error of their ways; you're probably lucky if the worst thing you get is cursed at.

Chris L

Exactly. Ask yourself if you've ever taken advice from anyone who yelled at you, and if the answer is "no" (as it would be in most cases), why do you expect that anyone else will do that?

Yelling at people serves no purpose other than to make the person doing the yelling feel good about themselves for five minutes, and I suspect in most cases, that's the sole motivation for doing it in the first place.

bluejack

Well... anger is probably the immediate response, but you never know when people think it over later, with the adrenalin of confrontation dissipated, they might actually think about it.

geeklpc1985

Well if your making a left turn you have to look behide you to see if there is anyone about to enter the crosswalk and also for joggers, who have the right to go the 'wrong' way to us. But it just could be an Wisconsin law, about the joggers, and you can't enter an crosswalk if someone is in it still. I would think if you going down the street at 15 mph, they would be passing, I know I would.

Geek

JohnBrooking

There's probably not much point in doing it this season, but over the winter, I want to talk to my city about putting up some of these signs, specifically R5-1b and R9-3c, the "Wrong Way / Ride With Traffic" combination, for next summer. Of course not everyone will pay attention, but I think that in most cases, it is just ignorance of the law and safety issues, and hopefully having official looking road signs will make at least some of the wrong-way riders think about it more than just having a cager, or even another cyclist, yell it at them.

vtjim

Burlington has some signs up on the streets with cycle icons and, I think, they say, "WRONG WAY" or something else direct and to the point.

Still see people riding the wrong way, of course. As for parents screaming obscenities, hey, they're doing The Most Important Job In The World...

I-Like-To-Bike

Would you feel better if he did get hit?
Maybe you should scream some educational advice at him before it is too late.