Distracted Walking?
09-22-14, 01:25 PM
#1
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Distracted Walking?
I was headed to the gym on my bike, cruising down the hill at a shade over 30 MPH, when some idiot comes out of the coffee shop at the bottom of the hill--cup of coffee in one hand, smartphone in the other, texting or checking e-mails or some such. He never looked up to see if anything was coming before he stepped off the curb (NOT at the crosswalk that was maybe 50 feet further down the street) and started ambling across the street, still staring at his phone.
I was doing like I am legally supposed to, riding FRAP, and the coffee shop is on the same side of the street as I was riding, so I was practically on top of him the moment he stepped off the curb.
I swerved to miss him, which I did, by all of about 6", and I am damn lucky there wasn't a car in the lane. I hollered in an attempt to get his attention when I saw what was about to happen, but that didn't work, he never looked up.
This just goes to show that no matter whether you are walking, riding, or driving, doing so while distracted is dangerous...
I was doing like I am legally supposed to, riding FRAP, and the coffee shop is on the same side of the street as I was riding, so I was practically on top of him the moment he stepped off the curb.
I swerved to miss him, which I did, by all of about 6", and I am damn lucky there wasn't a car in the lane. I hollered in an attempt to get his attention when I saw what was about to happen, but that didn't work, he never looked up.
This just goes to show that no matter whether you are walking, riding, or driving, doing so while distracted is dangerous...
09-22-14, 02:15 PM
#3
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This is one of many reasons I don't hug the curb.
In one of my closest calls of the past year, some clown with hearing protection and a leaf blower backed right into the bike lane as I was riding past. I was able to give him a wide berth, but I was fortunate not to get caught between him and an overtaking motor vehicle.
In one of my closest calls of the past year, some clown with hearing protection and a leaf blower backed right into the bike lane as I was riding past. I was able to give him a wide berth, but I was fortunate not to get caught between him and an overtaking motor vehicle.
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Capo: 1959 Modell Campagnolo, S/N 40324; 1960 Sieger (2), S/N 42624, 42597
Carlton: 1962 Franco Suisse, S/N K7911
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"Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing." --Theodore Roosevelt
Capo: 1959 Modell Campagnolo, S/N 40324; 1960 Sieger (2), S/N 42624, 42597
Carlton: 1962 Franco Suisse, S/N K7911
Peugeot: 1970 UO-8, S/N 0010468
Bianchi: 1982 Campione d'Italia, S/N 1.M9914
Schwinn: 1988 Project KOM-10, S/N F804069
09-22-14, 02:27 PM
#4
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I treat all peds using a s-phone/ipod as a potential hazard, especially the ones with earbuds. I've had folks walking down the side of the road suddenly turn and start to cross the road immediately in front of me, without looking.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umRXAkZ8Xo0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3jOlQqDPzQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umRXAkZ8Xo0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3jOlQqDPzQ
09-22-14, 02:27 PM
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I ride along Ft Lauderdale beach a lot and the number of distracted tourists that step off the curb without looking amaze me. How are these people still alive? Surely the rules of evolution should have eliminated them from the gene pool by now?
09-22-14, 02:36 PM
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Screw that... Get an airzounds.
The small horns make a loud sound... Airzounds make a sound nearly like a truck horn, AND they are easily refillable with a bike pump.
You want to get someone's attention... do it with Airzounds.
I've had one for years and highly recommend it. It can be heard through closed car windows. Seriously.
The small horns make a loud sound... Airzounds make a sound nearly like a truck horn, AND they are easily refillable with a bike pump.
You want to get someone's attention... do it with Airzounds.
I've had one for years and highly recommend it. It can be heard through closed car windows. Seriously.
09-22-14, 04:22 PM
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Screw that... Get an airzounds.
The small horns make a loud sound... Airzounds make a sound nearly like a truck horn, AND they are easily refillable with a bike pump.
You want to get someone's attention... do it with Airzounds.
I've had one for years and highly recommend it. It can be heard through closed car windows. Seriously.
The small horns make a loud sound... Airzounds make a sound nearly like a truck horn, AND they are easily refillable with a bike pump.
You want to get someone's attention... do it with Airzounds.
I've had one for years and highly recommend it. It can be heard through closed car windows. Seriously.
09-22-14, 04:41 PM
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The cell phone zombies can be looking at you and still not process what they see. This morning I had one step off a perfectly good sidewalk into an almost adequate bike lane right in front of my wife and me. Just like the OP, there was an intersection with a marked crosswalk about 25 meters away. Once she registered our existence she snarled at us as though we should have been somewhere else.
09-22-14, 05:35 PM
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They walk into traffic, they walk into street signs, they walk into me, they even walk into each other. Zombies!
09-22-14, 08:37 PM
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What about those two-tone horns? When people think a car is coming, they react.
09-22-14, 09:05 PM
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I would like that 2-tone horn if it did what they claim it does. Hopefully it will.
09-23-14, 07:33 AM
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Looks like there's plenty of us that have been in the same situation. I like the idea of the two-tone horn, and what the manufacturer says about it makes sense--if you sound just like a car, other cars and pedestrians will react to it, because of what they associate that sound with.
09-23-14, 08:00 AM
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I don't think anyone will soon invent a horn/bell/device that can yell "Hey ***-**** on the phone with the coffee in your hand". Not that I advocate yelling at people (I don't). But humans are still best for warning humans... IMHO.
09-23-14, 10:34 AM
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That hasn't been my experience. I really got the impression that when someone heard a car horn... they knew they had been seen (and angered the motorist) so they rarely even acknowledge hearing the horn.
I don't think anyone will soon invent a horn/bell/device that can yell "Hey ***-**** on the phone with the coffee in your hand". Not that I advocate yelling at people (I don't). But humans are still best for warning humans... IMHO.
I don't think anyone will soon invent a horn/bell/device that can yell "Hey ***-**** on the phone with the coffee in your hand". Not that I advocate yelling at people (I don't). But humans are still best for warning humans... IMHO.
09-23-14, 10:45 AM
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Don't even get me started on the Meanderthol Zombies in my city.
Like drunks on phones in Disneyland. 'Nuff said I guess.
Here is 15 seconds of fun for ya:
Like drunks on phones in Disneyland. 'Nuff said I guess.
Here is 15 seconds of fun for ya:
Last edited by JoeyBike; 09-23-14 at 10:48 AM.
09-23-14, 11:07 AM
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That hasn't been my experience. I really got the impression that when someone heard a car horn... they knew they had been seen (and angered the motorist) so they rarely even acknowledge hearing the horn.
I don't think anyone will soon invent a horn/bell/device that can yell "Hey ***-**** on the phone with the coffee in your hand". Not that I advocate yelling at people (I don't). But humans are still best for warning humans... IMHO.
I don't think anyone will soon invent a horn/bell/device that can yell "Hey ***-**** on the phone with the coffee in your hand". Not that I advocate yelling at people (I don't). But humans are still best for warning humans... IMHO.
09-23-14, 05:33 PM
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Pull in front of an ambulance that's running lights and sirens. You'll see that this one's definitely already been invented.
09-23-14, 05:57 PM
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What about those two-tone horns? When people think a car is coming, they react.
09-23-14, 08:15 PM
#21
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