gremlin76

Driving through town today, I was coming up to one of our only two traffic lights. I previously had passed a roadie, no problem. When waiting at the red light, I see in my mirror that he is riding between the stopped cars and parked cars. Cars get a green and and as I get to the intersection and the then red light I stop about 6" next to a parked car so the roadie can't roll past us to the intersection.

Seriously, I did this for his own safety. I had a feeling he would do something stupid and dangerous to himself, so I thought blocking his path was a good idea.

What does he do? He rides up onto the sidewalk, nearly hits a guy leaving the pizza place, and without stopping rides the crosswalk across the intersection, even though he has a red light and a don't walk sign. While crossing the side road, he was only looking to his right for cars, completely oblivious that a car on his left may be making a right turn on red.

Was I a dick for trying to stop this guy from riding dangerously? I had no idea what stupid things my actions would cause him to do. Seriously, I had the best intentions, but what I did caused him to ride more dangerously!

10 Wheels

Who is the Real Idiot?

deep_sky

Stupid is as stupid does. It isn't your job to protect the public from stupid people.

Kneez

The roadie made a series of choices. None of them were your fault.

Loose Chain

You should not block a cyclist path with tons of steel, that was not your business IMO.

Mr. Beanz

Now you know trying to save someone that doesn't need to be saved just may hurt another.

cooker

Your intentions were good, but obviously your attempt to help him was wasted and may have led to him being even more stupid and reckless. So learn from your experience. Don't try to manipulate people "for their own good", as it can backfire and have unexpected consequences. If you see someone about to have a collision, yell "lookout!"

mzeffex 

Never try to be nice, you will always be punished for it.

Louis

I think what you did was wrong, but the roadie is a real idiot.

Bubba Zanetti

You had the right idea but this could have backfired on you

xtrajack

I generally don't get concerned with what someone else does, unless it impacts me, or has the potential to. i.e. Ninja Salmon, but only when they are on my side of the road.

I do admit to watching someone ride, and thinking "They shouldn't be on the sidewalk,They should have some lights, or They should be on the other side of the road."

Like Kneez said above: They made their choices. Not my problem or responsibility.

ilmooz

What would be ironic is if the guy delayed coming out of the pizza place because he saw that he couldn't get back into his parked car since you were six inches away from it blocking the driver's door.

In a world of perfect unpredictability, you acted perfectly. You were only one of any number of random factors which may or may not have guided that cyclist's path of choices.

bike eagle

No, you just think that. You really did it for the same reason many drivers swerve to "send a message" to cyclists. Because you were trying to impose your will onto him, and because it made you feel powerful and superior. Unless you are a police officer, and you observed him doing something illegal, you had absolutely no business regulating his behavior. Live and let live.

Mr. Beanz

-------------------------------------

I am a bit confused on the situation, what is wrong with riding between the stopped cars and the parked cars. Bike lanes are marked SO! Am I missing something?

If he was wrong to pass parked cars, then maybe you were wrong to pass him on the road?

iforgotmename

I have to agree with the Beanz.

spock

What the hell is matter with that roadie??? Why go on the side walk when he could have easily passed on the left?? Car blocking your path on the right means planty of space on the left... duh

vettefrc2000

Yes, you were a dick for all the reasons you mentioned.

prathmann

True, but I suspect the OP wouldn't have been happy about that approach either.

In general, people don't like to feel that they're being manipulated by others. And that's what the OP was trying to do to the cyclist by pulling way over to the right and blocking the way.

spock

I know.. it would have shattered his ego right in half without risking the pizza.........boy...

es82

Whats wrong with riding between the stopped cars and parked cars? If there is enough room to navigate safely, I don't see what the problem is. I do this all the time, unless things feel too cramped then I'll stop and wait for the traffic to start moving again.

The Human Car

If you can't communicate with your fellow human being with civil words, then don't bother.

CNY James

if I was the roady, I wouldn't have gone up on the sidewalk but neither would I have been thrilled about you blocking up the lane. You may have had good intentions but there was no viable way for you to communicate that to the cyclist. In that situation, being on the bike I would have said for sure you were being a dick. FWIW, the outcome was no less risky than what would've happened if you had just shrugged his behavior off. In fact, it was likely more risky - he still crossed the intersection without regard for the motorists & he nearly hit a pedestrian.

umd

yes

they both were

rando

The answer is: YES! Now go and do no more harm to any being.

Kneez

You didn't cause him to do anything. You created a set of circumstances, or at least contributed to the creation of a set of circumstances, and the roadie decided to take a certain set of actions. You were waiting in line with other vehicles, which I think is the right thing to do. Your motivation may be questionable, as others have pointed out, but you were still acting lawfully and reasonably. As far as I know, unless there is a marked bike lane, we should not be passing on the right. I used to do that but it occurred to me that drivers are not expecting it and I prefer to offer as few surprises as possible.

So, the way I see it, you were waiting in line and the roadie couldn't cope with that because his particular agenda at that particular moment, namely his convenience, was so important that he decided to ride in such a way as to endanger pedestrians and increase the probability of a collision with a motor vehicle. He could have stopped. That was well within his universe of possible choices and really it was the right one since you and the rest of the vehicles were stopped at a red light. My guess is that had you not been, from his perspective, 'in his way,' he would have filtered up to the front and then run the red light all the same.