Originally Posted by
Medic Zero
A friend of the family killed a little old lady that way. Car ahead of him stopped, he goes around on the right just as she steps out from in front of the car that was nice enough to stop for her. Scooped her up like a deer onto the hood and then through the windshield into his lap. Cops figured he was shook up enough and learned his lesson, I don't think he even got a ticket, I know there wasn't a trial for manslaughter or anything.
My least favorite part of my commute right now has the same hazard. 35+MPH descent for several blocks, the couple of lights on it are always green, traffic moving about the same speed as me in the bike lane, until they stand on the brakes to let the cute college girls use the crosswalks. Now that the weather is nice, inevitably I've got a pace line forming up behind me that I have to worry about ploughing into the back of me when I have to brake hard because the college kids see the cars stop and step out into the street despite a pack of cyclists bearing down on them at speed.
Dude - if the pedestrians are using a crosswalk they have no legal obligation to avoid stepping out into the crosswalk when a cyclist (or a whole pack of them) is bearing down at speed. I can certainly understand your worries about you braking for the pedestrians in the crosswalk and yielding to them (as you should when they are in the crosswalk) and getting slammed into from behind by another cyclist or more then one who do not respect pedestrian right of way in a crosswalk as they should. No reason you should get rear-ended by other cyclists for doing your part and following the rules of the road but that is not the pedestrians fault that is the fault of the other cyclists who were following too close and/or stubbornly refusing to slow down that run into the back of you not the fault of the pedestrians legally using the right of way cross walk.
I understand your concern but lets place the blame where it legal belongs not on those legally using the right of way just because they dare to do so, that is the same kind of "how dare they actually take the right of way they are legally entitled too, don't they know it inconveniences me and I'm bigger then them and can run them down if I want too - and I just might do so" attitude that a lot of motorists have about cyclists that smells to high heaven.
Added note: How I handle situations like this is to clearly give the "STOP" left hand down hand sign before I hit the brakes to help keep from getting clobbered from behind. I realize there isn't always time to do that but whenever possible I try to use it and it has kept me from getting rear-ended a couple times. A bright active tech. brake light (comes on when you hit your brakes and has a switch attached to the brake levers) would be even better but I only have one of those rigged up on one of my e-bikes not on all of my bikes