hurricane harry

Seattle loves controversy. Running bike hate stories fills up the comment section and blows up their skirts.
https://blog.seattlepi.com/seattle911...ct-kitsap-sun/
Bicyclist strikes flagger on bike lane project (Kitsap Sun)
Aren’t bike lanes supposed to be safer? Maybe not for the construction workers creating them.

The Kitsap Sun reports that a flagger outside a bike lane project on Bainbridge Island was struck and injured by a bicyclist who ignored the fact that the work zone was closed. The cyclist pedaled away.

From the blotter:

“The flagger said the bicyclist went around the waiting automobiles and was riding through the closed work area. The flagger, a Bremerton resident, said she waved her stop sign and stepped into the roadway to stop the bicyclist. The bicyclist struck the flagger and they both fell to the ground.”

San Rensho 

I've heard that cars speed in construction zones and have been known to kill construction workers, therefore all car drivers are evil.

ItsJustMe

Fixed that for you.

Bekologist

Sounds like the flagger was in the right, but i hate officious flaggers nonetheless.

Digital_Cowboy

This is kind of funny. As not that long ago I was traveling through a construction zone on 30th Ave. N. here in St. Pete. About halfway through it the first car behind me decides to blow it's horn at me.

I had to laugh, especially when one considers that in a construction zone cars aren't suppose to be traveling much faster then us anyway. Not to mention the fact that there was no sidewalk on our side of the road, and the other lane was totally closed off because of the construction. So I literally had no where to go, and the "poor" motorist had no way to pass me. I just shock my head and kept on pedaling.

What is equally as sad is that a couple of miles up the road to the west there is a stretch about 10 blocks long that has sharrows installed because the lane is too narrow to safely share. Given that when the city installed the sharrows that they didn't run any kind of PSA informing the public as to what they are. Sadly there are motorists and cyclists who don't know what they mean. As motorists still blow their horns at cyclists, and there are plenty of cyclists who ride the curb/gutter pan. So some time later they've installed "Do Not Pass" signs to further control traffic.

Yep, you've guessed it motorists still routinely pass cyclists in that area. Last month, I was either going out to the Sprint store or coming home from there when a white pickup truck moved out into the opposite lane to pass several cars so that s/he could also pass me. . .

CB HI

Smart move on the flaggers part, stepping in front of a moving cyclist.

Cyclist should not have run and should pay the price for that.

crhilton

Isn't it great that jerks on bikes are much less lethal than the same jerks in cars?

B. Carfree

+1 Most folks seem to ride like they drive, and drive like they ride. I'd much rather have them ride like asshats.

genec

How about the other situation... guys that drive like they bike... coasting a lot, going slow, signaling every lane change... that sort of thing.

sggoodri

It's the morning commute of 2/16/2011, and I patiently inch through bumper-to-bumper traffic in a mile-long one-lane construction zone. I nod to the construction workers I pass. I could hop the bike onto the sidewalk, but that's just not me, and even if I did, the speed at which I would feel safe on the sidewalk wouldn't be much faster. In a few spots the traffic ahead of me gets away from me, but I catch up, and the drivers behind me don't seem to mind anyway.

At last I get to the end of the construction zone, and the light turns green. I accellerate really hard standing on the pedals when suddenly, "snap," I lose the chain, thanks to a lucky gear tooth prying open the quick link and leaving it somewhere in traffic.

I coast to the sidewalk, check my bag and notice that my chain tool is at home on my work bench.

I walk my bike back on the sidewalk for half a mile beside the line of traffic to the nearest bike shop. In a few minutes the shop owner, Peter, arrives to get ready for opening. After a few sips of his coffee, he examines the old chain and we decide to replace it. He has my bike ready to go again faster than I can pick out a new pair of gloves and new multi-tool with a built in chain tool. One of his mechanics arrives and opens the register so I can pay.

As I head out, I choose to take the long, twisty, low-traffic back roads to work. I'm already late, so I might as well enjoy the ride.

unterhausen

I hope the flagger doesn't try to stop a motorist by stepping in front of their vehicle. Seems like it would have approximately the same chance of success.

Dchiefransom

Unless the flagger stepped out in plenty of time for a vehicle or cyclist to stop, and the cyclist ran her down anyway.

DX-MAN

Reminds me of the story from Bob & Tom....

Guy in an import car is crawling through a "Slow -- Construction" zone, and is stopped right next to the "SLOW" sign holder. Decides to be smartass:

"Hey, tough job, eh, Slow Guy?"

SG: "You need ta shut up, you're drivin' a foreign car, that cost somebody a JOB!"

SmartA: "You know, you can be replaced...by a bucket of SAND!"

Love that gag.

Let's see that rider run down a sand bucket.

WHO'S GOT TICKETS?

CritEastwood

zackly

degnaw

now that's funny.

twobadfish

LOL!!! So in conclusion,

1) Cagers are evil (relevance to the story is beyond me)
2) Cyclists have no standards of conduct to uphold since their mistakes are - in the grand scheme of things - meaningless

Seriously though I don't get it... why aren't people bashing the carelessness of the cyclist and running his character into the ground? Seems like anytime a "cager" makes a mistake or does something stupid people here aren't satisfied until the "cager" serves a life sentence in prison. But if it's a cyclist that acts like a dumbass, somehow, it's still "cagers" that get the brunt of the criticism.

DX-MAN

1) Because 'we' believe that so profoundly, 'we' never miss an opportunity to bash them, deserved or not. It's a deeply-held maxim to hate cagers......

2) Come over and let me beat you with a kendo stick, thereby explaining Zen to you, after which you will understand the truth of the great emptiness, and how it ALL is meaningless........

We can't run this doofus-ass cyclist into the ground because none of us caught him; we catch cagers all the time, that's what I LOVE about red lights.

/sarcasm over/

B. Carfree

Let's see, The cyclist in question was called a jerk, an asshat and it was said he should pay for the hit and run. Nope, no one assailing his character here.

Does someone have a pro-motorist (same as anti-cyclist) bias?

unterhausen

seriously doubt that a cyclist would hit a flagger if given plenty of time

Because everyone and their brother is constantly assailing cyclists with criticism -- even those of us that don't do anything illegal or unsafe. It's obvious that this cyclist was in the wrong and I see no room for argument on that point. Do you seriously think that any one in this thread sees this cyclist as having done nothing wrong? I feel no need to criticize every action of every cyclist any more than I see the need as a motorist to atone for the bad behavior of every motorist. For one thing, as a motorist, I wouldn't want to be atoning for some of the nonsense I see on a daily basis. I consider coming onto Bike Forums looking to criticize cyclists as being at least moderately trollish

I'm considering a sticky for everyone that wants to come onto BF and constantly whine about us criticizing motorists or giving cyclists a free pass.

CritEastwood

In case you haven't figured it out by now, either toobadsosadfish's reading skills are lacking, or he has selective memory that feeds his anti-cyclist subconscious.

BTW, the "pay for the hit and run" was even seconded.

CritEastwood

Rad, the cylist was publicly admonished for their misdeed four times in fourteen posts before toobadsosadfish knee-jerked the thread. I normally don't agree with any kind of forum moderation, but was glad to see unterhausen step in and at least comment on the ridiculousness of it all.

twobadfish

Come on guys... it's pretty obvious the direction the thread has taken. The OP was about a cyclist that did something stupid and it devolved into a thread about motorists. As usual, somehow, it always turns into motorists vs cyclists. All of these comments are either dismissive of the story or completely irrelevant to the OP.

I'm not anti or pro anything. But the hate towards motorists is pretty obvious. It would be a flame fest if the story was about a motorist side-swiping a cyclist. A ruthless witch hunt for the drivers blood.

LOL.. pro motorist?? What does that even mean? I drive a car. I ride a bike. I probably travel the same distance on both.

Cyclaholic

I quite enjoyed reading your post...

dynodonn 

One of my biggest fears is losing a chain while at the head of the wolfpack when the traffic light turns green, and why my chain checker sees more action than it really should.

A tough one, having gained all that time in the construction zone and lose it all, and more, in an instant.

JoeyBike

They must not have enough murders or elected official indictments in Seattle if running down a construction zone sign-twirler with a bicycle makes headlines. Unless one of them were killed anyway.