A taste of road rage . . .
 

Since this happened last Fri, I almost forgot to post it. I actually got a little insight into how the raging motorist must feel. Just a little thing, but I'll have to remember it next time the tables are turned. I was making an ice cream run to the grocery last Fri night, say around 10pm. Dark residential street. These two dark clothed teens, amble across the street, mid-intersection, directly in my path, smoking cigs like they were too cool for school. I have that flare of self-righteous anger. "Jay-walker", I mutter to myself. I do not decelerate. One teen balks and stops in the other lane. The other calls my bluff and continues his slow cool walk, not a care in the world. I continue forwad, the game of chicken is on. I blink first. At the last moment I brake and blare my horn. MOTHA . . . ! Dang, law-breakin, hoodlums. Then I immediately feel guilt. Wow, I've grown old. When did I become so "establishment". I wonder if that's how the guy in the SUV feels when I'm taking the lane on my bike? He thinks I'm flaunting the law. A law-breaker. He is the righteous citizen, upholding the rule of law. Sometimes it's good to see the world from the other side of the steering wheel.

Maine has a law that cars must stop for pedestrians in crosswalks, and they even make a point of putting up signs about it. In my experience, most people either don't do it anyway, or they generalize it to stopping for all pedestrians, even outside crosswalks, which is generally fine too. So given that mindset, I'd've just stopped for them anyway, kids will be kids. Or at least it's easy for me to say that! :)

I'm glad you stopped, obviously. I'm sure you are, too.

I was taught that the pedestrian has the right of way, even if s/he is wrong.

I don't even know whether pedestrians have the right of way in Missouri outside the crosswalk, ie. mid-intersection, but given that it's Missouri, I kinda doubt it. But lets say they do, then my analogy works perfectly because I would be unaware of the pedestrians right to the road and my rage would be entirely unjustified, just like the motorists rage toward me when I lawfully take the lane with my bicycle.

Is there not a general obligation on the part of us all to avoid collisions where possible? I don't know of any provisions in anti-jaywalking laws which says a motorist is obligated to try to hit a jay walker.

Actually, that is the law in Texas, but jay-walking pedestrians are allowed to try to shoot the approaching driver.

and then the state gets to apply the death penality to whoever lives.

Allowed, or obliged? :)

Neither. It would be assault or manslaughter (depending on the outcome of said impact).

There would be no finding of guilt if you truly accidentally hit the ped but that dude had a witness who would say that you clearly saw them and ran 'em over anyhow.

Still obnoxious.

Good question... and imagine how that taste of rage might escalate on a bad day in just too much bumper to bumper traffic... and then you come upon the guy that seems to be the root cause... the cyclist doing 17MPH in your 50MPH lane...

Do you perhaps rev the engine a bit... flash the lights... lay on the horn...

At what point do you decide to "nudge" the cyclist a bit... just because you can?

Does might make right?

....and some folks think I am just paranoid....

Comparing two hoodlums jaywalking to a cyclist lawfully and reasonably riding his bicycle on the roadway is absurd.

Even the dolts who believe "bikes don't belong on the roads with cars" understand that the law says that cyclists have the right to be there. Perhaps there are some knumskulls who think cyclists belong on sidewalks, some may even think that is the law, but I've yet to run into one of those idiots in San Diego, or anywhere I've ridden in CA for that matter.

Worrying about road rage makes as much sense as worrying about fatal bathtub accidents, which happen much, much more often.

Serge

And I on the other hand have run into such knumskulls... at my former place of work... where I had to ride on the same narrow road (with parked cars on the side) as them, as we both went to the office. One of these knumskulls was even a motorcyclist... go figure.

I have even given the aforementioned knumskulls copies of the CVC to prove that bikes belong on the road.

It was like talking to a wall. The knumskulls do exist... sadly.

It's "numb", "numbskulls".

I don't want to turn this into the recently deceased bike lane thread, but it's interesting to me that I rarely see those who properly employ and understand vehicular cycling techniques angst about the cruel unpredictably homicidal nature of motorists.

I often see this from those who don't understand how traffic operates and consequently act in a squirrely and unpredictable fashion.

Maybe that's not you, genec, it's just an observation.

- Trevor (who tooled along at 10 to 15mph all weekend and so far this week with nary a complaint)

rofl cakes.