akohekohe

People complain endlessly about cyclists who run red lights, ride on sidewalks etc. Well, it is time to stop complaining and be proactive. The other day I was crossing the street with a walk light and just as I was getting to the other side this bicyclist runs the light by passing a van on the right in the bike lane - I didn't see him and he didn't see me. I jumped back in time but somehow my foot stuck out as I jumped back and knocked the MF over onto the pavement. I swear it was an accident , but think about it, if I had done this deliberately how could I be blamed since the cyclist was clearly at fault. Let him call the cops and claim I deliberately knocked him over Same with the sidewalk - I don't think an illegal sidewalk rider is going to get anywhere claiming you deliberately knocked him over. Yeah, I'm not going to publicly advocate you do this sort of thing (I never have ) but let us consider this hypothetically, what if people start being proactive?

Shadowex3

I would say a lot of proactive people would be putting the lives of themselves and others at risk and if you're going to be that violently insensitive to the risk you're putting people's lives in you should just get a concealed carry license and shoot people who anger you. It will be less painful for both of you.

ekincam

I saw a bicyclist approaching a 4-way stop a few weeks back while driving. It was my turn to go so I let out the clutch and pressed the gas. I couldn't have predicted that she wasn't going to stop since I already entered the intersection before she crossed the line on the road at the stop sign and instead swerve in front of me and stop using her face as the brake.

As far as sidewalk riding, I watched my friend throw a, supposedly, $3000 bicycle belonging to a sidewalk rider into the San Francisco Bay. Bicyclist flagged down a police officer who told each of us to go our separate ways seeing how the rider hit my friend's GF, who we later discovered to have a concussion in addition to bruised ribs which we thought were fractured at the time.

I-Like-To-Bike

Even more motorists complain about the presence of of cyclists on the streets and roads, regardless of the legality of the cyclists' presence, road cycling position and technique.

I presume you wouldn't be happy with any wink-wink suggestion that such motorists take similar pro-active action against cyclists that offend their sensibilities.

AlmostTrick

With all those smilies, winkies and tongue sticker outers, I'm still trying to figure out if the OP's incident was actually accidental or deliberate.

If you want to be proactive just say something... You know, kinda like how motorists do to cyclists.

chipcom 

Hey, bra, try that on a big ole 'nacker and let us know how it turns out.
Tough guys, meet em everywhere.

spock

That's just like the war on drugs. It will never work.

This is your brain.


This is your brain on running the red lights

cudak888 

Because it was you who nearly ate it this time.

-Kurt

gcottay

The OP is asking our opinion on criminal and violent behavior that pretends to teach riders a lesson. It seems to me there is a story out of California that might be instructive to him.

JoeyBike

Hypothetically, I will immediately start fantasizing about punching every J-walking pedestrian who steps out in front of me in the middle of the block right in the kisser. My hypothetic fist is beginning to ache already.

Everybody breaks the law (hypothetically of course). It is solely YOUR responsibility to pay attention when crossing a roadway even if you have right of way. Look both ways before you cross the street - and KEEP looking for trouble all the way across.

It's SIMPLE. Hypothetically speaking anyway.

cudak888 

Funniest A&S post today.

-Kurt

Digital_Cowboy

That wouldn't be a certain former ER doc who "wanted to teach 'em a lesson" and who was "just planning on taking their picture," would it?

pacificaslim

I think Akohekohe should be banished from this cycling website and sent over to some car website to spew this crap.

The proper response to car drivers who complain about cyclists is to tell them that they are lazy bastards who are polluting our air and messing up our environment so the least they can do is patienttly sit their on their asses and let cyclists and pedestrians, who are not messing up our common resources, have the right of way AT ALL TIMES.

akohekohe

You seem to think I might have a car. But on point, I find it absolutely incomprehensible the bicyclists I know, and there are quite a few, that have no respect at all for pedestrians. At the same time they are complaining about cars they refuse to respect the rights of pedestrians. I've watched these guys ride and they are a virtual terror on the sidewalk or weaving through a crosswalk full of pedestrians. When I stop for pedestrians in the cross walk they almost always seem utterly amazed that a bicycle would yield to them. I just smile and say pedestrians have the right of way.

akohekohe

Too bad your friend lost his temper ... should have just called the cops filed a police report and now the GF could be going after the cyclist for damages.

akohekohe

Well, I didn't see the guy until the very last second (as I explained, there was a van obscuring the view) so it certainly wasn't premeditated ... Yeah, I've tried, countless times to explain to sidewalk riders to get off the sidewalk. They invariably tell me they would if it wasn't for the a**hole cars on the road. They won't listen to pleas to refrain from passing granny at 15 mph with a few inches to spare and if they do kill granny they will certainly blame the cars for "forcing" them to ride on the sidewalk in the first place. Sometimes they threaten to beat me up. I don't bother anymore.

akohekohe

Well, for the most part, the cyclists aren't causing severe bodily harm or death by their action to the motorists, just inconveniencing them. Bicyclists are illegally and recklessly endangering pedestrians. So no, I wouldn't suggest MV operators be "proactive", the cyclists aren't killing them ... pedestrians on the other hand ...

akohekohe

I take it the violently insensitive people you are referring to are the bicyclists who pass granny on the sidewalk at 20 mph with inches to spare

pacificaslim

Sorry, but accident and injury statistics do not back up this claim. It is a very rare event when a cyclist harms a pedestrian. O'ahu may be different, but if so, feel free to post in the Hawaii forum where you all can discuss this common situation. In the rest of the country it isn't common, and as such, we won't use it as motivation to purposefully harm a cyclist.

akohekohe

Well, I'm not sure the statistics are available to answer this question. In general an accident doesn't make it into the traffic accident statistics if there isn't a MV involved. If a bicycle injures a pedestrian on the sidewalk it is almost certainly not going to show up as a traffic accident. The earlier post detailing the woman who got a concussion after being hit by a bicycle in San Francisco certainly isn't going to show up in any statistics and I have a feeling that is fairly typical. So where are you coming up with these statistics saying bicycle - pedestrian collisions are uncommon?

I-Like-To-Bike

It is YOU who are calling for violent actions (wink-wink) to combat a problem that YOU claim is common. The burden of proof is on YOU.

Sorry, an anecdote or two and a rebuttal of demanding negative proof from skeptics won't cut it even in a high school debate.
BTW, wink-winks won't wash away the stains of a dopey proposal, sorry.

CB HI

I imagine Akohekohe sees far many more cyclist putting peds at risk around the university campus, than most of us put up with. So I can understand the frustration.

Downtown Honolulu, most of the cyclist are far more careful about yielding to peds, even the surfer dudes that have their boards on the bike. Downtown, it really is the motorist that put most peds at risk and Honolulu has a very high rate of motorist killing pedestrians compared with the rest of the nation.

During the last 15 years downtown, there have only been 2 cyclist that I was tempted to bump them over. One was a guy who regurlary rode his ELECTRIC bike the wrong way on narrow sidewalk at 15 mph, to eat his lunch at the beach. He forced me to step off the sidewalk into the bushes to keep him from hitting me head on. I yelled at him that the next time, I would knock him down and have the police write him a ticket for one of the five laws he was breaking. That and him seeing me running past him at the beach most days got him to start yielding to peds. I have not seen him for several years, so maybe he finally got hit and gave up riding.

The second guy was also a wrong way, sidewalk riding, 40 year old. He almost got hit last week by a car coming out of a shopping center driveway. While he was turned around yelling at the motorist to "look both ways", as he almost plowed into me. I explained to him that he was breaking the law riding on the sidewalk and riding the wrong way. He claimed it was OK to ride the sidewalk in the city. I countered "Your wrong and you can see it almost got you hit". His response "Oh well". He rode away across the intersection, turned right to run a red light (forcing a motorist to slow to avoid him) and continue riding the wrong way on the side street sidewalk. It will not be long before he gets hit.

Most of my close calls downtown, are as a pedestrian with motorist running red lights during right turns on red. I have few conflicts while cycling on the roads downtown. One armored van got tagged with a dumbell I carry during my lunchtime run, as the driver nearly ran over my toes. He jammed on his brakes, the passenger opens his door and threatens me. I yelled, lets call the cops about it. Passenger slams the door shut and they race off. Funny how the van did not have any company markings.

Doohickie

You want to be a cop? Go to the police academy. Otherwise, forget vigilante justice; you're just playing with fire.

Shadowex3

Guys, successfull troll has been successfull, just stop feeding him and ask the mods to lock the thread. At this point it's pretty obvious he's only posting to get a rise out of EVERYONE, vehicular or pedestrian.

Longissimus

A vigilante pedestrian? Brilliant. A professor, huh???