To the woman I almost hit on my bike turning onto Buena Vista road

[rikchik.livejournal.com]

I apologize for frightening you.

When you walked into the crosswalk in front of me, I thought that you would keep going into my lane, so I prepared to go behind you. Instead, you stopped to let me pass, and it seemed like I was aiming for you. You yelled at me, which was only reasonable.

What I should have done is to stop or slow down until it was clear whether you would be in my lane, and then either go in front of you or stop to let you cross. My bad, and again, I'm sorry.

Comments

[jimmyfergus.livejournal.com]

> this still leaves you "breaking the law" dozens of times per ride

Which brings the law into disrepute. Nobody really expects to obey the law. Does anyone approaching a main road come to a full stop at a stop sign and then pull forward 15 feet to yield and merge into a main road? Does anyone do <45mph on Route 2 after 95? The law is ridiculous, so the law is not respected.

I believe you're right about lack of trust being why people wait when they have the right of way, but what really gets me is how often they do it when they could get out of the intersection / half way across the road, before the vehicle they're waiting for even arrived.

[m00n.livejournal.com]

I believe you're right about lack of trust being why people wait when they have the right of way, but what really gets me is how often they do it when they could get out of the intersection / half way across the road, before the vehicle they're waiting for even arrived.

I think this is also because people do not trust their ability to judge the exact point at which an object on an intersecting course will cross their path. I consider this an absolutely essential skill for biking in the city but some people are just mind bogglingly bad at it. And if they are going to be bad at it, better that they not try than try and get it wrong.

[hrafn.livejournal.com]

I'm a good judge of when a moving object will intersect my path, but it only works if you can trust the moving object to keep moving at its current speed, and too many motorist/cyclists/pedestrians change their minds 20 times in 20 feet, sending mixed signals about what they intend to do. I hate how unpredictable traffic is here.