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]

Good on you for not trying to deflect responsibility. Everything would have flowed more smoothly if she'd just taken her right of way without question, but in the end, it was your responsibility.

I'm a biker too, and I don't believe in rigidly sticking to rules when they have no benefit (like stop signs which could safely be yields, red light with no traffic or pedestrians flowing - I know some people will disagree), but rule-bending always has to give deference to safety and others' right of way.

Occasionally I get it wrong too, and man do I feel embarrassed and angry with myself.

Not nearly as often as others get it wrong though and mess me up. It's amazing how someone can overtake a bike and then as soon as they pass the side window, completely forget the bike ever existed.

[rikchik.livejournal.com]

It's amazing how someone can overtake a bike and then as soon as they pass the side window, completely forget the bike ever existed.

I actually got a side-to-side nudge from one of those on Monday - luckily there don't appear to have been any damages or injuries on either side.

[miss-chance.livejournal.com]

I'm a biker too, and ...
Occasionally I get it wrong too, and man do I feel embarrassed and angry with myself.

yes. This.

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

Yep.

I've never been yelled at for any of the minor infractions (I am thoughtful and careful about them, but yeah, there's the occasional screw-up), but I get yelled at by cars all the time when I am completely obeying the law.

(On that note, just yesterday, a friend of mine posted about how bicycles shouldn't be on narrow streets.)

[ron_newman]

I'm glad to see this post, and hope that the woman will see it too.

[jimmyfergus.livejournal.com]

I hate to be a confirmation for the bike-haters... and to mess someone else about, of course.

[rikchik.livejournal.com]

I think it's really unlikely, but I'm glad that it seems to have spiked some conversation.

[m00n.livejournal.com]

Same here. I never seem to get yelled at/honked at more than when I'm in the left lane waiting to turn left. Or on the Alewife Brook Parkway on the left side of the road so that I can go straight through the Mystic Valley/Alewife Brook rotary instead of turning right. I swear sometimes I want to stop the driver right there in the middle of the road and ASK them if they'd rather I just swerve across their lane instead.

[perspicuity.livejournal.com]

a lot of drivers don't know all the rules of the road. which is a pity, and a safety issue for all of us.

as well, a lot of cyclists don't know these rules either :P

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[pierceheart.livejournal.com]

Thanks for owning up!

[m00n.livejournal.com]

Yeah, this is a tricky one. I do think it's right to apologize as, technically, the pedestrian has the right of way in the crosswalk. Generally though I think the safest thing to do is to avoid this situation altogether. When approaching an intersection with pedestrians standing on the corner, try to be as close to the middle of the road as possible. That way you don't have to worry about highly unpredictable pedestrians at all (since there is basically a 50/50 chance that they will decide to stop and wait for you).

I bike a lot with my girlfriend who is still a little nervous about swerving out into the middle of the lane and I can tell you there have been at least a dozen occasions where I have completely avoided a conflict with a pedestrian that she has then proceeded to nearly hit in exactly the same way that you did. And this is true even though she is biking along only 15 or 20 feet behind me.

[pierceheart.livejournal.com]

as well, a lot of cyclists don't know these rules either

A lot of them either don't know them, in general, or don't know they also apply to bicyclists at all times.

[whaler.livejournal.com]

That's nice of you to apologize!

[m00n.livejournal.com]

Also when in doubt, use your hands to indicate to the pedestrians that it is OK to go. A lot of times all they're really looking for is some acknowledgment from the bicyclist (or motorist) that you see them.

[perspicuity.livejournal.com]

"don't know" is also short hand for "they know, but: they don't care and break/bend the law, actually have no idea, etc..."

it's bad enough as well for the motorcycles out there. all these mixed vehicles need to get along better.

most of it, imho, is a sense of entitlement. "i gotta get where i wanna go, outta my way"...

be safe!

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[m00n.livejournal.com]

Yeah but the drivers add insult to injury by believing that the roads were mainly put there for the benefit of the drivers, and that the bicycles are there at the drivers' discretion.

[m00n.livejournal.com]

Which is odd considering the relative risk of injury to life and limb.

[perspicuity.livejournal.com]

it seems that every user of the road seems to think it was put there for themselves ;)

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[m00n.livejournal.com]

Well I know I do. ;-)

[rax.livejournal.com]

And only the cows are right.

[perspicuity.livejournal.com]

or the ones with good lawyers and insurance

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[perspicuity.livejournal.com]

ah, sign language! :)

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[beatniktea.livejournal.com]

You could've gotten of the bike and apologized in person :) I'm not trying to be a jerk, just a thought I had while reading this (but I'm not sure I would've either in your position...adrenaline rush and all that)

[m00n.livejournal.com]

Bicycling in Boston is unique, though, in that you will often (as in, regularly multiple times on the same trip) find yourself at a red light where there is obviously no traffic at ALL on the intersecting road. Knowing that you can run that light with impunity makes it a difficult temptation to avoid, and as someone who does it all the time, it's hard to see how it actually hurts anyone provided you respect the fact that oncoming motorists do have the right of way (and treat them accordingly--not making them slow down or swerve to avoid you, etc.).

[perspicuity.livejournal.com]

i see the same thing with cars. especially the police ;) red light? whatever.

it's worse on right turns. seems a lot of people aren't even doing California turns, they just blow right through, which leads to antics.

the left hand turners are the most special though.

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