Bicyclists (and Pedestrians): On the Virtues of Stopping

[desireearmfeldt]

Riding my bicycle from Harvard to Davis at rush hour, I observed the following:

1) While I was stopped at a red light, three separate cyclists passed me from behind, in order to run the light. While this is both illegal and foolish, at least they had decent visibility and could presumably see (as I could) that there were not actually cars about to squish them flat.

2) I then passed a cyclist wearing earbuds but no helmet (on Mass Ave at rush hour).

3) Coming out of Porter, I nearly ran into a car pulling some sort of U-turn shennanigans because the visibility was poor and I couldn't see the car until I was almost on top of it. I stopped to wait for the car to finish its shennanigans. I heard two cyclists approaching to pass me from behind, simultaneously, one from either side. Since I was pretty sure they couldn't see the car, I put out a hand to gesture Stop. The left-hand cyclist stopped; the right-hand cyclist kept going. No actual collision, but I bet both he and the driver were pretty surprised.

4) Heading into Davis, I saw a pedestrian enter a crosswalk and stopped for him. The cyclist behind me kept going, nearly ran him over, and pulled up short at the last minute.

5) We then both tried to pass a van that was stopped at an intersection where it should have had the right of way, only to discover that in fact it was stopped to allow pedestrians to cross in a crosswalk (in this case, against the lights, right after the right-arrow turn onto College Ave) -- again, there was pulling up short but no actual squishing of pedestrians. (Minus points to me for disobeying my own rules.)

There are two morals to this story:

1) The rules of the road are there to let everyone have their turn to go without smacking into each other. Ignore them, not only at your own peril, but that of everyone around you. This goes for cars, bikes, and pedestrians too -- if you cross against the lights at College ave, you're impeding the flow of traffic from the right-arrow, and you're risking a driver/cyclist not seeing you in time to stop.

2) If someone has stopped in front of you (either your vehicle type or a different one), they have most likely stopped for a good reason. Possibly to avoid running into something that you cannot yet see because you are behind them. It is not a good idea to pass someone who has stopped for a reason, because you are likely to run into the thing they have stopped to avoid running into.

(Also, though not a moral of this story, I can't help but mention another fellow-cyclist peeve of mine: if I'm stopped at a red light, and you come up behind me to stop at the light too, you should fall into line behind me, rather than jumping the queue. This is understood for cars, mostly because it's usually not possible to do otherwise. Why do cyclists not consider it impolite to queue-jump? It seems quite rude to me.)

Comments

[mjrocks98.livejournal.com]

Last week coming down Lowell street around midnight I encountered a cyclist dressed in all black, no helmet, ear buds in & swerving all over the road. At first I thought he was intoxicated & then I realized, he wasn't holding onto the handlebars because he was TEXTING!!!!!

[perspicuity.livejournal.com]

(Also, though not a moral of this story, I can't help but mention another fellow-cyclist peeve of mine: if I'm stopped at a red light, and you come up behind me to stop at the light too, you should fall into line behind me, rather than jumping the queue. This is understood for cars, mostly because it's usually not possible to do otherwise. Why do cyclists not consider it impolite to queue-jump? It seems quite rude to me.)

i've seen scooters and motorcycles even go so far as to swerve onto a sidewalk, to get ahead and through faster.

then again, i've had a jeep use the bike lane and the sidewalk to get ahead. must've been something REALLY important.

ALL users of the road and sidewalks SHOULD exercise proper caution, but many do not. so it goes.

#

[miss-lisa-ma.livejournal.com]

In another city last night during rush hour, my BF and I witnessed a bicyclist (shorts, no shirt, no helmet) weave in and out of traffic in our lane, as the light coming the other way was green (we were stopped). He dashed between our cars on our (stopped) side of the light, made a mad left turn maybe two feet in front of an oncoming supersized pickup truck (who had the green light). The truck driver was only one driver to yell at the guy. If the cyclist had been hurt, I'd have gladly testified...for the truck driver.

[Unknown site tag], I'm glad to know there are conscientious cyclists out there. I wish you luck in encouraging more of the same.

[junesrose.livejournal.com]

Thank you, thank you, thank you for this blurb. I'm so glad this is coming from a 'cyclist' and not someone behind 4 wheels, because, we all know that those of us in cars have no freakin compassion for those walking and/or cycling.

/sarcastic rant.

I can't tell you how many times I've been given dirty looks by people crossing Dover st when I'm trying to get through because I have a green light and they have a giant RED HAND. IIRC from my driver's ed class, I believe pedestrians have the right of way when it is their turn; not ALWAYS.

Seriously though, it amazes me as I drive through the city how "entitled" a lot of pedestrians and cyclists feel they are; the fact that they CAN disobey rules, (which, cars can too but it's not as easy to sneak around that corner as a person on legs or two skinny wheels), doesn't mean they should. And no, I am not talking about everyone. Of course, that one bad apple does spoil it for the bushell, but considering all the bike accidents that have been happening in the city of Boston this summer I would hope people would be more careful.

Maybe I"m more sensitive to this plight cause years ago, I did get into an "accident" with a pedestrian. I turned right onto JFK ave (I think it's JFK ave...) in Harvard sq (having the green arrow to do so), only to have some Harvard law student run accross the street, hit my car, roll over the hood, and cut his ear, bleeding all over his fancy suit he was wearing for his interview. [Smart cookie that one. Wonder what he's doing now.]

Turned out he was OK cause I insisted on taking him to the clinic. (I work in a hospital...I'm paranoid that way...).
But yeah, what you said.

[totient]

I can't tell you how many times I've been given dirty looks by people crossing Dover st when I'm trying to get through because I have a green light and they have a giant RED HAND. IIRC from my driver's ed class, I believe pedestrians have the right of way when it is their turn; not ALWAYS.

This is Boston, and I expect people (drivers, cyclists, pedestrians) to disobey the law. Fine; often the law includes giant red hands when no traffic has a conflicting green, or ambiguous/nonsensical lane markings, or "no right turn on red" signs that serve no real purpose, so I understand why you don't trust it. But if you do that, don't expect sympathy from me when it doesn't work out.

[boblothrope.livejournal.com]

"I can't tell you how many times I've been given dirty looks by people crossing Dover st when I'm trying to get through because I have a green light and they have a giant RED HAND."

The problem with the Davis Square light, especially at the Dover crosswalk, is it stupidly gives a don't walk hand at all times except the all-way walk phase. Pedestrians have learned that it's perfectly safe to cross most of the time.

There really should be a walk light across Dover during Holland's green light. Similarly, there should be a walk light from the Highland-Elm island to Day during Highland's left arrow, and a walk across Holland (and no right arrow on Highland) whenever Holland and the busway have a red. This would also help drivers, since they could eliminate the all-way walk.

If traffic light programming doesn't respect pedestrians, it's not surprising that they don't respect the light in return.

[talonvaki.livejournal.com]

I believe pedestrians have the right of way when it is their turn; not ALWAYS.

I always thought pedestrians had the right of way, even if they're in the wrong. Because basically, in any car vs pedestrian scenario, the pedestrian would lose, so the driver of the vehicle should yield to them even if they're breaking the law.

And you can't always go by the "giant RED HAND." I know of plenty of intersections where the RED HAND doesn't turn into the WHITE WALKING GUY even if you push that button that's supposed to spark that metamorphosis.

Of course, pedestrians are supposed to follow the rules, but even when they don't, drivers are still obligated to give them the right of way; I suppose the theory being that the driver, being that they are driving, has more time to let the person who's on foot go ahead.

[hrafn.livejournal.com]

Holy crap. Some bicyclists are foolish, dangerous, and/or rude?? I can't believe it!

[shadesong.livejournal.com]

Thank you for not being an asshole.

I have to cross Mass Ave to get to work; the drivers are actually usually good about stopping (not being an idiot, I cross - in a crosswalk - when I have the light), but I have never once had a cyclist stop. Some come within inches of me. Personally, I'm always tempted to shove them as they pass.

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

Wow, where in the world on Mass Ave is this? I cross at the GIANT CROSSWALK (no light) at Garfield all the time and have a hard time getting cars to stop even if I'm waving my arms widely to make sure they see me or if I'm already halfway through a lane (they swerve around me without slowing down -- much scarier from a car than a bike).

[ron_newman]

if I'm stopped at a red light, and you come up behind me to stop at the light too, you should fall into line behind me, rather than jumping the queue.

I don't see the problem here, because there's usually room for 3 or 4 bicyclists to stack up side by side in a traffic lane. Also, bicyclists may be able to stop just beyond the crosswalk instead of behind it.

[rosiewoodboat.livejournal.com]

Ah Ron. The famous wrong-way bike salmon of Davis Square. Tell me where those 3-4 stacked up side-by-side cyclists should go, once the light turns green. Shall they all move forward in parallel, eventually crashing into each other as they merge to ride one-or-two abreast as is the law? Or should they race off the light, and have a survival of the fittest again as they merge according to a yet-undecided order?

This is the reason one shouldn't jump the queue.

[miss-chance.livejournal.com]

HiHi,

I just wanted to let you know that I'm with you for all of your road-awareness and conscientiousness in traffic, stopping for pedestrians and cars and so forth. Yay, good-citizen-cycling!

I do, however, "jump queue" fairly frequently at a traffic light, and don't consider it rude, so I thought I'd toss out there why, and see if it sounds legit to you. It would be good for me to get a reality-check on this; maybe I *am* being rude? Here's why I don't think so, but what do you think?

I "jump queue" at a light when I am certain that I am riding at a significantly faster pace than another cyclist. For instance, I might have turned onto Beacon at Prospect and noted the pace of the cyclist in front of me. I've caught up very easily, but didn't pass before the intersection at Inman because of heavy automobile traffic. While traffic is stopped, and the rider in front of me is stopped, I can safely pass. When the light changes and we all take off again, I'll continue at my pace, the other cyclist will do the same, and no one will be at risk or inconvenienced.

If, however, I "wait in line" behind a cyclist who I know I'm riding faster than, then I will have to pass in traffic, crossing out of the bike lane into the car-lane and back into the bike lane—which adds a bit more danger for everyone. There are plenty of cyclists who ride faster than me, and I don't cut in front of them in order to make them pass me again, and I certainly wouldn't expect them to "ride down" to my speed. It doesn't make sense to me that all cyclists would ride at the pace of the slowest cyclist on the road... at that pace I could not afford to bike the distance I do to work. I'm really happy that people ride at all speeds, and it seems to me that while stopped at a traffic light might be the best time to re-adjust the order we're all riding in so everyone continues to have a safe and happy commute.

Does that make sense? Is it really rude? tell me more.

Happy Riding!

[desireearmfeldt]

So, I do admit that there are two sides to the passing thing.

Yes, faster bikes can and should pass slower ones -- though they should pick appropriate times to do so -- and stopped at a red light is a safer and more convenient situation to do so than in moving traffic when space is tight.

On the other hand, I frequently get queue-jumped after I've been at the light for a longish while, by people who have probably come enough distance in that time that they don't have evidence of how fast I go relative to them. (They can guess by the fact that I have a milk-crate on the back of my bike that I'm not a speed demon, and they'd be right. But that's a guess.)

Also, in some intersections, it's a lot easier to get through if you get right off the mark when the light changes, before all the cars start turning or whatever (Inman Sq. comes to mind). In that case, I'd argue that the faster cyclist going first does more damage to the (presumably-less-skilled) slower bicyclist than vice versa -- not only have you taken the easier position from the weaker biker, but depending on the timing, if you zip right past them you may startle them and/or force them to yield, losing them yet more of their ability to zip through themselves. (I say "you" for ease of grammar, but I recognize this latter point is no longer about the peaceful-rearranging-while-everyone's-stopped situation you were talking about. :) )

But apart from that sort of you-are-actually-impeding-my-progress situation (which I admit is not most of them), and apart from passing-me-because-you-want-to-run-the-light... You're right that there are good reasons why one might steal place from a fellow-cyclist at a red light. I guess the trouble is, your fellow cyclist mostly doesn't know what your reason is. (Again, if you're on a spiffy bike and kitted out in spandex, I might make an educated guess that you plan to go fast, but it's a guess.) So there I am at the light, and everyone who arrives later decides that they have some good reason why they should get to go first...maybe they're right, maybe they're just rude and feel entitled, I can't really tell the difference most of the time.

I don't see an obvious fix to that issue, though. (In fact, the reason I mentioned it in a public forum was an attempt to raise awareness about how it looks from the other rider's perspective, because it is mostly a communications issue.)

[in-water-writ.livejournal.com]

I can't tell you how many times I've nearly gotten bowled over by cyclists who didn't stop when I was in the crosswalk. I don't drive at all, and I'm not a cyclist, but it's always irked me that so many cyclists don't stop at reds, or at crosswalks.

On the other hand, I still live in awe that drivers stop at crosswalks where there's no intersection or light... where I grew up (NY), that was unthinkable! You might as well wait for doomsday than get across the street.

With apologies to Maslow....

[serious-noir.livejournal.com]

I walk, bike and drive. My schema/framework is the Pyramid of Vulnerability: cars should defer to pedestrians and cyclists. Cyclists should defer to pedestrians (and small animals - even if they are on those evil 20 ft clothesline leashes) and pedestrians should defer to... smaller pedestrians and people with clipboards haunting Davis Square.

I've had two bad "bike vs car" incidents in the last day alone - with me being on the bike. One was on Sherman St. with lots of horn blowing and hand waving from some ditzy woman in a huge SUV because I wouldn't hug the parked cars and risk getting doored/mirrored in order to let her pass and get on with her important life. The other was someone passing me with inches to spare rather than waiting a few car lengths so I could move over to let her pass.

While I appreciate the complaints about people on bikes, many justified, in terms of paying attention to their surroundings and overall safety (e.g. not texting/talking on the phone, etc.) cyclists are the most aware (since we are the most at risk).

Re: With apologies to Maslow....

[dilllll.livejournal.com]

Regarding the lady who blew her horn; I like to get these people to pull over and hand them a copy of http://www.massbike.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/SRSRCardFHWAtagnew.pdf . Sometimes they're angry, sometimes they just don't know any better, but either way it's helpful to be calm and ask them to read it (and perhaps they'll visit the website). I've actually had people apologize and say that they didn't know that bikes were allowed in the middle of the lane (sigh).

Some people will just refuse to acknowledge me after they've honked and I've motioned for them to roll down their window (usually after I've caught up with them at a light); these people get the royal treatment of an extended middle finger and an enhanced delay as I sit in front of them at a light.

[enhf94.livejournal.com]

I'm primarily a car driver. When I get angry at bicyclists I try to imagine biking.

If I were a cyclist, I'd be unbelievably tempted to weave, zing through empty intersections, and occasionally even jump the sidewalk. And I'm a serious rule-follower-type.

If only someone (the Davis Square Bike school woman?) would/could fund a public education campaign on the bike laws. And I would approve of serious ticketing of bicyclists.

[afty.livejournal.com]

(Also, though not a moral of this story, I can't help but mention another fellow-cyclist peeve of mine: if I'm stopped at a red light, and you come up behind me to stop at the light too, you should fall into line behind me, rather than jumping the queue. This is understood for cars, mostly because it's usually not possible to do otherwise. Why do cyclists not consider it impolite to queue-jump? It seems quite rude to me.)

I'm 100% with you on this. I also take it as quite rude when it happens to me.

Also, I agree with shadesong about the cyclists on Mass Ave. I often cross at the intersection with Somerville Ave, and even when you have the walk signal most cyclists don't even slow down, and many make no attempt to avoid you. I'm also tempted to knock one over, or just keep walking and brace for impact. I really don't even need them to stop at the light, just slow down and yield to pedestrians in the cross walk.

[jere7my.livejournal.com]

Honest question: Is it legal for cyclists to take advantage of a WALK signal, provided they slow down and yield to pedestrians? My sense is that a cyclist could hop off their bike and walk it across; if they stay seated and ride their bike at a walking pace, there's no real difference. But I don't know what the law says.

(I know bikes should basically follow all the rules cars do, but there are exceptions. It's legal, for instance, for a cyclist to pass a row of stopped cars on the right, provided there's room to do so safely, and to ride on the sidewalk unless prohibited by community laws. http://www.massbike.org/resourcesnew/bike-law/ )

[catskillz.livejournal.com]

God yes! This week I saw a cyclist zoom up Mass Ave and almost hit a stroller as he approached the crosswalk, aiming to whiz through the red light. I could hear his brakes screech. Jesus. At least he was wearing a helmet!

[visage.livejournal.com]

You noticed all of this, but didn't see me as you biked past me? *hmph*!

[desireearmfeldt]

I was probably too busy watching for things that might get me killed. :) Extra points to you for recognizing me in a bike helmet -- I've had my own mother not know it was me (admittedly, when I had bug-eye sunglasses on as well).

[ominousfairy.livejournal.com]

As a drive who occasionally bikes (with great fear for my life), I am SO glad a cyclist posted this. I am not crazy. Traffic rules are there so that the other people on the road (including crosswalks and bike lanes) can all be on the same page and have reasonable expectations about other people's behavior. Indicator lights are a great example (though many cars in MA seem to not come with them). Pedestrians have every right (in theory) to expect that they can safely cross when the WALK sign is lit up. Cars should be able to drive forward when the light is green and the DON'T WALK sign is lit up. Cyclists should be able to have the entire bike line for themselves, and if there isn't a bike lane, to have drivers be more cautious.

Whenever any one of us bends or breaks these rules, the safety of all parties is compromised. It seems unfair that many times, the person who is at fault for accidents is able to drive/bike/walk away and leave others battered and hurt. I think we could all, myself included, do with being more aware of and courteous to those around us.

Also, bicycle cops.

[desireearmfeldt]

There's plenty to complain of in car-driver behavior, don't get me wrong. :) But, yeah.

Actually, on my list of things I'd like to raise driver awareness is the small but stress-inducing: when you are nicely waiting at your cross-street/driveway/what have you for me to pass in front of you, please do not start rolling or revving up the motor until I've cleared your bumper. I can tell, intellectually, that the car won't actually get to where I am before I'm out of the way, but it's alarming on the gut-instinct level. I expect it simply doesn't occur to drivers (who know perfectly well they're not going to hit me) how alarming that from the cyclist's perspective.

[dial-zero.livejournal.com]

These days I'm mostly a pedestrian and public transit rider, and I don't take much of a side in the bike/car wars. But I have to say, after work yesterday, I was waiting by the Arlington T stop and saw the dumbest thing ever. A city bus was in the process of making a right turn, and was doing it rather slowly. As it was in mid-turn, a batshit insane cyclist (no helmet) zoomed around the same right turn, on the inside of the bus's turning radius! I think my heart stopped. The bus driver saw they cyclist in their mirror and hit the brakes. Why the HELL would someone do that unless they're suicidal? Be safe, everyone!

[m00n.livejournal.com]

Same here. I tend to disagree with the notion that there is only a single "lane" for bikes in the sense that no bikes can ever be two abreast on any road. Most intersections in Boston have more than enough room for two or even three bicyclists to step next to each other without blocking the cars.

The only time I think rudeness comes into play is if someone stops alongside me, then starts at the same time and does a poor job of coordinating who gets to go in front such that I am forced to either slow down or speed up dramatically so as to avoid being driven off the road. This seems to happen to me a LOT more often in a car than on a bike though, I have to say.

[dilllll.livejournal.com]

Perhaps a silly question, but.. Have you attempted being vocal with other cyclists? Along with infrastructure deficencies, MA has serious road education problems. Pedestrians, cyclists, and drivers all seem to lack knowledge not only of how they should behave, but how other classes of road users should behave, and.. yeah. A quick yell of, "Hey, try actually stopping for pedestrians!" would probably work wonders for drivers and cyclists.

Also, queue-jumping is incredibly annoying, especially when you're passing the same cyclist over and over between lights.

[dilllll.livejournal.com]

Oh, and public shaming is an effective behavior modification technique, cyclists who nearly hit peds give them all a bad reputation, yada yada. All reasons for yelling at some idiot who makes you cringe with their behavior.

[contradictacat.livejournal.com]

So...just out of curiosity- how much trouble would a pedestrian be in if they stuck out their arm while walking across a crosswalk and "accidentally" clotheslined a cyclist zooming through? I've been brought up very short (like, glad I have shoes that have tread, stop-on-a-dime short) because some asshat decided my nose needed to be a little shorter as they whizzed by.

[mfinnigan.livejournal.com]

Sounds like assault to me. I'm refraining from calling you an asshole, but I'm pointing out that I'm refraining from doing it.

[badseed1980.livejournal.com]

*cheers*

[kerlin.livejournal.com]

I drive, and don't necessarily mind sharing the road with cyclists save when they're exhibiting the asshole behavior you mentioned above. (I saw a bike run a red light at the Boylston/Mass ave intersection in the Back Bay last week, heard car brakes squeal, and looked over to see the rider fine but the bike in a million pieces. Seriously, how stupid can someone be?)

But, another HUGE help for those of us trying very hard not to hit cyclists - hand signals! They are not difficult to learn, and just like it helps to know if a car is trying to get into your lane, if a cyclist uses the proper hand signal to tell me they're taking a left hand turn, I let them. If they just zip over without any warning or consideration for my reaction time and larger inertia, I have to slam on the brakes and I get extremely cranky.

[m00n.livejournal.com]

Frankly if a bicyclist is getting into your lane in such a way as to make you change anything in order to let them in, they're doing it wrong, whether or not they use the hand signals. People changing lanes should yield to the vehicles in the target lane, regardless of vehicle type.

[littlecitynames.livejournal.com]

As a cyclist, I have a few questions:

1) Is it even okay for us to queue-jump cars? I always get nervous when coming up from behind a car in case the light's about to change, and I always wonder how cars feel about it, but then I'm not taking up a whole lane so it would feel silly to wait in line behind a line of cars. I assume that since most cyclists I see do jump the car queue up to the intersection, it's okay, right?

2) Turning. If I'm going straight and the car next to me has a right turn blinker, should I just try to be sure to kick off before he goes? Should I wait for him to go? If there's a right turn lane and I'm not turning, should I be to the left of that lane? And if I'm the one turning, do I need to hold my arm out throughout the light as though my arm is a blinker so the cars behind me know I'm gonna turn left when I get the light?

These are all things I never would have thought of until I actually started biking, which I only started a week or so ago so I'm still a newbie at it, sorry.

[emannths.livejournal.com]

My take (as a cyclist round these parts):

1) If there's a bike lane, this doesn't really apply, as you're in your own lane and not really jumping anyone. The caveat here is that you have to assume anyone turning right won't look for you, so only pass someone who's got their blinker on if you can definitely get past them before they start moving. If there's no bike lane, I filter to the front if there's generous space. This way, people turning right can see you (because you're in front of them) and it means that cars don't try to pass you IN the intersection (which often leads to being squeezed out by the curb/parked cars ahead). The rule of thumb is that you want to be visible and predictable.

2) You do not need to signal "constantly." I usually signal as I'm approaching an intersection, and then again right before the light turns. As far as lane selection goes, you should basically be in the same lane you would be as a car. So if there's a right turn only lane, you would be to the left of that lane if you are going straight. Don't be shy about using the car lanes in situations like this--anything that makes your intentions more obvious is better. As far as right-turning cars go, either pull up in front of them to make sure they can see you and you go before they do, or, if you can't get in front of them, hang back behind them and let them go first. Just assume that if you are on someone's right, they won't see you unless they can see you through their windshield. That should guide your actions pretty well.

BTW, sometimes the argument for not filtering to the front is that it means that cars have to repeatedly pass you. This seems like a bogus argument, because you pass THEM at each light. The average speed is the same. So who's to say who should avoid passing whom?