I hit someone today.

[ilima]

I crashed because of one of those people with iPods. She was walking in the middle of the path (too narrow to get by her), so I ended up ditching into a flowerbed. I also nearly hit someone on my way back from the library on my last ride. The man was heading in the opposite direction. How do you miss a big red, white and blue blob yelling at you? I wound up braking hard and missing him by an inch. I hate riding to places on a college campus...

Sometimes it is the peds fault, and sometimes it's just a sheer accident. But you can get really hurt when you hit one on your bike. My elderly landlord now has a metal rod in his thigh bone because a pedestrian stepped out into the street from behind a big bush. He was going slow, and I can't imagine how badly he'd have been hurt if he was going faster.

[SlowButSteady]

I'm glad I don't have to use shared bike-pedestrian paths very much. I'm sure I would log more crashes. They seem clueless, especially the ones with the iPods in their ears.

[OakLeaf]

The thing about it is, we all KNOW they're clueless.

We're not 12-year-old boys who, on the rare occasion when we're actually paying attention, are using that attention to tempt fate.

We're mostly adults, mostly women, all of us trying to ride safely and sensibly.

And that means being prepared for people to do exactly what that kid did.

I've really been trying to stay out of this thread - I said what I wanted to say on the thread about the crash on the Chicago MUP. But I didn't get close to 5,000 posts by standing on the sidelines holding my fingers.

Wherever we ride - whether we're on a MUP where the risk is about equal for everyone, or on the road where the risk is much greater to ourselves - we need to be prepared for the likely contingencies. It isn't about fault. It's about safety. We need to be prepared for the right-hook, the door, the left-turner, AND the deranged pedestrian. Because we're just as dead, or just as injured, when we crash with one of those people, as we are when we crash through our own violation of traffic laws.

Inatree, you're not going to hell. And I hope you don't take what I'm saying the wrong way, because I know how scary your crash was, and I know it wasn't your fault.

But the kid was behaving unpredictably and moving quickly. If it had been an uncontrolled dog, you would've come to a complete stop. As I said in the other thread, a lot of pedestrians seem to have less common sense than your average squirrel, yet they weigh more than an average deer. Riding on a MUP means being prepared to come to a complete stop at any moment. (Really, that's true for riding anywhere, but the quarters are so much narrower and more crowded on most MUPs that you have less of an opportunity to swerve or accelerate to avoid a collision.)

I'm very glad you're okay, and that your bike is basically okay (although I agree that getting it checked over is always a good idea after a crash). Take care - and again, please take this as advice and not criticism.

[KnottedYet]

They seem clueless, especially the ones with the iPods in their ears.

Kind of the way I feel when I'm driving my car and dealing with cyclists with iPods in their ears.

[WVGeo]

I think the weirdest almost-collision with a pedestrian I ever had when I was biking years ago was when I was coming up on a woman on the Mt. Vernon bike trail and I called out "Passing on your left!" and pulled to the left, as had always been standard practice. Instead of just letting me go by, she yelled "No! Right!" and stepped into my path. I was able to jerk the bike to the right and not hit her, but it was a near thing.

[Kris]

I hate riding to places on a college campus...

I'm in a college town too. The students came back over the weekend, and the nature of the MUP has changed noticeably, bless their hearts. The roads too, for that matter. <sigh> I have to remind myself that without them DH wouldn't have a job.

[OakLeaf]

I think the weirdest almost-collision with a pedestrian I ever had when I was biking years ago was when I was coming up on a woman on the Mt. Vernon bike trail and I called out "Passing on your left!" and pulled to the left, as had always been standard practice. Instead of just letting me go by, she yelled "No! Right!" and stepped into my path. I was able to jerk the bike to the right and not hit her, but it was a near thing.

Wow, that is bizarre.

But it points up what I was saying in the other thread. It's obvious which lane cyclists are supposed to be in on a MUP. But for pedestrians, it's unnatural to be in the right lane with their back to traffic. If there are no posted rules stating that all traffic should keep right except to pass, it's no wonder if pedestrians get confused about that.

[kfergos]

I think the weirdest almost-collision with a pedestrian I ever had when I was biking years ago was when I was coming up on a woman on the Mt. Vernon bike trail and I called out "Passing on your left!" and pulled to the left, as had always been standard practice. Instead of just letting me go by, she yelled "No! Right!" and stepped into my path. I was able to jerk the bike to the right and not hit her, but it was a near thing.

That is totally bizarre!

I actually had an experience similar to that, but I was the ped. When I was in junior high, I was rollerblading along with my dad, who was training for a marathon. Dad was on the right and I was on the left. Rollerblading, as you probably know, takes up a lot of side-to-side space, so I spent a lot of time moving to the right when bicyclists came up behind and called "On your left." I did it so many times that it became habit: I heard somebody call anything behind me, and I immediately moved right.

Then came the bicyclist who called "Down the middle!" and started to ride right between me and my Dad. I, however, had heard a voice and had started moving to the right to get out of the way. Of course we crashed: Dad got out of the way, but the bicyclist hit the ground and so did I. I was a little scraped up but not terribly so, thanks to all my knee-, elbow-, and wrist-pads; the bicyclist wasn't badly injured but he was bleeding. (Now I wonder if his bike was damaged -- probably so.) Most of all, he was incredibly pissed off at me for running into him. I distinctly recall how angry he was that I had moved to the right when he clearly said "Down the middle" or "in between" or something like that.

Being 13 years old, I took it deeply to heart and burst into tears. The bicyclist went on his angry way, and Dad and I went home. I still have never forgotten the cyclist, though, and I think of that experience every time I go to pass somebody going slower than me. Clearly sometimes -- like in the OP -- you can't be predictable enough for some peds. But sometimes a little predictability goes a long way.

[maryellen]

"Down the middle"

This is a strange thing to call out and expect any particular response. Who or what is down the middle?

I can imagine a 13 year-old thinking "but I was so good keeping to the right! why is he yelling at me?"

[blackhillsbiker]

Around here the most interesting MUPs are on the North side of town. There the pedestrians are most likely to be inebriated, very unpredictable, and sometimes panhandling. Once I crashed going around a couple (I misjudged the edge of the path getting back on). I was pretty banged up. They at least made sure I was okay before asking me if I had any money.

Deb

[inatree]

wow, thanks for all of the replies. i'm feeling a little better about it now, mostly. my handlebars weren't bent, just the shifter, which a nice person at the lbs clicked back in place in about 2 seconds.

i've been even more cautious with the peds now. i was grateful for that today when on my ride i slowed down a great deal for parents with a 4 yr old girl. the mom had pulled her to herself but the girl saw me, and literally broke away from her mom to run right into my path. why do they do that? it was ok tho because i was prepared for it and stopped easily. a little later i passed a family with a 2 or 3 yr old boy, i was walking the bike by him because his dad had to literally grab him by the arms to keep him from running into my path. i am so glad i am not a parent. i don't know how you parents do not go insane. well, it actually appears that some of you do sometimes.

after hearing some of your stories, i am even more glad that no one got hurt in my little incident.