Cycling and Hit and Run Drivers

[Bethany1]

Was looking at CNN and read this article: Bicycle injuries: Is the right-of-way fight getting ugly?

The fact that we as cyclists are just nothing but moving targets with no legal recourse is disturbing. Nothing gets investigated and we are blamed for everything that happens.

My heart goes out to Michelle Matson.

The really sad part was reading through the comments. I know people hate cyclists, but I was beyond shock at the terrible things that were said. This lady was hit by a car, nearly killed, has metal rods and pieces of asphalt in her and all people can say is how stupid cyclists are and they deserve everything that happens to them.

Is this a problem in Europe or just a USA thing?

[Penny4]

Don't many police dept's have officers on bikes? You'd think this would help change their perception!
It is so sad to read articles like this.

We all have to do our part and try to educate friends, family, etc on rules of the road, what's its like to be on a bike. Before I started riding a few years ago, I always used to wonder why cyclists weren't riding on the perfectly nice sidewalks

[SallyRides]

This is so sad. I have no idea if it is like this anywhere but here in the USA, but that attitude is so prevalent in this country. And I think that stems greatly from our automobile society. And the number of people that can't imagine getting from one place to another under their own power. To them, we are the problem. We're in their way. Taking up their space. If they would just once get out on a bicycle and experience what it's like.............

Honestly, it scares me. I am constantly watching and listening for cars. I have a mirror on my sunglasses and I use it all the time. i hope that helps keep me safe, but who knows?

SR

[rubysoho]

Even if it isn't the majority of people it is still scary to know there are people out there who joke and laugh about hurting cyclists. I think quite a few would never actually do it.

That said, are there places where it happens more frequently? I ride in a county of over 1 million people and every day I feel like the majority of drivers are kind and respectful.

But in my university town where the population was 14k when the school was not is session... I know of quite a few riders who have been clipped by cars and I know of at least two people, including the captain of the cycling team (I think), who have been killed because of "inattentive" drivers.

I spoke to a cyclist the other day who told me a story about cyclists on a fund raising tour that were harassed by motorcyclists and it ended up in a nasty, tangled mess. Motorcyclists! You'd think of everyone on the road this group would be especially kind to cyclists! It happened in a more rural area of the state.

The very fact that there are people in this world who think opening their car door into a cyclist is a funny prank (happened to a friend from school) ... is more than messed up.

As for comment sections, there are a lot of trolls in this world and the anonymity of the internet brings out the worst.

[Slowspoke]

I live in the Motor City. While there are many bike clubs and riders, the attitude around here is not good at all. The other day I was riding with my dog on the walkie dog, on a quiet side street and a lady came up in the opposite direction, talking on her phone. She stopped in the middle of the road, got off her phone and yelled out her window at how stupid I was! It is not unusual for me to get yelled at from cars. I abide the laws, am careful and will actually get up on the side walk if cars are crazy. When I have to get up on the side walk, I then am the one actually breaking laws! It is frustrating and there are not nearly enough bike paths. Bike lanes are starting to appear but not enough to get anywhere significant.

[tzvia]

There is a lack of tolerance for cyclists with some people. Or maybe it is a lack of tolerance for everyone who is 'in their way' as they dash (probably late and unable to properly handle simple things like getting up on time). As I leave the house on my morning commute, the first two streets are in an otherwise quiet neighborhood of single family homes and a public and a private school. 6:15 am and very few people or cars. Well, there is one person who either lives around here or takes the street because it is empty and he/she is in a real hurry every time they go by in their white Scion. I have seen them speed through a stop- on the left around a car that has stopped at the sign. He did it to me as I was making a left; just blasted around me on the left, turning into the right side of the intersecting street. How much time is that bozo saving here? 5 seconds? But he risks his life and mine with these antics in his little tiraid through the neighborhood. When I see him I stay far to the right as I can. This is the mindset that gets cyclists killed. The world needs to get out of the way for them.

On the other side, my neighborhood gets it daily visits from several cycling clubs, the fast 'A' riders in full kit that are attracted to the twisty streets in the Santa Monica mtns. That same left turn that Scion-bozo zoomed around me as I took off from the full stop, these 'entitled' cyclists just blast through themselves. You see, they don't have to stop, that sign is for cars and it makes them waste the energy they picked up going downhill down my street. The next two stops they just blast through; I mean, really; stop at the sign? Yep, great ambassadors for the sport they are as drivers who had the right of way now have to jam the brakes as they are forced to wait again for 20 or so brightly colored IMO stuck-up cyclists.

So you see, we don't have a 100% iron clad 'we are so innocent and are just being targeted and nobody cares' argument when our own often ignores the rules of the road and just assumes that the motorists and pedestrians will just let them through because they're wanna be pros you know.

Once a motorists rolled down their window and comment that they were surprised that I stopped at a light because 'no cyclists stop at that light' (that was in Santa Barbara).

Now I am not in any way excusing the hit and run driver from that accident in the post above, just saying that some of us cyclists are fanning the flames of the increasingly more irritated drivers who have to contend with hour long 20 mile commutes, only to have to make way for cyclists who can't even stop at a stop sign. As a group, we have to be responsible and not tolerate cyclists like those who, in an hour or so, will be blasting down my street and making that left turn without stopping, helping to create the next intolerant hit-and-run driver.

[zoom-zoom]

So you see, we don't have a 100% iron clad 'we are so innocent and are just being targeted and nobody cares' argument when our own often ignores the rules of the road and just assumes that the motorists and pedestrians will just let them through because they're wanna be pros you know.

Once a motorists rolled down their window and comment that they were surprised that I stopped at a light because 'no cyclists stop at that light' (that was in Santa Barbara).

Now I am not in any way excusing the hit and run driver from that accident in the post above, just saying that some of us cyclists are fanning the flames of the increasingly more irritated drivers who have to contend with hour long 20 mile commutes, only to have to make way for cyclists who can't even stop at a stop sign. As a group, we have to be responsible and not tolerate cyclists like those who, in an hour or so, will be blasting down my street and making that left turn without stopping, helping to create the next intolerant hit-and-run driver.

I need to make more of a point of hollering at fellow cyclists when they do stupid sh*t. It would be more effective if I could do so from my own saddle, though. When I'm in my car I know that if I yell at them that it will fall on deaf ears.

I find that a lot of times motorists go so over the top to give me a wide berth that it becomes annoying. At 4 way stops they often want to let me go first, instead of appropriately taking their turn...which then p*sses other motorists off and their ire is directed at me. It all would be so simple if motorists always treated cyclists as vehicles and if all cyclists always behaved predictably and like vehicles.

[Crankin]

Zoom, I couldn't agree with you more. While I've actually had 2 incidents of anti-cyclist rage aimed at me and/or DH in the last couple of weeks, it's not so common around where I ride, at least in my experience. However, I do find fault with the drivers who go so far over the yellow line to pass that they are driving on the wrong side of the road, as well as the ones who think they are doing you a favor by waving you on at a 4 way stop. However, around here, drivers do that when you are in a car, too. The system of first come, first to go that worked flawlessly in AZ seems to be incomprehensible to drivers here.
I went grocery shopping this morning and I know that now it is the time of year that I never drive up Strawberry Hill Rd on a Saturday morning, because there are large group rides, as every club includes this road on a ride in Concord. So, I go just a little out of my way to get to the store. On my way back, it's usually fine, as riders are rarely coming down the hill, at least in large groups. As I was driving home, there was a huge group of riders coming up the hill. I knew that it was a Bike Ride for Ordinary People ride, as I get their emails, despite the fact I have never gone on one of their rides. I was sure glad I was going the other way. My friend rode with them once last year and most of the people had no handling skills at all. Someone crashed into her DH, who is not that keen on riding to begin with.
So, yes, un-law abiding cyclists piss me off as much as clueless and angry drivers.

[tzvia]

Well, the 'A' group went by this morning as I was going downstairs and I almost witnessed a massacre. A few doors up the street on my side someone was having a garage sale. There is little parking, and a car that was traveling on the opposite side decided to U turn to park on my side to go to it. But the leaders of the 'A' group had just topped the hill a few doors further down past the garage sale, and wouldn't you know, they did not stop at the stop-sign and just barreled down. About 5 cyclists from the group screamed at the U turning motorist who was not expecting anyone flying down the hill because there is a stop at the top and there was no one there when he glanced a moment before he began the U. He happened to look their way again and hit the brakes. They had enough room to zoom by- but that motorist just put his head on the wheel- couldn't tell if it was disgust or relief.

There was a solid yellow, the motorist was wrong and should have gone a bit further and made a right and turned in the side street, then make a legal left turn back onto my street. The cyclists were wrong in passing the stop. It could have been ugly.

{{{SIGH}}}

[Owlie]

I constantly get honked at at trail-road intersections because I look like one of those arrogant spandex-clad crazy people who refuse to stop at said intersections. Well, since the trails cross some pretty busy roads, you'd think it was in their best interest to actually stop...

[OakLeaf]

Well, you know, the "spandex" thing is just one more us-and-them. IME, cyclists in street clothes are no more likely to obey traffic laws. In fact, they're much more likely to violate them in extremely dangerous ways - riding on the wrong side of the street, riding without lights at night, turning left from the right lane, riding on the sidewalk. But they look more like car drivers than people in cycling gear, and granted a paceline blowing a stop sign is pretty noticeable, so the riders in street clothes get spared much of the road rage.

I'll always slow down for a crossing, but you know, if it's a busy road, it might be much safer not to come to a complete stop...

[rubysoho]

tzvia, the more I think about that group (and the car that always zips through the neighborhood) the more I wonder... Why not call the police? If it is as dangerous as you say and happens as often then I think it would be worth notifying the authorities. Doing something so simple could potentially save a life.

[Owlie]

Well, you know, the "spandex" thing is just one more us-and-them. IME, cyclists in street clothes are no more likely to obey traffic laws. In fact, they're much more likely to violate them in extremely dangerous ways - riding on the wrong side of the street, riding without lights at night, turning left from the right lane, riding on the sidewalk. But they look more like car drivers than people in cycling gear, and granted a paceline blowing a stop sign is pretty noticeable, so the riders in street clothes get spared much of the road rage.

I'll always slow down for a crossing, but you know, if it's a busy road, it might be much safer not to come to a complete stop...

I totally agree with that. When I lived in Cleveland, it was in a very "studenty" area, so lots of bikes, and lots of people doing STUPID things on bikes. No lights, riding against traffic, on the sidewalk...
The Lycra's just a convenient "othering" device.

(Some of the roads are such that there's a good chance you won't get a clear spot to cross for 3-5 minutes, depending on when you ride. I just use the opportunity to grab a snack and a drink. )

[MojoGrrl]

I totally agree with that. When I lived in Cleveland, it was in a very "studenty" area, so lots of bikes, and lots of people doing STUPID things on bikes. No lights, riding against traffic, on the sidewalk...

This is why I hate riding anywhere in/near town. I live in a college town (also a huge cycling town) and every day I see students who have no business being on a bike because they have NO CLUE what they are doing and putting themselves and other people's lives at risk. Almost got hit by a young woman who appeared not to know how to control her bike and was giggling about how she almost ran into my (parked) car. One of my favorite sightings was a young man riding with a) no helmet, b) in flip flops, c) hands off the bars, because he was busily texting while he rode down a street on which cars are usually going way too fast. The complete lack of lights/reflective clothing or gear in the dark is horrifying. When we see those, my boyfriend and I always say, "That one's just asking to be killed."

[macski]

Is this a problem in Europe or just a USA thing?

I haven't ridden in the USA but in Australia the same sort of issues exist and it is very much an 'us and them' situation.

However, I spent two months late last year riding in France and it was totally different. Motorists in general were very conscious of cyclists displayed a lot of consideration and courtesy.