To the asshat cyclist (blue helmet) I almost flattened this morning (7:40ish) on the corner of Brunswick St. and Queen St. You shot me a glare as if to say …what, I have done nothing wrong… Dude…I was stopped, waiting for a pedestrian, I had inched into the intersection and had my right turn signal on with plenty of time for you to see. The ped crossed, I continue into the intersection and you whip around me on the right side…thats why I laid on the horn asshole! You were completely in my blind spot and you are fucking lucky I jammed on the brakes soon enough. Then you give me attitude…fuck you. Prick, next time I might just hit the gas instead of the brakes…hey you hit me fucker, you better have insurance.
—jamesk
This article appears in May 21-27, 2009.
I hear you and it’s not only bikes, idiots on motorcycles do the same shit by driving in the BICYLCE lanes. More donors for the Transplant unit.
asshat! 😀
I am all for biking in this city, however…
Some ( BACK OFF!! I said some ! ) cyclists like to transition from vehicle to pedestrian and back again when it suits their fancy in terms of getting the right of way.
Even if there was enough space in this situation, a guy in a car would NEVER pass on the right hand side of you if you were clearly indicating you were going to turn right. The guy on this bike sounds like he is living on borrowed time with commando moves like that.
PS – to everyone out there who live AND work on the peninsula, sell you car and buy a bike. You’ll be fitter, faster and live longer and have more money in your bank account. Thats not even mentioning the environmental impact.
Maybe cyclists who use the road (me, for one) should have to possess at least a beginner’s driver’s license, to be sure they know the rules of the road. It’s an idea. Passing on the right? Clearly this douche didn’t know what he was doing. It’s cyclists like that who give us all a bad name.
Wow, I have created a monster, fizz 😉
RAWR
The corner of Brunswick and Queen? In Halifax?
motorcycles in the bike lanes (dont really believe that)? / what bike lanes?… ha, hoser. just for the record i am pro-car (as in cyclists should gtfo of my way) but has everyone noticed all the SCOOTERS this summer ?? i would like to see them really catch on here.
Lovinglife, with respect to your observation about what cars will and will not do…never say never. 🙂 Cars routinely pass on the right when a car on the left indicates with a signal that it wants to go right…happens on the highways all the time.
Arguably my favourite incident happened many years ago – I was on a stretch of the 104 past Truro, heading up to the North Shore, 2-lane highway at that point. I was passing a car in a fairly routine manner, was just next to him actually, when a car blew past me on the left driving on the shoulder. To be honest I didn’t even get pissed..I was too astonished.
I grew up cycling on a windy road where people love to speed. Later on I was a bike courier year round in a major Canadian city with drivers that made Halifax drivers look conservative & intelligent. Biking was my main transportation until I got my first car in my 30s – now I just do it for fun.
I know it’s perfectly legal for cyclists to ride in the middle of the road, but if I ever developed that habit I’m sure I’d be dead. Not only should you be as close to the side of the road as possible but you should be prepared to dump into the ditch at any second. The fact is not everyone plays by the rules and you’re in a situation where you will always be at the losing end when something does go wrong. Even if you’re in the right it’s hard to sue from beyond the grave.
Having said that, when I was a courier I found that I often had to bend the rules to get from point a to point b as quickly as possible – which meant switching between driver and ‘ped rules a bit. I had a few close calls usually with car doors and icy roads, but never a single injury. I can credit some of this to Young Drivers of Canada’s training in constantly scanning/ground viewing, and spotting the dangers.
Anyway my point is for a cyclist the rules of the road are not perfect. Bend them, but use common sense and analyze every situation when you do it. For example waiting for the light to change at an intersection where there’s nothing coming and no one turning right is for cars or people who like to pretend they’re driving a car. This cyclist should have spotted the signal and at least paused at this intersection.
HOSER…D’oh!
Sorry, this should be more accurate. Corner of Sackville and Queen…heading toward Brunswick.
Wow it always amazes me how many drivers are jealous that we cyclists can get off of our vehicles, push them around easier and be called pedestrians.
Get over it just because you’re not in good enough shape to push your car when it runs out of gas doesn’t mean you can whine at us.
JohnnyB: Either you’re a vehicle or a pedestrian. You can’t have it both ways. Lovinglife said it right. Too many cyclists switch back and forth between the two, which ever is more conveinient at the time. You want to bike on the roads, then you have to obey the rules of the road, just like us drivers. If you want to be a pedestrian, park your bike and walk. Enough of this back and forth bullshit. I always give cyclists a little extra room, because you never know what one of these idiots might do. Like when it’s a red light. You’re supposed to stop with the rest of traffic, not bike along the right side or between cars, right up to the light. How many cyclists do you see doing this though? None. You obey the rules and you’ll get respect. If not, fine, fuck you too. I won’t feel bad when you get run over for riding like an idiot.
Honestly though, I almost killed a woman one day, going down Connaught Ave towards Bayers Rd just after rush hour (about 630pm). She pushed the pedestrian cross walk flashing light thing, and then kept pedaling out into traffic without even so much as hesitating to see if oncoming traffic was even going to slow down. Honestly, what the fuck is up with that!!
Bikers aren’t pedestrians. Get off your bike and push it the hell across the street if you’re going to use crosswalks that way.
Weaving through traffic is one of the best things about urban riding. Those guys who stop in front of or behind cars in a traffic jam are just silly.
Bikes aren’t the only vehicles that will cut off other vehicles making right turns with a signal light on. I was attempting to turn onto Inglis from South Park one day and swung out into the left lane with my right blinker on (there’s no other way to get 40ft of bus around a tight corner without losing sidewalk ornaments). Done correctly, my back end should block the right lane, but on that day, my back end was over far enough for a young guy in a sports car to sneak into the space and cut off the bus while I was halfway through the turn. Fun times.
The bigger issue here in the bitch are cyclists that simply don’t pay attention to their surroundings. Follow rules or don’t follow rules, your choice, but either way, pay attention to what’s around you.
Murder Junkie: Well then, I guess I don’t have to obey the rules of the road either. Don’t be surprised when I open my driver side door when I see you weaving through traffic like an idiot. If you wanna break the rules, fine, but don’t expect drivers to be courteous when you’re riding like an idiot.
You won’t – I don’t bike downtown, and I don’t get uptight about cyclists passing by me when I’m stuck in traffic, either. Shame on me.
JohnnyB you make driving a car seem like a bad thing compared to a bike.
Some people need their car to travel a far distance.
I personaly think cyclists THINK they ahve the right away they choose weither or not they wanna go with traffic or go through cross walks make up your minds!!!
“I cycle to work every day… 70 miles. Both here and here are as red as a fire engine”
JohnnyB: Like when it’s a red light. You’re supposed to stop with the rest of traffic, not bike along the right side or between cars, right up to the light. How many cyclists do you see doing this though? None.
Hey Johhny,..i get what you’re saying here and i used to stop inline with traffic but then i noticed that the bike cops routinely drive along the curb lane passing cars on the right. So i figure if they can do, it must be alright. I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that once you get on a bike and get in that situation, it makes no sense whatsoever NOT to drive up the curb lane because in a lot of cases, there is tons of room. So that’s what i do now. Mind you i go nice and slow because i’m always of aware that some people like to cause harm for no reason and might just open their doors in an attempt to kill me. It’s amazing how some people will wish harm on people for such silly little reasons.
Oh, sorry Johnny B, that wasn’t your comment. It was actually “Never Wrong” who said it.
Incidentally i had a friend who always used to bitch about the same thing. Then i got him out on a bike and the very first thing he did was ride up the curb lane passing cars on the right to get to the traffic light. I called him on it and he admitted that now he had the perspective of a biker, it made no sense not to do it. Sure, he broke the law, but there is no car driver or cyclist who follows the law 100% of the time. We all say we do but we don’t.
My understanding is that as long as there is room on the curbside of the lane you can advance up to the intersection. I don’t think you are allowed to block a car that wants to make a left turn though. I usually try to stop in line with the second car from the intersection in case the first wants to pull a left turn without signaling (as Nova Scotians often do).
Oops…those should be right turns *blushing*
hfx_taxpayer: I have no issue with people up the inside of the curb lane when traffic is stopped. What I take issue with is the people who do this, breaking the rules of the road and then expect drivers to stick to the rules. It’s a two way street (pun intended). If you’re going to break the rules and not obey the traffic laws, then you can’t expect drivers to. As for the cops doing it, that doesn’t make it alright. Do you know how many cop cars I see speeding without their lights and siren on in the run of a day? Or how many I see running yellow and even red lights? Just because they do it, it doesn’t mean it’s ok.
Miles: Bicycles are governed by the same laws as cars on the roads.
I agree, it only makes sense to stay along the curb all the way up to the light. When the city puts bike lanes down where are they? Along the curb right? With NW’s logic when we saw the light turn red we would have to swerve out to the middle of the road to get into the “line of traffic”.That sounds safe doesn’t it. Unless of course you wanted us too stay in the middle of the road at all times.Imagine the complaints then. I find it funny when people complain about being passed by someone on a bike along the curb but they don’t mind passing us on our bikes, maybe us bikers(for lack of a better word)should complain that you drivers aren’t staying behind us while we are biking.I drive and bike about 50/50 and have no problem giving people on bikes plenty of room. I have also seen people on bikes do stupid shit, but I can say for sure that I see alot more stupid things being done by people while driving their cars.Bikes are here to stay get used to it.
Fuck me, these bike bitches are lame.
I have nothing against a cyclist pushing their bike across a crosswalk…I think some posters here are confusing things. The rule switching is aggravating car drivers because the cyclist is not getting off the bike…at least that what my take on what has been posted…
Kirbul: You just destroyed your own logic. Bike lanes. Hmmmm. Bike Lanes. What does that mean? It’s a lane for bikes. Not cars and bikes, just bikes. Kinda like bus lanes are just for buses. When you are in a regular lane, the same rules apply to you. When you are in a bike lane, you proceed to the light, just like the cars in the regular lane. By your logic, I’d have to stop my car every time someone in the lane on either side of my stopped. That’s just stupid. While I agree with you that there are a lot of stupid drivers out there, the percentage of stupid cyclists is just as high. There are less cyclists however, so you just see less instances of it. 9 out of 10 drivers are idiots just the same as 9 out of 10 cyclists are idiots. It’s human nature.
HAHAHA anyone notice that HRM Bike week ad now at the top of the bitch screen. HRM Bike week may 29 – june 7 I clicked on the link. Should be lots of bitches next week.
I agree with Cranky..except for the fuck me part.
Never Wrong you seem pretty enthusiastic about this subject…I bet you look hot in bicycle shorts…even though no man should ever where them unless they are training for a race or in one.
Lovinglife – thank you for only saying people who “live and work“ on the peninsula should own a bike…I live outside the city and need a car to commute….but agree if it was at all visible for me.
I don’t really get why drivers care if a bike passes a line of stopped cars on the right as long as they don’t interfere with movement through the intersection (i.e. right turns).
If there is room for the bike to move up the right, why is it a problem? I would think a driver would be more aggravated by having a bike stop behind a car in the line of traffic taking up a valuable 4-5 feet of space. Also, when traffic starts moving again, that bicycle is in the middle of the road and slow moving and in the way.
I think it bugs them because they’re jealous. You know they’d be driving up the sidewalk if their cars would fit and they could get away with it.
Suck it long, suck it hard, car drivers.
I think bike week should be open season on bikers, all car drivers should be given complimentary tazers and be allowed to zap as many pedal pushing shitbags as they can. In addition, they should be like the fighter pilots in WW2 and paint bike symbols on the side of the car to show how many of these wankers they splatted.
“Weaving through traffic is one of the best things about urban riding.” – Murder Junkie. Amen to that, brother!
If I’m not endangering or causing harm to myself or anyone else, you’re damn right I’m going to take the faster, easier route. I’m sure as hell not going to sit in traffic inhaling other people’s exhaust fumes so as not to offend a few bitchy drivers.
I’m not one of these rude, renegade cyclists who cut people off or ride through crosswalks. I’m always courteous and aware of my surroundings, and as I said, I don’t do anything that would cause harm to anyone else. But if I can slip through a traffic jam to hit an alley or deke onto a side street, I’m totally gonna do it, and screw anyone that has a problem with it.
I can understand motorists’ frustration with people who are reckless and placing themselves or others in harm’s way, but if a cyclist is technically breaking the law yet not impeding or endangering anyone else, then get over it. You’re not a traffic cop, so why the hell should you care? People with that much of a beef over such minor infractions remind of the douchy blogger guy, filing his pretend police reports on the behavior of anyone he doesn’t approve of. If it’s not harming anyone, then just try to unclench your sphincter, and mind your damn business.
Thanks for the “prop” me0w.
This whole cyclists have the same rules as cars thing is a joke. By that logic your car would never have any more speed or acceleration than a bicycle because there’d always be one blocking the open road in front of you.
Whoever legislated that I guarantee you was a lazy fat ass who never set foot on a bike in his life.
MeOw,..that was great and i couldn’t agree more. And it also made me see the light. That is, no longer will i care at all what car drivers think or say or even try to argue with them. If i’m not endangering or causing harm to myself or others then i shall do what i want and screw the car drivers. And i’m like you, i’m courteous and aware of my surroundings at all times because i’m also a car driver and know a large number of car drivers (not all) are a danger to others on the road. So thanks for your post and ride on! The car drivers will join us when gas gets to $2 a liter i figure.
NW: I don’t see how I ” destroyed my own logic”. What I meant is, bike lanes are along the curb, so if riding along the curb and I see the light turn red why would I swerve out to the middle of the road to wait in the “line of traffic” when I could just drive right up to the light along the curb.Like other people have said I make sure the car(s) in front me aren’t turning right but other then that whats the big deal. Bike lanes are kind of like these imaginary intersection crosswalks everyone in here is always talking about. If there isn’t actually bike lanes designated then we should all just assume there is one there anyway. Like I said unless you want us to just drive in the middle on the street, but then there would be a whole other list of bitches in here.
bikes have to follow the same rules as motor vehicles…they should also be forced to purchase insurance like cars do.