To the observant, but hopelessly stupid, gentlemen driving the black SUV onto Bell Rd at the corner of the Halifax Commons who shouted from his open window while driving past that the crosswalk was not a bike lane… Yes, a crosswalk is a crosswalk, and I agree that it is also not an aardvark, but you clearly failed to see that I was dismounted from my bike and waiting at the intersection to cross… wait for it… TO A BIKE LANE! I did not enter the intersection unaware of traffic flow, I actually waited patiently for the lights to change and allow me to cross to the other side of the road, at that point riding my bike though. If that is your only complaint, then I will gladly walk and take up more of your time to wait for me to cross the intersection next time… I for one, see it fit to ride my bike through a crosswalk since it is clearly more expeditious than to walk my bike across it. Mind you, I am not one to enter an intersection at a crosswalk while all the time biking at full speed… But, still YOU failed to see me through your oversized wheeled method of compensation, probably blocking your view of the road with your ego, but I was making clear intentions of crossing the road safely (bike pointed across the street while I was dismounted and waiting to cross). Good luck convincing the police and insurance company that I was not entitled to use a crosswalk to safely cross the street in order to use the only designated bike lane in that part of the city, and I most certainly avoid entering too closely into traffic with jerks like you nearby when the lane size doesn’t allow it, let alone be forced to make a left turn by crossing over two lanes in traffic from the shoulder to get to the left turn lane!!! —Cautious Wheeler
This article appears in Aug 18-24, 2011.
sebastian can be a real dick…
I found out where he works though….
http://failpictureswebsite.com/upload/500-…
they make specialized lavatories.
http://thatsthehookup.com/wp-content/uploa…
and instead of faucets, they use
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You need more patience OP. The I.Q. drops 50 points when climbing behind the wheel of an SUV.j/k
No, you shouldn’t ride across crosswalks, treat them like sidewalks, they’re for pedestrians not cyclists.
do you see that little white man in the box on the light pole biker? he is walking, not biking or running, but fucking walking.do you also see the red hand up there sometimes too? that means to park your fucking ass and stay put, til the little man comes on to “gasp” walk. see how fucking simple that was. but not as simple as some nbiker’s brain are.
“…I was dismounted from my bike and waiting at the intersection to cross… I actually waited patiently for the lights to change and allow me to cross to the other side of the road, at that point riding my bike …”
the only thing simple here is you LS
he was right OP. You were not using the crossWALK properly.
done.
I don’t believe you’re suppose to ride you bike across a crossWALK. You’re supposed to dismount and walk your bike across. Same goes for SideWALKS.
The other day i friend and I were out for a walk comming down Sackville by the PG. The sidewalks are narrow and this stupid bitch come biking towards us talking on a cell phone at that. Yet she had the balls to keep on the sidewalk.
WTF is wrong with people.
“see it fit to ride my bike through a crosswalk” would you use it on a side walk? why not walk your bike across the crosswalk? Oh gosh, I have this love hate relationship with cyclists. *sigh*
Actually you did mis-use the cross-walk.
“I did not enter the intersection unaware of traffic flow, I actually waited patiently for the lights to change and allow me to cross to the other side of the road, at that point riding my bike though.”
Riding you bike through the cross walk is not using it properly. You are in the wrong OP
It seems that cyclists use the rules that apply to motor vehicles when it suits them and then use the rules that apply to bicycles when they work in their favor. Pick one. Until you start realizing that you can’t (or at least ought not) have your cake and eat it too, people are going to be irritated by you.
@buggedbybikes, that is so very true, they want the best of both worlds. What really annoys the hell out of me is when they just fly into the crosswalk without warning and then we have to jam on our brakes. Or the ones that figure they do not have to stop at stop signs or red lights.
At least you got ‘gentleman’ right.
It’s CUV, not a SUV, dark grey, not black.
You rode your bike through a crosswalk against the ‘Don’t Walk’ light.
So yes, I politely pointed out that it was a crosswalk, and not a bike lane.
If it was someone else, rather than me….you’re still frackin stunned.
Oooh what do you drive Hugo?
I’m sure you figured it out, but I meant to say “rules that apply to pedestrians when they work in their favor.” oops.
Everytime I read a bitch either by, or about bicycles, I think of this quote:
“As a driver I hate pedestrians, and as a pedestrian I hate drivers, but no matter what the mode of transportation, I always hate bicyclists”
-Mother Teresa
I drive this Donk 😉 Best car I’ve ever driven, should have bought one years ago.
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WIaFoRarZmE/TZqv…
nevermind – “The problem with internet quotations is that sometimes it’s difficult to determine their authenticity. – Albert Einstein
i thought you drove one of these *not exactly as illustrated* http://www.supershowevents.com/collection/…
Chortle paingirl 🙂
I drive theses too, *not exactly as illustrated*
http://www.flickr.com/photos/61041171@N07/…
http://rlv.zcache.com/77_fxs_lowrider_the_…
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2422/355635…
vroom vroom wind in my hair…i like the first one
Yet a string of 15x cyclists DROVE across the crosswalk on Joseph Howe today at 3pm and then continued cyclist on the sidewalk around people. Fuck the cyclists. If they don’t want to follow the rules, they don’t deserve a big of respect.
Hugo OMG! I drive a Sub. too!!!!!!!!! My darling is going on 11 yrs. She has a oil leak and they’re ordering parts and she’s been out of commission for 2 weeks (shhhhhhh we don’t talk about that) but I love that damn car! I learned to drive on her 6 yrs ago and have been since … which has set unrealistically high expectations for me from other cars …
I’ve been pwning noobs (http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?…) with her for so long … *sigh* and in winter, she doesn’t even stutter when taking on hills. The auto car start and the alarm (which I use as a homing device), the boxer engine, and superior handling *ooh it’s getting hot in here* *fans self*
Excellent choice sir. Excellent indeed.
http://l.yimg.com/dv/aic/subaru_legacy_sed…
My heart broke when they changed the design of the new Legacies :'(
just once, I’d like to see a sign that states “Motorists, dismount and push car across bike lane”
oh man donk, that baby looks like it can take the corners…i miss our honda http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/503/f…
I do see your point … but did you have to put it so … annoyingly.
That was to GV not PG (sweet wheels!). Lol
i knew this sweet thang…don’t fret so much
http://tinypic.com/r/9gg4u8/7
I think this illustrates my POV on cyclists pushing their bikes.
OP is right. Not a big deal to roll through a crosswalk on a bicycle, as long as you’re not disrupting the flow of pedestrian and motorist traffic, which the OP didn’t seem to be doing. It’s no worse than speeding, accelerating through yellow lights, not signaling, cutting people off or rolling through a stop sign, which a large number of HRM drivers seem to do without blinking. Plus, as the OP mentioned, it is faster to cross this way, so motorists ought to STFU. I do this when I ride my bike, and I appreciate the gesture when I’m behind the wheel.
Anyway, this is Halifax, so get used to it. Despite all the shitty drivers it’s not that bad of a place.
By law, if a cyclist is dismounted and not riding their bicycle, though they have their bicycle beside them and in hand,they are considered pedestrians. It is in this dismounted state the OB is refering to, and in which case it was a legal use of the crosswalk.
If they are coasting on or pedlaing their bicycle through the crosswalk it is an illegal crossing. I figure the SUV driver thought the OB was coasting and not walking their bike across the crosswalk.
I have to admit that there is a problem when you have a cyclist that is consistantly switching from ‘riding like a vehicle’ to ‘riding like a bicycle’ to ‘acting as a pedestrian’
it leads to unsafe situations where the cyclist approaches an intersection from the sidewalk( the vehicle not necessarily looking for cyclists on the sidewalk) then the cyclist jumps out onto the road and starts to behave like a vehicle.
or a cyclist that rides like a vehicle until they reach an intersection, then they cross the cross walk as a pedestrian when motorists might be expecting him to stop.
maybe i havent provided a good example but i hope you see my point.
“If they don’t want to follow the rules, they don’t deserve a big of respect.”
Same with you freaks who violate God’s laws.
zzz, you missed the whole fucking point, again dude. walk means walk, not ride your bike thru there. that’s why there is a little man, walking, not riding a fucking bike. jesus man…….
ah, I see… so infants aren’t allowed across intersections ever until they are able to walk… no stroller babies allowed…gotcha.
you can’t cross with a dog… because it’s not a person and it’s walking on all fours…
yep, ok.
I guess people have to stop and take rollerblades/skates off and cross in their socked feet.
oh, and sorry wheelie… you’re not walking across so you’re SOL.
Point being, it gets miss-used (yes, ok, I will admit that… I misread by the way they phrased their sentence, thinking they started riding once they were done crossing) all the bloody time.
as long as the schlub isn’t fucking with pedestrian traffic in any way, I don’t give a shit….
but that’s just me. apparently.
I agree that there are both advantages and hazards to riding a bicycle across a crosswalk.
Hazards related to other pedestrians, and or moving so fast that traffic that only has to yeild has no time to see you block their way.
Advantages related to crossing the road at a faster pace.
Bicyclers – and all of us drivers understand this because we ride bicycles, too – Bicyclers love to conserve their momentum. lets face it, we don’t like to slow down or stop for any reason.
Well shit as a driver of a vehicle I don’t like to slow down or stop for any reason either but I have to. What a fucking idiotic argument. And cyclist wonder why both drivers and pedestrians get pissed off with them. Some cyclist are just self-entitled twats.
I almost smoked a cyclist who blew through a 4 way stop and cut me off and they gave ME the stink-eye! If you’re going to share the road then follow the gd rules, that includes crosswalk rules.
Also, I’m a big fan of hand signals, use them.
Anyone want to donate to my new charity?
I have a new not for profit organization that will be giving away 1m horizontal buggies whips to all bicyclers so the stink eye drivers will catch a braincell or two and stop driving so close to them.
And for all you hit and run drivers, If I get enough donations, I want to install carbide tips into the end of the whip so it leaves an incriminating scratch on your vehicle
I don’t want to donate.
Hmmm….would it suck if I won the lottery right now?
No
Deotan – “I for one, see it fit to ride my bike through a crosswalk since it is clearly more expeditious than to walk my bike across it. “
—-he rode on the crosswalk therefore he was wrong
Cars ride on the cross walk, too.
Not through it.