Cyclists, those painted lines on the streets that connect sidewalks, they’re for people who are WALKING. When you zoom out on the the crosswalk in front of a car doing 50kmh, they won’t always be able to stop in time. It’s dangerous and illegal. Do you really want to pay to fix my car this Christmas from your hospital bed? Do you think I want that on my conscience? You don’t see motorists driving their cars across the crosswalks for convenience sake, do you? And for the love of fuck, would the cops please start paying attention to this issue… —Concerned Driver
This article appears in Dec 8-14, 2011.
As a cyclist I always dismount, press the cross signal light button, and then slowly walk across the marked crosswalk as required by law. I figure if enough cyclists follow this approach eventually car drivers will be demanding more cycling lanes and special crossing setups for bike, so they don’t have to witness the painfully awkward, inefficient and slow process of obeying this law.
Some people walking don’t look either. I’ve had to cover my eyes more than once while waiting at a crosswalk, watching someone blindly step into oncoming traffic while texting. Not noticing the no walk sign.Scary stuff. I think people should always be aware whether on foot , bike, or car. Better safe than sorry.
I’ve seen a lot of this lately. I want to stage a protest and have hundreds of pedestrians walk down the bike lanes. Slowly. Who’s in?
I have ADHD, so i don’t care!
I don’t think hundreds of people would fit in the existing bike lanes…
they’re pretty few and far between….
As a driver when I’m doing the posted speed limit of 50km/h as coming up to a cross walk it is completely impossible for my to slam on my breaks and stop on a dime. Walkers need to be a little more cautious and stop and look both ways before you cross.
Haha , yes its my job to stand in the rain for 20 mins waiting for one of you to stop?
No im sorry, you are not only polluting my air, you are dry in a car, or warm, im in pain walking to the dr. You have rules to follow, I do not, I will not pay for your car, you can’t make me bitch, you will pay for your car and my medical bills, by order of court. I use to care about respecting drivers, no more, you people seem to think because you are driving too fast, you become exempt. Sorry but if you can’t stop, you need to slow down.
And in closing, if you hit me, you better kill me, cause you will be sure to see me when im well. And im gonna do things that make saw seem like a disney movie cunt.
Hey Jim, I just bought a sight for the hood of my car, and hope someday to have you in my crosshairs.
Jim, would I be feeding into your schizoid fantasies if I told you that an elite team of ex-special forces operators has just left Geneva with orders to ensure that your “secret” recipe for Genuine Hobo Chili, remains a secret.
Jim, if I hit you with my car while you’re on a bicycle in a crosswalk, no court is going to make me pay you for damages. The police will visit you in the hospital and ticket you, and my car insurance provider will sue you for the damages your unlawfully operated vehicle caused to my automobile, as well as the cost of my rental car. No one will accept “But it was raining” as a defense. You’re broke the law, not me. After you’ve suffered personal and financial hardship due to your completely preventative mistake, you’d seek me out to cause me harm? Gimme a break.
I hear ya OB … I’ve come close to having a cyclist on the hood of my car on more than one occasion … and witnessed other drivers experience the same. I’ve also nearly been taken out by cyclists in crosswalks and on sidewalks. Cyclists who do stupid shit like this make it bad for the ones that obey the rules.
As a cyclist, I agree with this bitch. It’s also annoying when you’re coasting along and you see, oh, you have to stop and lose all your momentum so that ANOTHER BIKER can just sail along past on their merry way. Actually, I should just keep going…and if they have a problem with it, I can say “it’s a cross WALK.”
I know in a sense it’s dumb to have to stop and take up everyone’s time by walking your bike across. But when you’re riding your bike, you’re a vehicle same as the cars. So why should you get the right of way ahead of a car, when cars do not get the same privilege? (other than to be a douchebag because you know you can get away with it).
But I also blame the drivers who hold up traffic to stop for cyclists waiting to cross ON their bikes.
just ohnos.
I guess Jimmy thinks he has a Star Trek force field around him. The last thing he won’t hear will be “Jim’s dead”.
Have you guys heard of “Killed By Automobile”? it is a comprehensive study,that delves into some of the root causes of collisions between motorists, pedestrians, and cyclists.
Some eye-opening stats jump out:
Drivers are at fault in almost 90% of pedestrian and bicyclist deaths.
Aggressive turning through crosswalks is the single biggest known cause of pedestrian deaths.
The oft-scapegoated Drunken driving ranks 12th.
In over 90% of pedestrian fatalities, the driver is male
Per mile driven, male drivers killed bicyclists at 10 times the rate of female drivers.
The most frequent cause is a turning vehicle in a crosswalk striking a pedestrian.
Speeding, and driving through a red light or stop sign, are the next most frequent causes.
Listen here great value, those stats are just that, and are not proof or if they are proof I might not like them. They seem to support my stance, problem is because of my “mental illness”, diagnosed by you dr’s, makes it hard to concentrate.
As for the others, yeah you are correct, when going to court and seeing cases online here, I see a huge amount “zero” cases where judges say” yes you had every right to step on the gas and run down that bike, judgement for the big tough 16yo with the sun fire”.
And the list of cyclists being fined for hitting cars, very long too” zero also”, must be because of the force fields. This is evidence of why people have such high insurance, none of you deserve a licence if you think like that.
Perhaps Jimmy speaks in the 3rd person like the Seinfeld episode?
jim… let’s just say I’m shocked you can even operate a computer…
“You have rules to follow, I do not” — uh.. completely and blatantly false.
“those stats are just that, and are not proof… ” –uh… assuming he can cite where they were collected… they would be proof. that’s what statistics are collected for.
“…or if they are proof I might not like them.” –I didn’t realize there was a subset of statistics where you have to actually like the results…. I must have missed those classes…
maybe because I didn’t want to take them? I dunno…
“…I see a huge amount “zero” cases …” –? do you see dead people too?
I have no idea what you’re talking about.
“And the list of cyclists being fined for hitting cars, very long too” zero also”,” –starting a sentence with And… ok… after that, ya lost me again.
instead of frantically typing like a blind stenographer on speed, maybe take a second to give a quick read through… to ensure you’re saying what it is your tiny little mind is trying to tell you.
Jimmy’s new in town. Jimmy… doesn’t really know anyone.
I saw a biker get absolutely demolished by a car while biking through the crosswalk between the two parks at the commons. People that don’t look when they’re going through crosswalks are asking for pain. This guy got knocked 25 feet up the road and had a compound fracture in his leg and a gigantic egg on his head from getting smoked by an SUV.
Another thing that makes me absolutely furious is when I’m driving waiting at the lights to make a left and someone starts casually crossing the street after the don’t walk sign is flashing leaving me sitting in the intersection as the light turns red.. I brought this up to a few friends and apparently the consensus most people have is that you can legally enter a crosswalk when it clearly says don’t walk. Anyone else hate this???
fucking sebastien…. when’s his next court date?
we should all go in and hire Melvin jr. to do us all a favor.
as long as I can get to the other side before the hand stops flashing, I’m going.
they typically flash 11 times (unless there’s a timer showing how long they last….)
but I’ve seen intersections where the timer starts the hand flashing with 19 seconds.
I could lay down and roll across the street in well under 19 seconds.
that’s almost twice the time needed for crossing only 4 lanes
(… equaling 48 feet = 16 metres, average human walking speed is 5km/hr or 1.38 m/s so just over 11 seconds is all that’s needed in the majority of cases)
I biked on the peninsula for close to 10 years and never felt the need to bike via a crosswalk, even when I lived just off the commons. It just made sense to ride on the roads. Whats with people these days? Are they breeding them stupider?
OB, don’t worry. If you hit a cyclist who is biking across a crosswalk (illegal), the cyclist is at fault. The precedent was set a few weeks ago. You’ll also get a new bumper and paint job out of the deal 🙂 So the tip is, don’t stop for them.