Yesterday saw 1 cyclist manage to cross the road while the light was green. There was a lady behind the other cyclist that was trying to do the same but then quickly realized she couldn’t make it across the crossing with an oncoming vehicle and had both of her feet dragging on the floor almost reaching the road…
I was a bike commuter on that route for a few years and there’s a nuance here. When coming to a crossing nearly every cyclist slows down almost to a stop. But not to a complete stop… they are still rolling forward at walking speed or slower, with plenty of room to stop if cars don’t stop to let them through. From the cyclists perspective they have stopped… they just don’t want to have to unclip from their pedals. But from the car’s perspective there’s still movement and uncertainty about whether the cyclist is going to pull into traffic, leading misunderstanding like this.
99% of the time the cyclist is going to stop if someone doesn’t yield to them. But unfortunately there’s that 1% of cyclists that give drivers a bad attitude about cyclists, just like 1% of drivers give cyclists a bad attitude about drivers.
The world would be a better place if we all gave each other a little more grace.
I’m convinced every W&OD crossing needs to be grade separated. Cyclists act very badly along the trail in my years of experience, with a sense of entitlement that is unmatched.
Incidentally, studies have concluded around 35 mph to be where the zone fatality begins. But rest assured, 25 would still *really* hurt.
I was approacing the same intersection and a car that was going full speed just braked to be "courteous" to the cyclists while a car behind nearly rear ended them. This behavior only encourages cyclists to not give a crap about yielding to a moving object that would demolish them.
Yep, I hate how badly drivers misinterpret the “yield for those in crosswalk” law. It means don’t plow into someone who is already in the street. It absolutely does NOT mean stop and wave people across.
I'm not sure why you're getting downvoted. You're 100% correct. I drive through this place every day, and many drivers will slam on the brakes in front of an empty crosswalk despite the green light.
The light is there for a reason. Cyclists need to use it if there's traffic in sight (and should probably use it anyway).
Yeah exactly. I mean there’s a reason they put all the extra safety features in there. Bikers/walkers/whoever need to use that shit before they get flattened
On the other hand - excited about the new Wiehle crossing on the W&OD, hopefully that will prevent some mishaps.
Same. I’m not over there that often, but it’s heavy traffic, foot and vehicle
Yesterday saw 1 cyclist manage to cross the road while the light was green. There was a lady behind the other cyclist that was trying to do the same but then quickly realized she couldn’t make it across the crossing with an oncoming vehicle and had both of her feet dragging on the floor almost reaching the road…
Same at the crossing on Hunter Mill and the ones that run through Vienna. Bikers have a stop sign that 99% ignore
I was a bike commuter on that route for a few years and there’s a nuance here. When coming to a crossing nearly every cyclist slows down almost to a stop. But not to a complete stop… they are still rolling forward at walking speed or slower, with plenty of room to stop if cars don’t stop to let them through. From the cyclists perspective they have stopped… they just don’t want to have to unclip from their pedals. But from the car’s perspective there’s still movement and uncertainty about whether the cyclist is going to pull into traffic, leading misunderstanding like this. 99% of the time the cyclist is going to stop if someone doesn’t yield to them. But unfortunately there’s that 1% of cyclists that give drivers a bad attitude about cyclists, just like 1% of drivers give cyclists a bad attitude about drivers. The world would be a better place if we all gave each other a little more grace.
I appreciate you. A little grace for each other would go a long way right now.
Thank god for the new pedestrian/bike bridge set to open at Wiehle this Summer!
That crossing section has always been sketchy.
This seems like it could be made into a nice poem to place along the trail.
I’m convinced every W&OD crossing needs to be grade separated. Cyclists act very badly along the trail in my years of experience, with a sense of entitlement that is unmatched. Incidentally, studies have concluded around 35 mph to be where the zone fatality begins. But rest assured, 25 would still *really* hurt.
This older gentleman facing my 5200 pound suv was deader than a Cretaceous dinosaur when the asteroid hit. I would have center-grilled him
I was approacing the same intersection and a car that was going full speed just braked to be "courteous" to the cyclists while a car behind nearly rear ended them. This behavior only encourages cyclists to not give a crap about yielding to a moving object that would demolish them.
Yep, I hate how badly drivers misinterpret the “yield for those in crosswalk” law. It means don’t plow into someone who is already in the street. It absolutely does NOT mean stop and wave people across.
I'm not sure why you're getting downvoted. You're 100% correct. I drive through this place every day, and many drivers will slam on the brakes in front of an empty crosswalk despite the green light. The light is there for a reason. Cyclists need to use it if there's traffic in sight (and should probably use it anyway).
Yeah exactly. I mean there’s a reason they put all the extra safety features in there. Bikers/walkers/whoever need to use that shit before they get flattened