Cyclists Without Regard for Anyone or Anything in Park Slope

I agree with Elaine on most points. However, if NYC wants to make and save money at the same time, they should enact a law where bikers must have a head lamp and tail lamp, on at all times. Ticket them for riding on sidewalks, the wrong-way and through red light. And I'll say this again: make drivers retake the road test every five to seven years. Bad drivers would be weeded out, reinstated drivers would most likely have their insurance premiums reduced, and the City would save in lawsuit costs. I would also ticket bikers who drag-in-tow, their kids on the streets (but not parks or designated streets). It's just plain stupid to put them at the mercy of vehicular traffic. And, I would confiscate any cars which aren't insured.

These motorists have no regard for anyone, or anything, they speed down 9th Street and don’t stop for lights or people. Sometime, they ride their cars down 9th street on the sidewalk that really ticks me off. I can’t tell you how many times, I missed getting hit by a car while crossing the street.

vidro3 wrote:

These motorists have no regard for anyone, or anything, they speed down 9th Street and don’t stop for lights or people. Sometime, they ride their cars down 9th street on the sidewalk that really ticks me off. I can’t tell you how many times, I missed getting hit by a car while crossing the street.

nice switcheroo... but do the cars really drive on the sidewalks?

As I pedestrian and sometime driver I have to agree that cars are of much greater concern than bikes. The backlash against cyclists is sad. I'm with those who are outraged about cars running red lights, going the wrong way down one-way streets and ignoring cross walks. Scary stuff whether you're walking, driving, or, I suspect, cycling.

Union Street wrote:
The bike hate is just such nonsense. Grow up, folks.

I couldn't agree more. The irresponsibility of some bicyclists has brought this sentiment out. I understand that. But when one attempts to make any argument about cars being the better option in this type of scenario, they just sound foolish.

I know this sounds super basic, but....

Cyclists should absolutely follow the rules of the road. You're already f*cked because you're hard to see, why make it worse by putting yourself somewhere where even the most reasonable driver wouldn't expect you to be?

if cyclists behaved like cars, motorists would be annoyed by having a cyclist in front of them going "only" 20 mph.

part of the problem is that it makes no sense to require bikes to follow the same rules of the road as cars. They are not the same and should not be treated as such by the law.

Aquamann wrote: [quote=Union Street]
The bike hate is just such nonsense. Grow up, folks.

I couldn't agree more. The irresponsibility of some bicyclists has brought this sentiment out. I understand that. But when one attempts to make any argument about cars being the better option in this type of scenario, they just sound foolish.

I've read and re-read the thread, and I don't see anyone saying that cars are a "better option." The original email does suggest that the author finds the bike lane an inconvenience to her parking, but unless I missed it, no one said that cars are "better" than bikes.

For those who say the anti-bike backlash is "sad" or otherwise inappropriate, I say bullshit. I am a vocal pedestrian who talks to drivers who stop their cars in crosswalks, who honk unnecessarily in my street because the garbage truck isn't going fast enough; I've (on foot) stopped cars that were attempting to go the wrong way down a one-way street and who don't have their lights on at night. When a car comes within a foot of me in a cross-walk when I have the right of way, I, when I'm able to, slap the car with the flat of my hand to let the driver know how close they got, and it usually results in a relatively loud "conversation" with the driver. Do I think I'm making a difference? Maybe a little bit, but asshole drivers will be asshole drivers, and one activist pedestrian won't change that.

Bicyclists. I have about 10 bicycle encounters for every car encounter, mostly in Park Slope, Boerum Hill, and the Gowanus neighborhoods. Almost daily, I am within a couple feet of a bicyclist who runs through a pedestrian crosswalk while the walk sign is on and the traffic light is red. I usually yell "that's a red light" or "the pedestrian walk sign is on - we have the right of way," and about half the cyclists say "fuck you" and most of the other half ignores me. One guy (only one) did apologize in a back-handed way, yelling "I'm sorry! Why do you have to make an issue of it?" This was after he sped around the corner at Union and 5th and almost clipped the stroller (and child) I was pushing. He had a red light.

The bicyclists using the bike lane on Bergen between 4th and 5th regularly plow through the pedestrian crosswalk at Bergen and 4th during the morning rush hour--lots of bicyclists, lots of pedestrians on their way to the Atlantic/Pacific subway station. The bicyclists are getting the first bit of red light, as there's a delay between the Bergen red and the 4th Avenue green. If you want to cut it close, that's your deathwish--just don't visit it upon the pedestrians who are legally walking in the crosswalk with a walk sign. During the same morning rush hour, there are usually one or two bicyclists weaving in and out of pedestrians on the sidewalk on the east side of 4th Avenue. For those who don't know it, this is illegal.

I support the bike lanes to a large extent, including the fabulous one on Prospect Park West, and I find it appalling when delivery trucks and others double-park in them. I just wish that all the bicyclists deserved to have them. I don't think licensing is the issue--I think it's enforcement. If we have cops on foot pulling over hand-held cell-phone users, we can do the same with bicycles violating the crosswalks and sidewalks.

Whether or not law-breaking and rude cyclists are a minority, there are a great number of them. Making this a cars versus bikes argument is fallacious and just stupid. Yeah, of course there are shitty drivers and cars and trucks are dangerous road weapons in the wrong hands. But if bicyclists want to have the support of the community, they need to police each other and use peer pressure to correct asshole-ish behavior. And wearing helmets would be a good idea, too. But until that's a law, again, it's your death wish (those of you who don't wear one).

vidro3 wrote: if cyclists behaved like cars, motorists would be annoyed by having a cyclist in front of them going "only" 20 mph.

part of the problem is that it makes no sense to require bikes to follow the same rules of the road as cars. They are not the same and should not be treated as such by the law.

Except for below the speed limit, what about obeying the lights, not going against traffic,right of way to pedestrians, no sidewalks, using hand signals and having front and rear light for day and night? It makes sense to me.

Ben wrote: 99% of bike riders that I've seen do not stop at red lights if they don't see ca car coming.

Someone on a bike ran a red light and hit my dog.

So I say F-You to all bicyclists who run red lights and don't follow the rules of the road.

Yes, there are shithead car drivers too but that doesn't make it OK to be an asshole on a bike.

65% of statistics are made up on the spot.

If the city wanted to get serious about promoting bicycling as a mode of transportation and making it safe, they'd try to emulate cities like Amsterdam where bicycling is safe and pervasive. And the bicyclists follow the rules of the road.

Not every cyclist is bad, but I can’t argue against the comments that most of them are bad. It’s probably true. I see a lot of cyclists doing things that are very inconsiderate and stupid.

I’ve stopped for pedestrians, just to have other cyclists blow by and almost hit them, and so then there was no point in me stopping.

Cyclists often ride the wrong way down a one-way bike lane, and then they’re a terror to other cyclists as we engage in a game of chicken.

I always see parents riding bikes with their young children on the sidewalk, and this is just awful. Not only is this illegal, but it’s dangerous and obnoxious, and it’s teaching the kids to be dangerous and obnoxious, thus spawning a new generation of ignorant cyclists. I even once saw a women have her young daughter pose on her tricycle (but not riding it) in the PPW bike lane so she could take a photo. I mean come on, that’s a pretty dangerous thing to do to your kid, particularly when the parent was on the sidewalk out of harm’s way and took her sweet time taking the shot. Nice.

As for hand signals, I honestly almost never have used them because I don’t think anyone will understand what it means – that and I’m worried that if I make a left-turn signal a car will take my arm off.

As for the red light, I’ll ride through a red if there’s no traffic – cars and pedestrians – but will always stop to let people cross. However, I’ve noticed that as I approach a red light, the pedestrians never cross until they see me actually stop because they never think I’m going to stop. Obviously experience has taught them that there’s a good chance a cyclist won’t stop at a red. Sure cars do this some times, but it’s rare and not anywhere as close as the percentage of cyclists who don’t stop. When the light’s red and I cross the street as a pedestrian, I don’t worry about whether a driver’s going to say “aw f*&k it” and gun it through the red light and kill me. I trust they won’t, and so far they haven't.

All I can say is that I won’t be a dickhead cyclist. I always try to be considerate of others, and will continue to do so. I do make my share of bone-headed mistakes and sometimes have gone through an intersection thinking it was clear, when it wasn’t. I’ve never hit anyone, but I’ve stopped short and accidentally startled people a few times. But I take responsibility and apologize. So I’ll do my part, that’s the best I can do.

owler wrote: As both a biker myself and also a avid NYC walker ( I walk a lot ), I have to say the new bike lanes although very cool for bikers to avoid being hit by cars are well meaning but are also dangerous for pedestrians.

I walk into them all the time now and have no idea they are bike lanes, then next thing you know you have some person on a bike barreling down on you.

I've almost been hit several times and I've seen others almost get hit both in Brooklyn and Manhattan.

There's definitely going to be a rise in bike/pedestrian accidents next summer, and unfortunately it might take more then one person getting seriously hurt for the city to notice.

Until then tread safely.

So what you're saying is that pedestrians have to break themselves of the habit of blindly stepping off the curb into traffic, right?

I think I live in a different city than most of you. I'm out in the neighborhood and park every day. Every day. I've NEVER had an encounter with a bike aside from the aggressive weekend warrior cyclists that use the park road as their speed track. I have an encounter with an aggressive car driver *every single day* or even multiple times per day.

Bikes are just simply not the problem and well-designed, separated bike lanes are a good idea. Sure, there will be some dumbass cyclists who go the wrong way, don't stop for pedestrians, don't obey laws, etc etc, but they are FAR outnumbered by the cars that do the same thing. And, Naidre's, if you're a pedestrian, getting hit by a car hurts a lot more than getting hit by a bike.

Something tells me getting hit by a person who weighs 100 pounds or more, riding a biking at even 10 mph on a 20 + pound bike, is going to hurt and break you a tad. Probably just as bad if not worse than being tackled without wearing any gear.