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Beware of bikers: Elderly D.C. man hit by bicyclist dies
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Anonymous
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http://voices.washingtonpost.com/crime-scene/the-district/elderly-dc-man-hit-by-bycylist.html?hpid=editorialpromo
I walk with a stroller every day in downtown DC and feel increasingly threatened by bikers and their complete lack of respect for traffic rules. Not to say that cars are any better - but what now? We're supposed to cover those two fronts? I feel like in a war zone, especially during rush hour. |
Anonymous
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You're an idiot. From the article: "They described him as having black hair and wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt and dark pants. He appeared to be riding a BMX-style bicycle designed for dirt roads and motocross cycling."
Doesn't sound like the average commuter cyclist at all; more like a punk on a non-road bike. |
Anonymous
| Don't take your kids out for a walk during rush hour. - I'm just sayin' better to be safe than sorry. |
Anonymous
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I think that cyclist behavior is a legitimate topic, but tying it to this article does your point a disservice.
It's like complaining about city drivers and posting an article about a drag racer who ran over an old lady. |
Anonymous
| Some crazy sh*t goes down in DC. |
Anonymous
Ever go on The W O D trail? Speeding cyclists will bowl you over on foot or bike. Ever have a cyclist lose their balance and end up in the road or veering off into the car? So cool and self righteous. |
Anonymous
| OP here. To the person calling me an idiot, clearly you're not a pedestrian trying to push a stroller on a daily basis while watching bikes zoom red lights, invade sidewalks with no regard for pedestrians, go the wrong way and every other possible stupidity I see several times a day. Regardless if the guy was a punk, the "nice" bike commuters I see breaking laws all the time face a real possibility of hitting someone too. I dont drive and public transportation is not an option, so walking DC in the stroller to and from daycare is becoming a risky activity. |
Anonymous
I lived in Dupont and worked downtown for over 10 years. During that time I was nearly mowed over at least a dozen times by cyclists. (I say this as someone whose DH rode his bike everywhere, including to work every day.) I agree: the "idiot" poster knows jack sh*t about the bike madness out there. |
Anonymous
As you've pointed out, you've got about 1000 times more likelihood of being hit by a car than a cyclist, and the damage is incalculably greater. People on bikes are no more or less likely to be assholes than people in cars, or on foot for that matter. Bring a walking stick with you, and put it in the cyclists front spokes next time someone buzzes you on a sidewalk going the wrong way. I do agree with the PP that you don't do yourself any favors by hanging your argument on this BMX story, though. You might just as well start a discussion with the topic "Beware of Pedestrians: A Pedestrian Punched a Woman and Broke Her Jaw at 14th and Penn Ave SE Last Week". |
Anonymous
One last thing: I love how anti-bike zealots are "nearly mowed down at least a dozen times by cyclists". They're always just a hair's-breadth away from being killed by gangs of passing cyclists. How often are they nearly mowed down by shopping carts in the produce aisle of their local grocery store? Their lives must be ever so exciting! |
Anonymous
NP here. I disagree. There is a particular problem with irresponsibility in bicycle culture. Cyclists are not great about yielding the right of way to pedestrians. It is inconvenient for them to stop at intersections, so they resist it. They're supposed to yield to pedestrians on sidewalks in the District, too, but it's much more common for me to have to get out of a cyclist's way because he shows no sign of stopping or slowing. I've posted before about what a PITA this can be for me as a pedestrian dragging a child by one hand and hauling my family's shopping on the other shoulder. As an urban person, I'm generally in favor of alternatives to driving, but cyclists need to be held to the rules that exist to protect pedestrians. |
Anonymous
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2009: zero deaths caused by bicyclists.
29 deaths caused by motorists in DC, 526 in Maryland, 867 in Virginia. lets keep things in proportion, shall we? |
Anonymous
| I tend to agree with 10:42 PP. I live in Old Town, Alexandria, and I am constantly amazed by how reckless the bicyclists are. I do have some sympathy for them - the GW Parkway trail goes right through Old Town so it is no doubt a pain for them to stop at all the stop signs. But still...bicyclists just race past all the stop signs, regardless of whether there is a car (who was stopped) now crossing. It is crazy. |
Anonymous
I don't think the proportion is the issue, here. Even if death is relatively rare, cyclists certainly can cause injury when they challenge pedestrians, and they do this all the time because they're so busy congratulating themselves for not driving cars that they can't be bothered to share space appropriately. Able-bodied pedestrians may have enough time to shrink out of the way of an on-coming cyclist, but they're supposed to have the right of way. The biker in OP's post is probably not your standard entitled bike commuter, but although he's a poor example of the problem, the problem is real. |
Anonymous
NP here. Yes. Yes. Yes. I think we all agree that bicyclist can be reckless (spoken as someone who used to bike to work -- with a toddler in the baby seat). Are bikers annoying sometimes? Yes. Do they ignore traffic laws more than they should? Yes. Are they a threat to public safety in the same way that cars are? Hell no. To me, this thread should be filed in the same places as the "I-get-so-mad-when-someone-doesn't-hold-the-door" threads. Bikes are a nuisance -- not deadly killing machines (except in very very rare instances.) |