A plea for civility when cycling

[Anonymous]

I find bikers very irritating but double parking even with your lights flashing is rarely excusable.

[Anonymous]

OP here, and no I wouldn’t just park my car in the middle of Pennsylvania Blvd! Ridiculous.

But the driver yesterday was double-parked in the bike lane because THAT’S where the double-parking lane IS. Where else was he supposed to stop? So now the driver was supposed to go out into the driving lane to leave a tunnel for cyclists? How would that be safe for anyone but maybe the cyclists so long as they’re seen? Or the driver is supposed to go round and round rush-hour Clarendon for 10 minutes to find a spot a 10-minute walk from CVS? To spend a half-hour for a 2-minute errand?? How does THAT make sense???

Umm, Sparky? That’s the legal thing to do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Agree ... There's no such thing as a "double parking lane" ...

I bike to work through DC most days ... drivers def park in the bike lane and I don't scream at them, I just go around ... that's just my temperament etc.

But treating the bike lane like your parking spot is wrong, just like treating a 'car lane' like your parking spot would be wrong, esp during rush hour when folks are trying to get by.

This. I'm not a fan of the yelling either, but I came close yesterday when I had to veer into traffic b/c some jerk's car was blocking the bike lane.

Double parking is unacceptable unless it's a matter of life and death.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think we found OP

OP here, and no I wouldn’t just park my car in the middle of Pennsylvania Blvd! Ridiculous.

But the driver yesterday was double-parked in the bike lane because THAT’S where the double-parking lane IS. Where else was he supposed to stop? So now the driver was supposed to go out into the driving lane to leave a tunnel for cyclists? How would that be safe for anyone but maybe the cyclists so long as they’re seen? Or the driver is supposed to go round and round rush-hour Clarendon for 10 minutes to find a spot a 10-minute walk from CVS? To spend a half-hour for a 2-minute errand?? How does THAT make sense???

Bikes are another form of vehicles on the road. So cyclists need to deal with the challenges motorists face, or they need to stay on bike trails and off busy streets. Truck drivers need to make quick deliveries. Police officers need to make quick stops between calls to refresh and refuel. And drivers need to stop off after work to pick up a prescription. In a busy city, all will double-park for a few minutes. They put flashers on, you wait your turn, then you pull out and pass. If you can’t handle that, don’t bike and don’t drive.

I really really hope this is satire and that there aren't people who think that there is a double parking lane. The driver was being an a-hole but I bet even if you asked him he would had said he didn't care if he was blocking traffic, not that he thought he was allowed to stop there because it was the double parking lane.

A bike lane is not a double parking lane even more than a non bike lane or sidewalk is. You park where there is parking, yes, even if you have to drive ten minutes to find a space.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think we found OP

OP here, and no I wouldn’t just park my car in the middle of Pennsylvania Blvd! Ridiculous.

But the driver yesterday was double-parked in the bike lane because THAT’S where the double-parking lane IS. Where else was he supposed to stop? So now the driver was supposed to go out into the driving lane to leave a tunnel for cyclists? How would that be safe for anyone but maybe the cyclists so long as they’re seen? Or the driver is supposed to go round and round rush-hour Clarendon for 10 minutes to find a spot a 10-minute walk from CVS? To spend a half-hour for a 2-minute errand?? How does THAT make sense???

Bikes are another form of vehicles on the road. So cyclists need to deal with the challenges motorists face, or they need to stay on bike trails and off busy streets. Truck drivers need to make quick deliveries. Police officers need to make quick stops between calls to refresh and refuel. And drivers need to stop off after work to pick up a prescription. In a busy city, all will double-park for a few minutes. They put flashers on, you wait your turn, then you pull out and pass. If you can’t handle that, don’t bike and don’t drive.

I really really hope this is satire and that there aren't people who think that there is a double parking lane. The driver was being an a-hole but I bet even if you asked him he would had said he didn't care if he was blocking traffic, not that he thought he was allowed to stop there because it was the double parking lane.

A bike lane is not a double parking lane even more than a non bike lane or sidewalk is. You park where there is parking, yes, even if you have to drive ten minutes to find a space.

I would not be surprised if people in this area do believe that a double parking lane is a thing. It is so much more frequent here than any of the other cities I've lived in and I've never understood it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sounds like more of an asshole problem than a cycling problem.

asshole and cyclist are synonyms

Yes, because no one driving a car has ever yelled at anyone.

A few weeks ago a driver got out of his car to yell at me and my six year old because he thought we took too long to cross the street when we were in the crosswalk. Ironically it took him longer to get out and yell than the amount of time we (legally and with the right of way) "held him up". And I say "held him" in quotes because we weren't holding him but were instead part of the normal traffic pattern that is to be expected.

[Anonymous]

Wait, what? Some yahoo is double parked during rush hour, gets yelled at, and the person doing the yelling is the asshole?

The only think more ridiculous than that is that the OP apparently believes that there is a "double parking lane" and that drivers are entitled to double park for errands whenever they want.

There's no way this is real.

[Anonymous]

Oh look, I found a video of OP driving his blue Nissan: https://www.reddit.com/r/washingtondc/comments/qn212f/argument_ensues_after_parking_in_bike_lane/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:He was double-parking IN RUSH HOUR?

Right? For once, the cyclist is not the asshole here…

Nah. The cyclist is still the asshole, but so was the other driver.

[Anonymous]

As a cyclist and a regular driver, I agree it seems the cyclist has an anger management problem. That being said, the driver was in the wrong for double parking and the number of posters here who have made comments about “hating” cyclists is unfortunate… and disturbing.