I almost hit a biker this morning.

[Anonymous]

Ban bikes? Why is it dangerous for people to send their children to school on a bike, or to go to work on their bike? First of all, it's not that dangerous.
Secondly, what little danger there is, it's because of cars.

People are fat and rely on foreign fossil fuels. 90% of car trips are under 15 miles, and carrying less than 40lbs of groceries. Our air is polluted. Our fossil fuels are running out. We have no space for our kids to play in the street.

You want a solution? Cars are a great invention. They are for big trips with several people. THEY ARE NOT FOR THE CITY

[Anonymous]

Ride a bike.

[Anonymous]

Let the cops start pass'n out ticket so that it applies toward the biker's driver's license. Things will shape up fast!

[Anonymous]

I'll just hop in a cab and leave your sorry two wheeled ass on the sidewalk. You grow up and get a real mode of transportation. This ain't mawmaw's old farm lane, you know.

I bet you're fat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'll just hop in a cab and leave your sorry two wheeled ass on the sidewalk. You grow up and get a real mode of transportation. This ain't mawmaw's old farm lane, you know.

I bet you're fat.

Pedestrian here. Look... in many ways, biking is in itself a virtuous activity. But in residential DC, bikers are notorious for not stopping at intersections (ever), never yielding to pedestrians, and weaving in and out of traffic lanes. They're also not great about yielding the right of way to pedestrians *on the sidewalks*. Of course not every biker does this, but I'll tell you that almost all of the ones I encounter in my normal circuit typically ranging from Dupont to Cleveland Park or Columbia Heights are guilty.

Some virtue points for biking rather than driving-- sure. Virtue points for biking rather than walking or using public transport-- not necessarily. Are these virtue points canceled out by irresponsible riding-- absolutely. Is "I bet you're fat" a valid (or relevant) argument (especially directed toward a pedestrian rather than a minivan driver)-- of course not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Pedestrian here. Look... in many ways, biking is in itself a virtuous activity. But in residential DC, bikers are notorious for not stopping at intersections (ever), never yielding to pedestrians, and weaving in and out of traffic lanes. They're also not great about yielding the right of way to pedestrians *on the sidewalks*. Of course not every biker does this, but I'll tell you that almost all of the ones I encounter in my normal circuit typically ranging from Dupont to Cleveland Park or Columbia Heights are guilty.

Some virtue points for biking rather than driving-- sure. Virtue points for biking rather than walking or using public transport-- not necessarily. Are these virtue points canceled out by irresponsible riding-- absolutely. Is "I bet you're fat" a valid (or relevant) argument (especially directed toward a pedestrian rather than a minivan driver)-- of course not.

Goes back to the point an earlier PP made that there are rude jerks in all categories. I'm a runner, cyclist and I drive a car. In every circumstance I've dealt with jerks in the other two modes of transportation.

As a (hopefully) polite cyclist, I've dealt with walkers/runners with iPods who don't hear me calling out my approach and then make a sudden 180 degree turn right into me. I've dealt with groups of walkers 3-4 abreast blocking the whole trail/sidewalk in both directions. Or with off-leash dogs or small children on tricycles that unexpectedly swerve into my path. As a runner/walker, I've had cyclists whiz by me, jostle me, etc... And we've had pages on the back and forth issues between cyclists and drivers.

At the end of the day, there is appropriate, civil, polite and legal behavior that if everyone followed, would work for everyone. The challenge is for each one of us to do our part. yes, naive of me, but I think it's true.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pedestrian here. Look... in many ways, biking is in itself a virtuous activity. But in residential DC, bikers are notorious for not stopping at intersections (ever), never yielding to pedestrians, and weaving in and out of traffic lanes. They're also not great about yielding the right of way to pedestrians *on the sidewalks*. Of course not every biker does this, but I'll tell you that almost all of the ones I encounter in my normal circuit typically ranging from Dupont to Cleveland Park or Columbia Heights are guilty.

Some virtue points for biking rather than driving-- sure. Virtue points for biking rather than walking or using public transport-- not necessarily. Are these virtue points canceled out by irresponsible riding-- absolutely. Is "I bet you're fat" a valid (or relevant) argument (especially directed toward a pedestrian rather than a minivan driver)-- of course not.

Goes back to the point an earlier PP made that there are rude jerks in all categories. I'm a runner, cyclist and I drive a car. In every circumstance I've dealt with jerks in the other two modes of transportation.

As a (hopefully) polite cyclist, I've dealt with walkers/runners with iPods who don't hear me calling out my approach and then make a sudden 180 degree turn right into me. I've dealt with groups of walkers 3-4 abreast blocking the whole trail/sidewalk in both directions. Or with off-leash dogs or small children on tricycles that unexpectedly swerve into my path. As a runner/walker, I've had cyclists whiz by me, jostle me, etc... And we've had pages on the back and forth issues between cyclists and drivers.

At the end of the day, there is appropriate, civil, polite and legal behavior that if everyone followed, would work for everyone. The challenge is for each one of us to do our part. yes, naive of me, but I think it's true.

If you're really prepared to yield the right of way to pedestrians on the sidewalk, you should have no reason to "call out your approach".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pedestrian here. Look... in many ways, biking is in itself a virtuous activity. But in residential DC, bikers are notorious for not stopping at intersections (ever), never yielding to pedestrians, and weaving in and out of traffic lanes. They're also not great about yielding the right of way to pedestrians *on the sidewalks*. Of course not every biker does this, but I'll tell you that almost all of the ones I encounter in my normal circuit typically ranging from Dupont to Cleveland Park or Columbia Heights are guilty.

Some virtue points for biking rather than driving-- sure. Virtue points for biking rather than walking or using public transport-- not necessarily. Are these virtue points canceled out by irresponsible riding-- absolutely. Is "I bet you're fat" a valid (or relevant) argument (especially directed toward a pedestrian rather than a minivan driver)-- of course not.

Goes back to the point an earlier PP made that there are rude jerks in all categories. I'm a runner, cyclist and I drive a car. In every circumstance I've dealt with jerks in the other two modes of transportation.

As a (hopefully) polite cyclist, I've dealt with walkers/runners with iPods who don't hear me calling out my approach and then make a sudden 180 degree turn right into me. I've dealt with groups of walkers 3-4 abreast blocking the whole trail/sidewalk in both directions. Or with off-leash dogs or small children on tricycles that unexpectedly swerve into my path. As a runner/walker, I've had cyclists whiz by me, jostle me, etc... And we've had pages on the back and forth issues between cyclists and drivers.

At the end of the day, there is appropriate, civil, polite and legal behavior that if everyone followed, would work for everyone. The challenge is for each one of us to do our part. yes, naive of me, but I think it's true.

If you're really prepared to yield the right of way to pedestrians on the sidewalk, you should have no reason to "call out your approach".

Yes, s/he should. That's a common signal/courtesy while biking. And, frankly, the cyclist should not have to yield the right of way if following the proper flow of traffic (i.e., if cars have the right of way then so should the cyclist).

[Anonymous]

The proper flow of traffic on the sidewalk is at a walking pace. "On your left" effectively means "outta my way-- here I come!"

Pedestrians always have the right of way on the sidewalk.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pedestrian here. Look... in many ways, biking is in itself a virtuous activity. But in residential DC, bikers are notorious for not stopping at intersections (ever), never yielding to pedestrians, and weaving in and out of traffic lanes. They're also not great about yielding the right of way to pedestrians *on the sidewalks*. Of course not every biker does this, but I'll tell you that almost all of the ones I encounter in my normal circuit typically ranging from Dupont to Cleveland Park or Columbia Heights are guilty.

Some virtue points for biking rather than driving-- sure. Virtue points for biking rather than walking or using public transport-- not necessarily. Are these virtue points canceled out by irresponsible riding-- absolutely. Is "I bet you're fat" a valid (or relevant) argument (especially directed toward a pedestrian rather than a minivan driver)-- of course not.

Goes back to the point an earlier PP made that there are rude jerks in all categories. I'm a runner, cyclist and I drive a car. In every circumstance I've dealt with jerks in the other two modes of transportation.

As a (hopefully) polite cyclist, I've dealt with walkers/runners with iPods who don't hear me calling out my approach and then make a sudden 180 degree turn right into me. I've dealt with groups of walkers 3-4 abreast blocking the whole trail/sidewalk in both directions. Or with off-leash dogs or small children on tricycles that unexpectedly swerve into my path. As a runner/walker, I've had cyclists whiz by me, jostle me, etc... And we've had pages on the back and forth issues between cyclists and drivers.

At the end of the day, there is appropriate, civil, polite and legal behavior that if everyone followed, would work for everyone. The challenge is for each one of us to do our part. yes, naive of me, but I think it's true.

If you're really prepared to yield the right of way to pedestrians on the sidewalk, you should have no reason to "call out your approach".

New poster here. You have no idea what you are talking about. The jogger situation he's talking about is dangerous and impossible for a biker to fix. You are on a bike path, and you call out that you are passing on the left . The jogger has an ipod on and doesn't hear you. They reach their halfway point and turn around on the path, stupidly not looking for traffic coming at them. They get smashed. It's like stepping off a curb in front of a bus. And this is on designated multi-use trails.

But the scariest thing is to be riding along and have a child, not even on the path, dart away from parents directly into your path. You would never let your child do that alongside a road. It is equally dangerous doing it near a bike path.

Joggers need to look both ways and listen for bells and calls.
Parents and pet owners need to make sure their charges don't do something dangerous.
Pedestrians can't block both directions of a multiuse path.

Bikers need to respect the law and the rules of the bike paths. That includes trying to anticipate But everyone on a shared use path needs to do their part.

[Anonymous]

Not on a bike path-- on a city sidewalk.

[Anonymous]

Unless bikers just think of all the sidewalks in DC as "bike paths" -- that would explain a lot. Ooops, look at that silly woman holding a small child with one hand and three bags of groceries in the other. Doesn't she know it's dangerous to do that on the bike path? Here I come, and she's still not moving outta my way. Hey lady, on your left! That's it. Flatten yourself against the iron railing, put down your groceries, grab your kid. I'm comin' through!