Home › Forums › Open Discussion › Biker on Delridge…
- This topic has 13 replies, 9 voices, and was last updated 7 years, 11 months ago by wsn00b.
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April 24, 2016 at 6:36 pm #841521
penaiaminaParticipantI love biking. I do everything I can to help this city become more bike friendly. I spend time biking all over this town. I think bikers need to do more to be liked. I was on a phone call while driving home and felt I should pull over to be safe. I pulled over on delridge into a bike lane. There were no bikes around and I knew I would only be there until the conversation was over. I saw one bike come up behind me & I figured they would ride around me with no problems. I was wrong. The biker stopped & said I was in a bike lane. I said “yes I know, I’m on the phone.” The biker then said they were going to call the police. Are you fricken kidding!! A car driver on a phone call that blocked your precious bike lane and you wanted to call the police. Gimme a break! I decided to take to high road and leave the area and pull over somewhere else to finish my phone call. Yes… I pulled over in a bike lane. I also didn’t want to drive while on the phone. The biker then flipped me off when I left. Give me a break. You think you & your bike are all that matter. I thought pulling over to not drive & talk would be more important than displacing one biker for 10 seconds. I guess I was wrong.
April 24, 2016 at 7:04 pm #841525
TanDLParticipantWell perhaps a bit of a dramatic reaction by the biker, particularly the flipping off. But consider what would happen if a cyclist pulled into a car lane on any road and stopped in the middle of the road to chat on the phone so that cars couldn’t get around them without driving into another lane. If the biker weren’t run over and killed, I would bet money that someone would call the police, after honking, name calling and some various flipping.
April 24, 2016 at 7:10 pm #841526
AJPParticipantBiker was more rude than I would have been, but no, you should never stop in a bike lane.
April 25, 2016 at 9:42 am #841579
whatifeveryonedidParticipantpenaiamina, you said that you were “on a phone call while driving home.” What you did before you pulled over was dangerous, and if you didn’t have a hands-free device, it was illegal, too.
You should have driven to a legal parking space before making your phone call or before calling back whoever had called you while you were driving. How do people still not know this? Haven’t there been enough accidents caused by selfish people like you?
Try reading this: http://www.dol.wa.gov/driverslicense/distracteddriving.html
April 25, 2016 at 9:51 am #841582
SunuvaParticipantI’ve regularly noticed construction vehicles blocking the bike lanes on North Delridge lately. To possibly explain the bicyclist’s excessive reaction, I’m guessing it’s been building frustration because you probably weren’t the first vehicle blocking the bike lane they’ve encountered recently.
That said, thanks for trying to do the right thing by pulling over to talk, but probably should not use a bike lane next time. FWIW, you can go hands-free by getting a bluetooth device that will plug into your aux jack on your stereo, if you don’t already have built-in bluetooth.
April 25, 2016 at 10:48 am #841590
DelMartParticipantFor over two years there has been a completed Neighborhood Greenway on 26th Ave SW just two blocks to the west of Delridge Way. This Neighborhood Greenway runs between SW Andover Street to SW Juneau Street. It is beyond me why any cyclist continues to endanger their life by riding along Delridge Way when there is a safe and pleasant, and expensive project built specifically for them to use. Taking a very slight detour to this location eliminates all kinds of problems for the cyclist.
The same thing applies to the $1.5 million protected bike lane that was built on 2nd Avenue between Pioneer Square and Pike Street in downtown, and that is about to be extended north through Belltown at a cost of millions of more dollars. Instead of using this very costly bike project, many selfish cyclists ride along 3rd Avenue endangering themselves and impeding transit which serves tens of thousands of people daily.
I have come to the conclusion that todays version of a Seattle cyclist isn’t about enjoying a quiet and peaceful ride, it has sadly become more of an exercise in aggression, and frankly, foolish childlike behavior and is yet one more reason why my bike won’t be used again in this city as I don’t want to be a part of this cities bike culture.
Link to 26th Avenue SW Neighborhood Greenway: http://1p40p3gwj70rhpc423s8rzjaz.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Delridge-Greenway-Map.jpg
April 25, 2016 at 2:26 pm #841603
JanSParticipantgeez, folks…calling someone selfish for trying to do the right thing, dumping on bike riders who are simply trying to get home…..some perspective, folks..life is too short. Choose your battles. First, I do not speak on the phone while I’m driving (God created voice mail for a reason. No call is that important to endanger yourself or someone else). Period. It’s too distracting. Nor do I have a car, as someone said, with a built in bluetooth, nor a jack for bluetooth. We don’t all have new cars. Mine is 15 years old. It gets me there :) Asshats will be asshats out there, and we all need to evaluate what is worth getting hot under the collar for.
That is all…the sun is shining again….YAY!
April 25, 2016 at 3:23 pm #841606
KBearParticipantStopping your car in the bike lane for a non-emergency is not “trying to do the right thing.” It’s actually the wrong thing to do. The bicyclist was overly rude about it, but the driver was completely in the wrong.
April 25, 2016 at 5:39 pm #841620
whatifeveryonedidParticipantJanS, a driver on the phone is absolutely worth getting hot under the collar for, as you put it. I think that you’re the one who needs some perspective:
According to the CDC, every day in the US, more than 8 people are killed and more than 1,161 people are injured in crashes that are reported to have involved a distracted driver. http://www.cdc.gov/motorvehiclesafety/distracted_driving/
Driving into a bike lane while talking on the phone and then endangering cyclists by making them go around a car parked in the bike lane is absolutely selfish. It’s not “trying to do the right thing” at all.
Yes, life is too short. People who drive while on the phone tragically make life even shorter for a lot of innocent people.
April 25, 2016 at 5:43 pm #841621
SunuvaParticipantJust because the OP ended up doing the wrong thing, doesn’t mean they weren’t “trying” to do the right thing. They clearly explained they were trying to find a place to stop so they could take the call which they thought at the time was the safer thing to do. I’m sure we’ve all at some point or another made a mistake and done something wrong when we were thought we were trying to do something right. Especially in driving, when no matter how long you’ve been driving and how well you know the rules, you’ll encounter situations that might lead to you making a mistake.
JanS, that’s great that you do not use the phone at all when you drive. I wish more people took that attitude. We all know it is a major form of distraction, even over bluetooth. However, using a hands-free device is still legal, and while it is still legal, I’d rather someone have that option than to be driving one-handed while trying to talk on the phone at the same time. It definitely seems like the safer of two less-than-safe options, given what is currently legal.
April 25, 2016 at 9:57 pm #841641
KBearParticipantIt is not any more OK to block the bike lane for a non-emergency than it would be to block the car lane or the sidewalk. Find a legal place to park, then take your phone call. You have no right to inconvenience others or put their safety at risk.
April 26, 2016 at 6:58 am #841675
SunuvaParticipantSo, we’re all very much in agreement that it is not okay to block the bike lane. I didn’t really focus on that in my previous posts, but just wanted to make sure that is understood. Hopefully we can have constructive conversations about this so that it is a good learning experience for the OP and any other readers.
I’m also hoping that the construction workers will stop blocking the bike lanes on North Delridge. Yesterday morning, there was a very large construction vehicle not only blocking the bike lane, but also partially out into the vehicle lane. I had to use the center turn lane right at this spot to make a left, but other cars were swerving into that lane to get around the construction vehicle. It was a dangerous situation for cars and bikes alike.
April 26, 2016 at 11:02 pm #841794
AJPParticipantSomeone might bike up Delridge because they live there or have business there. Downtown, the Second Ave bike lane is often blocked by construction and delivery traffic. I choose to bike on 3rd because I work at Marion & 4th, and trying to pump my little legs up the hill from 2nd to 3rd and 3rd to 4th would probably kill me.
April 27, 2016 at 11:49 am #841829
wsn00bParticipantSlightly tangential but I find bike lanes useful for cars sometimes. When bicyclists aren’t around, I find bike lanes and empty parking lanes useful to staggered-drive in or swerve into to avoid potholes and other broken road surfaces in the main driving lane(now that we have only one driving lane in each direction on most arterials). They are often the only smooth piece of tarmac left on our major arterials that are not messed up by overweight buses and lack of maintenance. I do it knowing I’m being a total a-hole but, hey, share the road, etc, etc. Bicyclists share the main lanes and cars can occasionally “share” the bike lane ;)
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