Home › Forums › West Seattle Rants & Raves › RANT – Bicyclists on Alki
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August 5, 2008 at 7:04 pm #587694
RonMParticipantI was driving with my wife westbound on Alki yesterday, enjoying the weather and scenery as we do occasionally. When an adult bicyclist (in his 40’s) darted out onto the street from between two parked cars. We were doing less than 25 mph, but I slammed on the brakes and tooted the horn to let him know I was there. He wasn’t looking when he entered the road and I missed him by about a foot! He glared back at me and flashed us the bird, then proceeded to keep himself planted in the center of the road at about 5-10 mph.
The reminder of the motorist who had his car smashed and was beaten up by a herd of bicyclists a couple of days ago came to mind.
There was opposing traffic so that we couldn’t pass. He continued to flash the bird for a couple of blocks until we reached the stop sign at the Cactus. He barged through the intersection without stopping and we stopped and made the left turn.
I understand the desire to reduce our carbon footprint and if it were practical I’d be bicycling too. I may be 72, from a different generation, but I am driving a Prius averaging 47 mpg for crying out loud, so feel that I am doing my part. What is it about the arrogance of these tree huggers that they think they can abuse all others? If I had been someone else, he might have learned the physics of the difference between a 200 lb vehicle vs. 3,000 the hard way!
August 5, 2008 at 7:27 pm #633331
SAMemberI’m not going to defend the bicyclist…
A cycling friend recently bought a Prius and I asked her, “why’d you do that?” The Prius is so quiet you can’t hear it coming up behind you. She knew of the problem and was going to get the special “Share the Road” license plate to offset her guilty conscience and let other cyclists know she was bike friendly.
August 5, 2008 at 7:35 pm #633332
AnonymousInactiveJust one example of the many times a driver who is on the road and minding their own business when a ped. or cyclist darts out and is in the wrong then flips off the driver. Yeah, it really makes me want to share the road. One can only take so much and we are not getting any smaller in population around here. There is going to be an “incident” one of these days, I can smell it.
August 5, 2008 at 7:37 pm #633333
ErikParticipantThe bicyclist was a jerk, he probably acts the same way behind the wheel of a car or as a pedestrian…a pattern is a pattern.
I ride my bike all the time…for exercise, not for some stupid carbon footprint BS. It’s been said many times on here that common courtesy by all parties works well when sharing paths/roads. :-)
August 5, 2008 at 7:43 pm #633334
AnonymousInactiveLots of a_holes around these days in cars, on foot, and on bikes, that’s for sure. A few bad apples spoil the bunch. I wonder why people get so pissed at bikers though? Is it because they are the minority, much more often to flip off drivers, disrupt traffic flow, etc.. or is it madening to drivers because the bikers are much more fragile? I’d be more up set if I almost hit a biker vs almost hitting a car because the car occupant would be much more likely to survive so the careless actions of the biker are less tolerable/excusable. I know not all bikers are jerks but there are enough of you out there that give all the rest a bad name.
August 5, 2008 at 7:51 pm #633335
rahvasMemberThere is a very expensive bike path on Alki and Harbor. Bicyclists don’t need to interact with traffic as much as they choose to. They are operating a moving vehicle and subject to the same road rules as cars when on the road. The guy driving the prius did the right thing. The bicyclist should have been ticketed by the cops for cutting the guy off. But bad drivers are never the ones who get caught, are they?
August 5, 2008 at 7:53 pm #633336
vincentMemberrahvas: please see the extensive bitching by pedestrians about cyclists in the other tread about the bike path. While your at it, read my post above.
August 5, 2008 at 7:57 pm #633337
ErikParticipantRahvas – Have you ever tried to ride on the bike path…lol. It’s actually safer to ride on the street.
August 5, 2008 at 7:58 pm #633338
JanSParticipantVincent…read the original post. The biker darted out from between two parked cars into the roadway….the biker did NOT look to see if a car was coming, and car only missed hitting him by a foot…then said biker has the nerve to flip the driver off when he honks his horn because it was a DANGEROUS maneuver.
In my book the bicyclist was just being a (selfish)jerk…and we all realize that not all bicyclists are like that. This one was in the wrong, it seems, not the driver.
Get over always blaming the driver, please.
August 5, 2008 at 7:59 pm #633339
AnonymousInactiveVincent must be a biker, (not that here is anything wrong with that).
August 5, 2008 at 8:01 pm #633340
rahvasMemberI read your post, that’s why I responded. Pedestrians should share the path with the cyclists and maybe not be so meandering. But having moved back from Portland, a very bike friendly town. I find the Seattle cyclists are way more aggressive and inconsiderate than their more numerous compratriots to the south. Granted, seattle could provide more bike routes, Delridge would be a good place to start, but Harbor and Alki are not places where cyclists need to be getting snippy with motorists. As some of the other threads have noted, congestion in general down there is heavy, so everybody needs to be more considerate. You berated a 72 year person for honking at someone who cut him off. Unnecessarily. Then proceeded to drive under the speed limit and flip him/her off. Please excuse me for disagreeing with your defense of someone unworthy all in the name of your muddy cause.
August 5, 2008 at 8:06 pm #633341
RonMParticipantVincent,
I’m glad it wasn’t you on the bicycle! If it had been and I had read your post above, you would have been flattened on the roadbed even if I had to take the time to explain your disregard of traffic rules! You help explain the arrogance of that bicyclist who thought he owned the road, disregarding all others around him (there were families and children on the side observing the whole thing).
August 5, 2008 at 8:06 pm #633342
vincentMemberjanS: Ok, I forgot you know the mindset of every bicyclist and my obvious explanation of what probably occurred is simply too fanciful for you to fathom. I have NEVER seen any of these things actually occur on the road either.
also, drivers are always without any guilt, even when they are in cars that have enough issues with *not* making noise that congress addressed it.
http://www.opencongress.org/bill/110-h5734/show
I blame the driver due to his hypocrisy in the matter. I have a hard time blaming you for your misunderstanding, because of how hard life is for you, and how easy it is for you to blather on as a expert on every post.
August 5, 2008 at 8:09 pm #633343August 5, 2008 at 8:14 pm #633344
rahvasMemberI ahve ridden the bike path many times as a cyclist. I have rollerbladed and walked it. we all share this community. Bikers don’t deserve a more fluid path than anyone else. navigating the obstacles is part of the skill set it takes. If you want to race smoothly find a track somewhere dedicated to that. If you want no obstacles there are plenty of good stationary bikes you can put in your house. Drivers on the road already have enough obstacles to look out for. Cyclists should be considerate and hey, maybe look out for their own safety? I’d be devasted to hit a person. But I’m not going to jail if some jack*** cuts in front of me. Jeez
August 5, 2008 at 8:14 pm #633345
vincentMemberrahvas: I never said the bicyclist was guilt free. But based on the OP’s tone he seems to feel like he had been victimized in some way thats nonsensical.
re pdx cyclists: riders in pdx have many laws on there side that makes drivers much more wary of the altercations that are common in Seattle. The law is ambiguous in many cases and cyclists have much more to lose when run over. so they tend to be more aggressive.
which segways nicely into why a dude would flip off some random guy who is honking at him. Honking at people riding is seriously lame and unsafe. What would you have the cyclist do? Stop in traffic to address your concern? Dart onto the sidewalk? Its idiotic to expect any *good* outcome from honking at someone on a bike.
I agree people just need to chill out, but I dont see this as black at white as the OP is trying to make it out as.
WSB glossary update= OP = origional poster
August 5, 2008 at 8:16 pm #633346
SAMemberHonking your horn in an aggressive manner is not ok. Lightly tooting or tapping your horn as described by the OP is fine if you want to warn the cyclist of your presence… typically done before passing the cyclist.
Understand that cyclists mainly use their hearing to detect traffic approaching from behind and can be easily startled by quiet vehicles like the ever more common hybrids.
August 5, 2008 at 8:18 pm #633347
rahvasMemberIf you want to ride the road expect the same treatment as a car driver,i.e being honked at for irresponsible driving/riding. balck and white to me.
August 5, 2008 at 8:29 pm #633348
BayouMemberOf course biking has it’s advantages in many ways- it’s a clean alternative method of travel and it’s great exercise. I completely support those that do it while respecting the rules of the road.
However, the problem that I have with many (certainly not all) of the cyclists that I meet on the road is that they REFUSE to obey traffic laws. I can’t tell you how many close calls I’ve had picking up my partner in the I.D. What is so confusing about a red light or a stop sign? They both translate to STOP for everyone, last time I checked.
August 5, 2008 at 8:37 pm #633349
vincentMemberwow RonM! such a tempered response from you!
mind giving me your license plate so I know which prius to shoot at because you have just threated me with deadly force?
way to pave the way for understanding.
I know this is really hard for you to understand, based on your insistent arrogance, but the bicyclist do own the road. Along with everyone else who pays taxes on their home. People like to go off about licensing and gas taxes, which are irrelevant to bikes on roads.
lets try all caps so you can skim the main points.
the dude on the bike was hugging the curb, so cars could pass. YOU DIDNT SEE HIM. bikes are allowed by law, TO TAKE THE WHOLE LANE AS A VECHICLE, they are also allowed to GO SLOWER THAN THE SPEED LIMIT WHEN TAKING THE LANE.
Yeah the dude flipped you off, boo hoo. Build a bridge and get over it. Sorry your big tough ego couldn’t handle a dude gesturing at you, after you honked at him in traffic, which as above, is LAME AND DANGEROUS.
August 5, 2008 at 8:54 pm #633350
datamuseParticipantthe dude on the bike was hugging the curb, so cars could pass
Say what? I didn’t see that in the original description of the incident.
August 5, 2008 at 9:00 pm #633351
vincentMemberdatamuse: yeah I did, but you have to read it between the lines of the Whippersnappers on bikes deserve to be run over rhetoric.
I offered a couple of explanations of what happened and why. It then spun into, DAMN THOSE BIKES I HATES EM ALL AND THEY DESERVE IT.
August 5, 2008 at 9:03 pm #633352
ErikParticipantThis reminds me of my last trip to visit mom at the ‘adult’ park in AZ. What was the hot topic?
Bikes vs Peds vs golf carts…and the speeding propane guy…lol, same ole s&^t.
August 5, 2008 at 9:03 pm #633353
JanSParticipantI suppose I equate a bicyclist darting out into traffic from between two cars without looking to a child playing who darts out without looking. What would have been devastating is if the driver had actually hit him because of this. This could have been much worse than flaming words thrown back and forth on a forum…so lets agree, maybe the driver shouldn’t have honked, but perhaps the bicyclist should have been a bit more observant, and not so quick to flip someone off. Maybe share the road goes both ways? Just a thought..
August 5, 2008 at 9:15 pm #633354
roundthesoundParticipantI was ridding my bike on the path yesterday and I rang my bell at a group of people and I hear “how cute, she has a little bell”; did they move out of the way, no. So the bike path sucks sometimes, doesn’t mean you need to bring that aggression out onto the road when you could be running into a car instead of a bunch of jerk-face pedestrians. Yeah, its the law that you can take the whole lane as a bicyclist but that doesn’t mean it’s going to hurt any less when you get hit by a car.
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