Descrição
This happens all over my route between the train station and East Rock, but today it was here. A driver came up behind me in his black Honda and was sounding his horn and revving his engine. I was already as close as I dare get to the parked cars for fear of getting doored. The driver proceeded to squeal his tires passing me with about a one foot clearance instead of the three feet required by law. He then cut me off at the intersection, but I am sure that had more to do with the gesture I gave as a reaction after being nearly run over by this maniac.
I would love to again see the signs on the buses reminding drivers to share the road with cyclists.
17 Comentários
Charlie Barrett (Utilizador Registado)
BJG (Utilizador Registado)
dolceguar1 (Visitante)
BJG (Utilizador Registado)
clarkstresident (Utilizador Registado)
Thomas Hils (Utilizador Registado)
I agree there needs to be some greater education/enforcement of cycling laws in New Haven. People whizz by without giving the required 3 feet frequently.
However, I've never had a problem on the Farmington Canal. While I know that my experience is not representative of every one else's I think the danger is highly overstated.
BJG (Utilizador Registado)
An anonymous SeeClickFix user (Utilizador Registado)
I have to admit that I sometimes use stoplights as stop signs when cycling at 6am. I do make a full stop, but after looking both ways, I'll still cross if the light hasn't changed. Sometimes I do it in the evening, too, but only to get away from drivers who are following or trying to pass too close. I will also cross with the pedestrian sign as well. I look abut it as a safety issue. I don't want to get hit, and I'm sure the driver doesn't want to hit me.
I also ride in NYC, and honestly, I feel safer riding up and down Park Ave than I do up State or Orange Streets.
clarkstresident (Utilizador Registado)
Mr DJ (Visitante)
Yes, and I fully admit that when there is no traffic at 6am, I really have no justification other than speeding up my trip. However, in the evening on my way home, cars will have far more of an impact on me than I do on them and while I could stand my ground, I feel that avoiding risk to life and limb far outweighs my obeying a traffic light when the coast is clear.
I will make a change to fully obey the lights when I don't feel threatened. However, the police need to enforce the three foot law before I will stop trying to get away from aggressive drivers by not waiting until the light has changed. My helmet will only protect me so much.
Matt Higbee (Utilizador Registado)
By the measure of acting selfishly and violating the social trust through dangerous risk taking, jumping a red light on a bike when there is no traffic coming in either direction is not remotely equal to dangerous driving or even, I would argue, driving above 25 MPH at any point within city limits.
At this stage in our transportation evolution, the rules of common sense, not illogically applied statutes, should prevail.
There are many cases when the appropriate socially-based decision for the fully alert cyclist is to jump the red light when no oncoming cars are in the vicinity
a. all the cars take notice at the cyclist. Even if just to curse, everyone is now safer because the driver is aware the cyclist is ahead
b. the cyclist can get out of the intersection ahead of time and not delay cars stacked up behind who might want to turn in the path of the cyclist
b. all the cars behind can clearly see the where the cyclist is going and not have to guess when everyone is moving side by side
clarkstresident (Utilizador Registado)
mapninja (Utilizador Registado)
There really is no winning in the battle for supremacy between cyclists and motorists. Both sides are aggressive in exercising their "right to the road" and the fact that both sides perceive the other as "flouting the law" (i.e. cyclists running lights, passing stopped school buses, etc... and motorists "buzzing" cyclists, failing to yield the right-of-way, etc...) creates a feedback loop that will only make things worse as more cyclists hit the streets of New Haven. I was in NYC yesterday and noticed that physically separate bike lanes are going up everywhere. That really is the only solution. If Manhattan can create a separate bicycle infrastructure, than I don't see any reason why any other city in the country can't do the same. The one thing that has to happen is that the city needs to recognize (as NYC has) that cycling is EQUAL in legitimacy as a mode of transportation, to motor vehicles and then act on that recognition.
Until then, if you are a cyclist, do this: When you come to one of these instances where you feel as though you are 'OK' to disregard a traffic law (running a light, passing a stopped school bus, failing to yield to pedestrians in crosswalks, etc...), think to yourself, "If I were in a car, would I do it?" If the answer is no, then don't do it. Cyclists have the same legal rights AND RESPONSIBILITIES as motorists.
BJG (Utilizador Registado)
zbeat (Utilizador Registado)
Reconhecida NHPD: ARCHIVE 3 (Oficial Verificado)
Encerradas Manager of Operations, Process Improvement - Transportation, Traffic, & Parking (Oficial Verificado)