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I love the ones that yell at you if you have 1 inch of your foot in the bike lane, then proceed to blow through the red light a few yards away.
The best was a guy in TriBeCa. He was trying to cross as a bunch of bikers blew past him, running a red light. He straight up kicked over the last couple of bikers as they tried to blow by. They ate pavement in a massive way! I cracked up.
I think he just snapped
I have to admit, I've been tempted to do that before.
I bicycled in NYC a few weeks ago. Pedestrians rarely obey the Don't Walk sign when the traffic is clear, it was frustrating to sit while they kept going. So over the half the time I ended up going through the red light. Plenty of aggressive drivers that are far more dangerous. I wanted to yell at a Masserati (with diplomat plates) for blocking the box, forcing me to change lanes into faster moving traffic. But his windows were closed so I just made annoyed gestures.
Pedestrians jaywalk (while on their cell phones), bicyclists go the wrong way and run lights, police park in the bike lane, taxis stop in the bike lane and run lights, yeah, it's Manhattan, what else is new? I've been on my bike, stopped, and been hit by a jogger. Maybe they ought to license pedestrians?
Almost hit a bicyclist on Rockaway Blvd the other night.....moron thinks its okay to go thru a red light at a major street like that. They also almost hit my dog a few times when I cross Myrtle ( again, blowing a red light ).
It amazes me how stupid these people are. I don't even want to ride a bike on most of these streets, let alone go thru red lights like they do. There's faster ways to commit suicide, people.
If they share the road. They should share the cost and responsibility.
Pretty sure this is a myth.
Anyway, I think the biggest issue is priority. The dutch show that you can well-functioning mixed modal system with high bike ridership. But the infrastructure needs to be there. NYC still lags behind in that area and the american culture of rushing/time crunching doesn't help either. Plus, when it comes to bikers who are willing to risk riding in shared lanes, imo, these guys are your typical safety conscious ppl. Heck, in the netherlands, the bikes (the omafiets), from my understanding, are designed to be less aerodynamic and safety conscious. The small amount of helmet wearers and low fatality/injury is pretty telling imo.
Also, going by NY DMV, cyclists are the least of drivers' and civilians' problems.
Had I not given away both my bikes for fear of life and limb, I'd have started carrying either a small handgun or rotten tomatoes to knock off the morons going the WRONG WAY in a bike lane. Either that or I would find a Renaissance Fair and buy a lance to knock them off their "steeds" as they barrel towards me.
The last few times it happened the best I could do was yell out: "Fu**ing A**hole."
As someone who bikes as a hobby I'm kind of on the fence. I think a license is a bit extreme but some more enforcement would be good. A good first step would be to crack down on those who don't yield to crossing pedestrians and those who don't wear helmets. Bike riders need to be shooken up a bit because many have grown too reckless. I still think at least half of bike riders are responsible but everyone else ruins it. When I ride I don't stop at every red light but I do slow down make sure no one is coming then go. Stopping at every red light on a bike would be kind of silly but bike riders can't demand respect and then not respect the rights of the pedestrians and drivers who they share roads with.
I've had to slam on my brakes for a guy on a bike salmoning down the street faster than my car was going because I was about to turn up that block and he came out of no where. At least he tried to say sorry---most of the time when they do that, they don't. I can't even count the number of times a bike has almost hit me---moreso in Manhattan than Brooklyn.
I was just driving home from work and I had the green light---there was a SWARM of people on bikes that JUST stopped for my car. Thankfully it was my light and they stopped because as soon as I turned, they all, against the light, starting coming down behind me, blocking the entire street. There is some event going on by me from the looks of it.
More bike lanes in BETTER places/wider streets would be helpful---especially if people actually used the bike lanes. We have a very nice bike lane right by me---perfect situation---in that it goes the entire length of this road and the road is wide enough that two bikes can bike alongside each other and a car can still be a few feet away from them. Most people are pretty good about courtesy (both cars and pedestrians) in this case.
Anyway, I think the biggest issue is priority. The dutch show that you can well-functioning mixed modal system with high bike ridership. But the infrastructure needs to be there. NYC still lags behind in that area and the american culture of rushing/time crunching doesn't help either. Plus, when it comes to bikers who are willing to risk riding in shared lanes, imo, these guys are your typical safety conscious ppl. Heck, in the netherlands, the bikes (the omafiets), from my understanding, are designed to be less aerodynamic and safety conscious. The small amount of helmet wearers and low fatality/injury is pretty telling imo.
Also, going by NY DMV, cyclists are the least of drivers' and civilians' problems.
Netherlands has a deeply ingrained cycling culture. Literally pretty much everyone bikes. They also have way better infrastructure. NYC is a long long way from that.
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