The Chainlink

Hi everyone,

This is my first time adding a discussion on Chain Link forum. I read Chain Link everyday. I would love to read how you would have handled this situation. I should have been patient and realized the driver was clueless.

I started cycling to work a few months ago. I have noticed more people clueless of their surrounding as the cold kicked in. I primarily been using Lincoln, Wells, and Dearborn and noticed people double parking, drifting (due to texting) and just standing in the middle of the bike lane which is causing dangers to cyclists. I really hope this gets better.

Also is there a Strava group for chainlink members?

Here is my Strava profile
http://www.strava.com/athletes/2548995

http://youtu.be/EDng5AD0K6E

Views: 3089

Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

As to how, by tag number if Jose got it on video or thought to record by reading it out loud for audio. Insist on filing a report, even if the police are not going to follow up. Make a record. If Chicago is going to invest in these lame bike facilities (too narrow and in the door zone), the police need to be willing to pursue motorist violations of these facilities. If not, then the planners need to know that they aren't working and cyclists need to be able to take the streets, controlling traffic lanes, like the drivers with the same rights and responsibilities that they are (if it weren't for a lame Chicago code that bicyclists are supposed to yield to all other traffic BS). Take the traffic lane, not the lame bike lame, unless you want to get cut off like Jose was.

All this stuff about hitting the car or getting into a confrontation on your own is counterproductive. Don't lower yourself to the level of a motorist like this one.

Todd Nelson

CyclingSavvy Instructor

Cary, IL


Alex Z said:

How are the police supposed to find this driver?

Nancy L. Fagin said:

Call the cops - say there's a reckless driver (drunk, drug impaired, heart attack), give the license number and then let them handle it.  

Then again, you know how you get when you're lost or frustrated about finding parking (assuming that you also drive a car)? You've already passed you destination and you wondering if you should just grab the next spot or circle the block again, but you've got someone riding your butt like there is no tomorrow? Frustrated enough to forget to signal before pulling over to park and to forget how to start a parallel park, pulling forward and left to back into the spot instead of turning your wheels to the right as you back in? Do you know that they're not teaching parallel parking in drivers ed anymore, at least not in high school? It's a lost art. 

So have a little compassion, maybe hold back and give the poor soul some room. Maybe you can stop and calmly offer some driving tips once they are parked.


Todd Nelson said:

Appears to be intentional. Can you capture the license plate number or remember it? When video recording, if lighting is not good for capturing license plates, it's a good idea to say the number for audio recording. You should report it. You have a bike lane, though not a good one. You should be able to pass a motorist who is apparently distracted, but then appears to be intentionally and dangerously obstructing your use of the bike lane, and then tries to block a proper pass on the left. Confronting would not have been a good idea.

 

Todd Nelson

CyclingSavvy Instructor

Cary, IL

I definitely have stopped in situations like this, and usually stopping lots of traffic that has to stop because I'm blocking their lane. Point of reference is: when you get cut off like that I say it is education time-out, and not only for the Zanex-driver on text, but the others behind your back, doing all that honking and screaming. Screw them, this is street theatre with an educational experience back-up. You need to do a LOT of outstretched arm/finger - pointing (while screaming) to get the peds and backed-up'd cars interested in your rant. If not, it's pointless.

This isn't just theatre. It is Saving Lives Theatre. Forget the momentary hold-up yer making on Lincoln Avenue, They're sitting in their warm cars, playing tunes and mumbling, "What's that all about?". Their lives are anything but threatened.

We really have to make ourselves more visible every day - every way/ argument? Let's hear it. nk

I'm waiting for Google Glasses to become generally available, at a hopefully reasonable price. I can't see wearing a helmet mounted Go Pro Hero. Had you been hurt, that footage would be very useful when determining liability. Within a few years, we will all be wearing cameras in public to protect ourselves, and when integrated into a comprehensive system will become part of our brave new world surveillance society. Maybe a little scary, but I see that as a better alternative to packing heat, which will probably become just as ubiquitous and even more scary. I'll save you the effort of rolling out Ben Frankin's quote "those who sacrifice liberty for security deserve neither". Public surveillance is not an infringement upon liberty. 


Jose Fonseca said:

I put my GO PRO Hero on my helmet.

Christine said:

My question might be a bit off topic, but I'm curious. Do a lot of you use bike cameras to capture videos like this? Is it on your handlebar, your helmet, somewhere else? Brands, costs?

I should probably start a new thread on this.

One Nation Under Surveillance.

Joe Guzzardo said:

I'm waiting for Google Glasses to become generally available, at a hopefully reasonable price. I can't see wearing a helmet mounted Go Pro Hero. Had you been hurt, that footage would be very useful when determining liability. Within a few years, we will all be wearing cameras in public to protect ourselves, and when integrated into a comprehensive system will become part of our brave new world surveillance society. Maybe a little scary, but I see that as a better alternative to packing heat, which will probably become just as ubiquitous and even more scary. I'll save you the effort of rolling out Ben Frankin's quote "those who sacrifice liberty for security deserve neither". Public surveillance is not an infringement upon liberty. 


Jose Fonseca said:

I put my GO PRO Hero on my helmet.

Christine said:

My question might be a bit off topic, but I'm curious. Do a lot of you use bike cameras to capture videos like this? Is it on your handlebar, your helmet, somewhere else? Brands, costs?

I should probably start a new thread on this.

I  can agree with your frustration but it baffles me why U turns are acceptable on a street like that. Unless you can make a complete U turn, not a 3 point (or more) turnaround, don't do it, go around the damn block. I can't feel too bad for someone who has to walk an extra block.

Todd Nelson said:

Then again, you know how you get when you're lost or frustrated about finding parking (assuming that you also drive a car)? You've already passed you destination and you wondering if you should just grab the next spot or circle the block again, but you've got someone riding your butt like there is no tomorrow? Frustrated enough to forget to signal before pulling over to park and to forget how to start a parallel park, pulling forward and left to back into the spot instead of turning your wheels to the right as you back in? Do you know that they're not teaching parallel parking in drivers ed anymore, at least not in high school? It's a lost art. 

So have a little compassion, maybe hold back and give the poor soul some room. Maybe you can stop and calmly offer some driving tips once they are parked.


Todd Nelson said:

Appears to be intentional. Can you capture the license plate number or remember it? When video recording, if lighting is not good for capturing license plates, it's a good idea to say the number for audio recording. You should report it. You have a bike lane, though not a good one. You should be able to pass a motorist who is apparently distracted, but then appears to be intentionally and dangerously obstructing your use of the bike lane, and then tries to block a proper pass on the left. Confronting would not have been a good idea.

 

Todd Nelson

CyclingSavvy Instructor

Cary, IL

Hi Chainlink,

So I just read about another cyclist that was killed in Chicago. 8(

(http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-driver-arrest...)

I have a question does Chicago have any specific cyclist rules/laws? To be honest all I read is the cyclist map (http://www.scribd.com/doc/151163211/Chicago-Bike-Map-2013

I agree that it looks intentional.
Hi Chi Lowe,
Thanks for the analogy,
I hope you serve your pasta with garlic bread.



Chi Lowe (<12 parsecs) said:

DEATH MACHINE!  Just kidding.  Hi DUG.  

Also, Hi Jose.  

I think I woulda made that Range Rover like I make my pasta.



notoriousDUG said:

I would have done about what you did, maybe yelled a 'hey!' at them the times they wandered at me in the bike line and when they turned left.  Really on one like that there is no point in getting really mad or confrontational; that was, in my opinion, a text book example of distracted/lost/out of their element driving.  My money is that they were lost and trying to figure out where to go.

Slow down, be patient.  We all have to share the road and we have no idea why the driver was driving in that manner.  I'm perfectly okay with stopping while the driver figures out wtf they are doing.

I second this.   You've got no idea what's motivating the driver's decisions, and it is a mistake to believe that they will think the way you do in a given situation.  The left-move he/she made suggests to me that they were trying to block you from passing, as there didn't seem to be a place for them to turn into.  But you could have just as easily mesmorized a distracted driver (cell phoner, address-seeker) with your odd-sized headlamp and movements behind them, and they were following your movements without malice..

h' 1.0 said:

I would have slowed, hung back, and ultimately stopped completely until the front wheels of the car were pointing in such a way that guaranteed the driver was not about to pull out again.

When I see someone behaving that unpredictably I am not putting myself in their line of fire.

RSS

© 2008-2016   The Chainlink Community, L.L.C.   Powered by

Disclaimer  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service