"That bicyclist is correct, sir" said the cop to the driver
Something I never thought I'd hear. Friday about 5:15, southbound Halsted is gridlocked from Armitage south. I am stopped at Clybourn, and a minivan and a red sedan roll through and block the box as the light turns green for Halsted. I slip around the minivan and say at the guy in the sedan "Nice driving, pal, you're not supposed to block the box!" As I clear the minivan, a Chicago Police bike cop is right there, coming towards me; I brake, he passes me and spins to parallel the driver's side of the sedan and says "That bicyclist is correct, sir. . ."
I was too flabbergasted to stop (and I didn't want to block the box either). I saw in my rear view mirror that he had his ticket book out, so maybe he'd be pulling red sedan man over for his penalty.
Meanwhile, another cyclist passes me, I ask him if he saw and heard that, and he just says "Justice!" and tries to high-five me.
My main lesson from this ride (I usually make my Rogers Park to Evergreen Park ride weekly not during rush hour, but had been at the Cubs game. . .) is that the real enemy of drivers is other drivers. Cars routinely blocked intersections, made insane left turns into multiple lanes of traffic, cut each other off. I almost feel sorry for drivers having to deal with other drivers.
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Shaun Jacobsen on
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...the real enemy of drivers is other drivers.
Yeah, I remind myself of this whenever I hear an argument from someone that bikes cause traffic. Maybe changing the street configuration to accommodate bikes causes some short-term congestion, but on streets that haven't changed, it's always the drivers that go through an intersection when they shouldn't that end up clogging the street (mostly downtown). Buses do it too, a lot...
The nice part of being on a bike in this situation is that it's easy to get through :-)
Now where is that cop-on-a-bike when I see drivers talking on their phone while honking at me?
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Permalink Reply by Skip Montanaro 0mi on
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> ... the real enemy of drivers is other drivers.
As I was working my way home headed north on Clark through Wrigleyville (just after the game), one of the intersections I encountered (Clark and Grace?) was controlled by traffic cops. There are people (pedestrians, cars, bikes) waiting in all directions to cross. The cop was waving the westbound cars through on Grace, and didn't notice that the cars already through the intersection were stopped for something ahead. He proceeded to wave cars into the intersection who had no immediate hope of proceeding, thus blocking the north/south traffic who might have otherwise been able to go.
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Permalink Reply by JohnO on
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That cyclist who tried the high-five.
So did he raise his hand and you left him hanging?
Or did he raise his hand and you missed?
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Permalink Reply by Reboot Oxnard on
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I think the main lesson - and the cause for celebration - is that the pendulum is swinging far enough that the cops are aware of rules and supporting biking. Incidents like this might not indicate that we're at the tipping point but they are certainly milestones.
Drivers have always been their own worst enemies.
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Very cool thing!
A few weeks ago I saw a bike cop at Clybourn/North forcing southbound drivers who were blocking the box (attempting to turn east on North) to continue south on Clybourn so that the northbound traffic could proceed through its green light. Totally awesome.
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Haha I'm always scared to high five on my bike. Last Time I was borrowing a friend's super nice carbon road bike and not used to it (was riding a really heavy diamondback hybrid at the time) and this guy offered a high five and I just yelled "SORRY!" Because this bike was so weirdly light to me I thought a high five would tip me over ha.
JohnO said:That cyclist who tried the high-five.
So did he raise his hand and you left him hanging?
Or did he raise his hand and you missed?
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Permalink Reply by Will on
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Fixed. But yeah, Ashland and Hubbard is especially bad.
igz said:Ashland and Hubbard. always is such a clusterfuck...
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Permalink Reply by Jose A. Terrazas on
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Preach on!
As I leave my house this morning my wife says " Did you hear the crash?". I ride past the intersection down the block and see the "accident". A minivan and a small sedan had a head on collision in literally the middle of it. Funny thing is, it's a four way stop on a side street. From what I saw neither driver wanted to give the right of way. The look on their faces was priceless.
Nice game of chicken.
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That intersection could definitely use a stop sign or a light. Heading east/west on Hubbard and crossing Ashland is always an adventure.
igz said:Ashland and Hubbard. always such a clusterfuck...
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Permalink Reply by Carl Belles on
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I've been saying for years that the solution to the city's budget problems is to position officers at the intersections of North & Halsted, North & Clybourn, North & Sheffield, and North & Elston, and just write tickets for blocking the box. I'll bet you could fill the budget hole in a month.
OK, I exaggerate a little, but since at various times I am a pedestrian, a cyclist, and a driver in the neighborhood, it's incredibly frustrating. I haven't noticed the Halsted & Clybourn intersection as being as bad as the others, but I'm sure it's not great.
An uplifting story, nonetheless. Good on that officer!
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