Is it worth it to try to educate people?
Is it worth it to try to educate people in a civil manner about biking when you're probably going to get yelled at?
For example, this morning I was biking south on Wells around Ohio when there was a runner jogging south with traffic, in the bike lane. She was in the buffered lane itself, not even in the parking area to the right (and with headphones on). It's too bad I couldn't explain that she's putting bikers at risk by taking their lane in the few seconds that I passed by.
It just puts a damper on my morning when the response to my "this is not a jogging lane" is "fuck off!"
Julie
Views: 1008
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on
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I make it a point to signal BIG whenever there is something in the bike lane when I move into the driving lane and then signal BIG again coming back. Sometimes it means that a car needs to slow down to folloow me (not me cutting them off, of course, just being in their way as they come upon me) because I safely took the lane ahead of them for a while as I passed an obstruction like a jogger running or Truck/Cab/POV parked in the lane I SHOULD have been in had they not thoughtlessly blocked it.
I feel that if people see you "doing the right thing" with a proper signal and moving over and then signaling and moving back that most thinking people will understand that it is the obstruction that is messing with them too -not just me, the bicyclist. And often the obstructionist in the lane notices this too and perhaps will think about what they have done. Or maybe I'm just fooling myself. But it makes me feel better to do it this way.
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Permalink Reply by Carter O'Brien on
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+1. nicely put.
James BlackHeron said:I make it a point to signal BIG whenever there is something in the bike lane when I move into the driving lane and then signal BIG again coming back. Sometimes it means that a car needs to slow down to folloow me (not me cutting them off, of course, just being in their way as they come upon me) because I safely took the lane ahead of them for a while as I passed an obstruction like a jogger running or Truck/Cab/POV parked in the lane I SHOULD have been in had they not thoughtlessly blocked it.
I feel that if people see you "doing the right thing" with a proper signal and moving over and then signaling and moving back that most thinking people will understand that it is the obstruction that is messing with them too -not just me, the bicyclist. And often the obstructionist in the lane notices this too and perhaps will think about what they have done. Or maybe I'm just fooling myself. But it makes me feel better to do it this way.
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Permalink Reply by Kevin C Dormant on
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What was your "Search Term?"
igz said:
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Permalink Reply by Tank-Ridin' Ryan on
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Well said Carter.
Carter O'Brien said:Joggers in the street/bike lanes is a relatively new phenomenon, mid/late 90s housing boom brought it to areas like LP and LV where I guarantee you it was rarely- if ever - practiced.
Your analogy is faulty as cyclists are legally defined as intended users of the roadways. If there is such legal language for pedestrians I've never seen it - why wouldn't joggers just use sidewalks?
With a bike lane the issue is pretty clear IMO - joggers in the lane (who often aren't even going in the right direction) mean there's no room for a cyclist to safely pass. If a car can pull up alongside you on a bike, you're already talking about two different issues as you aren't stopping the car from its forward progress.
GabeW (not the other Gabe) said:So, if a car pulls up along side you and politely tells you that:
"this is the road, you might get clipped by a car who isn't expecting to see a cyclist here."
We would respond favorably to that comment? I see joggers on the shoulder all the time on the streets, it's nothing new or unexpected.
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thanks - honestly, I don't see being concerned about bike lane safety as being "anti-pedestrian" whatsoever. If anything it's pro-pedestrian - I believe joggers are fully entitled to use the sidewalks. : )
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Did you spill your coffee on your lap? -oh, I see, never mind...
Serge Lubomudrov said:I love my new siren. Nothing like sneaking upon an oblivious to her surroundings runner and give a BIG and LOUD signal. See her jump a foot or three in the air.
Very educational.
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Permalink Reply by daWillinChi on
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I think he had always had it in his favorites
J/K
Kevin C said:What was your "Search Term?"
igz said:
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Permalink Reply by Doug Haynes on
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When a jogger is in a protected, dedicated, bike line I think it is an issue and they are putting themselves and cyclists at risk. The road is a shared surface, cars and bikes. The LFP and similar paths is a shared surface, bikes and peds. The protected or buffered bike lane is just that, a bike lane.
GabeW (not the other Gabe) said:Well, this is not a classroom lane either....
How die-hard BIKES ONLY do you want to get? The bike lane nazi says biking only. No lecturing.
Am I the only one seeing a parallel between cars sharing with bikes, and bikes sharing with runners? Bike lanes are a convenience, not a requirement for riding in the street. A car on a road without a bike lane telling a cyclist that it's for cars only would likely get a "fuck off" response from us, right? And you want to lecture a pedestrian about where to be? Or tell a pedestrian that we don't expect to see them? Try that one as a defense in court, lol.
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+1
notoriousDUG said:When a jogger is in a protected, dedicated, bike line I think it is an issue and they are putting themselves and cyclists at risk. The road is a shared surface, cars and bikes. The LFP and similar paths is a shared surface, bikes and peds. The protected or buffered bike lane is just that, a bike lane.
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It always seems to be that "same guy" on the sidewalk in my neighborhood and often in other parts of town too. Some dude in a backwards baseball cap and grungy T-shirt on a beat-up department-store mountain bike with lots of rust and the rear wheel way out of true. The guy is carrying 2 or 3 plastic shopping bags looped over the grips as he rides and is going at barely more than a walking pace.
Did they clone this guy 10,000 times? Every time I see a guy riding on the sidewalk it is this same guy...
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+1 as well. I gave up on trying to educate people many years ago when I started commuting on the LFP - there just aren't enough hours in the day to even begin to address the crazy things people do. However, I make exceptions and will get snarky for the clearly stupid things like biking with a dog leashed to your handlebars. I watched a guy on the North Branch Trail get instantly jerked 90 degrees to his left when his dog went after a deer which had gone bounding across the path.
Michael B said:
The reality is there are far more cyclists using sidewalks than there are runners in the bike lanes. On my run today a cyclist swooped up from behind me when there was a perfectly fine bike lane in the adjacent street (Damen along Horner Park). As a runner I don't run in the streets the sidewalks are dangerous enough thank you.
When I'm riding & I do encounter a runner or any obstruction I simply glance over my left shoulder, make sure it's clear & pass them. The last thing I would ever do is try & startle them. There has to be a certain give and take while riding in this city. I personally don't have the time or the inclination to try & "educate" people for every infraction I encounter.
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