The Chainlink

You blew the red light east bound on Lawrence at Damen at 5:26 pm this evening.

 

There was enough time for the biker in front of me to make it half way into the intersection, northbound on Damen, before you came whizzing past my front wheel.

 

I yelled "You're an idiot!" at your big haired chick, self, and you looked back at me. I meant it!

 

I woulda testified for any of the cars, that managed to not kill you, if they had.

 

Keep riding like a tard!

love,

gabe

 

Witness bad behavior during your commute? Feel free to post. Maybe that lovely human can read it and think they are famous. Maybe you can also inspire the whole generation of kids to shower but we can start with small things.

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This is a repository for stories not to debate the merits on honking etiquette... We done yet?

I lived for 13 years at an alley and, while it can get annoying to hear all the honking, as a pedestrian, I am grateful for the little "beep" when someone is coming out of a blind alley.  I can't see them until I step into the alley and they can't see me until they pull out in front of me, so it means fewer unpleasant (and sometimes downright frightening) encounters.  And I gotta say, the little honk is nothing compared to the garbage trucks when you live by the alley!

David P. said:

I don't mean honk as in lay on the horn, get the hell out of my way because I'm barreling through; I mean a very short tap. Yes, it's my responsibility to look for pedestrians and I do, but as the nose of my car edges out I can't see crossing traffic until it's already filling most of the sidewalk. Hence the audible announcement. I tend to do the same thing before backing out of parking spots in low-visibility situations.

Juan Primo said:

As a person who lived in a corner apartment near an alley, people who honk at the end of an alley are rude.  It's your duty to LOOK for pedestrians, including the vulnerable deaf and earbudded pedestrians.  Do not honk at the end of an alley for the sake of those living there.

David P. said:

 I think of it as being similar in intent to tapping the horn when you approach the sidewalk at the end of an alley - you're broadcasting your presence to more vulnerable people who may not know you're there.

I've discovered that my bell freaks out the flocks of geese along my commute.  Since those thuggish jerks have chased and hissed at me multiple times over the last couple of years, I now ring my bell loudly every time I come across them near the road/path.  Sends them running (without actually hurting them) and makes my day every single time.

Michael Perez said:


those guys......crapped on my face once when I was laying down on the grass taking a nap from a long walk once. Scared the hell out of me but I got revenge with the flash from my dslr
Tricolor said:

Usually if a pigeon can't get out of your way it's probably ill.

Geese, on the other hand...

Bravo!

Bez said:

I've discovered that my bell freaks out the flocks of geese along my commute.  Since those thuggish jerks have chased and hissed at me multiple times over the last couple of years, I now ring my bell loudly every time I come across them near the road/path.  Sends them running (without actually hurting them) and makes my day every single time.

Cool.  I've been working out a way to mount some sleigh bells on my bike for this winter but I didn't think it would also make for a possible goose repellent.

Yesterday afternoon on my commute home, on State Street in the Gold Coast neighborhood.

I was called an asshole by a jogger. Where was I? On State street. Where was he? Also on State street, which means he was technically jaywalking (jay-jogging?). Not only that but he was jogging against traffic.

And I'm the asshole.

Those types could benefit from a nice blast from an air horn. Of course, they are technically pedestrians, so salmoning is correct form. But why on the street when there is a perfectly good sidewalk? It's a "look at me- I'm a runner" thing, I suspect... see my first sentence. ;-)

John Wilson 6.0 said:

Yesterday afternoon on my commute home, on State Street in the Gold Coast neighborhood.

I was called an asshole by a jogger. Where was I? On State street. Where was he? Also on State street, which means he was technically jaywalking (jay-jogging?). Not only that but he was jogging against traffic.

And I'm the asshole.

I'm using the Crane Suzu bell.  They didn't seem bothered by my previous bell (some off brand).

Tricolor said:

Cool.  I've been working out a way to mount some sleigh bells on my bike for this winter but I didn't think it would also make for a possible goose repellent.

There is enough room for everyone!


Not for the geese, there is no room for them.


Domenica Cresap said:

There is enough room for everyone!

Did anyone else encounter more belligerence than usual this morning? I'm totally shaken up.
I made a box left onto Chicago from Milwaukee. I was with three other female cyclists. When the light turned green, we were in the right lame (not much of an option there) and this lady behind us laid on the horn all the way through the intersection and them BLEW around us, really closelY. She proceeded to also cut off cars etc because apparently she drives a race at. Luckily I passed her on the bridge and she never caught up.
I then witnessed a maroon van nearly right hook the girl in front of me- she was on a tint folding bike and he used no signal, just drifted right after the stop sign on wells.
Then I turned left off wells onto superior and the REAL fun began.
I was riding basically in what would be the door zone if cars were parked, but there were only a few cars. This girl thought I wasn't going fast enough so she passed me on my left and cut me off for the next light. As if this weren't upsetting g enough (being agressively passed by a car in the parking lane with no warning whatsoever= disturbing), some belligerent asshat in a silver Audi thought I was in the wrong in the situation, and apparently decided to try to teach me a lesson, by crossing from the far side of the street, I thought he was trying to turn left from the far right side if the street. But he wasn't. He shoved me all the way into the gutter, and when I yelled "What the HELL are you doing?!" Still thinking he was turning left in front of me (left hooking me I guess) he proceeded to freaking straighten out his car, cross back into the far right lane, and turn right at the next stoplight.
I only wish I wasn't too shaken up to get his plate number. I was riding politely, not blowing reds or stop signs, and using both a flashing headlight and back red light, wearing a helmet, signaling my moves.

What in the fuck is wrong with people?!

Yesterday seemed really bad, too. I had a guy walk into the bike lane without looking to talk to a guy in a van. The van eventually passed me about 3 blocks later and then proceeded to pull directly in front of me and park in the bike lane when I was only about 20ft. back. I'm not a slow rider, so that's about 2 seconds max.

Then, about 3 blocks away from my house, a moving van is pulling out of an alley, the driver looks at me and then keeps pulling out until I'm directly in front of his grill. I yell "Hey" at him (that's my horn) and the dude starts yelling that I wasn't moving fast enough. Then as he's behind me, proceeds to step on the gas in the way that drivers do when then want to intimidate you. #1) I'm going the speed limit, maybe even over, cause it's 20mph on the street #2) the whole event from when he first saw me and pulled out was 3 seconds. If I was a car, dude would have waited, but nope.

Idiots.

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