Please stop for pedestrians!

For the love of God, when you're riding your bike, stop for pedestrians when they have the right of way. You know when some d***wad in a car almost runs you down when you have the right of way? When you do do something like blow a stop sign or crosswalk when a human is trying to cross, you are That Guy.

I used to be pretty good about stopping for people, but eventually realized 'pretty good' wasn't good enough, so I made an effort to be more attentive. In particular I was inspired by a guy I saw a few years ago on Clark St. in Andersonville who not only stopped to let a couple cross the street, but blocked the lane to do so. So I started doing that whenever I could. I've been That Guy occasionally - in particular, there was a time this summer when I was crossing the river on Belmont in my car and began to go around a car that stopped for what seemed to be no apaprent reason - he had actually stopped to let a family cross the street. Geez, was I an asshole then. Fortunately, I wasn't going very fast and the car in front of my honked his horn, and I realized what was happening and stopped. I was That Asshole then.

This morning I was riding down Milwaukee in Logan Square on my way to work and saw a woman trying to cross near the theater. So I signaled a stop, moved into the left-center of the SB lane, and stopped. The next car behind me promptly blew the crosswalk on my right. The next car going NB did the same, as I moved to the center line and put my arm out and shouted at him for added effect (really, this frustrates me a lot sometimes). The next car behind me started to pass on the right and stopped at the last minute, perhaps seeing this. Sometimes I have gotten off my bike and stood with my bike sideways in the middle of the road to help people cross the street.

It shouldn't be this hard to cross the f!@#$ing street, here or anywhere. I am aware (see above) of how easy it can be to slip into a me-first habit of behavior, especially when in a car. But I'm usually a cyclist on the streets here, and we're all cyclists here, and every day I see cyclists fail to yield to people. Not people sitting in cars, but vulnerable people unprotected by anything who are just trying to walk somewhere without getting killed by other people who act as if they are trying to kill them.

So please, don't be a body part, and just let people cross the street.

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by David P. on November 20, 2015 at 6:17am

Thanks for posting, Charlie. In my neighborhood, I find Pulaski at Roscoe difficult to cross. It used to be even harder, and a few years ago I wrote my alderman and asked to have the crossing re-marked as a zebra crossing. Lo and behold, it's happened. But it's still hard to cross because few people stop.

Permalink Reply by Ben R. on November 20, 2015 at 6:44am

If you have any influence with CDOT, take a look at the city of Vancouver, at most major/minor street intersections they have added stop lights that only affect the major street and put a stop sign on the minor street. The light on the major street stays GREEN 100% of the time - until a pedestrian or cyclist hits the crosswalk button. Then the light does an evaluation, if it has been green for at least 3-5 minutes or whatever, it immediately goes yellow, pause, red and the light starts audibly beeping to signal to people its safe to cross (no light in their direction).

These would be MUCH better than the little 'yield to the crosswalk' things they've put up in the middle of crosswalk streets almost all of which cause cars to shift to their right... putting the narrow enough bike/shared bike lane into even more of a pinch, also, most of these seem to get 'flattened' and stay flattened, which is not encouraging.

Permalink Reply by David P. on November 20, 2015 at 6:14am

I agree. I have a friend who is a retired LAPD motorcycle officer. I once said something to him about my noticing that no one jaywalks in LA, and that car drivers are much more attentive to pedestrians than in this part of the country, and he said that that was the result of consistent enforcement over many, many years. Certainly there's a cultural component as well, but enforcement does a lot when it's consistent.

Permalink Reply by Rich S on November 17, 2015 at 8:14am

Fully agree! The crosswalk on Wells about a block north of Chicago Ave is a prime example. It's a busy crosswalk and almost every morning I see a driver or cyclist fail to yield to a pedestrian trying to cross. Like most road users they're too stupid to realize they're in a hurry just to get to a red light barely a hundred feet or so ahead. Even less for drivers if traffic is backed up. 

Permalink Reply by Jeremy on November 17, 2015 at 9:18am

That spot is bad (I will admit that sometimes I don't stop there), but Wells in general is bad for yielding to pedestrians.  There is a crosswalk just south of the Lincoln intersection that drivers and cyclists ignore.  Also, by Payton HS, I find drivers are more likely to stop than cyclists.

Permalink Reply by David Altenburg on November 17, 2015 at 9:02am

Thanks. I share your frustrations. A few thoughts:

1. Part of stopping for pedestrians is actively looking for them - something we should all be in the habit of doing but that (for me at least), takes some practice. Unfortunately, Chicago allows parking up to most crosswalks, making pedestrians hard to see in a lot of places. I would like to see the city rectify this, but I'm not optimistic it'll happen.

2. I'll pull the the left and put up a hand, which is sometimes effective and sometimes gets me honked at. I used to yell at cars to stop - I no longer do because it often makes pedestrians uncomfortable.

3. When CDOT Bike Ambassadors do their enforcement stuff, I wish they would enforce stuff like this, rather than silliness like chiding people for not putting a foot down at a stop sign.

Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on November 18, 2015 at 4:18am

Well said. Thank you!

Permalink Reply by Skip Montanaro 0mi on November 17, 2015 at 9:28am

Also, if you see a car or bike stopped ahead of you, you must stop. You might have no idea why they stopped, but even if you can't see anything yourself, you really must assume they saw something. Could be a little old lady trying to cross who is completely obscured from your view by a 4WD pickup. Even if they are just stopping to let a family of ducks cross the street, other cars and bikes stopped ahead of you have the right-of-way.

Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on November 18, 2015 at 8:25am

Months ago on a Saturday morning I was driving on 103rd St. in the left lane past a park (now a speed camera location) and stopped to let an old lady cross the street with her dog. Other drivers were honking and giving me the finger for stopping.  WTF?!?  

Permalink Reply by Tom A.K. on November 18, 2015 at 9:13am
Everyone's in a damn rush. Unenforced laws are ignored laws. God help you if you are a pedestrian who is elderly, slow or mobility challenged. I was always deeply concerned when my elderly father went on his neighborhood walks. He said that less and less people want to stop for you today at crosswalks and turning right on red. The cruel reality of it is, "It's every man(woman)for themselves out there".
Permalink Reply by Tom A.K. on November 18, 2015 at 10:09am
Society, in many aspects, is losing it's sense of humanity and civility. Gone, away . . .
Permalink Reply by David P. on November 20, 2015 at 6:19am

Yes, and sometimes this takes paying attention. E.g. on, say, Milwaukee in heavy traffic, if you see a car stopped up ahead with a large gap in front of it, there's a good chance they've stopped to let someone cross, and you should slow down as you approach. Paying this much attention means, yes, that you can't rocket up the right side of stopped traffic. But that's not very safe for the rider anyway.

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