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.