Being a pedestrian on Van Ness Avenue is terrifying enough dodging bad automobile drivers while crossing streets, but lately the real danger has come from bicyclists speeding up and down the sidewalks.
The San Francisco Police Department could care less and yelling at the bicyclists doesn't seem to do much good, so I am going to start a monthly Sidewalk Bicyclist Hall of Shame as a simple form of anger management.
It's particularly irritating being narrowly missed by a bicyclist who is decked out in full safety gear, including a helmet. "Glad you're feeling safe, you jerk. I'm not."
9 comments:
I feel your pain. I'm a cyclist almost always riding with traffic, except in a few occasions when the sidewalk is wide, rarely used and there is no bike lane. I've barely missed being nailed by speeding bikes flying off the sidewalks and into crosswalks like they owned the place.
Advocate for segregated cycle lanes?
Yes...in San Francisco it's a SIDEwalk, not a RIDEwalk, unless you're under 13 years old. The law breakers in your pics are considerably longer in the tooth, and should know better. And for those bicyclists who are not yet clear on the concept, here's a link from the SF Bike Coalition's website that addresses that very subject:
http://www.sfbike.org/?sidewalks
You go Mike! Sing it loud. As an elder woman, not moving as fast as I used to, I'm been clipped more than a few times by some body sailing past me on the sidewalk. One of the women I know, an 80+ lady, was knocked over by one of those b(*(**(&T. She broke her hip, arm, color bone, had a concussion ended up in the hospital, had more medical problems and is now in assisted care - never having really recovered. The jerk on the bike never even stopped, even though we were all screaming at him to at least come back and see what he had done. I don't like skateboards either but at least you can hear them coming.
I should never type when I'm in a hurry - that's supposed to be collar bone, not color bone - although it was already an ugly black and blue when the medics put her into the ambulance.
Oh god, reminds me of the day I was walking down the sidewalk on the Embarcadero and some hefty lady came up from behind and plowed right into me -- her front wheel sticking out in front of me and her handlebars jammed into my back. Neither she or I was really hurt, although it was a pretty good sock in the pants for me.
Cyclists ride on sidewalks because the street is unsafe. I'm not saying it's OK for them to do that -- it isn't. But the solution is clear: make Van Ness safe, with bike lanes and reasonable speeds, and the bikes will instantly vanish from the sidewalk.
Dear MattyMatt: I wish I shared your optimism about bike lanes being the solution. The situation with bicyclists on sidewalks is just as bad on Market Street where there are generous bike lanes on both sides of the street.
My latest heckle, which does seem to get a positive reaction, is to say in a concerned voice, "watch out, they're giving $156 fines for bicycling on the sidewalk."
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