It's spring, that means childrren with a death wish

[mattm04]

on bicycles. :rant:

A few days ago I am driving down a major road with heavy traffic, moving about 35 MPH, speed limit 40 MPH. I see one kid, say 12-14 yo riding his bike approaching a cross street. As I approach said cross street i slow for kid on bike when some other kid, similar age comes flying out as fast as possible into the main road.

I slam on my brakes, miss idiot by a few feet. A car in the other lane is forced to swerve onto the sidewalk to avoid the other kid who crossed the double yellow. Both cars honk and the idiot kid has that "what did you do that for you moron" look on his face while the other kid is laughing hat how funny this is. Neither were wearing a helmet. Last year one kid broke several bones when they tried some stunt and fell in the road.

A few days after that i see kids jumping the curb to the grass and than back to the road in the same area. I decide to call the Police and let them know about this. The officer thanks me and says they have receive multiple complaints about that issue in the same area.

Today I saw a unmarked cruiser hiding in that area. I can only hope they catch some of those kids and make their parents come down to the station to get their little brats.

[bainsidhe]

Good grief, I feel your pain. There is a two-mile stretch of residental street I drive along to reach home. People are always outside. 2am and below zero? I swear someone will be walking along the street. The worst is when it's summery weather. Kids playing basketball and football in the street, two-year olds riding bikes and you watching to make sure they don't suddenly jump out at you, adults running from one house to the next, and NOT A SINGLE &$@#@#$ PERSON LOOKING FOR TRAFFIC! It isn't that hard, folks. LOOK dammit. Fortunately I try to be very observant of my surroundings, but I can't stop on a dime. Grrrr.

[MadMike]

A few years ago, I almost hit a kid like that when he just appeared out of nowhere, flying down a hill and almost into my path.

The thing about having a death wish like that is that sometimes you get your wish, like what happened just a stone's throw away from my house. Some 10-year-old boy rode right out into the intersection without looking, and ended up getting hit. He went down head-first on the pavement, and left a fairly big bloodstain. He ended up dying in the hospital a few days later.

The guy who hit him wasn't charged, but I can only imagine how horrible he was feeling over the whole thing.

[JLRodgers]

The guy who hit him wasn't charged, but I can only imagine how horrible he was feeling over the whole thing.

I'd end up turning in my car keys and probably never driving again if it were me.

Always sad when it happens though -- many are good on bicycles, others... not so much.

[chainedbarista]

i have the same issue with a 'mom' who feels that our alley/driveway is a perfect place for her kids to play; i've nearly hit a couple of them and one left her bike in a spot where i wouldn't have seen it when i backed out of my garage-fortunately for her, i saw it as i walked to my car, or it would have been a bent bit of wreckage.

worst parts about this are that mom isn't in los of the kids at any given point of time (i guess she thinks hearing distance is good enough? :confused:) and that there's a park less than a block away and two play areas at either end of our complex and all are within walking distance. :doh:

[Kogarashi]

We don't have too many of the daredevil/deathwish kids around our complex. Mostly it's the same group of 6-10 year olds riding their bikes through the parking lot, but there's a speed bump on the way in so most people slow down enough to notice the kids, and the kids usually watch out for traffic. (Some people still like to speed through the parking lot, but that's another gripe.) What's really bad, though, is that these kids will often be out playing in the lot right around 5pm.

Which is when all the parents show up to pick up their kids from the daycare service run out of one wing of one of the apartment buildings. So the lot is jam-packed with cars not paying attention, taking all the resident parking spaces (:rant:), and giving dirty looks to the residents in general because how dare we take up space when they need to pick up Junior? I have a sinking feeling that one of these days, one of those parents is going to hit one of the bike-riding resident kids. Unfortunately, there's no better place for them to ride their bikes.

[blas]

There have been several incidents in this area, wherein bicyclists think they have the utimate right of way and right to blow stop signs and red lights, and have become large bloodstains on the road.

And from those experiences, no one has learned. Cyclists continue to do it every day.

[dalesys]

There have been several incidents in this area, wherein bicyclists think they have the utimate right of way and right to blow stop signs and red lights, and have become large bloodstains on the road.

And from those experiences, no one has learned. Cyclists continue to do it every day.

To learn, they have to survive. And Special Snowflakes can't learn from observation because they are so much better than that street pizza over there...:rolleyes:

[Gerrinson]

It's not just the kids around here. In fact, it is mostly the people on weekends who are up here visiting their second homes.

It seems that as soon as they hop on their bikes they have 'right of way' over the locals, regardless of those pesky stop signs, red lights, and the laws of physics.

A few years back an ex-coworker hit a 12 year old kid who blasted through a stop sign into traffic in a 40 MPH zone. She hit him with her SUV and the kid died at the scene. There were eye witnesses who all agreed the kid swerved around them, through the stop sign, and straight out in front of her truck. She had no chance to avoid him.

A year later, on the anniversary of the accident, she killed herself. :(

So, really, that's two lives that could have been saved had the idiot kid been paying attention. I mean, maybe those cars he swerved around, that were stopped for the stop sign, were waiting for a reason.

[lupo pazzesco]

It's not just kids on bikes. On my walk in the mornings, I've found there's an older guy (probably in his 50s) who will bike around the same time I'm walking. When I hit a certain cross street, I check for traffic. (silly me!!) This guy however just zooms right across without even looking up. Hell he's almost run ME over because I was turning a corner and he just kept zipping by.

I've seen him do it across 4 lane roads, too. Scary.

I have a bike. I will occasionally ride said bike, but haven't recently because the weather's been too questionable. That and I kinda have a flat and need a new inner tube, which I can't afford right now. :o Without fail, whenever I hit a cross street, I always stop. I don't get what's so hard about that. We ALL learned the basic traffic rules in kindy-garten, didn't we? You know, "Stop look and listen, before you cross the street."? That doesn't change when you're on a bike, does it? Or am I the one who's been disillusioned for so long...? :rolleyes:

[Flygon_Trainer]

I've definitely seen my share of stupid bikers up here. Not far from my house there's this major highway, making my neighborhood the only neighborhood within the expected walking distance of the school to get bus service to prevent them from putting themselves in danger on the major highway. Doesn't stop the bikers though.

Fortunately, I don't forsee myself being a problem for drivers much- On a bike, I'm terrified of larger vehicles cause I know what they can do.

[Dips]

Moved to Roadkill.

[mattm04]

There have been several incidents in this area, wherein bicyclists think they have the utimate right of way and right to blow stop signs and red lights, and have become large bloodstains on the road.

And from those experiences, no one has learned. Cyclists continue to do it every day.

A fried of the family is a cop. One day said cop mentioned that once he/she stopped a cyclist fro blowing a red light when they are required by law to stop just like a car. The excuse, "i built up momentum and didn't want loose it, etc, etc..." Well moron all the cars built up momentum and had to stop. Yet we have to use more gas to build up said momentum again,. you can pedal too.

Yes, he got a ticket.:lol:

[raw456]

I had a near miss with a bike a couple of weeks ago.

I was pulling out of my works driveway going left (Aussies drive on the left) So I was only looking out for traffic coming from my right. There were a few cars coming so once they had passed I started to pull out. As I turned my head back, I see a cyclist out of the corner of my eye on the wrong side of the road, and about to get a refresher course in basic physics. I brake, he swerves, comes round the front of my car, stops and yells at me to "watch where I'm going" :wtf:

My response? = "I'm not the one on the wrong side of the road A**H***"

I find here in Oz, alot of cyclists want all the benefits and rights of being on the road, but none of the responsibility or obligations that go with it.

[Dips]

Makes me glad we live in a town where most of the bicyclists obey the law.

I have a neighbor who commutes by bicycle and wound up going to court to fight tickets given to him by an overzealous police officer who pulled him over for the crime of simply using the road. She felt (incorrectly) that inconveniencing car traffic was breaking the law.

The case was followed by a national bike magazine. He won because the officer couldn't prove he broke any laws, mainly because he DOESN'T break any laws.

He sets a good example. It's done a lot for helping everyone understand how to share the road with respect for everyone's rights.

A bicyclist *can* legally use the sidewalk as well as pedestrian crosswalks and signals, if he gets off the bike and walks it.

[lupo pazzesco]

I had a near miss with a bike a couple of weeks ago.

I was pulling out of my works driveway going left (Aussies drive on the left) So I was only looking out for traffic coming from my right.


This is actually a pet peeve of mine...vehicles with drivers who are only going one way, so the only LOOK in one direction. I'm sorry, but if I'm a pedestrian with the right of way on a crosswalk, and some person is waiting only to turn right (or left, depending on what part of the world you're in) so they only look in ONE direction before pulling out, they're bound to not see me. I've had far far far too many close calls, with people almost hitting me because they don't look both ways. I don't care which way you're turning, look both ways, because pedestrians may need to be on the streets as well.

In this case, yes the biker was a doofus. But speaking of obligations and responsibilities on the road, don't all drivers, technically have to look both ways before turning out? I'm not trying to come down on one person specifically, just a general wtf. I don't have a car. But I still find myself obeying more traffic laws than the average driver, and it's really irksome when I'm just trying to cross the street, and nearly get hit because someone can't take the time to look right (again, or left...).

(disclaimer: This was written at an ungodly hour of the morning, so apologies for any rambling...)

[Dips]

I agree, Lupo. It's my job as a driver to look for *everything* not just other cars. That includes pedestrians, people on bicycles, animals and (as I've found out the hard way) inanimate objects. :o

But a *bicyclist* who is going the wrong way can often be hard to spot in time because they can move so much faster than a pedestrian. The same can be said for a car going the wrong way, which I've encountered way more often than cyclists going the wrong way.

So I look every direction, just in case. Even though a collision would the fault of the other driver or the cyclist, I'd rather not have one, you know? :)

[protege]

In this case, yes the biker was a doofus. But speaking of obligations and responsibilities on the road, don't all drivers, technically have to look both ways before turning out?

I *always* look both ways before pulling out, even on a one-way street. Too many idiot drivers and people on bikes to worry about. In several areas, people see the "one way" signs as optional, especially on alleys :eek:

Also, quite a few pedestrians (usually college students) do not look before crossing. They then scream at drivers, who are barely able to avoid splattering them.

Then there are just idiots. These include those who will attempt to shove their friends out into traffic. Had that happen in Washington (PA) when I had my grandmother's car. I'm only doing about 30mph, but even at that speed, the 1995 Olds Cutlass Ciera 4-door I was in...would steamroll anyone who got in front of it. At least that kid got a "talking-to" from the cop who was behind me ;)

[McGoddess09]

Ugh. I hate kids on bikes around here.

There are no designated bike riding parts in the street, so they ride in the middle of the street. They look behind them and see cars, but still ride in the street,instead of going more towards the right to let the cars pass by. When I had to use my bike as transportation, I always rode on the side of the road,so cars could easily pass by.

Kids...