Comments on: Dealing With Pedestrians: A Helpful Guide

By: Boston Biker » Blog Archive » On Street Parking: The Enemy Of A Healthy City

Thu, 03 Dec 2009 16:03:03 +0000

[...] parking also makes it harder to put in bicycle infrastructure, puts us in danger of getting doored, gives pedestrians a place to hide while they jay walk (making it harder to avoid them), and covers our streets with oil and other [...]

By: Boston Biker » Blog Archive » You Can’t Trust Anyone These Days

Boston Biker » Blog Archive » You Can’t Trust Anyone These Days — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 19:01:06 +0000

[...] cars get so upset when cyclists run red lights. It is not because cyclists are breaking the rules (everyone does that, and often), it is because they are breaking the shared trust. It is offensive to the [...]

By: Pedestrian

Pedestrian — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 16:50:25 +0000

As a pedestrian, I love bells. Yes, cyclists, please use them!

Just as we’re sometimes hard to see, y’all are, too, at times, and just as we sometimes break the law thanks to years of accommodations to cars, so do cyclists. Bells help us all be safer, even when we’re taking our lives into our hands (feet, pedals, etc) and braving the streets. And as others have commented, bells go directly to the “watch out!” center of the brain without requiring processing or thought.

By: Cycler

Cycler — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 20:19:54 +0000

Nice post.
I ride in the Financial district a lot and in the mornings observe all the above behaviors. I’ve been yelling HEADS UP! partly because it has a nice ring to it, and it doesn’t sound like an expletive. Seems to work in combination with as much of the stinkeye as I can manage at 8 am.
I might try the extreme courtesy approach though- think that might work well.
I find that on MUPs (mem drive mostly) A “good Evening” (morning/ afternoon) salutation gives them some context before the follow up “on your left”.
A plague on weaving ipod wearing joggers though…

By: Epic Walker

Epic Walker — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 19:25:35 +0000

Bless the bell! Almost daily I am nearly creamed by a bicyclist riding up behind me (on the sidewalk) who passes without a sound. Or that lovely one this week who passed me and then cut in front of me to turn. “On Your Left” is confusing if one wants a fast reaction.

This week, while I was walking over the Mass Ave. bridge (hey, isn’t that a bike lane over there? why are you riding on the sidewalk?) a rider rang the bell. I really appreciate that bell. Even with headphones on, I can still hear it.

Please use a bell! And if you have to ride on the sidewalk (it happens, I understand, I have been there), get off your bike if it is crowded or slow down even slower than you consider “slow”. A pedestrian on the sidewalk moves at a rate that is no threat to other pedestrians and therefore thinks that a small amount of drifting is normal. I may step to the center of the sidewalk for any reason: dog shit, gum, hole in the ground, awesome part in the song, daydreaming.

Good article though. I particularly appreciate your suggestion of making communicative gestures very clear (pointing, waving). Bicyclists and pedestrians are on the same side (wanting fewer cars on the road & more economical travel). Your article came across as helpful and not blaming. It is a good dialogue to open. I’ll be more mindful about ‘planting’. If it is any consolation, even as a pedestrian, I find pedestrian behavior irritating, like the line-walkers who stretch the entire width of the sidewalk, making it impossible to pass in either direction.

By: Arthur

Arthur — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 11:14:28 +0000

Tom says: “I forgot to mention, whistling instead of using the bell allows the cyclist to maintain both hands on the brakes,”

You mean you haven’t mounted your bell (eg, IncrediBell) on your handlebars where you can ring it with your thumb without moving your hands?

By: Oz

Oz — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 12:41:53 +0000

Good lord people! It’s your responsibility to yield to pedestrians, so ride at speeds that are safe for you and others. Slow down and take responsibility for your actions on the road. And watch out for horses and dogs on reallllly long leashes.

By: CSB

CSB — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 21:38:39 +0000

oh and grimlocke—the Extreme Sink Eye is a very important tool in the kit. also works great on cars! its great to see those four-wheeled a-holes reverse with their tail between their legs!

By: CSB

CSB — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 21:37:00 +0000

Brilliant! Even though you claim in the preamble that we have better biker/ped relations out here on the left coast, people still pay way too much attention to cellphones, make extremely poor walking decisions, and piss off bikers even here in san francisco. Those plants…they get me everytime. I had to use the good ol bell’n'yell on a couple of making out plants yesterday…

Awareness is a universal duty!

By: grimlocke

grimlocke — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 19:04:26 +0000

I keep forgetting to get a bell, so for everything up to the Trust Fail I tend to use Offensive Courtesy. I yell, “EXCUSE ME, PARDON ME, THANK YOU!”, and generally people are shamed into compromising their paths. I had a shouting match with a woman who exited her car on the passenger side while the driver was stopped the other day, and it amounted to me: “PLEASE PARK NEXT TIME!” her: “OH, THANK YOU, NEXT TIME I WILL” me: “THANK YOU!!”

I used to get screwed by the Trust Fail all the time until I perfected the Extreme Stink Eye which, when used correctly, can stop even the most careless left crossers, stop light creepers or Trust Failers in their tracks. You have to look like you’ve had a really bad day and are just waiting for someone to make a wrong move into your path. Eye contact is always key, though.

It’s so nice to know that these issues are universal, and that I’m not the only one getting treated like a third class citizen on the roads. Viva la bicicleta!