Bicycle Riders
At one time I used to live in San Francisco and the amount of bicycle riders was huge. If you lived in the city and you drove a car, you had to learn to get along. And for the most part, the bike riders obeyed traffic laws. Well this morning here in San Jose, I found an idiot bike rider. I am at a stop light at the intersection of Market and San Fernando and I had a red light, a bike rider comes up along me and just cycles into the intersection! Oh, but did I mention that he bumped into my car before riding into the intersection against the red light? So I was a bit annoyed with this guy and he has cycled on ahead. But I end up catching up to the guy once the light turned green because a delivery truck was double parked and he darts out into my lane without looking and I had to slam on my breaks so I didn't hit him. And no, he had no mirrors on the bike either and again, he goes on and I end up at a red light. Once it turns green I move forward and I start to approach another delivery van (its downtown, what do you expect?) and just past the van half way into MY lane is the idiot OFF his bike leaning over with his back against traffic picking up his backpack, he is now certifiable an idiot. The manufacturer of my car gave me horn and I used it! He then has the nerve to look at me like I was crazy! And that is how my day started. I hope everyone elses' day was not as annoying.
On another note, I think I have found some great yarn for my Secret Pal. I still have to get a few other things too.
Although admittedly, this guy is not helping the cyclist's cause, I'd urge you to not honk at bikers. It's incredibly scary - imagine you're walking down the street, and you hear someone walk up behind you, and then the next thing you hear is the air horn they've pulled out and blasted into your ear. You'd jump and your heart would start pounding, and that's exactly what it's like for someone on a bike.
ReplyDeleteI *really* hate when someone does it to me just to let me know that they're there. Scares the crap out of me, and I swear one day someone's going to honk at me, and the jump that happens is going to cause me to crash right into their path.
Well, if I dropped my back pack while riding, I think I would have made sure that I was not standing in the direct line of traffic and casually pick it up with complete disregard of the cars that are approaching. I understand that horns can be frieghtful to a bike rider and I normally don't honk at them, but I didn't witness just one idiotic moment, there were several and I am sure that he continued them when I was long gone. The problem that I have with this guy is that he came very close to being hit several times and not by me but other cars. He had the appearance of, "The world revolves around me." All I would have appreciated was for him not to bump my car and follow the flow of traffic and obey traffic signals like every other responsible bike rider like yourself.
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