Was stopped at a light (one way street, two lanes of traffic, fairly busy cross street)
All of a sudden the livery driver (big black SUV) who was stopped in the left lane, pulls up, first into the crosswalk, and then into the intersection (on a full red) and turns right across the lane I'm in to make an illegal right turn on red, from the left lane.
The driver behind me in the right lane and I exchanged a look, rolled our eyes and shrugged.
What else can you do? I suppose it's better to do it on a red than just merging willy nilly once traffic starts.
It happened (sort of) again a mile later, when someone at Charles Circle again turned right from the left lane across two other traffic lanes,the middle one which I was in. Come ON!
This actually happens a lot in this intersection, so I expect this, take the middle lane very aggressively for a full block before the intersection and watch the cars (and their wheels) on my left like a hawk
I don't wanna hear it about scofflaw cyclists.
On the other hand, when I got into cambridge I had a couple of the "I'm too timid to pass" squad tailing me for blocks. Better that than aggressive passers, but I feel awkward with someone right on my heels like that.
amen
ReplyDeleteI know how you feel, why don't they just pass already! My personal favorite is the ones on cell phones, speeding up slowing down weaving all over the street. I should not say it but makes me want to use a paintball gun, sorry just infuriates me. We all affect others with whatever it is we do. Fortunately most of the time its not life threatening.
ReplyDeleteI think there's something in the air these days, maybe all this humidity. My winner today was a brand new very shiny Mercedes, which gunned it to pass me on the left, then braked hard in order to make a right turn in front of my line of travel. I had to brake hard to avoid running my bike right into his quarter panel. I wanted to tell him (among other things) that the money he spent on those Mercedes brakes meant that they were a LOT more effective than mine! Grrrr
ReplyDeleteI think it's funny that people get mad at scofflaw cyclists, when drivers break the law all the time. AND it's much more dangerous for others when they do, seeing as they are in a huge hunk of tin and all.
ReplyDeleteCharlotte-
ReplyDeleteI had another interaction riding up Cambridge street today.
Was well into the lane, as per usual, and traffic was inching along, so I was keeping up without problem. A guy in a prius tries to "pass" me by pulling up with his right fender 6" from my wheel WHILE I'M STOPPED RIGHT BEHIND ANOTHER CAR!!
I turn around and say "what are you doing??" and he starts to yell that I should get over and ride on the right. I told him that in a lane less that 12', which this clearly was, I had the right to the whole lane, and that if he was unhappy, he could pass in the other lane (which of course was going no faster. Some people rode by on my right, filtering up to the light, and he yelled "all the other bikes are doing it" and I responded that I didn't want to get hit by a car door.
We inched forward again, and I found myself next to a couple of tradesmen in a van with their windows open. I said to the guy in the passenger seat- "I'm not sure exactly where that guy was going to go- I don't seem to be having any trouble keeping up with traffic. The guy smiled and shrugged, and said "there's always one" So at least i'm not crazy in seeing that these folks are massholes.
LOL. What a maroon.
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