The Chainlink

You blew the red light east bound on Lawrence at Damen at 5:26 pm this evening.

 

There was enough time for the biker in front of me to make it half way into the intersection, northbound on Damen, before you came whizzing past my front wheel.

 

I yelled "You're an idiot!" at your big haired chick, self, and you looked back at me. I meant it!

 

I woulda testified for any of the cars, that managed to not kill you, if they had.

 

Keep riding like a tard!

love,

gabe

 

Witness bad behavior during your commute? Feel free to post. Maybe that lovely human can read it and think they are famous. Maybe you can also inspire the whole generation of kids to shower but we can start with small things.

Views: 105300

Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

To the woman driving her car  with Illinois License plate p18 2780 who yelled at me that I needed to get through the cross walk faster as she made a left turn from Clark to Washington around noon today - I was a pedestrian you may have failed to notice the white walk sign was illuminated and that you started your turn while that sign was still white. I was permitted to be in that crosswalk and you were not. Please pay attention.  Please take a xanax and please don't drive after you take the pill.

To the USPS tractor trailer driver who pulled out of the post office at Irving and Southport and then went northbound: Thanks for paying attention to bicyclists and giving us a lot of space. I did notice that your left wheel was consistently on the yellow line. Well done!

To the skateboarder who, I think cursed me out yesterday afternoon on Milwaukee (it was hard to hear, but I thought I heard the f-bomb): if you don't want to get squeezed, don't roll out from behind parked cars and salmon. I ain't movin' over for ya.

That's great!

I was riding next to a Skokie Beverage tuck on Clybourn the other day that was driving similarly - left wheel on the yellow line - very clear signals and driving. Such a refreshing experience!

Duppie 13.5185km said:

To the USPS tractor trailer driver who pulled out of the post office at Irving and Southport and then went northbound: Thanks for paying attention to bicyclists and giving us a lot of space. I did notice that your left wheel was consistently on the yellow line. Well done!

It's things like this that make me think that the CPD needs to crack down on traffic laws and start ticketing violations left and right for a while.  A little time and I'm sure drivers will learn plus the city gets some money from fines to help with the budget.  I was just visiting home for a bit and the difference was night and day.  

Just a few anecdotes:  I was waiting at a crosswalk going across a 4 lane road and 3 cars in different lanes stopped to let me pass even though there was a gap behind them that I could cross in.  Likewise, I've had a car turning  onto a street stop and wait for me to cross from the other side of the street even though it could have turned before I got to the lane it was turning onto.  Finally I saw 4 lanes of traffic get a green light and then stop about a 100 meters down the road to let someone cross in a mid-block crosswalk.

I would be shocked if any of this happened in Chicago.  


David Barish said:

To the woman driving her car  with Illinois License plate p18 2780 who yelled at me that I needed to get through the cross walk faster as she made a left turn from Clark to Washington around noon today - I was a pedestrian you may have failed to notice the white walk sign was illuminated and that you started your turn while that sign was still white. I was permitted to be in that crosswalk and you were not. Please pay attention.  Please take a xanax and please don't drive after you take the pill.

Maybe this is just a trend, but I've had the most polite interactions this week with motorists on Clybourn (btw North and Southport) : checking mirrors and returning my acknowledgement wave when I'm worried about being doored, letting me into the main lane with a wave for a second to go around parked delivery trucks, etc. 

Julia C 7.5 mi said:

That's great!

I was riding next to a Skokie Beverage tuck on Clybourn the other day that was driving similarly - left wheel on the yellow line - very clear signals and driving. Such a refreshing experience!

Duppie 13.5185km said:

To the USPS tractor trailer driver who pulled out of the post office at Irving and Southport and then went northbound: Thanks for paying attention to bicyclists and giving us a lot of space. I did notice that your left wheel was consistently on the yellow line. Well done!

I had a lady in a car stop, then start, then stop and wave me through. I put my feet down, crossed my arms, shook my head and enunciated "No. I don't trust you." slowly so she could read my lips over her car radio. 

Steve Weeks said:

I agree with you both. Stop at red lights, then proceed *if* there's no cross-traffic and there are no cars also waiting. Slow for stop signs, but stop if there are cars that should have the right-of-way. If someone pulls that "no, YOU go first" crap, I put my foot down and get off the saddle. This usually gives them the hint. I always give them a friendly wave as they go. :-)

"Bikes are traffic too!"

Steve

Melanie K said:

I have to agree with Gabe- I don't roll through when there are cars present, but I hate when I come to a full stop, then the guy in the car to the right "waves" me through. I know he/she is being all friendly and nice letting me go, but at that point when a person with the right of way sees me stop, I want them to do what they are supposed to do- which is go. 

Gabe said:
I Roll Stop signs unless I see traffic then i stop. I hate the wave. You get to the stop sign, stop, and the ass head in the car that has the right of way waves you on or sits there thinking you are gonna run the stop. Hate it. Red lights is a stop.
Greasy young hipster boy with the green t and tattoo sleeve cruising on the sidewalk down North Ave weaving slow through pedestrians while riding a little girls pink bmx... WTH on so many levels.

Me: stopped at Kinzie and Wells around 5:15pm yesterday, west-bound, waiting in the center of the green box/marked lane. You: orange shirt and timbuk2 bag with "can't stop, don't want to" attitude. You not only blew the light, almost got hit, and terrified a pedestrian, but you actually CLIPPED ME as you flew through the 18" gap between me and stopped traffic!! What the f*ck is wrong with you?!

You: a tall, ponytailed, 26ish man weaving helmetless, lightless at about 11:15 PM northbound on Clark through Andersonville riding a dark bike and wearing dark gray. The only thing about you that reflected light were your headphones. I was DDing for a friend, taking a leisurely drive around my bike commute. A lot of us may run stop signs now and again, but it takes some real--guts? everclear?--to cross the stopped car on the left while there was oncoming traffic, and then give a "hey--WTF?" gesture. You took a sharp right on Bryn Mawr, only to pull a Ueee to defacto run the light. There was no cross-traffic there, so why stop at the Ashland/Clark intersection? Well, because there was a garbage truck coming from Ashland onto Clark who had no reason to expect a merging, unlit cyclist. A lot of people would think, "Oh, a garbage truck coming at this time of night. I better slow down. Maybe I shouldn't have run that light." But you leaned to the left. Good idea! Take the lane! Then, theatrically, you veered right after the truck passed you in a justifiable panic. Then, you doored yourself. You doored yourself. You steered into a parked car, and then gave the car the finger. You are why people hate cyclists. 

Cadillac convertible headed south on Central Park just north of 290 around 11:10 AM---I wish you'd continued south rather than getting on the freeway.  Your stereo's delightful James Brown jams (JBs era) were making a lovely ride on a lovely day even lovelier, and I would have been happy for it to have continued a few more blocks.

To the officer who nearly hit me, then tried to detain me riding on Harrison this morning: your refusal to give your badge number, your name, or call another officer to the scene is incredibly shady. Holding on to my handlebars to detain me without cause is even worse, so Of COURSE I started screaming when you physically tried to pull my bike away from me. I hope neither I nor any other law-abiding citizen ever encounter you again. You're a disgrace to your fellow officers.

(and the while the 911-responding officer was helpful, I have a feeling that no report or discipline measure will come of this... ugh)

RSS

© 2008-2016   The Chainlink Community, L.L.C.   Powered by

Disclaimer  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service