It seems every few days, I see a car going the wrong way down a one-way street.
This occurrence was on Fairfield Avenue, just north of the Berry Street intersection. Â It continues to amaze me the amount of people who don’t pay attention to what they’re doing. Â This includes going the wrong way down one-way streets, running red lights and almost running me over while I’m legally crossing in the pedestrian cross walks.
But, there’s been another occurrence happening more frequently the past couple of weeks involving bicycles. Â Legally, bicycles are not allowed on the downtown sidewalks. Â Whether you agree with it or not, it is the law. Â I can fully appreciate not wanting ride on some downtown streets, like Jefferson or Washington. Â However, today, on my way to the City Council meeting, I was almost run over near the Calhoun and Main Street intersection. Â The kid was pedalling flat out, crossed Main, came up off the sidewalk ramp and around the corner and directly at me. Â His girl friend, right behind him cussed him out pretty good for scaring the heck out of me.
One other note about bicycles. Â When crossing some of the narrow bridges in our city, if you simply must do it on the sidewalk, get off your bike and walk it across if there are pedestrians on that bridge. Â I am pretty sick and tired of getting jabbed in the stomach with handle bars. Â Now I know what you’re gonna say, loose some weight and that problem will go away. Â Perhaps, but it is extremely dangerous to insist on passing someone in this manner while pedaling your bike. Â Especially those younger kids who can’t control their bicycle at lower speeds and play the wibble-wobble game. Â And guess what? Â I am going to continue to hug the rail and force you to pass on the outside of the sidewalk next to traffic. Â Get off the bike and walk it.
Bicycles do have a place in our society and I welcome them! Â However, just as some bicyclists like to complain about their constant war with cars, I like to remind them they need to “share the sidewalks”.
I know we live in city with confusing traffic patterns. But, I was still a little surprised when a car passed me going the wrong way on Ewing and THEN turned the wrong way down Jefferson! Guess he really needed to get to Starbucks.
Talk about being surprised and in a hurry, you wouldn’t even wave at me when I drove past you! LOL
So, I’m not the only one who sees this sort of thing all the time, eh? I was beginning to think I was hallucinating all the time.
Wrong way on a one way? I see it every day! There was a wreck on Lafayette… somebody tried turning the wrong way on Wayne to get around it and came with in inches of the car in front of them.
Your stomach sticks out!! LOL Mine does to, but I can hide mine when I ride my bike. Stephen I almost always ride on the sidewalk, but I am really polite so does that make it OK? No it doesn’t but I am not going to stop riding there, anyway the sidewalks are mostly empty.
Thanks, Mark! I’m working on that stomach thing, although it seems to take forever. I hope that my post wasn’t taken as an attack on bicyclists. Mainly it was about unsafe drivers downtown. But, as I finished, I thought I’d add about the bicyclists because it is an increasing problem.
I don’t have a problem with bikes on the sidewalk, and to be honest, there are some places where if I were riding a bike, I’d be on the sidewalk vs the street. A good example are the bridges with their narrow sidewalks. My problem is those on bikes who aren’t courteous and insist on barreling through with little regard to my safety let alone their own. Also, I don’t think bicyclists realize they are pretty silent to pedestrians. There have been numerous times when I’ve been in my own little world and not paying attention to suddenly “feel” and see a biker fly by me on the sidewalk. If I had suddenly taken a step into their path, what would have happened? The alternative are those darn bike horns that thankfully few seem to employ.
If you’re going to ride where there are pedestrians, you have to be cognizant and riding at a safe speed. Even on the rivergreenway – those aren’t bicycle speedways. If there are pedestrians around, take it easy!