PDJetta
Top Post Dawg
- Joined
- Nov 6, 2003
- Location
- Northern Virginia
- TDI
- '04 Jetta GLS TDI Pumpe Duce Platinum Grey w/ Leather
I had a close call yesterday which rattled my nerves. I almost presented a Darwin award to a cyclist who disregarded a stop sign and almost rode into my path. Not a pleasant thought. I would hate to hurt someone, even if it was because of their own stupidity, and wreck my car. This occurred on the George Washington Parkway at a bike path crossing that is viewed as one of the most dangerous in the area. Joggers and bicyclists using the bike path have "STOP" and "Cyclists Dismount Before Crossing" signs facing them right before the croswalk at the Parkway. Drivers are not supposed to stop before the crossing to let waiting cyclists and joggers cross (they do need to yield to those in the crosswalk, though) because this is a limited access highway. This is a really odd place to have a bike/pedestrian crossing and there are not many others like it. It is out of place.
There have been many accidents at this crosswalk, almost every one where a driver stops and motions waiting trail users to cross, only to be rear ended by an inattentive driver. The Police give tickets out to drivers who stop in front of the crosswalk in this manner. Knowing this, I don't stop for the trail users near the crosswalk waiting to cross, but I do watch for someone being in the crosswalk and am prepared to stop if there is. The trail users are supposed to stop and only cross when it is safe. My close call was not the stopped cars scenario, though.
I am dieseling along at 40 MPH (the speed limit) approaching the bike path crossing. This is in the northbound direction, with two lanes. The crossing spans these two lanes only. A driver in the left lane passes me at about 50 MPH and about three seconds before he traverses the crosswalk, a bicyclist on the trail blows through their stop sign, accross the car's path. A kind of close call, foolish on the part of the cyclist, but still he made it accross the Parkway a hundred feet or so infront the car.
Then, as I approch the crossing, at about 4 seconds before crossing it, I notice another cyclist riding towards the crosswalk. My first thought is, "They'll stop, since they can't make it across without colliding with me, they are supposed to stop anyway". About 2 seconds later I realize they aren't stopping and are going to go right through their stop sign, like the cyclist a few seconds earlier. I am sure either the cyclist is going to ride into the side of my car as I am entering the crosswalk, or worse, right in front of me and get impaled. At that point I estimate I was 60 feet from the crosswalk and there was no way I could even begin to stop. At that time the cyclist apparently realizes their error and applies their brakes, but they are too close to the Parkway to stop in time. Right before sliding out in front of me, the cyclist turns hard right and just misses hitting me and eventually ends up a foot or so in my lane, parallel to the shoulder as I and two following cars wiz by.
I cannot fathom why the cyclist did not either see me (had my lights on), or correctly estimate my legal speed. I commute this route daily and after 8 years this is the first time I have had a near miss like this. All other trail users seem to wait for cars to pass, or blow through their stop signs well enough in advance of cars not to get hit.
Here is a news clip about this particular crossing:
http://www.wjla.com/articles/2011/0...dangerous-for-pedestrians-cyclists-64510.html
--Nate
There have been many accidents at this crosswalk, almost every one where a driver stops and motions waiting trail users to cross, only to be rear ended by an inattentive driver. The Police give tickets out to drivers who stop in front of the crosswalk in this manner. Knowing this, I don't stop for the trail users near the crosswalk waiting to cross, but I do watch for someone being in the crosswalk and am prepared to stop if there is. The trail users are supposed to stop and only cross when it is safe. My close call was not the stopped cars scenario, though.
I am dieseling along at 40 MPH (the speed limit) approaching the bike path crossing. This is in the northbound direction, with two lanes. The crossing spans these two lanes only. A driver in the left lane passes me at about 50 MPH and about three seconds before he traverses the crosswalk, a bicyclist on the trail blows through their stop sign, accross the car's path. A kind of close call, foolish on the part of the cyclist, but still he made it accross the Parkway a hundred feet or so infront the car.
Then, as I approch the crossing, at about 4 seconds before crossing it, I notice another cyclist riding towards the crosswalk. My first thought is, "They'll stop, since they can't make it across without colliding with me, they are supposed to stop anyway". About 2 seconds later I realize they aren't stopping and are going to go right through their stop sign, like the cyclist a few seconds earlier. I am sure either the cyclist is going to ride into the side of my car as I am entering the crosswalk, or worse, right in front of me and get impaled. At that point I estimate I was 60 feet from the crosswalk and there was no way I could even begin to stop. At that time the cyclist apparently realizes their error and applies their brakes, but they are too close to the Parkway to stop in time. Right before sliding out in front of me, the cyclist turns hard right and just misses hitting me and eventually ends up a foot or so in my lane, parallel to the shoulder as I and two following cars wiz by.
I cannot fathom why the cyclist did not either see me (had my lights on), or correctly estimate my legal speed. I commute this route daily and after 8 years this is the first time I have had a near miss like this. All other trail users seem to wait for cars to pass, or blow through their stop signs well enough in advance of cars not to get hit.
Here is a news clip about this particular crossing:
http://www.wjla.com/articles/2011/0...dangerous-for-pedestrians-cyclists-64510.html
--Nate
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