People can be jerks

[kaytieeldr]

I have a good friend who leads a lot of riding in Pittsburgh and I have to reprimand him as he will approach a red light, then jump over and cross in the crosswalk. That is not the proper way to do it and I often lose the group because everyone else will follow along, but I sit and wait for the traffic light.

I "liked" this post, but this part especially heard repeating. Cyclists can't have it both ways. They need to obey road rules. You can't be a wheeled vehicle part of the time but a pedestrian when it's convenient.

 

[Floridaman999]

As a regular cyclist who rides on many hike/bike trails in the state and city parks around me, I didn't realize my hobby was looked at so negatively by some. Learn something new every day.

 

[LSUmiss]

As a regular cyclist who rides on many hike/bike trails in the state and city parks around me, I didn't realize my hobby was looked at so negatively by some. Learn something new every day.

It’s not your hobby, but rather how some of your fellow hobbyist engage in that hobby.

 

[kaytieeldr]

I’ve seen some troubling anti-disability comments on this board but this is absolutely appalling. Those of us who may not be able to leap out of the way of bikes are still entitied to use public facilities, even if it causes a minor convenience to others. This comment was dehumanising to a range of people with physical disabilities and mobility problems.

I have to disagree with this interpretation of the post it quoted. I don't think it was addressed at otherly-abled walkers at all. I think they were talking about walkers using earphones/headphones. Maybe " won't" would have been a better word than "can't"?

 

[Floridaman999]

It’s not your hobby, but rather how some of your fellow hobbyist engage in that hobby.

Apparently I'm guilty by association. Kinda sucks.

 

[zoo2tycoon]

We only have OPs account of the incident. Mom was wrong walking the wrong direction. IF the biker acted and said what OP claims, yes he could have been nicer. BUT we don't know exactly what he said and the tone he said it in. Details are changing. People just don't pay attention and think rules don't apply to them. Walk on the correct side- if path causes issues walk elsewhere (school track etc). If you encounter someone going wrong way kindly tell them so if you are endangered.

 

[LSUmiss]

Apparently I'm guilty by association. Kinda sucks.

Nah I would give you or anyone the benefit of the doubt unless I actually saw you running over disabled ppl & talking crap to them.

 

[Floridaman999]

Nah I would give you or anyone the benefit of the doubt unless I actually saw you running over disabled ppl & talking crap to them.

Read some of these replies again. It's pretty clear that not everyone agrees with you on this one.

 

[nkereina]

you looked like 2 normal people walking 2 abreast on the wrong side of the path for no real reason?

Asking a general question, though related to this post. Just to play devil's advocate - if OP had been pushing mom in a wheelchair and needed to be on the flat side of the path for that reason, would that change anyone's opinion? Assuming the path was not crowded with room for passing. Or would the opinion be that wheelchairs have no business on the walking/bike path? Not trying to phrase this in a snarky way, genuinely asking.

I see both sides, but given the context of a wide path with no one else around, I really don't see the issue if it made for a more comfortable walk for mom due to her pains. If other people were around making mom and OP in the way of oncoming traffic, that's a different scenario entirely and I would side with the biker in that case.

 

[skyblue17]

I'm from NY there are no bigger jerks then some bike riders. I have seen three people run over by them and I told each one if you need someone to testify I gladly will.
I think there is something about sitting on a hard seat that makes you a jerk.

I am also from NY and honestly, some pedestrians are also awful! People forget, fairly because they are not accustomed to this, that New Yorkers use their sidewalks like roads. It is our means of transport just like a car on a street might be. I would not call someone out in the manner here, as that seems unnecessary and over the top, but I have called out people who are being inconsiderate or not paying attention (heads up! is my favorite thing to say as I pass someone strolling slowly on their phone or wandering into someone else's path because they aren't staying aware of their surroundings). And while bikers can be stressful, the same goes for pedestrians wandering into bike lanes, so it's really best when BOTH are aware of and not a hindrance to the others.

 

[RamblingMad]

As a regular cyclist who rides on many hike/bike trails in the state and city parks around me, I didn't realize my hobby was looked at so negatively by some. Learn something new every day.

Ignore them.

I frequently hike on trails with mountain bikers, and I always get out of the way. They’re just moving too fast. The OP was lucky this time that they didn’t get run over.

This has nothing to do with disabilities. This is common sense hiker etiquette.

 

[amcc]

OP, if I’m understanding this correctly, the cyclist confronted you when you moved out of his way. Is that what the arrow in the picture indicates?

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Cyclists can't have it both ways. They need to obey road rules.

**off topic for the thread of course**

Like this?



That was a pic someone posted on our Nextdoor website.

In my state the rules are "Whenever a usable path for bicycles is adjacent to a roadway, cyclists must use the path and not the roadway". Said in a slightly different way: "Bicyclists are prohibited from traveling on the roadway when a useable path, designed for the exclusive use of bicycles, has been provided next to the roadway."

Roadway is defined as the two lanes you see. The bike lane is where half the cyclists are in the picture.

I love that our area is becoming a lot more cyclist friendly however everyone, motorist and pedestrian and cyclist alike though have to work together to make it safe for all. Any bad apples of any of those groups tends to sour people's opinions.

 

[kaytieeldr]

OP, if I’m understanding this correctly, the cyclist confronted you when you moved out of his way. Is that what the arrow in the picture indicates?

I think, not exactly. Looking at that picture, everybody was on our left. In real life, the cyclist was on the right(-hand) side of the path, aka his right. OP and her mom were on their own left, but the actual right-hand side. Cyclist swerved, or should have, to his left to avoid hitting them.

I think.

 

[Eeyore2142]

Asking a general question, though related to this post. Just to play devil's advocate - if OP had been pushing mom in a wheelchair and needed to be on the flat side of the path for that reason, would that change anyone's opinion? Assuming the path was not crowded with room for passing. Or would the opinion be that wheelchairs have no business on the walking/bike path? Not trying to phrase this in a snarky way, genuinely asking.

I see both sides, but given the context of a wide path with no one else around, I really don't see the issue if it made for a more comfortable walk for mom due to her pains. If other people were around making mom and OP in the way of oncoming traffic, that's a different scenario entirely and I would side with the biker in that case.

My hope, would be the biker wouldn’t commend if he saw it was a disability. If two totally normal looking people (yes, I know invisible disabilities I have one) are looking like they are ignoring the rules, the biker may have just had enough. It is dangerous for everyone on the path (I think we can agree on that). Either way, there are nice ways to handle this. Both the biker and the mom.

 

[Tigger in a kilt]

Ignore them.

I frequently hike on trails with mountain bikers, and I always get out of the way. They’re just moving too fast. The OP was lucky this time that they didn’t get run over.

This has nothing to do with disabilities. This is common sense hiker etiquette.

This isn’t Everest, it’s a walking trail that a woman with mobility issues was able to comfortably walk. A wide, shared use path is a perfectly reasonable facility for people of all abilities to use.

I’m not anti-bikes - my husband was a competitive mountain biker for many years and still rides daily. I’m well aware of the difficulty of pedestrians wandering into the path of bikes, and also well aware that not all cyclists are rude. In the circumstances as described by the OP, her mother was not “lucky not be run over” unless the cyclist was not in control of their bike.

 

[PollyannaMom]

5 pages and we haven't just decided the town should fix the path?

If a walking/bike path is sloped to one side, isn't it bound to cause minor accidents? and not be friendly to wheelchairs? and whatever else I haven't though of? - I'm surprised the town hasn't leveled it off for fear of a lawsuit.

 

[QueenIsabella]

If there were people around us then I would understand. But there was nobody at all. He could clearly see around us on all sides and could have swerved.

How do you know what he could see? He couldn't see THROUGH you. He did the safe thing by stopping to be sure he didn't accidently hit someone. He also had no way to know if you two would spot him and move to the right side of the road, just as he was swerving. I'm sympathetic to your mom for her mobility issues, but that doesn't make the two of you right.

I also notice how your story is evolving in an effort to make you and your mom look like the aggrieved parties. You're not--you messed up. Sure, the cyclist could have been nicer about it, but if not for your actions, he would have gone about his day with no words at all.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

5 pages and we haven't just decided the town should fix the path?

If a walking/bike path is sloped to one side, isn't it bound to cause minor accidents? and not be friendly to wheelchairs? and whatever else I haven't though of? - I'm surprised the town hasn't leveled it off for fear of a lawsuit.

Without seeing a picture of the actual path the OP is describing I couldn't really come to a conclusion that there is something to fix personally. The pic the OP supplied was a random one used for illustration purposes. What the the OP is describing doesn't sound like its a path that needs fixing but couldn't really say for sure without a picture of it.

 

[Southernmiss]

Just as mom has a non visible disorder, it's possible bicyclist does, too.

Point is op was on the wrong side of the road. There's a lot of distance in the photo between each shoulder. This path shows plenty of room to walk closer to the proper side of the path. Or at least walk to your proper side of the path and wait for on coming traffic to pass.