Everyday I see people just blindly moving through traffic, not a care in the world.
Example 1: Lady on a bike.
I was cycling a fair distance behind her so I was seeing everything nice and clearly. Going down Kings Street, coming up to a bus stop and she was right next to the kerb. A bus came past us and overtook her (and me) with plenty of space and pulled in to stop at the bus stop. She continued happily along next to the kerb and when she was right on the bus’s tail she pulled out to overtake in a massive swerve. Not even looking back, to check if there was anything coming or room for her. The white mini van that was following the bus had to really step on its brakes and nearly had a big 4×4 in its back, not many inches to spare, between her and the cars.
Example 2: Fella on a bike on a bike path.
I was riding along a bike path, whistling along to a tune in my head, hey it was sunny and I was in a good mood. I think the fella in front of me was very curious about what tune it was, can’t have been that bad 😉 because he kept looking back at me. And therefore not paying attention at all to where he was going and therefore didn’t notice that the bike lane was coming to an end. Said bike lane has a barrier at both ends and he rode right into it and nearly somersaulted.
Example 3: Fella crossing the road on foot.
I was heading toward Hammersmith and since the road was at a total gridlock I was filtering up on the outside of traffic. The fella was crossing from the left and must have seen that the cars weren’t moving and therefore took for granted that all traffic coming from his right had come to a halt too. And therefore only looking to his left and didn’t see me when he walked into me, lucky I had seen him and had come to a stop.
In making of this post no one was hurt, but it easily could have been much worse. So please do look and see where you are going it will save your life one day.
May 25, 2009 at 4:52 pm
there exists a bike lane with barriers? what madness is this?
I can’t get over the automatic barrier on Hammersmith bridge – bus controlled, apparently. Its combination of fast-descending barrier and aggressive triple speed bump caused me to somersault into a battered, bleeding heap this time last year.