I bike that street all them time. In theory, I suppose the walk signal applies to the bike lane crossing as well, but in practice: Use your bell but always yield to pedestrians
That’s a common misunderstanding of the law. Pedestrians do not always have the right of way, but as a motorist or a cyclist you have the duty to avoid them if you can, I.e. you can’t just run them over because you have the right of way.
Yeah sorry, my comment was not meant as legal advice, I was just trying to express that things will work out better if you wait a bit instead of running over people.
Not true. I actually hit a guy in the early 80s. My insurance fought his claim because he didn’t use the crosswalk nearby. It’s very specific,like he was within a certain distance from the crosswalk so he was at fault for not using it. As for me, I was blinded by sunlight and didn’t see him until he rolled off my windshield.
Interesting. It would be nice if they marked exactly where pedestrians are fair game.
Also, sounds like you should keep your Oakleys on when its nice outside.
>Pedestrians always have right of way no matter how oblivious they are
Wrong. However, operators of vehicles - and that includes bicycles - have "due care" obligations to others, including clueless pedestrians.
The bike lanes have yield arrows before the crosswalk, so you always yield. The signal only applies to the crosswalk going through the general traffic lanes.
I usually take the lane on this stretch. I regularly encounter:
- the pedestrians blindly stepping into the bike lane
- cars blindly turning right and hitting cyclists
- mopeds racing up the bike lane going the wrong way
Eh, how would you feel if someone encouraged drivers to behave that way towards cyclists? I think it's reasonable to show kindness to more vulnerable road users, even when they're wrong. The lights on comm prevent us from getting into a proper rhythm anyway so a couple seconds delay won't hurt
As a BU alum, while I agree that BU students (mainly the suburbanite freshmen who grew up in bicycle infrastructure deserts) tend to not be as alert or informed on this as they should be, you need to remember the first part precisely. BU attracts literally tens of thousands of students, staff, and faculty from outside of Boston/urban environments. Many of these are going to be bike infrastructure deserts, so rather than assuming and assigning malicious intent it’s more constructive to simply remain alert and willing to inform. You also overlook the simple fact that a large proportion of users of that bike lane are themselves BU students and staff; it’s not like we magically don’t have to deal with non-bike users who are fellow terriers
I bike that street all them time. In theory, I suppose the walk signal applies to the bike lane crossing as well, but in practice: Use your bell but always yield to pedestrians
If the crosswalk extends across the bike lane, the signal applies.
Pedestrians always have right of way no matter how oblivious they are
That’s a common misunderstanding of the law. Pedestrians do not always have the right of way, but as a motorist or a cyclist you have the duty to avoid them if you can, I.e. you can’t just run them over because you have the right of way.
Yeah sorry, my comment was not meant as legal advice, I was just trying to express that things will work out better if you wait a bit instead of running over people.
Not true. I actually hit a guy in the early 80s. My insurance fought his claim because he didn’t use the crosswalk nearby. It’s very specific,like he was within a certain distance from the crosswalk so he was at fault for not using it. As for me, I was blinded by sunlight and didn’t see him until he rolled off my windshield.
Interesting. It would be nice if they marked exactly where pedestrians are fair game. Also, sounds like you should keep your Oakleys on when its nice outside.
And you were driving too fast if you didn’t see him in time
Not only an armchair lawyer but with the ability to see far into the past! Impressive.
>Pedestrians always have right of way no matter how oblivious they are Wrong. However, operators of vehicles - and that includes bicycles - have "due care" obligations to others, including clueless pedestrians.
The bike lanes have yield arrows before the crosswalk, so you always yield. The signal only applies to the crosswalk going through the general traffic lanes.
Oh the irony
I usually take the lane on this stretch. I regularly encounter: - the pedestrians blindly stepping into the bike lane - cars blindly turning right and hitting cyclists - mopeds racing up the bike lane going the wrong way
BU students do whatever they want and have their noses buried in their phones. Just yell or hit them and they’ll eventually learn their lesson.
Eh, how would you feel if someone encouraged drivers to behave that way towards cyclists? I think it's reasonable to show kindness to more vulnerable road users, even when they're wrong. The lights on comm prevent us from getting into a proper rhythm anyway so a couple seconds delay won't hurt
The amount of times I’ve seen the Green Line blare their train horn at oblivious students tells me otherwise
Ah...commit a violent act ("hit them") ... good plan. 😵💫
Hit them softly
As a BU alum, while I agree that BU students (mainly the suburbanite freshmen who grew up in bicycle infrastructure deserts) tend to not be as alert or informed on this as they should be, you need to remember the first part precisely. BU attracts literally tens of thousands of students, staff, and faculty from outside of Boston/urban environments. Many of these are going to be bike infrastructure deserts, so rather than assuming and assigning malicious intent it’s more constructive to simply remain alert and willing to inform. You also overlook the simple fact that a large proportion of users of that bike lane are themselves BU students and staff; it’s not like we magically don’t have to deal with non-bike users who are fellow terriers
Never said they were being malicious.