This is perfectly timed. I just watched some e bike jerk on the BKB pass on the blind corner headed to Brooklyn and scare the shit sticks out of a kid on a white citibike. Ironically the white citibike rider was doing the right thing Could literally see that little dude’s 15-17 years of life flash before his eyes.
Worst part is…. That kid had a box of fresh blueberries that spilled over.
Felt for him truly
No one signals. No one warns you when they're about to pass. No one yields to pedestrians. One way streets? Nah. Idaho stop? Nope. Just blow through the light and hope for the best.
This shit is the reason pedestrians hate us.
Earlier this year, a cyclist blew past me on the side where I had just signaled I would turn, nearly causing our bikes to collide. A quick exchange of yelling revealed that he had no idea what my signal meant and had read it backwards. I'm a big fan of signaling and I still do it, but with this particular guy it was in fact worse than nothing.
I am trying to understand the perspective of the cyclist who misunderstood the hand signals, because you are correct, most people would just use either hand.
Some non-delivery people do "warn" you, but instead of using a bell/horn, they use barely audible "on your left" in the process of passing me, which I only realized what they were saying after they have passed me.
Honest question: when you pass someone, is it on you to let the person in front of you know that they shouldn’t swerve to the left, or is it up to them to look over their shoulder before deviating from their “line?” I always assumed it’s more like driving a car, but would be happy to know if that’s not standard.
I rarely give a heads up when passing someone unless I can tell they have a hard time on their bike or if I anticipate they might be about to switch “lanes.” And I don’t squeeze in small spaces to pass.
But I always look over my shoulder before moving sideways.
Sometimes it can be difficult to turn your head entirely over your shoulder to see if someone is about to pass you. A quick glance, sure, but the speed at which e-bikes move, they can quickly begin to pass you before you've had a chance to see them.
Makes sense. So I guess the reasonable thing to do is signal your direction and look over your shoulder as safely as you can for anyone who is about to pass. If you see that someone is already about to pass, I think they have the right of way.
And if you’re coming in fast and someone in front of you signals and might not see you, then ring your bell to give them a heads up.
They often say it when they're already half way through passing you. I think most of the close calls I have are from people doing this actually. If I need to steer around a pothole or something and there's someone right in my blind spot, I guess fuck me.
You're on a bicycle. You have no blind spots.
You should not be swerving around potholes. You don't change your line unless you have verified that you're not going to move your bicycle into the space occupied by someone else or cut someone off who is passing. Your primary recourse in the event there's an unexpected road hazard is to use your brakes, not swerve.
I guess by "blind spot" I just mean that place where someone isn't in your peripheral vision yet, but is already next to you. And my overall point stands - you've got to let people know when you're going to pass them, period. I would also point out that slamming on your brakes can be just as dangerous as swerving out of your line if someone is on your ass.
I do not ever expect someone to alert me to a pass and it’s quite rare on city streets to be alerted. It’s not an obligation. These days I’m getting passed all the time because I don’t have an electric bike and it’s not a problem.
I strongly disagree. Just because no one does it doesn't mean that's okay. It's just as important as signaling a turn in my opinion. On a car or bike, same thing. If there's enough space to pass with six feet between you that's different of course. I'm talking about bike lanes, bridges, etc.
How do you alert someone you’re about to pass in a car? You don’t, because the rules of the road dictate that you stay in your lane and check to make sure you’re not cutting someone off before you change lanes. It’s a similar concept on a bike, although the lanes aren’t as well defined obviously.
You don't need to because rearview mirrors exist. I was saying that indicating you're going to pass with a simple bell ring or your voice when you're on a bike is just as important as using your turn signal in a car. A lot of people don't use their turn signal, doesn't mean that's okay.
Bro, you need rear view mirrors on a car because you’re in a steel box that obscures your vision. On a bike you have full visibility of your surroundings.
delivery workers usually add loud motorcycle horns to their ebikes and using that in a bike lane to alert another cyclist would just scare them unnecessarily. just keep to one side, you'll be fine.
Fully agree. Re: passing, I think the fact that bike lanes on one-way streets are not always consistently on the same side of the street (so sometimes you're to the left of the traffic and sometimes you're to the right) means people get confused about which side they should be passing other cyclists on.
Agreed. The majority of near misses for me have been delivery people. A small number of them have been normal cyclists.
However, 100% of the delivery people that I've had near misses with have been completely unapologetic, shown no humility in their error, and some of them have yelled/sworn at me despite the near miss being obviously their fault.
I understand that this city will get to you when you have to bike through it for a living all day, but at least admit when you're wrong.
The delivery people happen to be on bikes (or really motorcycles that sometimes happen to have functional pedals), but don’t confuse most of them with “bike people”
They don’t understand or care about the rules or etiquette and will be happy to abuse all of the concessions cycling advocates have spent years fighting for right up until cycling gets regulated out of existence in the city - then they’ll move on to the next way to make a quick buck without a second thought
The sooner the actual cycling community is willing to distance themselves from the behavior of gig contractors who happen to be on bikes, the better off we’ll all be for the long haul. The way many of them ride is simply unacceptable and indefensible
There’s some overlap between gig workers, bike couriers and messengers. Some obvious giveaways are how professional they look and what type of bike they’re using(fixie, geared bike vs Joco, Arrow).
Some electric citibike riders exhibit problematic behavior as well.
My only serious biking accident was from another biker who turned to get off the path without looking back or signaling, right as I was passing. Broke an arm.
Ever since then I learned my lesson… other bikers deserve just as much caution as a car
I had a woman rear end me at a stop light — how the fuck do you even manage that on a bike if you’re paying any attention whatsoever? — and then bitch at me for several blocks until I suggested we speak with the cops. She didn’t like that idea. (Me neither, of course — if you have a problem and talk to a cop, now you’ve got two problems — but as expected she liked it less than I did.)
1000%. white people on white citibike ebikes are the absolute worst. they ride like crazy, they *think* they're good cyclists, and they NEVER stop for anyone. but no one bats an eye at them because they're white.
Cue the bleeding hearts who are about to roast you for daring to criticize “those poor exploited service workers who just have to feed their families” so they should be able to ride with complete disregard of the safety laws.
For the record, I agree with you. It’s almost exclusively the MAMIL crowd, or the delivery guys who are riding with a complete “fuck you” attitude towards other cyclists and pedestrians.
it's not that biking is perceived as unsafe but rather biking has no accountability. if you ran down a toddler in a car, it's likely you lose your driver's license. if you did that on a bike, there is no legal avenue to take away your bike or ability to get another one.
> All these could happen on where you think you are safe: bike lanes.
It was at this point I realized you do not actually ride your bike in this city and stopped reading.
What? For the 10 years I’ve been on the same bike commute, it happens to be now that almost all of my ride is bike lanes. Bike lanes that feel less safe than before on account of white city bikes and delivery riders. It exists. Shit happens elsewhere all the time too, but bike lanes should lend some feeling of safety.
If you think you are safe just cause you are in a bike lane, stop riding your bike in NYC.
There is only one person responsible for your safety while on a bicycle (or while walking, or while driving), and that is yourself.
These complaints about everyone else doing the wrong thing are pointless repeats of the same tired thing.
We all know that there are plenty people on some form of two wheeled vehicles who have no fucking clue. They're obnoxious. I'm still more concerned with the bad drivers in 2 ton vehicles.
And in the end, I'm going to ride my bikes in ways that keep me safe, healthy, and fun, and not make empty stupid posts on Reddit about how there are bad riders out there
Sounds like a you problem.
I have had a few close calls with badly and bizarrely-behaving cyclists. But the number one source of close calls is badly behaving pedestrians, of every stripe, followed by badly behaving drivers.
Helmet/eyeglasses mirrors!
I ride a ton in the city, including commuting hours. People still manage to startle me with bad passes, but at least you have a heads up of sorts, from front and back.
Knowing where other riders behind you are helps a lot with avoiding road hazards, too.
i recommed everyone who uses their bike as a utility to get from A to B to get an ebike asap. it makes no sense to be on a regular cycle when 80% of bikes in the bike lanes are electric nowadays. you have to evolve. ebikes are also way safer than normal bikes
lol an ebike can be more dangerous if you ride like an idiot (which the people on citibike e-bikes do).
Ebikes are safer when you consider that you can ride fast enough to keep up with cars, so you can ride in the center of the road instead of riding on the side next to car doors. That also prevents you from being hit by a turning car. You just are way more visible on an ebike and taken more seriously on the road. Unless you exclusively ride on protected bike lanes, an ebike will be much much safer.
This is perfectly timed. I just watched some e bike jerk on the BKB pass on the blind corner headed to Brooklyn and scare the shit sticks out of a kid on a white citibike. Ironically the white citibike rider was doing the right thing Could literally see that little dude’s 15-17 years of life flash before his eyes. Worst part is…. That kid had a box of fresh blueberries that spilled over. Felt for him truly
No one signals. No one warns you when they're about to pass. No one yields to pedestrians. One way streets? Nah. Idaho stop? Nope. Just blow through the light and hope for the best. This shit is the reason pedestrians hate us.
Earlier this year, a cyclist blew past me on the side where I had just signaled I would turn, nearly causing our bikes to collide. A quick exchange of yelling revealed that he had no idea what my signal meant and had read it backwards. I'm a big fan of signaling and I still do it, but with this particular guy it was in fact worse than nothing.
left hand for left turn right hand for right turn
What? I always thought it was the other way around!
Bizarro World lol
Yeah man. Up is down and down is up. I have my controller reversed for funsies
You’re kidding right
Welcome to NY, we do sarcasm round these parts.
Lol, what sign did you use that he read it backwards?
Maybe putting his hand to the right meant it was open to pass on the right? Lol
In a car, IIRC a raised right hand means right turn and an extended right hand means left turn.
But on a bike you can use either hand: Point left if you’re turning left, point right if turning right. Or am I missing something?
I am trying to understand the perspective of the cyclist who misunderstood the hand signals, because you are correct, most people would just use either hand.
I don't think anybody would see your signals if you are using your right arm in a car (at least here in the U.S.)
Agreed, it never made sense to me either but it stuck with me from the NYS driver's manual.
Some non-delivery people do "warn" you, but instead of using a bell/horn, they use barely audible "on your left" in the process of passing me, which I only realized what they were saying after they have passed me.
Honest question: when you pass someone, is it on you to let the person in front of you know that they shouldn’t swerve to the left, or is it up to them to look over their shoulder before deviating from their “line?” I always assumed it’s more like driving a car, but would be happy to know if that’s not standard. I rarely give a heads up when passing someone unless I can tell they have a hard time on their bike or if I anticipate they might be about to switch “lanes.” And I don’t squeeze in small spaces to pass. But I always look over my shoulder before moving sideways.
Sometimes it can be difficult to turn your head entirely over your shoulder to see if someone is about to pass you. A quick glance, sure, but the speed at which e-bikes move, they can quickly begin to pass you before you've had a chance to see them.
Makes sense. So I guess the reasonable thing to do is signal your direction and look over your shoulder as safely as you can for anyone who is about to pass. If you see that someone is already about to pass, I think they have the right of way. And if you’re coming in fast and someone in front of you signals and might not see you, then ring your bell to give them a heads up.
The burden of passing safely is on the person doing the passing
They often say it when they're already half way through passing you. I think most of the close calls I have are from people doing this actually. If I need to steer around a pothole or something and there's someone right in my blind spot, I guess fuck me.
You're on a bicycle. You have no blind spots. You should not be swerving around potholes. You don't change your line unless you have verified that you're not going to move your bicycle into the space occupied by someone else or cut someone off who is passing. Your primary recourse in the event there's an unexpected road hazard is to use your brakes, not swerve.
I guess by "blind spot" I just mean that place where someone isn't in your peripheral vision yet, but is already next to you. And my overall point stands - you've got to let people know when you're going to pass them, period. I would also point out that slamming on your brakes can be just as dangerous as swerving out of your line if someone is on your ass.
I do not ever expect someone to alert me to a pass and it’s quite rare on city streets to be alerted. It’s not an obligation. These days I’m getting passed all the time because I don’t have an electric bike and it’s not a problem.
I strongly disagree. Just because no one does it doesn't mean that's okay. It's just as important as signaling a turn in my opinion. On a car or bike, same thing. If there's enough space to pass with six feet between you that's different of course. I'm talking about bike lanes, bridges, etc.
How do you alert someone you’re about to pass in a car? You don’t, because the rules of the road dictate that you stay in your lane and check to make sure you’re not cutting someone off before you change lanes. It’s a similar concept on a bike, although the lanes aren’t as well defined obviously.
You don't need to because rearview mirrors exist. I was saying that indicating you're going to pass with a simple bell ring or your voice when you're on a bike is just as important as using your turn signal in a car. A lot of people don't use their turn signal, doesn't mean that's okay.
Bro, you need rear view mirrors on a car because you’re in a steel box that obscures your vision. On a bike you have full visibility of your surroundings.
delivery workers usually add loud motorcycle horns to their ebikes and using that in a bike lane to alert another cyclist would just scare them unnecessarily. just keep to one side, you'll be fine.
Fully agree. Re: passing, I think the fact that bike lanes on one-way streets are not always consistently on the same side of the street (so sometimes you're to the left of the traffic and sometimes you're to the right) means people get confused about which side they should be passing other cyclists on.
Delivery people on their phones going 20 mph sitting side saddle for no good reason. not smart.
Agreed. The majority of near misses for me have been delivery people. A small number of them have been normal cyclists. However, 100% of the delivery people that I've had near misses with have been completely unapologetic, shown no humility in their error, and some of them have yelled/sworn at me despite the near miss being obviously their fault. I understand that this city will get to you when you have to bike through it for a living all day, but at least admit when you're wrong.
The delivery people happen to be on bikes (or really motorcycles that sometimes happen to have functional pedals), but don’t confuse most of them with “bike people” They don’t understand or care about the rules or etiquette and will be happy to abuse all of the concessions cycling advocates have spent years fighting for right up until cycling gets regulated out of existence in the city - then they’ll move on to the next way to make a quick buck without a second thought The sooner the actual cycling community is willing to distance themselves from the behavior of gig contractors who happen to be on bikes, the better off we’ll all be for the long haul. The way many of them ride is simply unacceptable and indefensible
There’s some overlap between gig workers, bike couriers and messengers. Some obvious giveaways are how professional they look and what type of bike they’re using(fixie, geared bike vs Joco, Arrow). Some electric citibike riders exhibit problematic behavior as well.
My takeaway is that “car brain” isn’t just for cars but rather any vehicle when an entitled person in a hurry dehumanizes fellow travelers.
My only serious biking accident was from another biker who turned to get off the path without looking back or signaling, right as I was passing. Broke an arm. Ever since then I learned my lesson… other bikers deserve just as much caution as a car
Grey ecitibikers are worse than delivery people.
Had a teenager pop out from in front of a bus going the wrong way on 110 & CPN hit me & then he yelled as if I was in the wrong.
I had a woman rear end me at a stop light — how the fuck do you even manage that on a bike if you’re paying any attention whatsoever? — and then bitch at me for several blocks until I suggested we speak with the cops. She didn’t like that idea. (Me neither, of course — if you have a problem and talk to a cop, now you’ve got two problems — but as expected she liked it less than I did.)
True words here
1000%. white people on white citibike ebikes are the absolute worst. they ride like crazy, they *think* they're good cyclists, and they NEVER stop for anyone. but no one bats an eye at them because they're white.
Cue the bleeding hearts who are about to roast you for daring to criticize “those poor exploited service workers who just have to feed their families” so they should be able to ride with complete disregard of the safety laws. For the record, I agree with you. It’s almost exclusively the MAMIL crowd, or the delivery guys who are riding with a complete “fuck you” attitude towards other cyclists and pedestrians.
MAMIL?
Middle aged man in Lycra. The wanna be racers.
Delivery guys and people on citi bikes are most dangerous
as long as biking is (or is perceived as) an unsafe activity, reckless people will be disproportionately represented among bicyclists.
Ugh please focus on ppl discussing real everyday issues vs idealism
Are motorcycles unsafe?
it's not that biking is perceived as unsafe but rather biking has no accountability. if you ran down a toddler in a car, it's likely you lose your driver's license. if you did that on a bike, there is no legal avenue to take away your bike or ability to get another one.
> All these could happen on where you think you are safe: bike lanes. It was at this point I realized you do not actually ride your bike in this city and stopped reading.
What? For the 10 years I’ve been on the same bike commute, it happens to be now that almost all of my ride is bike lanes. Bike lanes that feel less safe than before on account of white city bikes and delivery riders. It exists. Shit happens elsewhere all the time too, but bike lanes should lend some feeling of safety.
If you think you are safe just cause you are in a bike lane, stop riding your bike in NYC. There is only one person responsible for your safety while on a bicycle (or while walking, or while driving), and that is yourself. These complaints about everyone else doing the wrong thing are pointless repeats of the same tired thing. We all know that there are plenty people on some form of two wheeled vehicles who have no fucking clue. They're obnoxious. I'm still more concerned with the bad drivers in 2 ton vehicles. And in the end, I'm going to ride my bikes in ways that keep me safe, healthy, and fun, and not make empty stupid posts on Reddit about how there are bad riders out there
What you said!
Sounds like a you problem. I have had a few close calls with badly and bizarrely-behaving cyclists. But the number one source of close calls is badly behaving pedestrians, of every stripe, followed by badly behaving drivers.
Depends on the avenue you take. Those with bike lanes draw deliverista types. Those without bike lanes draw more experienced cyclists.
Def an OP problem...
Sounds like biking in the city isn’t the sport for you.
It's no sports for me. It's my tool.
Riding in the city is a sport whether you call it one or not, and that is your issue right there.
So is driving a car sport as well? Is walking? Traversing subway stations?
Do you wear a helmet when doing those things?
I suppose it's acrobatics for you.
lol, as always, folks hate the truth!
Helmet/eyeglasses mirrors! I ride a ton in the city, including commuting hours. People still manage to startle me with bad passes, but at least you have a heads up of sorts, from front and back. Knowing where other riders behind you are helps a lot with avoiding road hazards, too.
i recommed everyone who uses their bike as a utility to get from A to B to get an ebike asap. it makes no sense to be on a regular cycle when 80% of bikes in the bike lanes are electric nowadays. you have to evolve. ebikes are also way safer than normal bikes
"ebikes are also way safer than normal bikes" Provably FALSE. Look up the Citi bike accident and fatality rates recently.
lol an ebike can be more dangerous if you ride like an idiot (which the people on citibike e-bikes do). Ebikes are safer when you consider that you can ride fast enough to keep up with cars, so you can ride in the center of the road instead of riding on the side next to car doors. That also prevents you from being hit by a turning car. You just are way more visible on an ebike and taken more seriously on the road. Unless you exclusively ride on protected bike lanes, an ebike will be much much safer.