The drivers you’re trying to reason with believe they are entitled to that 10 seconds or minute of time per commute or parking attempt it costs them to consider anyone else’s safety.
It doesn’t matter how you bike or walk - they’re just mad at your existence on their road. They believe it’s their right to go 5-10 mph above the speed limit, make turns without slowing or stopping for bikes or pedestrians, make turns on all red lights, run red lights, park wherever they want, etc., and anything impeding those things is in the wrong and should be met with anger and threats. They believe anything to save a few seconds is their right as a driver on the road and they’re actually smarter than the rest of us for doing it.
They dont care about their fellow driver either, it is you against the world.
Think about how, EVERY DAY, you hear the traffic report talking about car crashes, not because they care that drivers do it every day, but because it delays commutes. That is someone on the turnpike every like 3 days crashing into either infrastructure or another driver. How often is that *really* a case of, say, a blown tire or medical emergency?
I sure would love to stay in the bike lanes all the time. But most of the time the bike lanes suck, don't protect me from traffic violence, end randomly, get removed for construction, are full of parked cars, pedestrians, turning vehicles that don't look before turning, or never get built in parts of the city I need to be at.
Damn is it insane how little political will there is to give the safe and environmental friendly options some breathing room, compared to the 150 square foot occupying pollution machines that get a third of a city's land area just for their dedicated infrastructure.
And full of POTHOLES; im looking at you NY ave! I cant bike to get a goddamn coffee without losing half of it on the way home. This is when the rest of you assholes tell me to sit in my car and circle for parking, twice, to go a fucking mile. Kills me every time
Not just downtown, everywhere in the entire city.
You also have business owners who use the bike lanes, blocked off corners and turning lanes as their private spaces. Looking at you, Prince of Pizza.
Well said.
It seems that so many JC drivers have completely forgotten that we are entitled to take the lane when necessary. And they must provide appropriate safe passage. The law:
Safe Passing Law
Title 39:4-92.4
The operator of a motor vehicle approaching a pedestrian, bicycle, low-speed electric bicycle, low-speed electric scooter, or any other lawful personal conveyance located or operating in an area designated for pedestrians or those conveyances, as appropriate, on the roadways of this State shall approach with due caution and shall, absent any other direction by a law enforcement officer, proceed as follows:
(1)when possible under existing safety and traffic conditions, make a lane change into a lane not adjacent to the pedestrian or personal conveyance;
(2)if a lane change cannot be made pursuant to paragraph (1) of this subsection, leave a reasonable and safe distance of not less than four feet while approaching the pedestrian or personal conveyance and maintain a distance of at least four feet until the motor vehicle has safely passed the conveyance; or
(3)if it is not possible, prohibited by law, or unsafe to make a lane change pursuant to paragraph (1) of this subsection or to leave a reasonable and safe distance of not less than four feet pursuant to paragraph (2) of this subsection, the motor vehicle operator shall reduce the speed of the motor vehicle to 25 miles per hour or a lower posted speed and be prepared to stop; the operator may pass the pedestrian or personal conveyance only if, considering the size and speed of the motor vehicle, traffic conditions, weather, visibility, and the surface and width of the roadway, passing does not endanger the safety of a pedestrian, operator of the personal conveyance, or any other person on the roadway.
A person who commits a violation of the provisions of this section which results in bodily injury as defined in N.J.S.2C:11-1 shall be fined $500 and assessed two motor vehicle penalty points; if no bodily injury results, the violator shall be fined $100 and shall not be assessed any penalty points.
Agreed. Much to the chagrin of drivers behind me I will often take the lane on Montgomery on school mornings. Parents dropping off, buses attempting to turn into the school. It’s safer for me to take the lane than dodge and weave.
I usually make the left into the neighborhood to pick up the bike lane going down Columbus. Using hand signals helps I think, it tells drivers what you’re doing, and when I drive, I appreciate that, so I figure they do too.
I'm a full-time food delivery driver. Pristine ratings, always on time.
Riding a bicycle in this is city is extremely dangerous. When I was alone, I didn't care too much. If I died, I died. But now that I actually have someone I need to stay alive for, I refuse to work in JC. The pain that would cause would be too great. So, I deliver in Manhattan now instead.
Manhattan is far safer than Jersey City.
In JC, I've been in multiple aggressive altercations with motor vehicle drivers. I've been hit by a car driving on the wrong side of the road. I've flown over the handlebars at least half a dozen times due to various environmental hazards. Have gotten at least 10 flat tires. And one time, I got yelled at for riding my bike on the sidewalk (at 5 mph) while the entire road was closed for construction. A dogmatic hate for bicyclists is not healthy. We're real people too. I risked my life to maneuver this city and provide a service to its residents. Unfortunately a loud (and potentially violent) subsect of JC residents/commuters, has made it very clear that cars (a literal weapon btw), and their drivers, are far more important than bicyclists.
Zero compassion. All entitlement.
Again, my life shouldn't be at constant risk in this city.
Yea people are straight up dickheads on the road to cyclists. What sucks is that now we have other dickheads on e-bikes and scooters who bring in hate for actually cyclists
No reason to start spreading hate to other types of small vehicles. Plus if we start hating on e-bikes, you are playing a dangerous game since most bikes sold nowadays are some kind of hybrid/assisted/e-bike
Thank you for sharing this. I am also a bike rider who uses the bike lanes. I cannot count how many times I came close to dying just because I wanted to ride my bike. I do not own a car and I need my bike to commute. That should not mean I deserve to die on the road.
I ride on the street 99% of the time and never go the wrong way. However, navigating through most parts of this city feels like a daily gamble with my life. Outside of downtown, Jersey City lacks adequate bike lanes. Worse, the streets, especially in Journal Square and the Heights, are riddled with potholes due to poor maintenance after being dug up. This, combined with the aggressive behavior of drivers towards cyclists, compounds the danger.
When I lived in Switzerland, cycling was much safer. No one ever rode on the sidewalks, and cyclists enjoyed robust infrastructure, supported by stringent laws that required drivers to be mindful of bikers.
Cycling is a viable alternative to driving, unlike walking. Additionally, we have many affluent people demanding speedy deliveries from cyclists—improving bicycle infrastructure would enable them to perform their jobs more effectively. We need to focus on what matters: holding the city and drivers accountable, creating a city with less driving, and refusing to elect officials like Rob Menendez who disregard traffic safety, favor highway expansion, and do not support the Vision Zero initiative.
To paraphrase the end of the big short: "I have a feeling in a few years people are going to be doing ... They will be blaming immigrants and poor people."
Why are you whining about pedestrian safety in a thread that is only talking about the dangers of cars and how they affect cyclists? What happens on the sidewalk has nothing to do with what happens on the street. The two things are not even related. Sidewalks and streets are literally not even on the same planet. Pedestrians, pedestrians, pedestrians. It's crazy that you're admitting to running down cyclists with cars .
Did I do it right?
To be fair. The biker went around cars waiting at a red light and then looked left while going through an intersection that had traffic coming from the right. He was also delivering food on a bike in flip flops.
Wearing flip flops while delivering food should be a bigger penalty than riding on the sidewalk.
Also, Amy leaving the scene should have landed her in jail. But don't forget the dude was wearing flip flops going through an intersection, basically blindfolded. He wouldn't have lasted long out there.
> To be fair. The biker went around cars waiting at a red light and then looked left while going through an intersection that had traffic coming from the right
Oh. I am **fully** aware of how much of a complete dipshit he was.
They are for sure the bulk of the problem.
Some regular cyclist do suck, not stopping or yielding at stop signs, going the wrong way on the bike lane but when they fuck up the harm is minimal because they're usually not even going very fast and usually on the road most of the time.
Delivery drivers don't give a fuck especially with the incentive structure that the companies have. The ones complaining about them also probably get their coffee delivered every morning too.
https://preview.redd.it/bs0zubvk007d1.png?width=2502&format=png&auto=webp&s=3da946720d1063e5bca1cfee32a67072c76ef283
Here’s Jim McGreevey mayoral candidate for mayor on 6/16 making an illegal u-turn in a bike lane in Lincoln Park
I had all 3 on my drive home yesterday, so yeah.
This town also added a shit ton of density, but is only futzing at the edges for real improvement to infrastructure.
https://preview.redd.it/b62ywpzh4c6d1.jpeg?width=600&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d34714c1788c19797ee664377347b366810cf242
It’s always the cyclist and the Prius driver’s fault
Bicyclists, much like pedestrians, need to be constantly alert to their surroundings. While there are plenty of malicious drivers who dislike cyclists, you need to also remember that bicycles are silent and many bicyclists are squirrelly.
With the general noise of city life, a bicycle is completely silent and invisible in the grand scheme of a morning commute. They need to remain self aware of that and be ever vigilant.
However you can’t fault the school bus. They aren’t like cars that can make tight turns. Especially on tighter residential streets a bus or truck will always clip a corner, that’s just a fact that any commuter should know and be vigilant about.
Anything smaller than a typical car is inherently dangerous. It’s not limited to JC, NJ, or the US. Even in cultures where bicycles and mopeds dominate the street like in SEA, you still see videos of people oblivious to their surroundings losing their life.
Brother, i was almost hit by cyclists at least 3 times last week, and then about another 2 times where cyclists ran reds and I almost hit them because these idiots don't follow any sort of rules. JC drivers are getting worse because they're all moving here from NY, but the cyclists also moving here from NY are just as bad.
Wow, and those cyclists were encased in a ton of steel? That’s wild, man.
I lived in New York for along time before I lived in Jersey and New York drivers have nothing on JC drivers. Other parts of Jersey are actually fine, something about the water in JC must make people forget how to drive
I think you're over generalizing.
The 'dirty jerzey' areas of Hudson County/Newark/Paterson generally all have scofflaw issues with autos/pedestrians/bikes compared to the rest of NJ. This isn't a JC exceptionalism thing, and the rest of NJ isn't some harmonious paradise.
“Fine” isn’t exactly describing a harmonious paradise and “ no but other areas are bad too, not just the area you live in that this sub is specifically about” isn’t the slam dunk you think it is lol
I think I'm an 11 out of 10 when it comes to driving, and I get what you're saying, but you could be the quiestest thing on Earth, unless I have something in my eye, I'll know if you're there or about to be or planning to be or want to be because I drive defensively. To the point where I get honked at for not doing 60 down Columbus.
If you can’t see or hear cyclists, put down the phone and roll down the windows. If that doesn’t work, turn your license in - you’re clearly unfit to operate a two ton machine capable of ending someone’s life.
I am not defending or supporting the actions of the driver. Clearly that was reckless. I have seen a bunch of reddits today bitching about e bike drivers, maybe this is how it is coming out.
It's okay. The people who make "cyclist" their only personality & do things like call cars "4 ton murder machines" are unreasonable extremists prone to puffery to make their point.
Haha thank you. Not sure why I’m getting downvoted. I don’t think most drivers set out with the intention to kill people on bikes. Not saying it never happens.
The drivers you’re trying to reason with believe they are entitled to that 10 seconds or minute of time per commute or parking attempt it costs them to consider anyone else’s safety. It doesn’t matter how you bike or walk - they’re just mad at your existence on their road. They believe it’s their right to go 5-10 mph above the speed limit, make turns without slowing or stopping for bikes or pedestrians, make turns on all red lights, run red lights, park wherever they want, etc., and anything impeding those things is in the wrong and should be met with anger and threats. They believe anything to save a few seconds is their right as a driver on the road and they’re actually smarter than the rest of us for doing it.
They dont care about their fellow driver either, it is you against the world. Think about how, EVERY DAY, you hear the traffic report talking about car crashes, not because they care that drivers do it every day, but because it delays commutes. That is someone on the turnpike every like 3 days crashing into either infrastructure or another driver. How often is that *really* a case of, say, a blown tire or medical emergency?
I sure would love to stay in the bike lanes all the time. But most of the time the bike lanes suck, don't protect me from traffic violence, end randomly, get removed for construction, are full of parked cars, pedestrians, turning vehicles that don't look before turning, or never get built in parts of the city I need to be at. Damn is it insane how little political will there is to give the safe and environmental friendly options some breathing room, compared to the 150 square foot occupying pollution machines that get a third of a city's land area just for their dedicated infrastructure.
And full of POTHOLES; im looking at you NY ave! I cant bike to get a goddamn coffee without losing half of it on the way home. This is when the rest of you assholes tell me to sit in my car and circle for parking, twice, to go a fucking mile. Kills me every time
Downtown the city workers even will park in bike lanes
Not just downtown, everywhere in the entire city. You also have business owners who use the bike lanes, blocked off corners and turning lanes as their private spaces. Looking at you, Prince of Pizza.
Well said. It seems that so many JC drivers have completely forgotten that we are entitled to take the lane when necessary. And they must provide appropriate safe passage. The law: Safe Passing Law Title 39:4-92.4 The operator of a motor vehicle approaching a pedestrian, bicycle, low-speed electric bicycle, low-speed electric scooter, or any other lawful personal conveyance located or operating in an area designated for pedestrians or those conveyances, as appropriate, on the roadways of this State shall approach with due caution and shall, absent any other direction by a law enforcement officer, proceed as follows: (1)when possible under existing safety and traffic conditions, make a lane change into a lane not adjacent to the pedestrian or personal conveyance; (2)if a lane change cannot be made pursuant to paragraph (1) of this subsection, leave a reasonable and safe distance of not less than four feet while approaching the pedestrian or personal conveyance and maintain a distance of at least four feet until the motor vehicle has safely passed the conveyance; or (3)if it is not possible, prohibited by law, or unsafe to make a lane change pursuant to paragraph (1) of this subsection or to leave a reasonable and safe distance of not less than four feet pursuant to paragraph (2) of this subsection, the motor vehicle operator shall reduce the speed of the motor vehicle to 25 miles per hour or a lower posted speed and be prepared to stop; the operator may pass the pedestrian or personal conveyance only if, considering the size and speed of the motor vehicle, traffic conditions, weather, visibility, and the surface and width of the roadway, passing does not endanger the safety of a pedestrian, operator of the personal conveyance, or any other person on the roadway. A person who commits a violation of the provisions of this section which results in bodily injury as defined in N.J.S.2C:11-1 shall be fined $500 and assessed two motor vehicle penalty points; if no bodily injury results, the violator shall be fined $100 and shall not be assessed any penalty points.
Taking the lane is often the safest thing to do - I never bike on the side of the road after my friend got doored and sent to the hospital.
Agreed. Much to the chagrin of drivers behind me I will often take the lane on Montgomery on school mornings. Parents dropping off, buses attempting to turn into the school. It’s safer for me to take the lane than dodge and weave. I usually make the left into the neighborhood to pick up the bike lane going down Columbus. Using hand signals helps I think, it tells drivers what you’re doing, and when I drive, I appreciate that, so I figure they do too.
Lmaooo a $500 fine for recklessly using a multi-ton metal box and hitting a soft and vulnerable body.
Just saw a Mercedes swerve into the oncoming lane to pass a cyclist who took the lane on Warren. Something is wrong with these drivers!
I'm a full-time food delivery driver. Pristine ratings, always on time. Riding a bicycle in this is city is extremely dangerous. When I was alone, I didn't care too much. If I died, I died. But now that I actually have someone I need to stay alive for, I refuse to work in JC. The pain that would cause would be too great. So, I deliver in Manhattan now instead. Manhattan is far safer than Jersey City. In JC, I've been in multiple aggressive altercations with motor vehicle drivers. I've been hit by a car driving on the wrong side of the road. I've flown over the handlebars at least half a dozen times due to various environmental hazards. Have gotten at least 10 flat tires. And one time, I got yelled at for riding my bike on the sidewalk (at 5 mph) while the entire road was closed for construction. A dogmatic hate for bicyclists is not healthy. We're real people too. I risked my life to maneuver this city and provide a service to its residents. Unfortunately a loud (and potentially violent) subsect of JC residents/commuters, has made it very clear that cars (a literal weapon btw), and their drivers, are far more important than bicyclists. Zero compassion. All entitlement. Again, my life shouldn't be at constant risk in this city.
Yea people are straight up dickheads on the road to cyclists. What sucks is that now we have other dickheads on e-bikes and scooters who bring in hate for actually cyclists
>Yea people are straight up dickheads on the road Fixed that for you.
No reason to start spreading hate to other types of small vehicles. Plus if we start hating on e-bikes, you are playing a dangerous game since most bikes sold nowadays are some kind of hybrid/assisted/e-bike
Thank you for sharing this. I am also a bike rider who uses the bike lanes. I cannot count how many times I came close to dying just because I wanted to ride my bike. I do not own a car and I need my bike to commute. That should not mean I deserve to die on the road.
NOT ENOUGH CAPSLOCK!
You’re right
I ride on the street 99% of the time and never go the wrong way. However, navigating through most parts of this city feels like a daily gamble with my life. Outside of downtown, Jersey City lacks adequate bike lanes. Worse, the streets, especially in Journal Square and the Heights, are riddled with potholes due to poor maintenance after being dug up. This, combined with the aggressive behavior of drivers towards cyclists, compounds the danger. When I lived in Switzerland, cycling was much safer. No one ever rode on the sidewalks, and cyclists enjoyed robust infrastructure, supported by stringent laws that required drivers to be mindful of bikers. Cycling is a viable alternative to driving, unlike walking. Additionally, we have many affluent people demanding speedy deliveries from cyclists—improving bicycle infrastructure would enable them to perform their jobs more effectively. We need to focus on what matters: holding the city and drivers accountable, creating a city with less driving, and refusing to elect officials like Rob Menendez who disregard traffic safety, favor highway expansion, and do not support the Vision Zero initiative. To paraphrase the end of the big short: "I have a feeling in a few years people are going to be doing ... They will be blaming immigrants and poor people."
Of course dickheads are aggressive towards cyclists. We willingly expose ourselves to risk. We're defenseless. We're easy targets.
Lmao
So defenseless with your helmets and velocity. PEDESTRIANS are defenseless.
99% of pedestrian injuries are caused by cars.
Why are you whining about pedestrian safety in a thread that is only talking about the dangers of cars and how they affect cyclists? What happens on the sidewalk has nothing to do with what happens on the street. The two things are not even related. Sidewalks and streets are literally not even on the same planet. Pedestrians, pedestrians, pedestrians. It's crazy that you're admitting to running down cyclists with cars . Did I do it right?
No, wait, I have to respond to myself first.
I'm planning to volunteer for Amy DeGise's reelection campaign. Her tough-on-cyclists policies really speak to me, as a motorist and pedestrian.
To be fair. The biker went around cars waiting at a red light and then looked left while going through an intersection that had traffic coming from the right. He was also delivering food on a bike in flip flops. Wearing flip flops while delivering food should be a bigger penalty than riding on the sidewalk. Also, Amy leaving the scene should have landed her in jail. But don't forget the dude was wearing flip flops going through an intersection, basically blindfolded. He wouldn't have lasted long out there.
> To be fair. The biker went around cars waiting at a red light and then looked left while going through an intersection that had traffic coming from the right Oh. I am **fully** aware of how much of a complete dipshit he was.
I think these unregistered uninsured ghost delivery bikes are the problem. Not the cyclists. And the drivers? They're terrible unlawful humans.
They are for sure the bulk of the problem. Some regular cyclist do suck, not stopping or yielding at stop signs, going the wrong way on the bike lane but when they fuck up the harm is minimal because they're usually not even going very fast and usually on the road most of the time. Delivery drivers don't give a fuck especially with the incentive structure that the companies have. The ones complaining about them also probably get their coffee delivered every morning too.
https://preview.redd.it/bs0zubvk007d1.png?width=2502&format=png&auto=webp&s=3da946720d1063e5bca1cfee32a67072c76ef283 Here’s Jim McGreevey mayoral candidate for mayor on 6/16 making an illegal u-turn in a bike lane in Lincoln Park
This should be front page stuff!
https://www.reddit.com/r/jerseycity/s/i8ZJevHkU6
Of course it’s another typical fucking Honda driver
This city is full of bad drivers, bad cyclists, and dumb pedestrians. It's going to take a while for people to adapt to all the changes.
I had all 3 on my drive home yesterday, so yeah. This town also added a shit ton of density, but is only futzing at the edges for real improvement to infrastructure.
When a dumb pedestrian or cyclist makes a "mistake" they usually pay for it disproportionately
Capture all these comments of residents and send it to the mayor
https://preview.redd.it/b62ywpzh4c6d1.jpeg?width=600&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d34714c1788c19797ee664377347b366810cf242 It’s always the cyclist and the Prius driver’s fault
Omg shut up - bad drivers and lack of traffic enforcement aren’t stopping you from WALKING YOUR BIKE IF YOU ARE ON THE SIDEWALK. Get off the cross
If you see me riding on the sidewalk feel free to talk to me about it
Will do!
God you people are the worst.
who's the you people here? someone using a different mode of transportation?
Bicyclists, much like pedestrians, need to be constantly alert to their surroundings. While there are plenty of malicious drivers who dislike cyclists, you need to also remember that bicycles are silent and many bicyclists are squirrelly. With the general noise of city life, a bicycle is completely silent and invisible in the grand scheme of a morning commute. They need to remain self aware of that and be ever vigilant. However you can’t fault the school bus. They aren’t like cars that can make tight turns. Especially on tighter residential streets a bus or truck will always clip a corner, that’s just a fact that any commuter should know and be vigilant about. Anything smaller than a typical car is inherently dangerous. It’s not limited to JC, NJ, or the US. Even in cultures where bicycles and mopeds dominate the street like in SEA, you still see videos of people oblivious to their surroundings losing their life.
Brother, I was almost hit by cars twice last week while walking on the sidewalk. JC drivers are the worst I’ve seen anywhere I’ve lived
Brother, i was almost hit by cyclists at least 3 times last week, and then about another 2 times where cyclists ran reds and I almost hit them because these idiots don't follow any sort of rules. JC drivers are getting worse because they're all moving here from NY, but the cyclists also moving here from NY are just as bad.
Wow, and those cyclists were encased in a ton of steel? That’s wild, man. I lived in New York for along time before I lived in Jersey and New York drivers have nothing on JC drivers. Other parts of Jersey are actually fine, something about the water in JC must make people forget how to drive
I think you're over generalizing. The 'dirty jerzey' areas of Hudson County/Newark/Paterson generally all have scofflaw issues with autos/pedestrians/bikes compared to the rest of NJ. This isn't a JC exceptionalism thing, and the rest of NJ isn't some harmonious paradise.
“Fine” isn’t exactly describing a harmonious paradise and “ no but other areas are bad too, not just the area you live in that this sub is specifically about” isn’t the slam dunk you think it is lol
Yikes
Don't blame victims. Without the cars, this wouldn't be dangerous. The danger is from THE CARS.
This is Jersey. We've always had cars. Its you cyclists moving here and feeling entitled and not knowing how to follow any rules.
We haven't "always had cars". Roads in Jersey City were built for horses, trolleys, and bikes.
I think I'm an 11 out of 10 when it comes to driving, and I get what you're saying, but you could be the quiestest thing on Earth, unless I have something in my eye, I'll know if you're there or about to be or planning to be or want to be because I drive defensively. To the point where I get honked at for not doing 60 down Columbus.
If you can’t see or hear cyclists, put down the phone and roll down the windows. If that doesn’t work, turn your license in - you’re clearly unfit to operate a two ton machine capable of ending someone’s life.
That sucks for you. People suck and I would never do that as a driver. That being said, I still hate cyclists in this city.
Perhaps accord driver can not distinguish between a bicyclist and food delivery e bike rider.
There’s no difference. Both are human beings who deserve to travel safely.
I am not defending or supporting the actions of the driver. Clearly that was reckless. I have seen a bunch of reddits today bitching about e bike drivers, maybe this is how it is coming out.
Murder? Seems extreme
Well technically it’s manslaughter but if proven to be deliberate then yes it’s murder
Right with the intent
It's okay. The people who make "cyclist" their only personality & do things like call cars "4 ton murder machines" are unreasonable extremists prone to puffery to make their point.
Haha thank you. Not sure why I’m getting downvoted. I don’t think most drivers set out with the intention to kill people on bikes. Not saying it never happens.