Lady in pink would be killed if she came to Amsterdam
this post was submitted on 19 Jun 2025
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I damn nearly got murdered by an angry speeding cyclist in Paris, near a canal. I crossed the lane without realizing, not being used to their presence. Bike lanes are simply nonexistent where I live, and I was only staying in Paris for a couple weeks. The dude got super mad at me, like super super mad. To this day I still fantasize about throwing him and his fucking bike in the canal. I really should have done it.... why do I have to second-guess everything
I was being inconsiderate and dangerous in traffic, and it's the other guy's fault
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Learn how to cry on command. That would probably have taken the wind out of his sails. I'm not a car freak. If I could get by in my suburban hell without one I would. That being said, if cars have to be aware of cyclists then cyclists need to be aware of pedestrians.
So if a pedestrian walked onto the road without looking or anything, you'd say the driver is at fault?
A cycle lane is to a bike as a road is to a car. A pedestrian is allowed to cross it after looking and checking that no vehicle is coming, and the pedestrian has to give right of way.
Cars have to be aware of cyclists when cyclists are driving on the road, since both have equal rights to be there. Same as a car has to be aware of another car or a cyclists of another cyclist. Both are allowed to use the road, so both need to be aware of each other.
If a car driver is expected to be aware of pedestrians, then a cyclist is to be expected to be aware of pedestrians. You can't have it both ways. A cyclist can easily cause serious injury to a pedestrian.
Is a pedestrian expected to be aware of car drivers on the side walk?
Is a car driver expected to be aware of pedestrians on the highway?
Yes, and also yes. personal responsibility for your own safety doesn't magically disappear because of paint on the ground.
Responsibility for the machine you're operating that can harm others doesn't magically disappear when it weighs less.
To be honest, it's a wrong argument anyways. The cyclist was aware of the pedestrian on the bike lane and he stopped in time. So the whole argument doesn't matter.
The actual point is whether the pedestrian was in the right to wander onto the bike lane, completely oblivious to his surroundings.
They were both in the wrong. The cyclist shouldn't be entitled to being an asshole because they're inconvenienced, and the pedestrian doesn't get to wander in the bike lane unaware of their surroundings.
Idiots never learn if they are never told what they did wrong.
It’s by momentum. The greater the momentum the greater the responsibility.
Edit: To actually respond to your examples:
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No. It is the responsibility of the high mv cars not to enter the sidewalk, or to be incredibly cautious if they must.
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Yes. It is the responsibility of the high mv car to look far enough ahead to respond to low mv (or rather high delay v) obstacles ahead. If this sounds impractical, the design of highways and the illegality of a pedestrian entering one makes unavoidable incidents of car-hitting-pedestrian-on-highway low enough to be practical.
Ok, let's put it differently: In the story we are talking about
- A cyclist was aware of the pedestrian walking on the cycling lane
- A pedestrian was unaware of the fact that he was on the biking lane
- The cyclist managed to stop safely before the pedestrian
- The cyclist got angry for the pedestrian not caring about whether he was allowed to walk where he did
- The pedestrian felt so justified in walking on the cycling lane that he considered throwing the bike off the river
So what's your point? The cyclist shouldn't have gotten angry and should have just been fine and dandy with the pedestrian walking on the cycling lane?
The equivalent would be a pedestrian walking on the road, and then drivers should be just fine with that. They aren't and neither should they be.
If a driver shouldn't need to be happy with a pedestrian wandering around on the road completely unaware of his surroundings, why should a cyclist be ok with the same circumstances?
You can't have it both ways.
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I mean, honest mistake on your part, but still your mistake. Dude shouldn't have raged at you for an honest mistake, but you should rage at them even less, as they didn't even do anything wrong (except raging).
You'd be a somewhat justified if it happened in a pedestrian only zone or sidewalk, as it frequently does in my city but you were the one in the wrong area.
If the cyclist is anything like me, he was super mad because he almost killed the other guy.
That bitch just walkin' in the bike lane.
Bet there's some kind of psychological trick you can play on cyclists, distracting them with pictures of people walking in bicycle paths.
Everyone else in that scene could be raw-fucking mid-sized Gumby sex dolls and I'd still be like "Get out the damn bike lane!"
I think many cyclists refuse to acknowledge how much they carry over from car brains. Minor inconveniences should be common and expected. Some bikers react to someone jogging on a bike path as if their life were threatened. Save the anger for legitimately dangerous situations like sprinting into the lane without looking or excessive speed.
Or... just spitballing here, people could walk on the sidewalk. The one beside the bike lane. For walking.
Sure, inconvenience is a part of life, but common sense tells you not to shit in someone's sink.
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I'm not sure if you ever used a bike lane, or watch the countless videos of people riding on them, but it's very VERY rare to have unobstructed bike lanes. So... sure, one grandma who isn't paying attention, who cares, ok a truck that has to do deliveries and forcing you to go on the car lane, not going to kill you... then again, and again, and 2 cars parked there, another delivery... usually before you finish your trip you even wonder if there was a bike lane in the first place.
And each and every one of these obstructions forces you to waste energy into your breaks and you physically have to push to get the speed back up.
If you'd have to pedal cars, people would also drive very differently.
Great point. I mostly focused on the power that cars give to people, revving the engine isn't a random gesture, it's a show of power when most people usually have... pen, papers, keyboards... few have power tools but even then, it's not very powerful. A car or a truck though that's typically what the average human can exert the most raw power. Nothing psychological or economical. It's not like having a fancy house that cost a lot of money or showing of, no it's being in control of a powerful machine. I do assume it is rewiring the brain of drivers... but now that you mention it, it is also coupled with effortlessness. It's not like being strong when you go to the gym, here it's entirely decoupled from your strength. This must rewire drivers even more than I initially imagined. Thanks for the hindsight!
Totally on your side with your arguments, just wanted to add what annoys me most with these obstacles on bike lanes.
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Being against people walking on the highway has nothing to do with "car brain"
It's common sense
When I'm riding a bike fast and someone's in the path, I have to brake, and then get back up to speed after them. In a car that's just pressing a pedal, but on a bike it takes work. It makes me sweat and huff. Making me sweat and huff is mean.
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My hard line opinion is that roads are dead spaces. There is no opportunity for anything to grow or flourish; this includes things like community. More roads = more dead space.
If you want to activate a space, i.e. bring community back, reduce road space. And, of course, with reduced road space you need to counter balance with better infrastructure for other modes of transport to get people moving to and from.
Basic town planning! Looking at you... Local council...
Don't look up parking lot rules in america, dead space like it's going out of style just so crowds can shop on black Friday and Christmas.
Ohoho... I have seen those rules and having visited both California and Texas last year, I can safely say that I don't want any of that where I live. California was marginally better than Texas though but not by much.
It was insane to me that it was a 3hr public bus ride to NASA, and that included a 20 minute walk from where the bus drops you off.
...And those Stepford Wives-like suburban hellscapes with nothing but roads and freeways for miles.
Madness.
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Get off the bike path grandma
In my experience cycling in London, it wouldn't be a bike lane without some doofus walking on it 😅
The after picture looks so much more welcoming, clean, and active. Like the place is suddenly more alive.
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Oakland, California is redoing all the downtown roads. Going from four lanes to two lanes with physically separated bike lanes and tiny gardens. I welcome it.
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