I live in NYC and do most of my training in Prospect Park and Central park, where there are loops with the inside lanes designated for bikers and runners. Everyone’s supposed to go the same direction as the cars, counter-clockwise, but there are always a few who go the reverse direction of traffic. To my way of thinking, this is fine as long as you give way to the mainstream. But it seems recently almost every time I’m out there’s someone going the wrong way who doesn’t get out of the way when it becomes apparent we’re in the same line – I find this extremely annoying b/c if I’m going with the traffic, to move off my path to avoid that person means I have to look behind me to make sure no one is careening towards me. Whereas it’s easier for them to weave b/c everything that’s coming toward them is in front of them. Do others agree with me that the wrong-direction people need to give way, or am I missing some unspoken rule of road etiquette?
It drives me crazy when cyclists ride on the wrong side of the road. I’ve noticed that a lot of the offenders aren’t even wearing helmets, and one was even talking on a cell phone! Granted, I’ll occasionaly ride on the wrong side (on the sidewalk) for a block or two at most if I can’t make a left turn due to the traffic. But I never put someone else in danger by making them veer further into the road.
I almost hit/killed a cyclist about a month ago when he was riding on the wrong side of the road. I was making a right turn onto a very busy street. There was a parked semi-truck to my right on the road I was attempting to make a turn on. This truck limited my visibility. One it was clear to go, I started to pull out and this cyclist pops out from behind the semi flying down the wrong side of the road. He had to swerve, and I am glad that I had turned my head in his direction at the last second or he would have been screwed. I can’t imagine what that guy could have been thinking. He makes us all look bad.
When I was in the police academy, they told us of a study done on this topic. People walking and running, it wasn’t done on cyclist, were more likely to get hit by cars.
It seems to be human nature to lock on to someone’s face for a second or two, and people drive where they look, rigth into the person.
There’s a guy spending almost 3 years in prison because he rode the wrong way down a one-way street.
http://www.velonews.com/news/fea/8843.0.html
My husband said a passing motorist slowed and yelled at him today for riding on the wrong side of the road - she yelled that he was supposed to ride facing traffic. While doing this she was veering all over the road, including toward him. Needless to say he was not too pleased and didn’t take her advice well.