I have my own social media addictions... but this just blows my mind.
It shouldn't. I see people texting on a regular basis...
I often think that if the cellphone companies were serious about preventing texting and driving they would simply turn those functions off when the phone is moving more than walking speed.
That is of course an extreme solution since passengers wouldn't be able to text while the car was moving...but I get frustrated.
I frequently get stuck BEHIND someone texting. Usually they are in a big rush and pass me like someone needs to get to the ER, then at the next light they will start tapping away on their phone, and 10 seconds after it turns green, roll out at 10 mph or whatever for the next 4 blocks. Thanks jerk.
More frustrating is the idea that "blinded by the sun" is an excuse to keep one's foot on the accelerator. And if two people were blinded by the sun at 7:30AM, wouldn't they then not be blinded at 7:54? Doesn't the sun move?
i had a guy who was texting in a huge f350 size pickup truck almost pull out on me on smallman st the other day.
I yelled "HHHEEEEEEYYYYY" to get his attention, then he started honking at me. what an ass
While we are talking distracted driving war stories I was at an intersection and noticed a dude staring at his lap, as I rolled by him I waved at him frantically to see if he noticed me. He didn't. I think he was opening letters.
I occasionally see people reading either the newspaper or books. I love to read, and I know finding time is hard... but REALLY? The 10 minutes you're stuck between Forbes and Braddock is the only time you can find to read?
@ "I think he was opening letters." = Luddite texting
is a citywide ban on hand-held phone use while driving the type of thing BikePGH could push for? seems like an unaddressed public safety issue at large.
a report i just read on NYC's law said, "Starting today, February 16, 2011, drivers will receive two points on their license for getting caught on their cell phone without using a hands-free device. These points will be in addition to the $150 fine that comes with the ticket. Texting while driving already carries a two point penalty."
i remember being first at the intersection of forbes/morewood and the lady beside me was reading a magazine. light turns green, she starts rolling - still reading. wtf? i was tempted to give her passenger window a solid whack.
if you are doing anything like that you deserve to lose your license, period. there's absolutely no excuse for it.
I know I mentioned MythBusters recently in another thread but they did investigate cell phone use while driving compared to drinking and driving. The results were not surprising to me.
This article takes their too-small sample and files in details from other studies.
So there is clearly reason to be concerned.
I love to just stop working for 10 minutes here in the shop and stare out our huge windows. I can never do it for more than 10 minutes because of how infuriated I get with the number of people that make an illegal turn, go down a one way street, etc, most on cellphones.
What never, ever, EVER makes sense to me, is that each and every item that someone does with these distracted driving cases are the EXACT type of things that I love doing while on a bus. Reading! Watching TV! Checking email! Maybe conversing with a real life human being!
People love to have all this time to update their digital world yet scold the method that makes it easiest.
@spinballer
There's probably already a statute about distracted driving. I don't think laws are very effective if people don't feel compelled to follow them (See: Pretty much all driving laws)
On the subject of annoying drivers:
Guy is following me down Greenfield Ave towards Giant Eagle 11pm, I turn before GE
We both end up at GE and he says "I was behind you and I couldn't see your turn signals. I was kind of annoyed because at first I thought he said he couldn't see me and I have a UltraPoint + Radbot 1000 on the back and a Minewt in the front. (I also took the center lane and then rode down the center line before turning)
He then said that my gloves were dark and that I should get lighter ones. (And these were rust orange colored gloves, not black like 99% of bicycle gloves)
I think he could tell I was annoyed and so he threw out the obligatory "I've been riding a bike for 14 years..." My response was "I would recommend using caution whenever a bike is in front of or behind you" You know, as opposed to expecting every cyclists to have reflective gloves.
My bike was locked at this point, so I walked off, but then I realized that my hands make no difference. He should have been looking at my arms, which were blue with yellow piping. So if he couldn't see those and couldn't distinguish between my arm straight up or straight out, I'm not sure what else I could do
But I guess in his "14 years" of experience, he probably rode at night and wore light gloves all the time
/end rant
Could your tail lights be so bright that they were making it hard to see your arms?
It seems like this could be a problem, at least in theory, with some of these super-bright bike tail lights vs whatever car headlights or street lighting manages to bounce off the cyclist's arms and hands.
Might be worth checking this out on a group ride, say, if you haven't already.
The law requires a taillight and headlight on a bike at night, and requires you to signal turns, but I don't remember anything about turn signals, so the guys point is, ...what?
Thanks, Safetyman!
Pierce - my first thought was "he's been riding for 14 years - he must be exhausted! how on earth does he fit that bicycle and trainer into the driver's seat of an SUV?"
as a child I was generally considered obtuse. as an adult I've learned to hide my knee-jerk literal inferrences with a sarcastic tone, though no sarcasm is intended. I don't get smacked nearly as much as I would if I were a guy, I think.
ejwme, you're like Amelia Bedelia
People drive like idiots on Greenfield Ave. If I drive down it to go to the Waterfront, I make sure to drive no more than 25 mph (the posted limit) and full stop at all the signs. I always have people tailgating the shit out of me. Every single time. They won't even bother to stop at stop signs most of the time, since they are too anxious to continue tailgating me.
[On my bike] I've had Pittsburgh drivers yell at me, after they hit/nearly hit me that I should use my turn signals, usually when I am traveling straight. Hatchet chop? Bonus points for a using an actual hatchet. I am not at all an erratic rider. I don't weave whatsoever and maintain a straight line at all times. It shouldn't be all that tough to predict where I will go.. If I ever turn, l always signal.
Maybe these motorists should take their own advice. Not sure half the people living in Pittsburgh know their car is even equipped with turn signals.
Next time a driver tells me "I've been riding a bike for X years,so blah blah blah" I'm going to counter with "I've been driving a car for 14 years, and I've never once acted like such an idiot around a vulnerable road user!"
I use the line "Do you always drive this way, or are you just learning?" a fair amount when someone wants to lecture me.
Maybe these motorists should take their own advice. Not sure half the people living in Pittsburgh know their car is even equipped with turn signals.
nah, pittsburghers almost always signal. it's just that they wait until they're actually turning the car to do it.
I'm with Steven, I think he was trying to help.
Earlier today My girlfriend and I where riding the southside trail coming out of the waterfront park behind 2 cars. As the cars and us started to go up the road the front car stopped and waved the second car past. The second car passed and the driver kept waving us past. So we swing around and as we come up to just about the front end of the car the driver starts to gas it. They had the window open so my gf says "hey are you gonna let us pass first or what". The respond by giving us the finger and speeding away. In the end they only got a 100 feet away because the train came by just them making then have to wait. WE pulled up next to them at the train crossing where they where sitting. I was gonna ask them what the hell is wrong with them but by this time they shut all the windows and pretended I wasn't sitting there looking at them.
+1 Steven and Lyle - we're pretty quick to assume the worst in people. I'm on-board with the positive thinking. Out with the jive, in with the love.
Well the guy didn't say anything about the lights
I'm just wondering how much crap I need before I'm acceptable to some car drivers?
If people slowed down and actually paid attention I wouldn't need all these bells and whistles to compensate for their lack of attentive driving
is a citywide ban on hand-held phone use while driving the type of thing BikePGH could push for? seems like an unaddressed public safety issue at large.
we've actually brought this up with 2 councilmen, who were going to pursue it while we offered to help do the community support part of it. doing their research, what they told us is that this would fall under PA's motor vehicle code. only cities of the first class in PA (that's only philly) can pass something like this that would infringe on the powers of what the state would normally take care of.
The state of PA has no distracted driving law (except for junior drivers, and that's pretty weak). one of the big reasons we wanted to start the org PA Walks and Bikes was to effect change on the state level, something which wasn't being tackled here in PA. in the most recent legislative session, pa rep shapiro introduced a bill that you can support. this has also been a cause of ferlo, but all previous bills have been shot down.
here's a link about the current distracted driving bill: http://www.pawalksandbikes.org/2011/02/pa-rep-shapiro-introduces-comprehensive-distracted-driving-bill/
right on.
sometimes i write postcards while driving. then i throw them out the window at the mailman.
@pierce "I was behind you and I couldn't see your turn signals.
This thread has made me more aware that with a dark coat and dark gloves, my turn signals might not be as visible as I would like.
I think I need to get a coat with reflective strips on the sleeves.
@Mick I got some of those ankle and wrist straps they market for joggers. I think it cost me <$10 total. Only problem is that I have to 1) remember them, 2) find them and 3) put them on each morning. 
Sometimes I put ankle straps on my wrists. But only when I know I'm going to do some seriously trafficy ride in the dark.
A buddy of mine has a couple LL Bean coats that have reflective striping. He doesn't ride.
When the light catches the strips they are surprisingly bright. They overwhelm flash pictures. I'll have to look at them in terms of how the strips would be oriented for a traffic signal.
Gloves with reflective strips would also work well, I'd guess.
I was in San Diego over the weekend and rented a bike while I was there. Long story short, I got run out of a bike lane, almost got right-hooked on several occasions, and had a lady in an SUV brush my arm with her mirror at a light.
I had less trouble out towards the coast, but closer to downtown and Old Town was surprisingly bike-unfriendly. Other than the weather and scenery (and Mexican food!) out there, I'd much rather ride in Pittsburgh.
nick - I don't know why, but for some reason your post card comment has me almost in tears I'm laughing so hard.
I think I'll put reflective tape on my gloves and sleeves... I mean more than is already there. My winter biking gloves have reflective bits on them, but not my lightweight gloves.
Kayla - having driven in downtown SD many, many, many times, I'm not surprised. They're not nice to other cars either. Coronado island, on the other hand, is fantastic. But that's because the cops and the navy work together to keep the sailors in line.
