Half Awake Drivers ....

[darthandy]

Rode my mountain bike this morning for the first time in a few years. I need to get my aerobic activity level up! As I came home along the paved trail that runs by our canal, I came to a cross walk that is controlled by a traffic light. This is a fairly busy area with a senior's activity center right there and the canal trail next to it. The street is a four lane and there was a police car parked in the far lane (Traffic control for the rose festival parade later today). I pressed the button for the cross walk and watched for traffic as I waited for the light to change. I noted traffic coming from the left, including a pick up truck moving at a pretty good speed. When the light changed to red there was a few seconds delay before the walk sign came on and I decided to double check traffic before crossing. Sure enough, the pick up truck was still coming full tilt so I decided to thrust the wheel of my bike just off the curb (He was in the next lane over) and the guy literally shook his head (As if just waking up!) and nailed his brakes hard enough to lock his rear wheels. He slid well past the line where he should have stopped! I shudder to think what would have happened if it had been a 10 year old just taking off as soon as the light changed. I crossed once he (and the other traffic) had stopped while giving him a good hard stare! He never apologized (His window was down) and to add insult to injury, the cop looked up for a second (To make sure I wasn't lying on he ground covered in blood, I guess) and then went back to whatever he was doing. If ever a situation justified a quick walk to the truck to talk to the inattentive driver, this was it! And he did nothing ... didn't even look over at the truck driver. Wonder how he feels about motorcyclists since he doesn't seem too concerned with the safety of bicyclists. In my mind the cop was as big a jerk, in his own way, as the nit in the pickup! Our police force around here hasn't exactly been covering itself in glory these days (Smuggling charges, fights, DUI's) and actions like these don't give me (Or anyone else) much reason to respect these characters. Oh well ... so much for the rant! I try to stay attentive whenever I'm on the road, regardless of the number of wheels (And motors under me) 'cause it's obvious the cagers around here are still half blind! We had a woman turn left in front of a motorcycle this past week - she didn't see him! Yeah right! Let's keep our eyes open folks - the cagers, as usual, are still asleep at the wheel!

 

Andy

Edited June 23, 2013 by darthandy
...can't spell!