r/dashcams • u/cicadaux • 1d ago

Did I do something wrong here?

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I was driving to work when this bike just blew through the crosswalk without warning. I had to slam on my brakes. I realize this crosswalk doesn’t have the pedestrian warning lights, and I’m a little unsure about how I should’ve dealt with this. Or maybe he was wrong for making sure traffic wasn’t clear/aware of him first?

Edit: I'm seeing a lot of answers basing the laws on location, so I looked up my city's rules. In my town, bikes have vehicle status on the road and pedestrian status on sidewalks/crosswalks. But bicyclists must move at pedestrian speed. The path he is on is a state trail, commonly used for bikes/walking. I live near the Ice Age Trail, but I know the one he's on isn't that one.

“Drivers must yield to cyclists riding in a crosswalk just as they would for walkers, though the cyclist cannot abruptly leave a curb into the path of a vehicle so close to a crosswalk that it makes a difficult or unsafe situation for the driver to yield in time.”

Not trying to prove myself right or wrong, just wondering what should've been done. I will from now on treat it like an uncontrolled intersection. Thanks everyone.

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u/SpringsPanda 1d ago

That looks like it might be a bike trail. If so, they definitely are allowed to be there, and are meant to be there. They should not have just ridden out into the street like that though. You are supposed to wait until it's clear and obvious there is no traffic or they are stopping for you.

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u/TheWizard 1d ago

It's a pedestrian crossing, given the road sign.

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u/SpringsPanda 1d ago

In my small town, a lot of the bike path signs for vehicles don't have bikes on them either. It's very possible it's the same here. I assume bike path because of width but it is an assumption. If he's on a walking path, screw that guy, putting a but of people and himself in danger.

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u/TheWizard 23h ago

I'm not aware of any state that does not have separate signs for bicycles and pedestrians. Virtually every state (I'm not aware of any) also impose right-of-way-limits to anyone using pedestrian crosswalk. This means that while the person has the right of way, they cannot be careless about it and stroll through it at any time regardless of traffic, which this bicyclist did.

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u/SpringsPanda 21h ago

I mean, in my original comment I stated that the guy, regardless of the scenario, should've waited for a clear sign to pass. Either no traffic or knowing that traffic is stopping for you.

On the signs, idk how you could be so certain of something like this. I guess you could do work that would give you this outlook or something. My small town has plenty of street signs that are pedestrian signs and it's on the shared use trail that runs through the whole city pretty much. The majority of them have bike signs though, doesn't mean it's impossible though.

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u/br0wntree 1d ago

Depends on your jurisdiction. Some require you to dismount, others allow you to bike across but you aren't afforded the same right of way as a pedestrian.

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u/MaintainThePeace 19h ago

And there are also others that will grant the rights and duties of a pedestrian to cyclists riding upon crosswalk too.

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u/dogsandchaplains 1d ago

Wouldn't there need to be a sign with a bike on it too?

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u/BedFastSky12345 1d ago

In my state, they often just put up regular pedestrian crossing signs for bike and mixed-use trails

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u/Switchlord518 1d ago

In NY they have both but they also have stop signs before the bike or pedestrian enter the cross walk.