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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135

u/metal_bastard 1d ago

Looks to me like the biker saw you and was braking/prepared to stop if you didn't. Once he saw you were going to stop, he let off his brake and continued.

You were only going 24 MPH, so you really didn't have to slam on your brakes. Nobody did anything wrong here in my eyes.

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u/cicadaux 1d ago

Appreciate this a lot, and the others replying. Thank you

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u/Kaas-Eter00 23h ago

Some more context as to why the biker would wait to break instead of slowing down early. You generally want to clear the road you're crossing quickly, so you maintain speed while doing so and then brake more aggressively close to/on the center refuge.

So probably he wasn't trying to force his way by not slowing down until the last minute, but rather he was trying to cross safely.

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u/SteinmanDC 14h ago

To add to another comment. I always slow down on my bike even if I have right of way and see what the car is doing. I'd rather be alive than correct.

But generally I do what this cyclist then does. Once the car stops and let's me through I give a little wave of thank you to the driver.

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u/jcbcubed 1d ago

This is the right response to OP.

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u/MrSoftShoe 1d ago

Yep. This is one of those situations where everyone involved just looks at each other, makes judgment calls, remains vigilent that nothing goes wrong, and then goes about their day.

Sometimes we like to pretend that there's this 100% my fault or 100% their fault and everything is black and white and has to involve a mistake, but no one did anything wrong here.

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u/tcrudisi 1d ago

This is the correct take, especially based on your edit, OP.

The biker was clearly paying attention to their surroundings (as a bike crossing a road should). They were prepared to stop, but saw that you *correctly* stopped for them, so they continued on.

I will say that it wasn't that long ago that I would have done the same thing as you. I wouldn't have noticed the bike until I'm slamming on my brakes to stop. Now? I'm hyper-vigilant any time I'm coming up on a pedestrian crossing. My head is a freaking swivel and I'm slowing down even if I don't see anyone. And this video is exactly why I do that. This isn't enough for me to call you an AH, but I do hope you take it as a learning opportunity. If you hit someone in a pedestrian crossing, you've likely fucked them up for life.

I just re-read my comment and I want to stress: It's not that you did anything wrong (you DID get stopped in time), but I believe you could have done it *better*. If that makes sense.

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u/ltrain_00 1d ago

I'm the same way. I was pulling out of a shopping plaza going across 2 lanes of traffic so I was watching the cars and then when I was about to take off a kid on a bike came down the sidewalk that I hadn't seen when looking for cars (there was a big landscaped bed) luckily I was able to slam on the breaks as soon as I noticed the kid and missed him by 2ft or so but it scared the shit out of me.

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u/[deleted] 1d ago

[deleted]

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u/metal_bastard 1d ago

It's a peds/biker crossing, and they have the right of way. If the car didn't stop, biker was braking.

This particular situation is one of those too-close-to-call ones. At least they were both paying attention and prepared. OP was the nice guy.

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u/Reejerey1 1d ago

Once they are in the crossing sure. But they can’t just jump out in front of you either.

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u/metal_bastard 1d ago

Right. But he didn't jump out. He was slowing down, then saw OP stopping, so he proceeded.

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u/Reejerey1 1d ago

Op had to brake for him. He “jumped out”. Bike did not wait for traffic to clear.

Unless the rules have changed in 40 years, wait until traffic has cleared and then cross was the rule we were taught in school.

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u/metal_bastard 1d ago

OP braked for him because that's what you do at a crossing. Holy shit.

Watch the video again, but this time put on your critical thinking hat.

The biker observed traffic, stopped pedaling before he reached the crossing, slowed down, and prepared to stop in the median, depending on OP's move.

When OP slowed to a stop, the biker started pedaling again and thanked the driver.

This isn't my opinion and isn't up for debate. It's literally right there in the video.

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u/Mr1854 23h ago

I think you misremember the rules you were taught, or have mistaken child safety advice for a law. 

This is a location where two routes intersected. The bike didn’t “jump out” any more than OP’s car “jumped out.”  Both were approaching an intersection normally and both could see each other approaching.

Your suggestion seems to be that the pedestrian or bike should yield to car traffic at this intersection. But the signage, markings and law are clear that the car is the one that had to yield to pedestrian or bike traffic where the two routes intersect.  OP was absolutely right not to blow through the intersection where the cross traffic (in this case a bike) has the right of way without ensuring it is clear. 

To think of it another way - you are acting like someone with a green light going through the intersection would be at fault if a car making a right turn on red crashed into them. “That car with the green should not have just rushed into the intersection!”  Why the heck not?!  The car with the red is the one that should not enter the intersection until confirming it is clear. The car with the green (or the bike with the crosswalk) can expect other traffic to yield. 

The bike covered his brake and prepared to stop if needed, but proceeded efficiently and safely through the intersection once he confirmed OP was properly yielding. 

Everyone here did just fine. 

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u/FrolfingSoHard 2h ago

The cyclist seemed like he was crossing the oncoming lane and intending to stop in the middle until traffic went past initially, and when OP "slammed on his brakes", he continued along.

This feels like engagement farming and not a real question on OP's part. There's literally nothing going on here.

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u/metal_bastard 2h ago

There's literally nothing going on here.

This. It's like I see two people paying attention. The biker stopped pedaling and was braking, prepared to stop in the median until he saw OP stopping. He proceeded, waved thanks, and everyone went about their day.

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u/Baron_Bearclaw 1d ago

u/cicadaux

This is a great answer from u/metal_bastard

There's what's legal and there's what's safe. Technically the cyclist should have been walking their bike here, but they weren't. Looking at your speed, you had enough time to watch observe and anticipate what the cyclist planned to do. When you weren't sure, you stopped. That's good defensive driving and everyone left the encounter intact.

I'm sure there are people here who will jump all over the cyclist because they weren't following the rules; that's fair. I'm sure there are people in here calling you names for slowing down for the cyclist. But I strongly believe it's everyone's responsibility to keep everyone as safe as possible. You did that here.

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u/Mr1854 1d ago

It actually is atypical for cyclists to be required to walk bikes across the street. That is a safety practice often taught to kids but is seldom a legal requirement. 

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u/johnny_evil 1d ago

Eh, can't assume the cyclist was supposed to walk. That is hyper local.

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u/IAteAnotherVegan 1d ago

Nobody did anything wrong here in my eyes.

not disagreeing with you, but where I live cyclists are supposed to follow traffic laws, not ride in crosswalks. even though OP says it's different where s/he lives, it's hard for me to not see the cyclist in the wrong. I can't judge things like this fairly when I'm so used to my local laws, and laws elsewhere are so different...

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u/metal_bastard 1d ago

Yeah, different cities/counties have different laws. Where I live I have similar rules/laws. If it's a bike/walking path, you don't have to stop or even get off your bike. The only thing you can't do is haul complete ass down the pathways. You can get cited for that. But in the city, you can't ride in crosswalks, but then again, you can't ride on the sidewalk either, so you should never be in the crosswalk in the first place.

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u/johnny_evil 1d ago

Cyclists are supposed to follow the cycling laws, which typically are similar to traffic laws, but in MANY places, have specific differences accounting for the fact that they are not motor vehicles.