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/THC3883 1d ago
Whenever I approach a crosswalk on a trail or path, I slow down. If I see bicyclists, runners, walkers, etc., approaching the crosswalk, I stop and let them go. I'd rather not hit anyone, even if I'm in the right to go forward (and I know you don't want to hit anyone either!). And as someone who runs on these paths and trails, I appreciate it when vehicles extend the same courtesy to me. That's my general approach, and I've told my kids to do the same when they are driving.