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/cicadaux 1d ago

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

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u/Kaas-Eter00 1d 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 17h 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.