The problem with bikers isn't that they are annoying to motorists; it's that they often make pedestrians feel unsafe, and sometimes actually endanger them.

The problem with pedestrians isn't that they're annoying to motorists; it's that they often make cyclists feel unsafe, and sometimes actually endanger them.

FYP.

What, you mean when the cyclists are plowing through them on the sidewalk?

I've been on both sides of the issue... hit twice while riding a bike and almost hit a biker that seriously violated roadway rules (passing from behind me while I was moving into a turn, to turn directly in front of me). Here in Los Angeles I was taught to obey all the rules of the road on a bike, and to look boths way before crossing as a ped. It seems as if no ones does this anymore. I've had mothers walk straight into a crosswalk with a four-way stop with kids in tow, that didn't stop or look first.

Yet, I will be held accountable if I don't spot them in time to stop someday (as well as severely traumatized).

You must be here in Chicago, where many cyclists are as self-absorbed as the drivers. Geez, crazy me, thinking that, in most cities/towns in this country, pedestrians have the legal right-of-way.

I've nearly been hit many times by cyclists who don't even think to slow down for a red light or stop sign. To them, I'm an obstacle in their rush to get to wherever, irregardless of my having the legal right-of way. Even worse are the number of adults who still insist on riding on the sidewalks (also illegal, if you're out of grade school). While laden with groceries, including wine bottles, I barely missed being slammed onto the pavement by a 60-something guy, speeding down the sidewalk like it was the expressway.

I agree, I read all of Hitchens's article waiting to hear the argument from a pedestrian's point of view. Bicyclists' annoyance of motorists is one thing, but they're usually only endangering themselves when they mess with cars. Flying through stop signs and red lights (or, even worse, the wrong way down one-way streets or on sidewalks) actively endangers other people who are walking. And GordonsGirl is right--as long as a pedestrian has a "Walk" sign or a green light (or is merely standing in/at a crosswalk at a stop sign), he/she always has the right of way.

I'm sorry you have to make a living delivering parcels in your skinny jeans with one leg rolled up, but I happen to like my life. Slow down, and obey the law.

"I've had mothers walk straight into a crosswalk with a four-way stop with kids in tow, that didn't stop or look first." Is there something wrong with that? It's a crosswalk, legally, they own it. If you see a mom+kids walking towards a crosswalk, one might think that they intend to use it. So you prepare to stop, right?

I walk dogs during the day in NYC. Since my job is being responsible for a living thing, I always wait for the Walk Sign, take a long one count, and then cross the street. At least twice a day myself and one of the dogs in my charge are nearly clipped by a cyclist. Surprisingly, the offenders are almost never the infamous cycle messengers or food delivery bikers of NYC. Without fail they fall into two groups: 1.) the hipster/yuppie who uses their bike as daily transport, or 2.) the upper-class exercise junkie (who all seem to think they have to be dressed like one of Lance Armstrong's support team, another rant in and of itself). In almost all cases, they respond to my "HEY!!!" or "YOU HAVE A @#$%*#% RED LIGHT!!!" with a middle finger or worse.

I consistently see the same thing happening to women walking strollers, elderly people using walkers, little kids on scooters, etc. I bike on weekends, and as a environmentalist I'm totally in favor of reducing the amount of gas-powered vehicles on the streets of NYC. However, whether it's my fault or not, if one of my dogs gets hurt my company will immediately take that walk from me in an attempt to keep the client. That result is a best case scenario. Worse yet would be one of these cyclists scoring a direct hit on a dog, stroller, elderly person, etc.

You don't see these problems in the parks, at least not as often. And I concede that there will be no shortage of difficulties to sort out while we attempt to turn cities into bike-friendly places. However, if we are going to continue to make our cities bike-friendly, it's only fair that bikers be subjected to strict regulations like everyone else, especially in a city that has famously cracked down on jaywalkers, cellphone use in cars, and so on and so forth.

The Lances are the worst. I ride my bike to work; and almost every day, at very busy intersections, I stop for red lights only to be blown to the sidewalk by some dweeb with no body hair and the names of six different Italian mineral waters on his shirt. I can never decide what's more irritating: his conviction that the law doesn't apply to him, or his strange belief that he doesn't look stupid in that outfit.

But, then -- almost every day -- I have some idiot driver pass me on the left to make a right-hand turn; or I see a flock of pedestrians who think they're allowed to cross the street when the left-turn light comes on. So, yeah -- the world is full of idiots, who aren't detectable by their mode of transportation.

Of course there is no mention of pedestrians because everyone thinks a pedestrian is just another obstacle.

As background, I rode a bike 3 miles to classes for years and had the usual issues with car drivers. However due to medical problems I've been grounded from both car and bike driving and forced to become a "professional" pedestrian.

As far as most pedestrians are concerned, bikers can got to the same hell as car drivers. I'm looking forward to the day when they pass a law that makes it legal to clothesline a biker barreling towards you on a sidewalk at full speed, especially the ones boring down on you from behind. Screw 'em all.

Moonmoylan: Exactly my fear. I walk my dog in Brooklyn and nothing makes me angrier than bikers who speed through red lights and barely miss hitting my dog. It has made me hate cyclists with a passion. No car has ever come even close to hitting her.