"The difference between classy and trashy is timing and planning." - David Crowe

Thursday, November 09, 2006

I almost killed a bicyclist.

No I'm not kidding I really did.

Tonight at about 9:30 I was on the way home from class. I decided to take Vandeventer to I-44. I stopped at a red light (because, ya know, that is what you are supposed to do) and patiently waited. Once the light turned green the car next to me and I started to accelerate slowly. We were about one-third of the way into the intersection when two bicyclists fly across our paths (running the red light). We both slammed on the brakes and luckily didn't slam into the pair of two-wheeled morons. I was even the luckiest as the other car delayed my seeing the bikes until they were literally in front of me. I stopped about three inches shy of hitting one of them dead on and I am not exaggerating.

While I was relieved to not have hit the idiots I was shaken and over time became very incensed about the incident. For years I have been hearing bicyclist complain about how dangerous the roads are for them because of the aggressive automobile drivers. Yet these two had been the ones to run a red light at full speed. Obviously they assumed that traffic laws don't apply to them.

And they wonder why they don't get any respect. I don't think bicyclists will get much from me for a while.