Bicycle Austin forum / Scandalous alleged car+ped collision, 11/2017

Re: Scandalous alleged car+ped collision, 11/2017

dummy@example.com (MichaelBluejay) — Sun, 27 Jan 2019 04:27:28 +0000

Here's another incident in my neighborhood, that I just posted to Nextdoor.com:

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Many of us worry about outsiders coming to our neighborhoods and causing problems, but what about when it's our neighbors?

Tonight I heard tires screeching and then shouting. I walked over and heard enough of the conversation to know that a couple was furious because the neighbor had been driving recklessly, with the neighbor denying that it was reckless, which infuriated the couple even more.

When the couple finally left the neighbor called over to me (since I was in earshot) apologizing for the couple making so much noise. I told him I'd heard the tires screeching from a block away. He countered that he only screeched his tires because the couple was already yelling at him. I asked why they were yelling at him and he said it's because he rounded the corner quickly and the couple, who were walking, were startled. I told him I was seeing a pattern. He told me he wasn't gonna take a lecture on safe driving b/c he drives 4000 miles a year for his job. He insisted he was in full control of his vehicle as he rounded the first corner and when he screeched around the second corner. I said that screeching around the neighborhood is irresponsible, and the proper thing to do when confronted with bad behavior is to admit it, to which he repeated that he's not gonna take a lecture on safe driving, to which I said, "THAT'S the problem."

The driving style and attitude exhibited by drivers like our neighbor is precisely why my family stopped bicycling, even though I was car-free for 27 years. It doesn't matter how many miles of bike lanes we stripe in; until we change drivers' hearts and minds, the roads will never be safe.

I'm not going to identify the neighbor except that he lives on Oaklawn and doesn't appear to be on Nextdoor. (Big surprise.)

Scandalous alleged car+ped collision, 11/2017

dummy@example.com (MichaelBluejay) — Thu, 27 Dec 2018 09:51:27 +0000

This was posted last year on Nextdoor.com. The link no longer works for me, and even when it did, one would have to be in a neighboring neighborhood to see it. The poster was Sharon McKendrick from the Downtown West neighborhood. I sent this to the Chronicle as a possible news story but I don't think they ever did anything with it.

Sharon McKendrick wrote:

I was in the middle of crossing an intersection of a parkway when a driver came screeching out of a neighborhood and turned onto the road I was crossing. He was going so fast he couldn't possibly stop at the stop sign to check both ways for traffic or pedestrians. Since I was in his way, he decided to toss me up in the air with the front of his truck. His back tires would have rolled over my head had I not rolled over in time. When he was finished with that, he got out of his truck, grabbed my arms, and proceeded to shake me. It was only after a witness stopped and told him to let go of me that he let me fall to the ground. Luckily, the police let him (and his 4 children who were in the truck with him) on his merry way without so much as a breathalyzer test. They did not press charges because "there was no witness" (the witness was there when the police arrived and called repeatedly, but the police would not return his call). Thankfully, I was presented with head to toe injuries (some of which I will deal with for the rest of my life). Since the driver had nothing to his name, I get to pay literally and figuratively for everything. I'm so grateful I could remove that burden from him. I'm also relieved to know that 4 young children have a father who cares enough about their safety to drive in such a fashion. Laws and human decency should not be enforced. That way, these poor stereotyped people who cannot afford bail for doing something they shouldn't be doing in the first place can continue doing it over and over again.