I stopped and waited, along with a couple of other vehicles. HOWEVER, as I waited, an alternate course of action occurred to me. Simply hop off the bike, walk it past the bus as a pedestrian, remount, and safely ride off. While it might give waiting motorists a case of "bike envy," is there actually anything WRONG with this? Would it matter if I sauntered down the street or would etiquette dictate a quick detour to the sidewalk and then back onto the street once safely past the bus? Should I wave to the bus driver as I walk by or blow her a kiss? Heck, cyclocross season is coming up so I'd even shoulder the bike and carry it past the bus.
This is not a situation I expect to encounter daily, and would only matter if it looked like the wait would make turning pedestrian worthwhile, but there seems little reason to delay a couple of minutes for school kids to get to the bus if there's no safety or legal reason to do so.
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8 comments:
Go for it and walk. The spirit of those warnings is that no kids get struck by anything doing any speed. If you ain't rolling, you're good, as is inspiring bike envy in others.
I agree with you both: dismount and walk. And whether you detour to the sidewalk or saunter down the street, you're still a pedestrian, right?
I'd be curious to learn if "bike envy" results in any expressions of resentment by the motorists.
The decision to wave or blow a kiss to the bus driver would have to be decided on a case-by-case basis, I think.
Bicycle envy FTW!
Yes.
You can legally become a pedestrian, pass the bus and then resume riding.
Years ago, there was a disabled child pick-up on my route. It was a very long stop. A cyclist doing the ped walk-by would never be seen again by the motorists waiting.
Walk on by.
If you walked your bike in the roadway above, you broke the law.
By surrendering your status as a legal vehicle for that of a pedestrian, you were required to use the sidewalk that pedestrians are required to use.
Had there been no sidewalk, you would have been legally required to walk on the left side of the roadway, facing traffic.
You could have legally pulled up on the sidewalk to ride through.
You asked.
Thanks. It's a good point & makes sense, though there is no legal traffic when those lights are flashing and people getting on the bus use the stop location as a temporary crosswalk.
Nothing wrong with that at all, you are free to switch between the two roles as long as you act within the bounds of each. Nothing wrong with promoting a bit of healthy bike envy either!
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No Need for Non-Robot proof here!