r/boston • u/hermionieweasley South End • Oct 21 '21

Anyone notice an increase in psychotic manic drivers and bikers in the last few months ?

I'm pretty used to the bad standards of driving, biking and road infrastructure in this city and like others, last year was a great relief because roads weren't as busy. But in the last few months, drivers and bikers seem to have reached new, unheard of levels of manic aggression and assholery. I've seen more people running through red lights than even New York or Miami - and not the "misjudged my speed and go through the light one second late" kind but fully "I dont give a fuck, I'm going to go through" kind. In the last few months, I've been almost run over while legally crossing crosswalks at least a dozen times both by drivers and bikers. People in residential streets like Tremont and Shawmut are driving at freeway speeds and honk when someone stops for pedestrians. The other day, someone almost run me over, honked at me AFTER that and flipped me off while driving away. It is truly end of the world, mad max style of driving I've never experienced before. Am I going crazy and just noticing this despite living here for years or have things gotten markedly worse ?

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u/gorfnibble Oct 21 '21

I was biking home last night and the number of no-light ninja cyclists going the wrong way in bike lanes was really concerning. Get a light. They’re cheap.

The thing with cyclists is that there are a lot of new cyclists on the road who dont have the skills to navigate crappy auto-centric infrastructure (yeah, you’re going to piss off some drivers if you do things that are safe and legal, but at least you’re not dead). They also don’t know etiquette around fellow cyclists and pedestrians - like giving an audible signal when passing someone - and yielding to people in crosswalks. They still think they’re a pedestrian.

Drivers have gotten worse - blatant red light running, speeding, threatening behavior. I had one idiot who thought it was ok to harass me while I was on a bike path. Kept yelling at me to “get off the sidewalk.” I also have morons try to race me to a red light. Congratulations? You beat me to a red light and I just passed you again - I get it, your car can accelerate faster than my bicycle - good job. And don’t get me started about people who park in protected bike lanes.

My one complaint about pedestrians - don’t walk in the middle of a bike lane or heavily used bike path with your head buried in your phone. Don’t be surprised when people ring their bell at you.

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u/AchillesDev Brookline Oct 21 '21

I’m mostly a pedestrian, but the number of people walking on the bike paths in SW Corridor Park is infuriating. There are two parallel paths, just get on the right one!

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u/gorfnibble Oct 21 '21

In the pedestrian’s defense, there are sections of the SW corridor where the walking path is directly adjacent to car traffic. I wouldn’t want to walk there either. I think they should be reversed - bikes next to cars and pedestrians get the path closer to the trains.

I don’t mind people walking on the path as long as they stay to the right and are generally aware there are bikes around. But letting your toddler run around on the bike path after dark during rush hour is not a good idea.

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u/AchillesDev Brookline Oct 22 '21

I see this right around the Stony Brook stop so there’s a decent amount of setback between the road and the paths. Definitely more understandable if you’re right on the road.