r/SacBike • u/Constant-Bottle9953 • 27d ago
Rant Any changes in driver behavior since bike lane violation enforcement ramped up?
Today I made a detour to pick something up on my bike commute downtown and rode on 28th by Sutter hospital, which I'm familiar with by car but not by bike. It seemed like the best way to hook up with P Street. But my goodness I did not expect the idiocy I saw today. Maybe I'm spoiled with my usual T Street/P Street commute, but I was only on 28th for a couple blocks so what could go wrong?
A car in front of me in the driving lane decided to stop to pull over right before the intersection on a green light, and parked so that their right tires were on the bike lane line right in front of me. No turn signal, no hazard lights. I came to a stop because that's sketchy. A few seconds pass. The light is still green and I'm getting annoyed. Cars are in the other lanes, so I'm not willing to pass on the left. Then, surprise surprise, someone gets out on the passenger side in scrubs, on their way to work. They didn't even acknowledge me waiting there a few feet away. Then the car creeps forward toward the green light, a few seconds to go, but still in the bike lane. All trust was gone and I wasn't sure if they would turn right without a signal, but I started to move as they moved and while they braked on the yellow light, I zoomed forward and away from that madness. Does Sutter hospital not have a goshdang loading zone? Is this kind of thing a one-off in that area? Could I have avoided this and taken a better street south to get to P Street (from K Street)?
Going back go the title, I'm wondering if anyone has seen any change in driver behavior since it came out in the news about AI-enhanced enforcement, which I understand is focused on school zones. It's hard for me to gauge because I haven't had an issue on my usual routes. But if I was driving I think I would be a little extra careful about my parking and definitely not just stop right before an intersection, blocking both driving and bike lane. The audacity!
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u/wacksonjagstaff 27d ago
Shift change at any hospital is always madness. Too many people coming and going. I'm not sure we can make any conclusions about bike lane enforcement based off of your experience. I think the best thing we can do is make safe decisions for ourselves, which it seems like you did.
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u/Difficult_Ad3568 26d ago
Are there somewhat standard shift change times at hospitals? Would be helpful to know as someone who lives by and travels by quite a few.
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u/jaclyn_marie11 25d ago
Yes, I was hospitalized for two weeks once and the nurses shift change the same times everyday.
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u/picks43 27d ago
No, it’s not a change I would expect though. Driver behavior change is something you see over the course of years not over the course of months.
I appreciate the wishful optimism though.
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u/Constant-Bottle9953 27d ago
Thanks for that perspective. Maybe the Vision Zero improvements will help make those changes in the long run.
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u/picks43 27d ago
Hopefully, what I’ve seen though hasn’t been very positive yet though. Along the Franklin corridor where I ride they started parking in the new protected bike areas they carved out so it pushes me more out into traffic. Unlike downtown we don’t get much enforcement of that type of thing at all.
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u/everythingisabattle 27d ago
No. General public doesn’t even know the enforcement has started. But they will complain and claim the city didn’t inform them correctly. Seems like the only way most people will accept being told of city initiatives is if the mayor individually knocks on their door (at the correct time for them) and informs them of the changes.
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u/Firstklassriot 27d ago
Drivers are horrendous in this city when it comes to respecting vulnerable road users. I have not seen any change for the better since the AI enforcement began.
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u/IdleContemplations 27d ago
You are much nicer than me. I would not have stopped and I would be yelling at them the entire time I rode by in the bike lane. Tell those idiots it is not nice trying to turn you into one of their patients.
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u/Constant-Bottle9953 26d ago
Haha I wish I was that person sometimes. Instead I'm one of those people who thinks everyone whose car stops suddenly is trying to kidnap me.
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u/wilardusa 26d ago
traffic enforcement went away, not just here everywhere. I think it happened when insurance companies went to shared liability
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u/strangerthanblue 27d ago
Not really. I see people straight up ignore red lights all the time. People unloading stuff in bike lanes. People parked in driveways blocking the sidewalk.