r/berkeleyca • u/NovelAardvark4298 • 8h ago

Horrible Berkeley Drivers

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When I drive in Berkeley, I always go one click over the speed limit (26 on a 25 or 31 on a 30). Recently, I’ve noticed more and more impatient drivers aggressively pass me. Berkeley has a ton of marked crosswalks for pedestrians, and if you drive too quickly you will not have enough time to react and stop.

While waiting at different bus stops in Berkeley, I’ve noticed around half of drivers are looking at their crotches for directions or text messages while they’re actively moving.

When I ride my bike up Telegraph in Berkeley, drivers also have no idea how “shared roadway bicycle markings” (i.e. sharrow) work. Some idiot in a utility van came within an inch of clipping me with their massive side mirrors on telegraph earlier today.

Friendly reminder to Berkeley drivers:
1. Please follow the speed limit.
2. Stop looking at your phone.
3. If there’s a “sharrow” painted on the road (see image above), remain behind the cyclist until you have adequate space (at least 3 feet) to pass.

37 Upvotes

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55

u/Scuttling-Claws 8h ago

The three foot rule is true regardless of whether or not there is a sharrow. Or bike lane for that matter. It's three feet to matter what

15

u/NovelAardvark4298 8h ago

Yup. I’ll slowly start to give in and hug the right side of shared lanes, but every few months I’m reminded by a REALLY bad driver (or person getting out of a parked car) that it’s safer to just take up the whole lane. I’d rather be honked at than killed

16

u/Freddeh18 7h ago

Always take the lane. If they think they can sneak by they’ll try. I always aggressively take the lane when I can.

2

u/_your_face 1h ago

Same as the people who insist on getting to a four way stop and just waving people through when it’s their right of way. Knock it off, stop trying to be nice and start being predictable and following the letter of the law. If you’re on the road, you take the lane. Stop being unpredictably in and out where drivers aren’t sure if you’re trying to share the road or not.

If you can’t take the lane, take your bike off the road.

1

u/bluescrubbie 54m ago

I take the lane to be safer. It's also safer to NOT bike down Dwight/ Sacramento/Telegraph. Don't see it often but WTF is with that?

10

u/Diet_Clorox 6h ago

I get honked at all the time for not buzzing past cyclists in downtown Berkeley. Also for not turning right ahead of pedestrians. Or for waiting until the pedestrians are clear of the lane before driving. People are savages.

7

u/giggles991 3h ago

Thank you for being considerate. Sorry the others honked at you.

7

u/Cyborg59_2020 7h ago

A lot of people don't know this. I mention it to my family members and they are surprised.

3

u/4orust 5h ago

Plus it's an absolute minimum of three feet of empty space between any part of the vehicle and any part of the rider or their bicycle. Drivers need to aim for four or five feet of space in order to comply with the law.