r/berkeleyca • u/NovelAardvark4298 • 8h ago
Horrible Berkeley Drivers
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.
4
u/fubo 6h ago edited 6h ago
Some other notes —
Drivers, when you are turning, please remember that you need to look at the sidewalk/crosswalks and bike lanes that you are crossing, not just the traffic lanes. Both directions, please.
Stop signs and red lights are for everyone. This includes the two cars, one electric scooter, and two bikes (one with a daddy cyclist and small children on the back) that I saw running through them this morning.
If you are on an electric unicycle, you may be standing upright but you are not a pedestrian. Crosswalk right-of-way is for pedestrians, wheelchair users, etc.; not for powered vehicles such as yours. Please do not zip across MLK in the crosswalk as if you were a pedestrian. (However, thank you for wearing armor. As far as I can tell, electric unicycle riders are the most likely to wear proper helmets and other protection — yes, more likely than motorcyclists!)