Queue Jumpers
Is it just me, or has the number of queue jumpers increased a lot this summer?
If you are super fast and you don’t impede the riders that you’ve just past, fine, I have no problems with you queue jumping. (The guys in the photo above and below were really fast)
But this guy below? He was super slow, riding a squeaky chained rust machine. At every single light he would slowly creak up to the front of the queue, even when one time I stopped right in the middle of the bike lane to try to stop him from passing me. And then when the light turns green, we would all have to bike into traffic and ride around him.
It’s kind of crazy to think that people like him are so oblivious to the things around him and his level of self-awareness is so low. Or maybe it’s just plain selfishness.
I’m one of those fast ones (can’t help it, even when I need to be not-sweaty for a meeting or something) and almost always jump, but it definitely doesn’t impede anyone. In fact, more often than not, depending on the street, I’m in the lane of traffic instead of the bike lane (my speed matches the cars closer than the bikes).
When I am in the bike lane, though, it’s constant – some dude on a squeaky piece of crap (not trying o discriminate based on the bike, but I’m sure you know why I would mention the state of it) rolls up and sits right in front of me, his front wheel just a bit (or a lot) into the intersection. I have to play the most unnecessary game of leapfrog ever, skimming past him when the light turns.
This will happen even when I’m headed out for a recreational ride and am head-to-toe in Lycra with clipless road cleats. I’m going to go ahead and call it a complete lack of awareness for their surroundings.
I KNOW!! Why is it always the squeaky-bike guys that insist on queue jumping. It’s the most annoying thing.
They have a lack of awareness of their surroundings until they see a girl they find hot strolling on the sidewalk. Then they are more than aware of what’s going on around them
I agree on the persistent slow queue jumpers but most of the time it’s safer/more efficient to double up. More cyclists get through out in to the intersection faster and free up space for right turning vehicles.
In fact this is the reason that the new “bike box” intersections were put in in the first place (as in your second shot on Harbord).
I find it more annoying when cyclist just line up and don’t fill the box.
I actually had no idea that the bike boxes were to help the fast cyclists pass the slower ones! But someone on Facebook posted a link to how we should be using them.
I thought they were more to create a safe way for cyclists to make a left turn.
i always jump the queue at every single light i’m at. college and spadina, college and st george are the worst for its-my-first-ride types and i just dont have the time to wait for everyone in that line to ride towards the sidewalk, then ride back into the lane.
that being said i ride really fast. i don’t understand how these queuers get anywhere riding _that_ slow.
ahaha, depending on my mood and how late i am to a destination plays a big factor for my speed on my bike.
i don’t mind fast queue jumpers, though!
I’m one of the speedy ones, but I try to avoid queue-jumping. I pass when everyone is on their way instead. Which probably amounts to the same thing. I *will* queue-jump at bike boxes, because most people, as shown in your photo for example, don’t use them properly and somebody has to try and stem the car-creep.
I hate hate hate leap-frogging queue-jumpers. I get shoaled a lot because I’m a girl on a girlie bike wearing girl clothes and therefore can’t possibly accelerate or cycle at a reasonable speed. I try to shake it off, but they are so irritating. One guy actually turned around, at the third or fourth light he’d jumped in front of me at, and said “You’re pretty speedy on that thing!” Apparently, he was too dense to take the hint.
You ARE one of the speedy ones! I tend to see you when I’m at a red light, whizzing by on a perpendicular street. I saw you 2 days ago riding down Dovercourt
THANK YOU for writing this. Everyone please retweet/share as much as possible.
I’m one of the fast ones, I try not to queue jump but often end up passing in traffic which isn’t the safest. The slow-ass queue jumpers bring out the worst in everyone – make others feel its safe to do the same, and make ME get off my mark (when I’m at the front of the line) sooner so I can get clear of these wankers.
I usually ride down Harbord heading west in the morning, opposite of the heavier flow of bike traffic. I’ve noticed a lot of very good biking behaviour – call that the “compliance in numbers” effect. The douche riders are sticking out more lately.
Sadly though, I’m preaching to the converted right? A slow queue jumper riding a rust-bucket bike doesn’t read bike blogs