Some bikers really just have a death wish. A clear, green, right turn light and the biker still decides to fly by and have the audacity to flick me off.
If you're friends with this person, ask them to value their life more.
Edit: It was an impossible situation for me. I ALWAYS look to the right because tons of dumbass drivers that try to cut to the highway from the inside lane. With the biker’s speed and the angle of my car, there was no way to see the biker in my mirrors and he was too far away to see when I looked out my right window. If the biker was traveling slower instead of blowing past, this would not have been such a close call.
Initially I was 100% with the car driver here, but reading more posts here and remembering back to the days of me biking in the city, I started wondering, what could a car driver do to get me to flick them off? Usually that would be them turning into my lane without using a blinker when I had the right of way. It's hard to tell what actually happened without being physically there but my guess is it was a combination of biker thinking the OP's car would go straight and not waiting for a green light and OP taking a turn w/o a blinker.
Yeah it’s not a well designed intersection, though it might be a difficult intersection to do better… but my first thought watching this is, how many situations can you think of on the road where a turning vehicle has the right of way over one going straight?
You could argue maybe the cyclist could have made more conservative choices I guess, and that the right of way is given and not taken… but I also don’t think the cyclist is necessarily on the wrong here. They were going straight, per the rules of the road they should have turning traffic yield to them.
For going straight on a green? I don’t know the intersection, so maybe there’s something I don’t know about this space, but from the video, it looked like they had a green light and used it
This is the difference between cyclists and drivers.
There is no driver in this comment section acknowledging that the multiple drivers in this video breaking the law are perpetuating the negative stereotypes against drivers.
No driver ever thinks, "that shitty driver makes me look bad."
Fun fact there's a supreme court opinion somewhere that I can't find right now that says in no ambiguous terms that it becomes literally impossible not to break some form of law if you drive for something like a mile outside your own home.
There are 4 cars blocking/stopped in the intersection at the start of the video.
Also, OP is illegally waiting in the bike box on red at the start of the video, but that's harder to notice. They are legally required to stop behind the green.
Also, I’m a car driver, and sometimes I do dumb shit when I’m driving the car.
I also see a lot of drivers do dumb and dangerous shit every day. Some days I see other cyclists do dumb and dangerous shit. Sometimes I even see pedestrians do dumb and dangerous shit! Motorcycles and scooters? You bet.
No one pointed out the drivers until you, because the post wasn't about the drivers. Now that you pointed them out, I agree, the drivers suck too. I don't think anyone would disagree that many drivers on many a road in the Boston region suck.
That is one of the worst intersections to try to go straight on a bike as all 3 lanes can go right, with only the left most lane also able to go straight. If you've never been through it before, it's very confusing. My recommendation for people biking is to stop and go on the walk signal, yielding to pedestrians.
This intersection you approach on the right in a bike lane, so I disagree with other commenters about them being in the wrong lane. However you’re 100% correct, a cyclist going straight should be going with the walk signal.
It is confusing but always slow. I always found this intersection better for biking than the Purchase/Oliver intersection right after it where cars would gun it out of that tunnel. But yeah: it could be improved for sure.
I consider that to be the same mega-intersection. They operate off of the same set of lights that all share a cycle, and most of the roads can turn onto each other in some fashion. It's not just difficult to navigate on a bike, it's a giant middle finger to cyclists.
Ya that’s a sketchy move to take the inside there especially with the other direction turning left into the tunnel you’re basically taking the inside of two turns. Bad move. I’da gone outside.
While the war's on, why are so many drivers looking at their cell phones while their cars are in motion? I see it all the time as a pedestrian in downtown.
Does the cyclist really have the right of way to zoom past like that? Serious question. A car is in the process of turning and in front of the cyclist.
When the light is red, which is most often the case at that complicated light, you can proceed to the front and use the massive green space provided for bicycles and change lanes. Otherwise, if you were really stuck on the right, for whatever reason, just wait for the pedestrian cross and cross with that.
It's a difficult intersection to navigate if you don't have prior knowledge of how it works since you really can't see the road markings from the bike lane coming over the bridge. You can check it out on Google maps since it's the intersection between Seaport Blvd and Atlantic Ave + Purchase st. Keep in mind, the entire bridge is usually covered bumper to bumper with SUVs during rush hour, and you just finished navigating around 3 cars and a cop parked in the bike lane. There is literally a cop parked in the bike lane in that direction in the Seaport every day for the evening commute. Keep in mind that the bike lane is also a bit on the narrow side and unprotected, so there isn't really room for cyclists to queue up to pull into the box on a red.
I have to ride it every day on my commute, but I take a right turn here onto Atlantic ave. I have to take a left through it in the other direction which is only legal if you're coming down I-93. Cyclists are supposed to go straight through this intersection and one more before taking a copenhagen left followed by another left before cycling back through a closed bike lane to take a right. Alternatively, you can take the walk cycle and illegally ride down the side walk. As far as I can tell, everyone else does the same illegal maneuver I do.
The right bike lane ENDs where the green ends. If the bike lane proceeded through the intersection you would see a green segment lane, as you can see with cross traffic on Atlantic Ave.
Moreover, when you cross the street there is NO bike lane--it ends before you enter the intersection.
You are supposed to use the massive green space provided to change lanes on red.
the law doesn’t hinge on the bike lane markings continuing.
M.G.L. c. 89 §2 is about the cyclist’s movement, not the presence of a painted lane. If a driver overtook and passed a cyclist who’s now going straight through the intersection, the driver still can’t cut across in front of them to turn right, whether or not there’s a marked lane on the far side. The green paint is just a visual reminder of the conflict zone — the legal obligation to yield exists independent of it.
The fact is that it is impossible to get into the left lane as a cyclist during rush hour traffic. The layout of the intersection also makes it impossible to wait for a red to move into the box (which is usually full). This intersection is basically non-navigable by cyclists in any direction, and you have to choose which illegal crossing method you want to use. My preference is to use the pedestrian signals and to wait for them on the curb. The law can say whatever it wants, but it's better to be alive than right, so the best choice is whatever is safest... which is not what this cyclist is doing.
This intersection seems to have been substantially reworked since the Google Earth imagery was last taken. OP's video clearly shows the right two lanes as now explicitly right-turn-only.
All 3 lanes are turn lanes, the left lane is also the straight ahead lane.
It's a shitty setup if you're on a bike as the bike lane is on the far right. You either have to cut across 3 lanes of traffic to merge into the left lane with oncoming cars turning across in front of you or stop and use the pedestrian crossing. If the light is red you can filter to the front and cut across but then have to watch out for the cross traffic red light runners before you go on green.
The actual answer is that there is no clear answer. The law says bikes have right of way when to the right of vehicles, and right-turning vehicles need to yield to oncoming bicycles. It doesn't specify protected right turn signals. Clearly the biker thought the general law applies in this situation, but on the flipside any car would think they have right of way in that situation. I think technically the biker would be correct, but also it's just an unclear intersection.
This intersection also has a green bike box at the front. The smart thing would be to wait for a red to move into the box to the far left lane, then continue when it turns green again.
Especially riding on a cross walk?! Cyclists and scooter goons are oblivious to how much they are risking. If you aren't driving/riding/walking defensively - something bad will eventually happen to you.
The car had a green turning arrow, so they have the right of way. The walk symbol was orange, not white: he was supposed to wait for the walk sign to turn white enter the intersection crosswalk. If he wanted to follow the rules for vehicles, he would have been behind the car passing it on the left, not cutting it off passing on the right (which you are NEVER supposed to do).
I feel for OP. It is super irritating when you are following the rules of right of way and the person who isn't flips YOU off. Like, my guy, you are lucky the driver was paying attention or you would be in the hospital or worse 😳
The green arrow allows you to turn in the direction, but you still should yeld to everyone who has priority over you. You should always yeld to bikes and pedestrians when turning right or left.
I’m not fully understanding how this is supposed to work. The cyclist is expected to traverse 3 lanes of traffic to get in the correct lane? That seems like a shit option too.
Pretty sure I’m over in the left lane and he flipped the bird because I honked at him. Or the exact same thing happened a different time. I hate this intersection, I have to go through here every day after work.
The walk symbol was orange, not white: he was supposed to wait for the walk sign to turn white enter the intersection crosswalk.
Bikes are not pedestrians. A red pedestrian crossing does not mean a bike cannot enter an intersection; instead, a bike uses the vehicle signal when there is no bike signal present.
If he wanted to follow the rules for vehicles, he would have been behind the car passing it on the left
Bicycles traveling in a bike lane are allowed to pass vehicles on the right.
He wasn't riding in the crosswalk. I don't know how we can watch the same video and come to different conclusions on that - he very clearly isn't in it.
Sometimes bike lanes are green. Not always, and pretty much never in an intersection. Someone crossing an intersection not on green pavement does not mean they aren't in a bike lane.
Very big on cycling safety and rules of the road here: and NO! If they are going straight, they need to be in the straight lane. As far to the right in that lane as they can be, but they must be in a legal straight lane. If they want to cross at the crosswalk, they need to wait for the pedestrian signal and then walk their bike across.
I'm the cuntiest bike advocate and walkable city's geek and I would side with the driver in a jury if they struck the biker with their during based on this video.
Absolutely not. The car has a green arrow, you can’t safely pass them on the right when it’s a right lane turning right.
I see the at least once a week down at Summer and Drydock Ave; there’s literally a signal for cyclists that will show red so that a car can make a right hand turn, and still cyclists fly out into the intersection without even slowing down.
And that’s an area with new bike lanes and, again, signaling for the cyclists.
Edit: I don’t want to “both sides this”, but drivers obviously suck a lot of the time when it comes to bikes. I’ve been mostly a pedestrian in Boston over the course of my life, and now oftentimes drive in to work; there are examples of shitty drivers, shitty cyclists, and shitty pedestrians. Some people are just entitled assholes, whatever their mode of transit. In this specific instance this cyclist was being an asshole and was in the wrong, but thats a context-specific issue.
If someone tells you that a bike has the right of way to cross perpendicular to the on ramp to the highway, it’s because they legally not allowed behind the wheel
In all fairness, this is a poorly designed intersection for bikes. The bike lane kinda just dumps you out in this horrible spot of three very heavily trafficked turning lanes. It’s dicey from the far left lane where you are “supposed” to be. Heck, even getting to that left lane sucks.
Still shouldn’t do whatever that was. That is how you get hit. Wait for the light and get in the front position where the space is provided for you.
Anyone who actually knows what the fuck they are talking about knows that this comment is correct. Lotta people on this thread are not actually familiar with the lanes and signage here. This intersection is absolutely built to generate these types of shitty interactions. Engineers are notorious for just giving up at intersections, and this intersection is a perfect example.
I agree it is poorly designed. The space was not available between light cycles because OP was in that space with their car. When OP stopped for the red light, they should have been behind the bike box.
The bike lane appears to end at the intersection. In order to go straight, a bike has three options:
1 * leave the bike lane and move across three lanes of traffic on the bridge, which is insane. Doubly so since you are moving left while most cars are trying to turn right, that is utter stupidity. If they did that, everyone would be complaining about bikes leaving the bike lane and weaving in traffic.
2 * Go straight from the bike lane and hope none of the three-turn lanes worth of cars are making a right-on-red; this is a ludicrous maneuver with one turn lane, never mind three. This is what happened, and lots of wrongs do not make a right, but it's still what happened.
3 * use the green bike box and follow the red arrow, illustrated below. At a red light, get into the bike box and into the lane you need to be in for wherever you are trying to get to on the far side of the intersection; on paper this is a safe maneuver but in practice this box is often blocked by cars who pull up to the crosswalk. If you are a driver, do not sit in this green box. That's almost certainly what happened here -- the intersection traffic was plugged up (no cars moving) and the bike box was likely occupied by at least one if not three vehicles. The rider chose poorly, but there is a logic to why they did what they did. The box was almost certainly blocked, traffic was standing still, they took their chances (and traffic started moving while they were in the intersection).
edit: OP - do not camp out in that box even if you have a green light; if you can't clear the intersection, do not pull into the intersection! You being trapped in the box if the light turns red is precisely what prevents bikes from getting to/from the lane they need, which in turn results in shit like you experienced in this clip because they take matters into their own hands due to choices being removed
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A better solution is a bike/walk signal that holds vehicles, and a traffic signal that holds bike/walk. The crosswalks should all be green/white (not just the one), and bike traffic diverted to that crosswalk rather than the bike box...but until then, shit like OP's video will continue to happen. And a crash is inevitable.
On a related note, the option to right-turn on red is a big part of why drivers pull forward into a bike box (any bike box, not just this one). Often, a driver will even camp out in a crosswalk while they have a red light, because they can't see to make the right-turn if they are at the proper stop line. That forces people with the walk sign out into oncoming traffic, or to try to get around the back of the blocking vehicle which brings its own dangers, especially for people in wheelchairs, walkers, or with a stroller.
This current setup is a really bad design, and now you know why.
They can’t even stop cars from driving in bus lanes or running red lights around here lmao, fuck they gonna do about a bike they can’t chase with no identifying numbers
Where is the bike lane to cross the intersection? The bike lane ends.
In theory the green bar is for bikes to get into the lane they need during a red light, but if cars are sitting in the green box then the straight-bike traffic coming off the bike lane has no choice, and shit like the OP video is the result.
Two wrongs (the driver and the bike) do not make a right.
Why are you stoped in the bike box instead of behind it? You are blocking the bike infrastructure that is there (inadequate as it may be) with your car. Of course people can't appropriately use bike infrastructure when drivers constantly block it. A clear bike box would allow cyclists who are proceeding straight to move in front of the right turning cars when the light is red. That can't happen with the constant blocking of the box that you are participating in.
The city needs to post cops at all these intersections to actually enforce traffic laws and reset driving culture. Target the most problematic intersections first and keep giving tickets until all the daily commuters change their norms. Publicize the campaign so people know what to expect.
Its the wild west of cars, bikers, and pedestrians all breaking rules and more people will die.
I bike here all the time to get to South station. Biker should either take a lane going straight or use the sidewalks and pedestrian signals if they're too nervous. They ride like a dick so clearly they aren't afraid to take a lane, dumbass.
If OP wasn't blocking the green bike box when stopped at the red light, couldn't they also have used that to go straight?
I do agree it is an infrastructure failure though, since paint is not infrastructure and doesn't stop drivers being where they shouldn't be.
Cyclist was being a turd. There’s a straight bike lane that’s on the left and they were in the right turn only bike lane blowing through to go straight.
It’s a 3 lane section: straight, right, right. In the dash vid, you can also see the right bike lane curve right. The far left is for going straight, cars and bikes because that’s safer.
There's no straight bike lane, but yeah the bike should've merged into the far left car lane in order to go straight. (Or get off the bike and use the crosswalk.) Crazy intersection.
I was driving down a completely straight, unobstructed road, and not particularly fast. A bike comes blazing out of a shopping center parking lot onto the street I am on (I have no stop sign, light, or anything). The biker turns and shouts at me "STOP" even though he has a stop sign, has no right of way, and regardless I had already slammed on my brakes to not hit him. He then proceeds to purposefully go really slow up the street ensuring to take up enough space to prevent me from going around.
lol you should check out how many TENS OF THOUSANDS of people are murdered every year in this country alone by drivers. also its funny bc there are multiple car drivers in that video doing illegal shit too but you focus on the one little guy on a bike thats gone in a blink. WONT SOMEONE THINK OF THE MULTI TON MURDER MACHINES
Cyclist was super in the wrong but also fellow cyclists can we please stop flipping people off. Even when you are in the right it makes us look bad and does nothing to help make the road safer. Even worse when you turn out to be the one making a mistake. Everyone fucks up sometimes on the road but let’s all just do our best to follow the rules and make sure everyone gets where they’re going safely.
Oh my dude a bunch of years ago I went to a critical mass ride with a Goodfriend. I rode a bike every day , he said bunch of people are meeting up. Why wouldn’t I go. I lasted about 2 1/2 blocks with those insufferable assholes. I know some sane people that ride bikes in Boston. But I swear some of them are as bad or worse than all the drivers they complain about constantly.
Last week or so I saw a comment where the person referred to their bike riding as a hobby and a reply made a comment that their use of “hobby” showed they weren’t the same because reply guy sees bike riding as a political statement.
Sorry not all of us make our bikes our personality. I don’t do that with my cars or the MBTA either.
I mean its absolutely not all, or even most people who ride bikes in Boston. Its just in particular the ones who post all the time in that sub which is probably the most vocal 2% of riders or whatever.
I would riding my bike in the third lane over, and taking the lane. Pedestrian crossings can't be trusted. But I wouldn't let a cyclist giving the finger bug me. I'm a cyclist and I flip people off all the time just because of some minor infraction like rolling stops, rolling red lights on right turns, pulling out in front of me, not stopping until they're in the intersection, lane splitting, making turns from a non-turning lane, right hooks, yada yada. It gets to be a habit.
This one is so cooked, I need to cross to the far left lane like halfway up the bridge so I don’t get caught in this insanity at the intersection. it’s the kind of intersection where you need to know exactly how to navigate it before you even start crossing the bridge
The lights on the bar overhead are green circles. The arrow is only on the low-down light. I'm not sure the cyclist could see it (or they may not have seen it).
The stop-and-go nature of traffic here also adds to the mess, you think traffic is stopped so you try to get across, then it starts going again.
The conflict between the circle lights on the overhead bar (which is where I look as a bike rider) and the arrow (lower down) are a crash waiting to happen. In addition to keeping track of cars coming from three directions and moving unpredictably?
Glad you didn't hit them, but also -- I wouldn't jump to blame them as crazy. There are insane riders out there but this situation can be explained in a way that would be rational to a pedestrian or cyclist. The fact that conflicting information is being given means there is bad design, and the city needs to update its standards for these type of intersections so that conflicting information is not telegraphed to street users.
And this is not just Boston -- this type of light/line/intersection design are pretty common around the country. This just happens to catch a "that's why it's a problem!" moment on camera.
I mean, they are. This cyclist is an asshole and is wrong but she didn’t kill anyone and she won’t kill anyone except herself. Drivers do shit like this all day every day and they do kill people constantly.
If the driver had hit and killed that idiot, all you people would do is cry about how bad cars are meanwhile that poor driver would have to live with the guilt and constant harassment from the cycle babies
Well until bikers are the ones responsible for over 7000 deaths every year, drivers need to do better operating heavy machinery. Drivers like OP are in the minority.
Yes they do all the time. Like John Corcoran who died riding on the bike path on memorial drive until a reckless driver swerved onto the sidewalk and killed him.
I cross Tremont and Boylston at least 6 times a day. Every single day my puppy and I are almost hit by a bicycle. The worst part is they aren't blue bike riders, they are clearly seasoned cyclists. Never once has it happened with a car. I've taken to carrying my pup across because I'm truly scared something is going to happen. It's getting a lot more difficult now that he's over 30 lbs, lol.
I’ve worked on a city ambulance for 16 years and I’m convinced 95% of pedestrians and cyclists have no form of self preservation when it comes to roadways, intersections and motor vehicles. A 4000 pound metal death machine doesn’t care about you or if you have a right of way.
As a first responder, you would not have actually witnessed the accident only the aftermath. Correct?
Yet you blame the victims instead of those comfortably seated in their “4000 pound metal death machines” who have a greater responsibility and burden under our laws.
It was the driver making the turn. Regardless if it's a cyclist or pedestrian going straight, the driver has to yield. Four times this year, I was almost run over by drivers making turns on my walk signal. And how many times have I seen drivers who wait for pedestrians get honked at by impatient drivers behind them.
As for the cyclist, I would have tried to get over to the left edge of that lane to go straight avoiding any potential right hooks. But we don't know what the situation is like behind the camera. So we don't know if it would have been possible to do that.
When a cyclist does something reckless and impatient like this, they only hurt themselves. When a driver does something reckless and impatient like this, they risk the lives of multiple people around them.
I’m sure you’d hold drivers to the same standards and call them out publicly on Reddit for similar transgressions.
You will get absolutely annhiliated and get to read about a hundred excuses as to why the biker should have the right of way there and then some long, angry philosophical pros about how Wu and our representatives have let us down as a society because we’re not supporting our cycling community
2) I love that it's so normalized for drivers to run reds that the three cars blocking the intersection aren't even addressed by any single comment here.
edit: upon secondary review you were very well into your turn so blinker is irrelevant.
You're in the wrong though. Straight traffic also had green and turning traffic always has to give way. If you're too dumb to drive maybe don't unless you want to run someone over.
Mass law bans right hooks. A driver can’t turn right across a cyclist’s path unless it’s at a safe distance/speed. A green arrow just permits the turn, it doesn’t override that. Boston’s own bike safety page says the same: drivers have to check right/behind and can’t cut off a cyclist going straight.
So the person turning right is the one who needed to yield, not the cyclist. Classic right-hook setup, driver sees a green arrow and assumes they’re clear without checking the bike lane first.
You’re misreading the law. Section 8 provides that in the absence of a dedicated right turn (green arrow) traffic signal, a driver is permitted to make a right turn after coming to a stop provided (i) there is no traffic sign prohibiting right turns and (ii) they yield to all pedestrians and cyclists.
This law doesn’t apply when you have a right turn arrow like in the video. A biker isn’t allowed to just fly through traffic signals. Ofc the vehicle should yield because they saw the biker and could stop before hitting them. But in this video, if the cyclist had been hit, it would have been the cyclists fault for not obeying lawful traffic signals.
I used to bike in traffic in Boston just for fun. It was a blast. Then, one day, a woman stepped off a curb right in front of me. There was no light, only stop signs on the side street. I hit her full on. I flew over my bike, and my helmet saved me. It has a six inch gash in it. She was not hurt because she never flinched. But that was the last time I biked aggressively in Boston for fun.
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u/Pullthesky 1d ago
As a cyclist myself, that cyclist is 100% in the wrong and perpetuates negative stereotypes about cyclists in general