I think the best policy is to give pedestrians the degree of care we would hope motorist would give us. Expect them to fuck up, because chances are one of them will. In certain situations it is not intuitive for them to look for bikes, even though they should. Stopped traffic is one of them. I am actually not sure if it is against the law to split a lane between stopped cars, but it is not the safest thing I do (and I do it all the time) and it does increase the chance of hitting peds who don’t expect a bike to be buzzing between the cars.
Having said that, I refuse to take responsibility when a ped causes an accident (as in this case), and if it is a young guy who is being negligent (or who decides to play chicken with me) I have no qualms about coming so close that my handlebars graze at his shirt. Not safe, but a lot of fun to do.
I think the best policy is to give pedestrians the degree of care we would hope motorist would give us. Expect them to fuck up, because chances are one of them will. In certain situations it is not intuitive for them to look for bikes, even though they should. Stopped traffic is one of them. I am actually not sure if it is against the law to split a lane between stopped cars, but it is not the safest thing I do (and I do it all the time) and it does increase the chance of hitting peds who don’t expect a bike to be buzzing between the cars.
Having said that, I refuse to take responsibility when a ped causes an accident (as in this case), and if it is a young guy who is being negligent (or who decides to play chicken with me) I have no qualms about coming so close that my handlebars graze at his shirt. Not safe, but a lot of fun to do.