Originally Posted by genec

I disagree with you about the slower vehicle thing. I typically drive at or below the speed limit, with the exception of interstate freeways, where I drive the speed of traffic.

On surface streets where I am usually the slow driver (driving at or below the speed limit) I never get honked at or rudely passed... and I have driven in this manner for some 30 years. Drivers either slow down and stay with me or change lanes and pass. Often passes are not accompanied with turn signals, which I find ironically amusing... so easy to indicate turns and lane changes and yet so many motorists don't do this.

Drivers know they are speeding... which is why they suddenly slow down in the presence of a police car... or perhaps why they suddenly slow down and follow me... I figure they assume I know of a speed trap, so they fall into line.

I can only recall being rudely passed in a car one time... and frankly that was some idiot driver... on the freeway... he passed in heavy traffic that wasn't moving at the speed limit and he continued to force his way into other clumps of traffic... clearly someone with issues.

Now that said, I have been passed rudely many times while on bicycle... it happens at least four times a year. Maybe a horn honk, always the hard acceleration. Sometimes a yell.

No, it isn't a "slower vehicle" issue... it's the notion that bikes don't belong on the road. I have spoken to some motorists at stop lights or left turns and they always express the same idea... that "roads are for cars." There is no changing the minds of these folks... at least not at these roadside "confrontations." They are "right" and the cyclist is "wrong."

The most idiotic situation I once faced was being slowed by a motorist at a right turn only lane... (I was going straight) The motorist was lost and figured a cyclist would know the local roads better, so he simply asked for directions. I was giving said directions when another motorist pulled up behind the first... must have figured it was a bike/motorist confrontation... he honked long and hard and then took off hard and fast from behind, swooping right to make his turn, with some gesture... absolutely no patience.

There are lots of drivers out there... of all sorts of mood and mindset... and frankly some should not be behind the wheel... but we let anyone drive... so your encounters will vary. Smile and wave, and stay safe.