Pompous Ass

So I've set myself a target to stop, rest and get a drink of water and the target is a point where the bike path meets an intersecting road. It's a fairly busy road and that's part of the reason I chose to stop there. I roll up to the posts, stop and reach for the water bottle.

As I'm taking a sip I notice a line of cars coming. The lead car sees me at the intersection and decides to stop in the street to let me go through the intersection. I'm not interested in going through, have bottle in hand and wave the car through. He won't move - he's insistent on being polite. Other cars start honking at him but he wont budge. A line of cars comes from the other direction, and the lead car sees the other person stopped - so he stops too. I'm still getting water and resting so I try to wave them both through. Nope, they won't budge until I go. I had to go through the intersection before these people were going to move, regardless of my intentions or the furious drivers behind these ultra-polite folks. There's no directive of any kind that suggests that people stop for cyclists or pedestrians.

So my girlffriend (also a cyclist) are discussing this incident and she claims this kind of thing happened to her too. She asks me what in the world can be done about it. So I immediately said, 'the DMV or someone should run some TV and radio ads with little traffic safety pointers and some of them should include what to do when encountering cyclists". For some reason this had never occurred to me before. She said, 'why don't they already do it? People drive like hell in this city'.

Why don't they?

Especially with the current explosion in cycling, how can you educate the masses about encountering cyclists when driving?

twahl

That bothers me as well, but on your part you can choose a better place to stop and rest. Like the other side of the intersection. Bothers me most when I'm riding with my wife, who rides a recumbent. Takes her a little longer to get situated again after she unclips. Anyway, it bothers me, but it's better than getting run over.

bike2math

Not sure where you are, but in Ohio a bicycle in a crosswalk is a pedestrian, and cars are oblidged to yield to pedestrians in crosswalks. Now there is obviously a lot of "give" and "take" regarding this, but I would say in the situation you described the cars were somewhat right to stop (if they were in Ohio). It was only a two lane road right?

The Dangerous politeness I find is when cars at four way stops will yield to me out of order. It confuses anyone else at the intersection. The other dangerous politeness is at a non-intersection crosswalk on a four lane road when the driver in one lane stops for you (and waves you across like a moron) while the other three lanes (and usually the traffic behind the stopped driver) are travelling at full traffic speed.

nelson249

I agree, I usually pull through an intersection to rest unless there is a large paved shoulder off to the side where it becomes evident to drivers that I am not in the queue

Pompous Ass

Yes, that likely would have been ideal and I'll try that next time. I couldn't cross initially due to the presence of moving traffic though.

Bikepacker67

The worst is when you're signalling a left turn onto a sidestreet across a 4 lane road.

I can't tell you the number of times a driver in the inside opposite lane will stop to let me go, not comprehending that he's blocking my view of the oncoming OUTSIDE lane...

genec

stop further back on the path... still near the intersection but several bike lengths back. Or move your bike perpendicular to the path so it doesn't look like you are ready to cross.

sauerwald

I have this sort of situation on my commute in to work, about once a week, I have a motorist going straight, stopping and waving me to take ROW for my left turn in front of her (yes, it is almost always a her).

Very frustrating, and I don't have a good solution.

BTW, I drink while rolling, or stopped at a light - much easier than doing something that a motor vehicle driver doesn't anticipate - it seems like they have a hard enough time deciding how to deal with my mere presence on a bicycle, while signalling my intentions.

sbhikes

It's only annoying when you come to an intersection prepared to go, prepared to take your turn like everybody else should and then somebody breaks the flow with undo politeness.

In the OP's situation he's choosing an inappropriate place to stop and take a rest. You wouldn't stop at the intersection in your car, get out and start filling up the windshield washer fluid would you?

genec

Exactly... where and how he is stopped is giving out some cue to motorists that he apparently appears ready to go.

sauerwald

I have this sort of situation on my commute in to work, about once a week, I have a motorist going straight, stopping and waving me to take ROW for my left turn in front of her (yes, it is almost always a her).

Very frustrating, and I don't have a good solution.

BTW, I drink while rolling, or stopped at a light - much easier than doing something that a motor vehicle driver doesn't anticipate - it seems like they have a hard enough time deciding how to deal with my mere presence on a bicycle, while signalling my intentions.

yes

I have this problem to a minor degree on a daily basis. Some people at stop signs just wait there for me to go rather than taking their turn.
They are there waiting as I pull up to a stop. They just sit there while I do a track stand waiting for them to go. If I unclipped, I'm sure it would help, but it's annoying. They are just trying to be polite and safe.

nelson249

Another annoying thing are drivers that pass you with their turn signal on to make a right and then stop waiting for you to pass them before completing their turn. While I appreciate them not crossing in front of me and having to throw the binders on, the problem is then drivers in the opposite lane think that the way is clear for them to make a left.

donnamb 

Not that it's going to reach everybody, but how about a polite, positive letter to the editor of your local paper?

Pompous Ass

I did contribute to the situation, I can see that now.

Still though I can't fathom someone stopping traffic in that situation, nor refusing to go after I waved them through.

Oh well. I guess I shouldn't "complain" about politeness from cagers. It usually goes the other way around.

chephy

Well, actually I don't appreciate this at all. It's better than a right hook, of course, but, hell, why not just wait BEHIND me, you're waiting to let me through anyway, right? And the whole thing takes much longer because I need to slow down to make sure I avoid right hooks...

newbojeff

This happens to me frequently too, including this morning.

I have a stop sign at which the oncoming traffic has no stop sign and most of the traffic makes a left, across my direction of travel. This morning, I'm rolling to a stop and a woman (sorry) coming the other direction stops where she has no stop sign and waits for me.

My answer for this has been to point at the other car and give a head nod (the "you go" gesture). She went ahead and I waited for an opening in the traffic. I find this gesture works better than waving with a hand -- as the OP may have done -- that leads to battling politeness and nobody going anywhere.

bragi

At four-way stops, I've noticed that if you pull into the middle of the lane, as if you were in a car, the other drivers are less likely to be TOO polite. If you're off to the right, there seems to be confusion sometimes in drivers' minds as to whether to treat a bicyclist as a vehicle or a pedestrian. And putting your foot down is a very good clue, too. Yes, it's annoying, but better than having the busy four-way stop degenerate into a clusterf***.

ollo_ollo

I get these overly polite drivers all the time, frequently when I have a stop & the cross arterial has no stop, some kind soul will stop anyway & wave me through. Very dangerous for me when they are on a 4 lane road. I just wave them through. I find a spinning wheel motion with my hand works best but still have the occaisional standoff with the stubborn ones who refuse to go. Now that I'm retired, I can wait them out!

bike2math

I think you might be on to something here. Rather than letting them go because you are polite, make it clear to them that they MUST go first as required. Point at them, and then use the same finger to show them where to go. They'll follow a command before they even realize it. I'll try it next time.

xerocoma

Spin your bike around to face the away from the intersection... drivers are easily fooled..

xerocoma

btw... the drivers trying to do me "favors" by being polite are the ones I fear the most.. they are unpredicatable and not only create a hazard for me but for other drivers as well... cycling should be taught in all driver's education classes.

rule

Yeah, me too. The closest that I have come to being a hood ornament over years of riding has always been in this same type situation when one guy decides that I have to go through, and another guy behind him decides that he will swing out into on coming traffic to roar around the stopped car. Those close calls are so pointless. Now I never dork around at intersections. If I need to stop I will pull up into a parking lot or peal off into a neighborhood. And I am psychotically careful around the Miss/Mrs Helper types. They will look right at you, signal you to go ahead, just at the same time that they hit the gas. Never fails.

donnamb 

I often wonder if the motorists actually know who is supposed to go first in a given situation, be it bikes or cars. I'm beginning to think many of them don't.

slowandsteady

Posted by OP: Posted by SBhikes I have to disagree with you here. He isn't stopping in a true interesection. He is stopping at the end of the bike path. A better analogy is filling up the washer fluid at the end of your driveway.

The problem here is that the OP went through the "intersection" because he felt pressured to do so. Don't let some brainless wavers force you to cross a road you aren't ready to cross.