Maxillius

Automatic transmissions don't work the same as manuals. In a manual, you're making the transmission do what you want it to do, so when you're putting it in a forward gear when you're still going backwards, the car is just doing it. While it's not good for the manual transmission, that kills automatics. There are some autos that actually take up to 10 seconds to switch from reverse to drive (as explained in my dad's 2000 S-10 owners' manual). It's not that they're trying to annoy you, they're waiting for the car to do what they told it to do.

B. Carfree

And tens of thousands of others per year.

KD5NRH

That's one pathetic automatic then; every one I've owned would just stay in neutral until the car stopped rolling, then engage the new setting. IIRC when Mythbusters tested it, none of the test cars would engage reverse (or drive when backing up) until they were down to 2-3mph.

Sounds like Chevy was trying to avoid some warranty service. That's how most will act when they're dangerously low on ATF, but it shouldn't be considered normal behavior for any vehicle. Anything more than 2-3 seconds, and I'd be taking it to a good transmission shop...or a used dealer to trade it for a manual before it finishes dying.

Plus, if you're stuck behind them, you tend to notice they're stopped for a while before the backup lights go off. As far as I can tell, they back out while still texting/untangling the seat belt/tuning the radio/opening their soda/shaving their butt/reviewing the grocery list/whatever, and then wait in the middle of the aisle until they finish enough tasks to spare a hand for the shift lever.

noisebeam

It's safer to wait a few seconds and check it is clear before proceeding on green.

joeyduck

Agree with the tranny issues.

It amazes me how bad some people are at reversing.

Also what is with people at gas pumps, what are they doing in the car when they are done pumping? Get the fu(k out of the way, there are people waiting. There was a comedy skit on this I once saw; I will try to find it.

Maxillius

Yeah, I wouldn't complain if the planet ran out of oil tomorrow if only to keep the morons out of cars who shouldn't be operating heavy machinery in the first place.

spare_wheel

Passing a long line of cars on the right is 100% legal in OR:

SECTION 1. ORS 811.415
(c) Overtaking and passing upon the right is permitted if the overtaking vehicle is a bicycle that may safely make the passage under the existing conditions.


Despite the fact that they have clear legal right of way some cyclists still patiently suck tail pipe.
(And I have been known to pass them slowly and make vroom vroom noises when I'm feeling mischievous!)

LGHT

Thanks for the info I did this during traffic and it's good to know I did it right.

skye

Here's a bright idea: Take a LAB road course. It will do you a world of good.

RaleighSport

Yup. if you want to know more just look up lane splitting, CHP even gives directions for motorcyclists directly on their site now.

spare_wheel

This is not correct. In many states lane-splitting statutes specifically mention motorcycles or motorized vehicles so pedal cycles are in the same "grey area" as in CA.

LGHT

Well that's why I figured it would be ok since every motorcyclist does it.

KD5NRH

I don't mind 5-10 seconds, but if it takes you longer than that to get your seat belt on, start the car and reset the trip meter when people are waiting, you shouldn't be driving. Too many potentially deadly things can happen on the road that need a response in milliseconds for people who have reaction times best measured with a calendar to have any business behind the wheel.

joeyduck

I take less than a minute. I write down my odometer reading in a spreadsheet.

on the subject of slow turners. I went out for a drive last night and I was amazed at how slow cars turn when I'm driving.

noisebeam

Yep, and get a bit organized, put away receipt, clean glasses, put on a new CD, check that everyone is in car and secured. Doing the things that should not be done while driving, but take too short a time to make it worth moving car to a new parking spot.
Obviously if there is a line for pump, hurry it up a bit, but I haven't encountered lines in a long while.

RaleighSport

Yup this.. and usually you can pull away from the pump without leaving the gas station if there's more to be done!

KD5NRH

I write the last 4 digits on the receipt, then tuck that on top of the visor. Bills and such go up there as I get them, so it gets sorted when pay time comes, and the mileage figures get done then too.

SpecialX

In Florida, if you're going to make a vehicular left turn, you have full use of the lane...
That does NOT (necessarily) mean you can filter up to the front..
UNLESS the lane is 14' or wider and there is 3' clearance on the side you wish to pass (doubtful), you MUST get in line with the rest of the traffic.
I had an arsehole today passing me (on my bicycle, in the bicycle lane) and everyone else in the (12' lane) queue to "filter" to the front.. (On the third time - the left hand turn lane that both of us were going to make a left), I purposefully made sure that I was less than 3' from the right side of the lane marker)
ALL THREE TIMES, he passed us AND at the front, ended up in the crosswalk, blocking pedestrians and bicyclists.
THEN he has the gall to give every single person the middle finger that tried to explain to him, that what he was doing was incredibly dangerous.


FYI. All lanes in this area are 12' or less.
This guy thought he owned the road... (He was definitely one of those "I spent $5,000 on my bike and Lycra outfit, so I'm Better than thou" types.-read my sig for the "type")


Well I don't normally feel like I have to teach someone a lesson, but THIS TIME I couldn't hold back. After that left turn debacle (which turned into a roadway with a bicycle lane) I passed him doing about 25-30mph to his ~20-25mph with a 5' clearance (left side of the right lane) and then went back into the bicycle lane.
(P.S. I have an electric bicycle, btw)
THEN I returned to the bicycle lane and started to "slowly" slow down to match his speed... When he started to try to pass me, I went faster so that he couldn't.
(There was no other traffic at this moment, I may have wanted to teach him a lesson, but not endangering him at the same time...)
After about a 1/2 mile we had slowed down to about 15mph.
At the next light he was about to complain (AND TRY to pass me again), when he was about to, I turned up my radio so I couldn't hear him AND I tilted my mirror so that it was only showing me the road and not the bicycle lane.
When the light turned green, I made a right turn, blew him a kiss and then gave him a middle finger of my own and called him an F'n AzzClown!!

Chris516

In Maryland. It is legal for a cyclist to pass motorists, stopped at a stop light, or wait in the line of vehicles.

caloso

It's safe, efficient, and legal. Works for me.

Six jours

Well, you can do it right and you can do it wrong. Doing it right involves moving through the intersection quickly once the light changes, and following a predictable line through the turn so the motorists behind you and the motorist making a left turn from the other side of the street know what you are doing and aren't too badly impeded.

Doing it wrong involves passing the line of waiting cars and then planting yourself in front of them. You can make it even worse by fumbling around trying to clip in at .5 MPH while holding up everyone behind you.

You should hang out with the Bicycle Club of Irvine guys on their club rides for a real lesson on how to do it wrong. The whole pack (more than a hundred riders, some days) will swarm up both sides of the waiting cars, and then plant themselves in front, in back, and on both sides. And if the motorists don't do exactly what each cyclist wants (and each cyclist usually wants something completely different) they will be on the receiving end of the yelling, gesturing, and the rest of the usual "friendly cyclist making friends" routine.

Of course, it's all understandable and excusable because, after all, motorists aren't perfect either. Right, gang?

JoeyBike

Any move I can make that saves me time, feels safe for me, and does not cause other road users to react to my move is a good move. What you have described is likely illegal where I live. I don't care.

The car culture where I live is very clueless regarding how bikes should legally behave. So I am much more likely to get a horn blown up my butt queing in line with cars legally than just doing my thing off the radar. And...the cops don't care. This is significant of course.

spare_wheel

In OR and many states it's entirely legal to increase your visibility by "shoaling*" motorists. My safety is far more important than a motorist's hypothetical "feelings". Moreover, by clearing congestion in this manner I reduce my exposure to toxic and carcinogenic vehicle exhaust. Air pollution is almost certainly the biggest health risk I face and the fact that much of this risk is unnecessary angers me.

*shoaling is the practice of positioning oneself in front of faster moving vehicles at an intersection.


1. If you have to "clip in" you are not doing it right.
2. The whole point of shoaling motorists is to clear the intersection before they put their feet to the gas pedal. (Anyone who shoals motorists should always blow or jump the light when it's safe to do so.)



None of this is necessarily illegal in CA.

I-Like-To-Bike

Is "shoaling" some sort of Portlandia jargon?

cruiserhead

waiting in line of left only cars is dangerous.
Sitting at a light, with impatient drivers in front and behind, ready to *** it, is not the best place to be.
First of all, you have no protection. Second, you have no brake lights or signals. Third, you have little chance of triggering the light.

Filter to the front and turn with the first car. You're not going to keep up with the car, and you have plenty of room for both making the turn.

The argument that it's annoying for cars to keep passing bikes does not make sense. At all.
I re-pass cars ALL THE TIME without trying. People often drive aggressively or without thought.
The annoyance factor can be huge for everyone. That has nothing to do with bikes.

The bike will just become a target for that from those same, aggressive drivers that would place the anger at another driver, pedestrian or anything "in their way".
It actually has nothing to do with the bicyclist.