[N_C]

I sometimes get a feeling in my gut or have an instinct about that if there were not motor vehicle traffic going the same direction I am going motor vehicle traffic that want to turn right on a red light or oncoming traffic that wants to turn left would do so despite the fact I am there on my bike & they can see me. I get a gut feeling I am impedeing their commute & damn it they are not going to let it happen so they would turn if there were not any motor vehicle traffic going the same direction I am.

I know there is nothing I can do about it except make sure I know how to react if it ever happens. Hopefully there will be a way I can move to avoid being hit or I'll know to slow down or speed up. I just hope it never happens. But I get the feeling when I see a look of contempt in the motorists eyes when they want to turn right or are on coming & want to turn left.

Anyone else get the same feeling? What do you do about it?

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[supcom]

I have no problem with this. More often than not, motorists give me a friendly wave. Very often, when I want to make a left turn in the middle of a block, a motorist coming the other direction will stop to let me turn even though he/she has the right of way.

Maybe if I used an AirZound horn I could get people to cast disapproving stares in my direction.

[JRA]

If I think they might be trying to decide if they can beat me, I create the illusion that I'm going faster than I am. I downshift and pedal like crazy so it looks like I'm speeding up, even though I might actually be braking and slowing down (just in case they do decide to go in front of me). I've found that motrists rarely go in front of me when I'm pedalling like crazy (almost no matter how slowly I might actually be going). On the other hand, if I'm just coasting toward an intersection, motorists will try to beat me more often than not (no matter how fast I might actually be going).

[N_C]

When this happens I do not use the airzound. No reason to.

[San Rensho]

I sometimes get a feeling in my gut or have an instinct about that if there were not motor vehicle traffic going the same direction I am going motor vehicle traffic that want to turn right on a red light or oncoming traffic that wants to turn left would do so despite the fact I am there on my bike & they can see me. I get a gut feeling I am impedeing their commute & damn it they are not going to let it happen so they would turn if there were not any motor vehicle traffic going the same direction I am.

I know there is nothing I can do about it except make sure I know how to react if it ever happens. Hopefully there will be a way I can move to avoid being hit or I'll know to slow down or speed up. I just hope it never happens. But I get the feeling when I see a look of contempt in the motorists eyes when they want to turn right or are on coming & want to turn left.

Anyone else get the same feeling? What do you do about it?

Every day, at least once, this happens to me. As an example, Saturday, as I'm approaching a stop sign on a two lane street, about 50-75 ft away from the stop an idiot has to pass me. She goes all the way into the oncoming lane and I yell at her "Don't cut me off" which she of course proceeds to do. I don't give her the lane,she moves over and tries to cut me off but I get past her. She stops halfway in the oncoming lane.

Sunday, I'm riding on a six lane divided road, someone in the oncoming lanes is making a left in front of me, I wave him off, yell and he just looks right at and keeps accelerating. (And for the inevitable contrarian on this board, and boy there are a lot of them, that is going to whine "how do you know he saw you" He wasn't wearing singlasses, looked straight at me, followed me with his eyes as I rode in front of him, the whole time not teildint the right of way, playing chicken with me.)

These are the people that I affectionately say are trying to kill me. They aren't distracted soccer moms on the cell phone looking the other way and don't see me. I can easily avoid distracted soccer moms, they don't bother me at all.

But the cagers I encountered this weekend (and encounter every day) are f@cking with me. They see me and are intentionally trying to cut me off, intimidate me or otherwise endanger my life. These are CAGER @ssholes.

What do I do? I try to chase them down and yell at them, but I realize this is not good for my blood pressure. I should probably realize they are sick and just pity them, but when the adrenaline is rushing, its hard to rise above the idoit cagers.

[Bikepacker67]

I try to chase them down and yell at them, but I realize this is not good for my blood pressure

It's great for your sprinting, though...

[oboeguy]

Of course I get that feeling but I don't care what they think as long as I keep the rubber side down!

[Helmet Head]

I get a gut feeling I am impedeing their commute & damn it they are not going to let it happen so they would turn if there were not any motor vehicle traffic going the same direction I am.
Of course you get that feeling, for good reason. It's often true.

The solution to any problem is to better understand the root problem. In this case, I think something important to consider is the phenomenon many people report - perhaps you've experienced it yourself - is driving to a destination, perhaps going to work from home, and not being able to recall any details of that particular drive. So, remember, this is the frame of mind many people are in when they're driving. They're there, but they're not totally there. They're thinking about something else. They're on "auto pilot". Their subconscious minds are doing the driving, not their conscious minds. When you consider that mindset, it should not be surprising to anyone when a person like that looks in your direction, seemingly right at you, and proceeds anyway. Just being there on a bicycle, particularly if you're riding outside of where their subconscious minds are programmed to pay attention -- the main traffic lane -- is all too often not enough to get them to consciously notice you.

So what your job is is to get the attention of their conscious minds. Basically, you want the subconscious mind to encounter something that "does not compute" - you want it to conclude WTF??? - and send in for reinforcements - help from the conscious mind.

How to do that?

Of course, I recommend moving left. But what is particularly effective is to do it in the first moment they turn their head to look at you. If you're already in the center of the lane, which I contend you should be whenever approaching an intersection where you're going straight, especially if there is no same-direction traffic (which is the situation you're talking about), then move further left, into the left tire track. Doing this combined with JRA's recommendation to downshift and "spin like crazy" -- well, maybe not "like crazy", but say at least 90 rpm, preferably 110+ -- is amazingly effective to convey to them, in no uncertain terms, that you are not yielding to them. In order to cause their subconscious minds to get the attention of the conscious minds, you need to be somewhat alarming.

Of course, never, ever rely 100% on being able to get their attention. I find that in practice the technique does work for me 100% of the time, but I'm still always prepared with a contingency plan to execute an avoidance maneuver, should the need ever arise.

[N_C]

I'm sorry guys. I did not mean for this to turn into a podium for VC, if that is what HH is using it for.

[Helmet Head]

I'm sorry guys. I did not mean for this to turn into a podium for VC, if that is what HH is using it for.
VC??? Did you even read my post? Did I even mention VC, much less promote it? No.

I answered your question with pure practical advice. Take it or leave it, that's up to you, but to see it as anything else illustrates the extreme bias with which you and a handful of others interpret my posts.