Commuting - I'm gettin angry...cycling road rage

I never have had road rage driving my car, but I'm becoming an angry cyclist...Mainly because when I'm at an intersection, it seems the people in my town, who are turning right, have NO clue that when the crossing sign signals to cross, I am actually GOING TO CROSS! I have had some close calls. I just don't get it because I am standing with my bike, RIGHT NEXT to the car that is waiting to turn right. I have lights and also wear a orange high vis vest. PLUS, I HAVE THE RIGHT-OF-WAY!! I always point out the "walk" signal when this happens. Grrr.

If they're making a right turn, they're probably looking left to make sure it's clear. Logical? So watch for the situation developing, if you aren't already doing so by now. Try to make eye contact with them before committing to crossing.

carry one of those compressed air horn-in-a-can thingie with you... pull it out of your pocket and be ready to use it as you enter the intersection.

=)

If you have the right of way, demand it, let them know who's the boss of your town. !!!

Not sure I understand. Are you walking your bike across the street, exercising the pedestrian's right of way?

Sounds like you're actually becoming an angry pedestrian. The best place to be is in the traffic lane, not the crosswalk.

And go when the light turns green. Don't wait for the walk signal.

There is an intersection like this near my house... it is at the exit of a mall.

People just don't bother to look or even slow down sometimes.....

I'm standing at the crosswalk, straddling the bike, ready to ride when the light turns green, which is sync'd to the crossing signal. I'm usually a bit ahead of any right-turning vehicles so I just can't imagine they cant see my blinky lights and glowing orange hi-vis vest. That's the part that has caused me the anger. 2 times, so far, drivers have made eye contact with me and still immediately started turning right when the light turned green.

I am on a multi-use path, joint bike path/pedestrian, it is not a sidewalk. I looked up the laws in my state and the legal place for cyclists is the designated bike path or as far right at possible in the road ONLY if there is no shoulder or bike path. Sidewalks are ok to ride outside of business districts. So, legally I am in the right spot and cross in the same manner as a pedestrian, it would be illegal to be in the road. I know there are different laws for different states. But there is no other way to cross this intersection.

I think the drivers are looking left to make sure there is no on-coming traffic is a good possibililty but we are at an intersection with stoplights, stopped for the red light then we both go when the light turns green. Cycling isn't really popular where I live, so I think may just be ignorance and inattention.

I am working on being an "understanding" rider. Hopefully the more I commute, the more aware drives will become. I don't want to be a bad rider and flip people off or the blow horn thing, I think that will cause antagisim against cyclists.

Sounds more like inattentive drivers, not intentional bad attitude. I just posted a thread (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=227106) where I got a fit of cyclist road rage, but that's because the other person was a jerk intentionally.

Still though, don't get run over!:eek:

Yeah, I also run into teenagers who block the bike path occasionally. I hate that. It's just rude AND intentional.

2 times, so far, drivers have made eye contact with me and still immediately started turning right when the light turned green.What you may be viewing as an acknowledging eye contact, they may be viewing it as staring you down.

Put another way, you may seeing it as "They see me and will do the right thing and wait." They may be seeing it as "He sees me and will stay out of the way."

The same can be said of lights and hi-vis gear. We as cyclists use them as a courtesy to drivers so we can easily be seen and avoided. The other interpretaion is that we are afraid of cars. Some drivers may take it as putting the "balance of fear" in their favor, so they'll try to win through intimidation.

It all depends on your point-of-view.

You might try getting a whistle, but I still vote for simply using your brain, seeing that this situation may arise, and avoiding putting yourself into the situation.

Is turning right allowed when the traffic signal is red in your State? Some jurisdictions such as Quebec (City of Montreal, for example), do not allow this.

What happens is that if turning right on a red light is allowed, then, a motorist will stop, check the traffic to the left, and then turns right while you have to wait to go straight forward. Then when the traffic light turns green, the next motorist who wants to turn right will have to stop just at the cross walk until it is cleared of everything (pedestrains, wheel chairs, shopping cards, dogs, cyclists, children, etc.), before he can turn.

The problem is when right turn is NOT allowed on a red signal, such as in the City of Montreal, Quebec. Both the cyclist and the motorist would come to the intersection, waiting side by side for the red light to change to green. The motorist, with 200 hp at his control, would think that he would easily overrun the 1/2 hp cyclist and so he would just cut him off and turns right. The worst part is that some motorists do not even bother to signal a right turn.

In both cases, you have the right of way, but to make sure you can cross the intersection alive, you should dismount and do a pedestrian crossing. OR, you may want to ask city council to change the timing of the traffic light and the cross walking signal light.

You probably aren't going to like this, but I'd take the lane. I would move into the left side of the right lane to let those cars turning right to just go. I can make it across the intersection as fast as any car when the light turns green, so those going straight aren't held back, and then veer back to the right side of the road. Of course you can't sneak up along the right side when the light is red when you do that, but then the drivers can't see you sneak up like that anyway so it's safer not to. Anyway, that's how I handle an intersection.

If it's not legal for you to follow Unchunk's described procedure, which is what I would do here, the next best option is Fordfasterr's suggestion with the airhorn.

I can understand the frustration. Drivers are busy looking for cars and often people on bikes and pedestrians are completely off their radar screen. I ran into this frequently where I used to live where drivers treated their right turn lane as an off ramp rather than an intersection. On more than one occasion as a pedestrian cars were close enough that I wound up and kicked car fenders. I used to wear steel toed combat boots too. :D As far as riding, I would try to be positioned to make sure that I was IN traffic and not off to the side in the crosswalk. This is asking for the old right hook and it often difficult to merge back into traffic as you clear the intersection also inviting the opportunity to get clipped by a passing car. In a situation where the right lane is not a turn lane but it frequently used as such, I generally like to swing to the left side of the lane to indicate that I am going straight through but still enabling drivers to make a right turn safely to my right. If drivers seem hesitant, I wave them through. This gets their attention and a often a friendly wave too.

It's partly a road design issue...the cars apparently have the right to make a right turn across the MUP. In Europe where bike lanes and paths run along many major streets, they often have a separate advanced green for the bikes, combined with a no turn signal for cars.

+1 to unkchunk's suggestion. This is why bike paths suck... I stick to roads with bike lanes (gives you room and keeps the parked cars out of the way) and I take the lane when I need to to keep ME safe.

In a situation where the right lane is not a turn lane but it frequently used as such, I generally like to swing to the left side of the lane to indicate that I am going straight through but still enabling drivers to make a right turn safely to my right. If drivers seem hesitant, I wave them through. This gets their attention and a often a friendly wave too.

+1, I do this all the time, and get the same reaction. Builds good will.

I looked up the laws in my state and the legal place for cyclists is the designated bike path or as far right at possible in the road ONLY if there is no shoulder or bike path.

I think you're misinterpreting the law. Here's what I was able to find:


13 AAC 02.400. RIDING BICYCLES ON ROADWAYS AND BICYCLE
PATHS.

(a) A person operating a bicycle upon a roadway shall ride
as near to the right as practicable and shall give way to
the right as far as practicable to a motor vehicle
proceeding in the same direction when the driver of the
motor vehicle gives audible signal.

(b) Persons riding bicycles on a roadway may not ride more
than two abreast except on paths or parts of roadways set
aside for the exclusive use of bicycles. Persons riding
bicycles two abreast may not impede traffic and, in laned
roadway, shall ride within the farthest right lane.

(c) When a shoulder of the highway is maintained in good
condition, an operator of a bicycle shall use the shoulder
of the roadway



I could find no requirement to use a bike path or bike lane if one is present. There is however a requirement to use the shoulder. On the roadway, the requirement is to stay as far right as "practicable" not "possible." "Practicable" is a legal term of art; a good layman's summary is "safe and feasible." If there is a right-turn-only lane, it would not be practicable to ride in that lane if you are going straight, as it is unsafe (and illegal) to do so.

So unless there is a shoulder, you are perfectly within your legal rights to ride through the intersection in the through lanes. Whether you choose to do so is up to you and without seeing the intersection I can't really give advice as to whether it's a good idea.

When you're riding on the path, you're a pedestrian. As a practical matter, I find that motorists cannot be relied upon to yield to pedestrians even when they are supposed to. Don't get mad, just wait for your break and take it.

I almost got smooshed by an old lady by the mall. It was my turn to go and I walked my bike across and at the last lane I was about to get on the curb and suddenly SCREECH and theres this old lady who couldve just killed me! Then she gets out and starts yelling!!! (grr) So I flip her off and jump on my bike and pedal the opposite way of oncoming traffic on the sidewalk (so she can't follow me).

Dang I almost s***** myself that time :D

I never have had road rage driving my car, but I'm becoming an angry cyclist...Mainly because when I'm at an intersection, it seems the people in my town, who are turning right, have NO clue that when the crossing sign signals to cross, I am actually GOING TO CROSS! I have had some close calls. I just don't get it because I am standing with my bike, RIGHT NEXT to the car that is waiting to turn right. I have lights and also wear a orange high vis vest. PLUS, I HAVE THE RIGHT-OF-WAY!! I always point out the "walk" signal when this happens. Grrr.

It is frustrating yes. But it is normal behavior. Just assume they will all run you down without seeing you and get used to thinking that. It's the only reason I (and many others) are alive now. If you don't you will always have some kind of a problem. It's like flat tires, it's just part of cycling. People look right through like you are invisible all the time.

When you finally accept that, and automatically act accordingly, you may be able to relax more and realize that you are smarter than them for constantly making up for the mistakes of others. That can be confidence inspiring, and it helps with the frustration (not completely, but enough).

i don't have any useful suggestions for the scenario, but i just wanted to say that i do relate to the situation-specific rage. i'm mellow already and usually work on staying that way through my whole commute route, but the marked and signed crosswalk over the exit lane from my daily bridge is starting to have that effect on me too. but in my case, i split my fury with the city that actually put the only way of getting across that exit in such a bone-stupid place.

I think that making eye contact sometimes makes the drivers think that you're giving them the go-ahead. My reasoning here is that they're used to lots of cyclists crossing without even looking before they go. Not that that makes any sense, but it happens to me at stop signs sometimes when I have come to the stop first, and I make eye contact with a driver, who stops after I did... and proceeds to try to drive right through the turn. WTF?
So when I look at a driver, I try to have my pedals moving when they turn to look back at me. They will probably not try to cut you off if you're already making it evident that you're gonna cross. For some drivers, when they see a cyclist they forget all about common sense and the rules of the road. So body language is pretty important.

I have to say: This isn't how I visualized riding in Alaska.

I get a harder time for 'taking the crosswalk' at an intersection than for 'taking the lane' on a straightaway. Way annoying.

I could find no requirement to use a bike path or bike lane if one is present. There is however a requirement to use the shoulder.

That law is in conflict with itself. First, it says that you are required to ride in the roadway, then it says that you're required to ride on the shoulder. The roadway ends at the white stripe.

Personally, I ride on the shoulder most of the time, because we have good clear shoulders here, but at intersections, I do what I feel is the safest thing for me to do, which is sometimes to move far left to allow right turners to get past me and for me not to get hooked.

All good input, thanks everyone. There is no shoulder at this intersection. The bike path joins into the sidewalk. And if anyone has been to Alaska, then you know it's common for the roads not to have a shoulder. The pavement ends at the white line.

Also, there is just not may commuters OR pedestrians in my area, especially at this intersection. I have have only come accross 1 other person crossing the road the whole time I have been commuting and he was on a 4-wheeler.

If I do take the road to cross the intersection, I then have to jump right off of it when I get to the other side because that is where the bike path is. This is one of those roads with no shoulder or sidewalks on the side of the road I am on, but there is the bike path that is seperated from the road. The sidewalk on the other side of the road ends after it a dozen feet or so, just past the corner. There is a bike path because it is close to the high school and there would be no other place for kids to walk/ride.

So I'm not sure if jumping off the road wouldn't confuse drivers. Anyway, all this is good suggestions. I will continue to be watchful and aware.