Commuting - First time getting honked at...

Ive been on and off bike commuting for over a year now and have over 2k miles on the odometer. Some fat lady became the first person to honk at me on Friday. She was alone in her minivan with a handi-capped sticker and on her cell phone. I was in the middle lane (the far left lane is a turn lane) when she came roaring up behind me and layed on the horn. I turned to look and she was all irate and appeared to be yelling something obscene at me. Looked like it included something to the effect of "get off the road". Couldn't hear even though her window was down. I yelled back "Just for that I'm going to go extra slow!" and smiled :D . Mind you this is already 20MPH zone. Light turns green, I proceed at a leisurely 15MPH pace through the intersection and then merge into the next left turn lane to make my turn and kick it up to 20MPH. She guns it and cuts the guy off in the far right lane in the middle of the intersection nearly causing an accident.

I bet she lied to get that handi-capped sticker...

hoe-bags... Sometimes I feel so ill-equiped to handle road rage when riding my bike... I am just so at thier mercy. I had a dude come into the oncoming lane, aming squarly at me and gunning it in his 07' lifted silverado pickup... Swerved with no more than about 6' to spare and pushing 60 in a 30 MPH zone... had no plate in the front either... Apparently just did this for ****s and giggles. I wasn't laughing.

Best thing to do when getting honked at is to smile and wave. Sometimes that really pisses them off.

I would have pointed to the 20 mph sign as I passed it at 20 mph. Then, when the lady passed me I'd yell out her license plate number and tell the world she's speeding.

It's stories like this that make bike commuting fun. You don't experience this while in a car. Learn to enjoy it. Otherwise, get a car.

It's stories like this that make bike commuting fun. You don't experience this while in a car. Learn to enjoy it. Otherwise, get a car.
Really depends on where you drive. I had people tailgate me on a freeway honking, and shouting while I was doing 80! :eek:

It's stories like this that make bike commuting fun. You don't experience this while in a car. Learn to enjoy it. Otherwise, get a car.

very well said...

someone honked at me yesterday and stayed square behind me. I looked back and focused on their license plate and tried to remember the number. That made them much more civil

I got my first honk few days ago. As a car overtook me, the driver honked.

I get honked at a lot, but then again I tend to give away middle fingers like they were Mardi Gras beads. ;)

I bet she lied to get that handi-capped sticker...
Not so sure about that, she sure does seem to have some sort of handicap.

It took you 2,000 miles to get honked at?

Usually takes me about 2,000 feet.

Not so sure about that, she sure does seem to have some sort of handicap.

(yelling at honking crazy person)
"I didn't know you could get a handicapped sticker for being insane (or stupid)"

Welcome to the club pitya. ;) You get to bring the donuts to the next meeting.:D

My initial emotional response when someone honks at me is that he or she is someone who knows me, so I give a friendly wave. I ride recumbents so I get a lot of attention.

That is part of my overall riding style: follow the traffic laws, be courteously assertive about my rights, and be wary of the feeble and the idiots.

...

That is part of my overall riding style: follow the traffic laws, be courteously assertive about my rights, and be wary of the feeble and the idiots.


This is why I haven't been honked at yet. Most people give me plenty of room and respect my space as long as I do the same for them. I don't ride over aggressive and try to obey all traffic laws.

Oddly enough I got hit by a car before I was honked at by one :) That happened at 500 miles.

It took you 2,000 miles to get honked at?

Usually takes me about 2,000 feet.That's my experience, too. My relatively long commute probably contributes, but I don't recall a ride when I DIDN'T get honked at least once. There's a sizable slice of the driving public who still react badly to the notion of a bike on the roadway, much less in a left turn lane or anywhere not within a foot of the right shoulder. They're morons, and you just learn to ignore them.

honk back, it makes them even more irate, maby they'll croak from anger :)

Best thing to do when getting honked at is to smile and wave. Sometimes that really pisses them off.

Yea, I do that, even in my car. Sometimes if they look really pissed I'll blow them a kiss and mouth "I love you".
The people that go off like that are prepared for a verbal battle, but when you take that away from them they get even more upset. :D

once i was riding home during the 5pm commute and got honked at. i was as far over as i was going to get in the right lane of a two lane road and this jerk in a kia honked at me and roared by. i gave him a one finger salute and went about my day. here's the reason you shouldn't honk at people in town, car or bike. i caught up to him half a mile down the road, i'm doing about 17mph, speed limit on this road is 30; it's a heavily used commuter road so people are used to bikes. i see him in line at the light and i notice his window is open. i couldn't help myself so as i passed i leaned over and went "HONK" at his window. it felt good.

I think that is another reason people don't honk that much around here. I will play leap-frog with traffic for about 8 of the 13 miles I ride. If they do something stupid chances are pretty darn good that I will be able to catch up to them and they know it.

My wife said I should have just yelled "HONK" back at her :)

Ive been on and off bike commuting for over a year now and have over 2k miles on the odometer. Some fat lady became the first person to honk at me on Friday.
I bet she lied to get that handi-capped sticker...

Wow I can't go a single day with out a honker. In fact I get multiple honks a day. Even when there is 2 open lanes adjacent to them to freely pass in those travel lanes.

Yea and I noticed Handicap people honking at me. Maybe they're angry at us.

I still need to go home and already am up to 3. You can ride perfectly legal and still get honked at. I guess the polite thing to do is pull over? NOT

(yelling at honking crazy person)
"I didn't know you could get a handicapped sticker for being insane (or stupid)"

My favorite shout at a person who just parked in a handicap spot and then proceeds to trot into the store, "Hey, those spots are for the PHYSICALLY handicapped"

I usually go a few weeks between honkers anymore. I find it's better to just turn around, stare at them for awhile, and then turn back around as if they are not worthy of your attention. All of my ride is on multi-lane roads, so if someone is honking at me it's because they are too lazy to change lanes and really are not worthy of my attention.

The only time I've been honked at while commuting was when someone was trying to tell me I had dropped something. It helps that I ride through bicycle-friendly communities with well-educated people. I usually am moving faster than the cars, so they have no reason to honk.

It's been at least a year here since I've been honked at. I think at some point a year or two ago I got to the point where absolutely everyone who drives on my route has seen me multiple times, and they just go on by. They've been really quite polite lately, to the point where even a 3 foot pass now almost seems close.

Last week I had a 'scare the bike nerd' type of honk. I hate those. This one was a car that crept in close from behind and released a suprise honk while some friends screamed something out the back window. That type of thing always catches me off guard me since i just expect it to be another car passing by.

I get honked at a lot, but then again I tend to give away middle fingers like they were Mardi Gras beads. ;)

You're funny!

Best thing to do when getting honked at is to smile and wave. Sometimes that really pisses them off.
+1

I used to just flip everyone off when they honked, but this is much more effective.

You're funny!

Why thank you! How very kind of you to say so.*






*Holy crap you guys are right! Pretending to be friendly and oblivious to the aholes IS more effective and satisfying. Thanks.

Last week I had a 'scare the bike nerd' type of honk. I hate those. This one was a car that crept in close from behind and released a suprise honk while some friends screamed something out the back window. That type of thing always catches me off guard me since i just expect it to be another car passing by.

It's funny, after my first full year of commuting, I was at a lawn party at my brothers' house on a hot July day. My nephew came up behind me when I was talking to someone and pressed a soda can straight out of the ice on the back of my neck, and I didn't even pause in my talking though I hadn't seen him coming.

He was really surprised and disappointed that I didn't jump out of my skin. I told him "Hey, I have semi trucks lay on their air horns 5 feet away from me, nothing startles me anymore."

Since then I've gotten to be such a fixture that I just don't get honked at anymore, but in the first year I got some crap.

On my 2nd day of commuting, I got honked at and "lectured" by some lady in a fancy car. The BF and I were riding 2 abreast on a 2-lane (1 in each direction) street leading from a residential area into a business area. There was no bike lane and there were cars on the sides of the street, so I figured the safest thing to do would be to take the lane.

As we slowed at a stop sign, we hear honking behind us and I wondered if we should get into single file, but by then there was no room to go single file because the intersection was right in front of us and we were riding parallel already. The honking continued and I saw a car creep to my right trying to make a right turn, so I gave it some room.

Instead of just making the turn, the lady stopped next to me and said something to the effect of "I think you guys should ride on the side." I replied, "The side of what? There's no bike lane here and there are parked cars on the side." Then the lady muttered something about, "You shouldn't be riding on the street" and made her turn.

I wish I had a powdered donut to throw at her. The BF suggested I print out copies of the legislation saying that bicycles have the same rights as vehicles on the street and throw them into the windows of people who complain.

I rarely get honked at. In fact, I can't really remember any incident of a blatant honk. But just yesterday, in our unseasonable blizzard, the driver of a jeep going the opposite direction gave me very light taps on his horn, as if to say "I feel your pain".

But I have gotten yelled at. Here's the thing. Madison WI is a very bike friendly town, and motorists here are accustomed to sharing the roads (until you get to the outskirts of town; a lot of those people don't have a clue). But in March, high school state athletic championships happen, and people from all over the state converge. Many of them are ill equipped to deal with cyclists. I was first in line at a red light, with traffice gridlock in all directions. To my right usually is a lane for right hand turns, but it was blocked by snowbanks (we had a few good blizzards in March, dumping tons of snow). I repeatedly heard the guy in his van behind me yell, "Get out of the way!" Over and over again. I simply ignored him. I was hoping he'd get out of his vehicle to confront me, so I can stare blankly at him, pretending not to understand English and smiling foolishly.

The light turns green and I proceed through the intersection. He did not turn right, like I thought he would. He was yelling at me to get out of the way not because he wanted to turn right, but because he didn't want a bike in front of his van. Little ol' me, on my bike, irritated a guy because I denied his chance of being first at the light.

It took you 2,000 miles to get honked at?

Usually takes me about 2,000 feet.

As if this was a prophecy, almost exactly 0.5 miles into the next ride I took after posting this, some character with his kid in the back seat starting blowing the horn and gestering me onto the sidewalk.

Since he looked pretty harmless otherwise, I took this as an invitation to use a centre-ish lane position until the road widened up, since "clearly he was indicating hazards next to the curb that I should be avoiding".

Ordinarily I would have let him by.