Commuting - Why why why WHY? Drivers waving me into danger....

This happens to me several times a week:

I need to take a left turn. I pull out into the left turn lane. I am the first vehicle in the lane. I signal my intention to turn left.

The light turns green.

The driver in the oncoming lane (going straight through the intersection) WAVES ME THROUGH.

Sometimes it's not the first driver, but a subsequent driver stops and does this.

I'm not really sure how dangerous it is to accept these wave-throughs (sometimes I've taken them to avoid a protracted Mexican standoff in the middle of an intersection). It CERTAINLY is contrary to the rules of the road that I have grown up with. Why in the world do I need to be waved through? What are people thinking? WHY IS THIS HAPPENING?

Lately, I've been waving THEM through, but this doesn't always work. Sometimes the driver sits there flashing their lights at me.

Is there a new law I don't know about??:twitchy:

I know what you mean.
I always get drivers that reach a 4-way stop before me. They wait for me to come to a sloooow complete stop and put my foot down, and then wave me thru.
I'm stopped! Just go already! Yeesh.

This hasn't happened to me at a light but happens ALL THE TIME at stop signs. Drivers think they're being nice, but it's actually annoying. I slow down and time my "stop" depending on who arrived at the stop sign at which time, such that I don't actually have to put my foot down. Then some person who is supposed to go sits and waits for me as I'm downshifting or something. I'll usually take it, but I would prefer they just act in a predictable manner and follow the regular rules.

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=444292

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=432850

I know what you mean.
I always get drivers that reach a 4-way stop before me. They wait for me to come to a sloooow complete stop and put my foot down, and then wave me thru.
I'm stopped! Just go already! Yeesh.


This hasn't happened to me at a light but happens ALL THE TIME at stop signs. Drivers think they're being nice, but it's actually annoying. I slow down and time my "stop" depending on who arrived at the stop sign at which time, such that I don't actually have to put my foot down. Then some person who is supposed to go sits and waits for me as I'm downshifting or something. I'll usually take it, but I would prefer they just act in a predictable manner and follow the regular rules.


I thought it was just me having this problem.

I know they are trying to be courteous but it is annoying. On the other hand, drivers see so many cyclists
blowing through stop signs and traffic signals that maybe they just want to avoid a lawsuit. ;)

I know they are trying to be courteous but it is annoying. On the other hand, drivers see so many cyclists
blowing through stop signs and traffic signals that maybe they just want to avoid a lawsuit. ;)

This may be part of it, but it's still way annoying.

I used to get this where my commute required stopping to wait for a break in traffic exiting a freeway offramp. People would come to a dead stop & motion me across while cars skidded to a stop behind them. I eventually resorted to just standing there, taking out my water bottle & drinking while vigorously waving everyone through.

Its annoying, and there are a few intersections where I know its problematic. At one particular intersection, its actually safer for me, and less confusing for motorists, if I hop on the sidewalk and take the crosswalk when the little white guy pops up. I don't like using the sidewalk, but I figure for 30', and the reduced confusion its worth it.

Not always a possibility for everyone, but it works for me.

I wave at them first to deny them the opportunity.

I don't mind if someone does it when I'm at an intersection where traffic is such that if I wait for a gap or w/e, I'll be there for five minutes in the middle of the road, and I've done similar things, both for cyclists and cars, while driving.

But when there are say, five cars in line to go straight through and car number two stops and waves me through, then it's a problem. If I don't go through, I have to wait for him to get the idea and go through so everyone else can clear it and I can make my left. If I go through, I risk getting nailed if cars three four or five get antsy and skirt around the stopped car, assuming he's making a left and isn't using his turn signal, especially since the drivers that will do that seem to be worse at noticing hard-to-spot objects, like a bike directly in front of them.

I don't mind if someone does it when I'm at an intersection where traffic is such that if I wait for a gap or w/e, I'll be there for five minutes in the middle of the road, and I've done similar things, both for cyclists and cars, while driving.

But when there are say, five cars in line to go straight through and car number two stops and waves me through, then it's a problem. If I don't go through, I have to wait for him to get the idea and go through so everyone else can clear it and I can make my left. If I go through, I risk getting nailed if cars three four or five get antsy and skirt around the stopped car, assuming he's making a left and isn't using his turn signal, especially since the drivers that will do that seem to be worse at noticing hard-to-spot objects, like a bike directly in front of them.

God save me from people trying to kill me being "nice". Every time I let myself get sucked in by someone waving me on someone else shoots around them and nearly runs me down.:mad:

I get this too! Usually, it happens at a rotary that I negotiate. I understand the nice gesture, but it really mucks up traffic when a person tries to wave me through. I would rather wait my turn.

I think that part of it is that a lot of people treat bikes like they treat pedestrians, and think that they NEED to wave a bike on.

I got a wave through from TWO drivers, stopped on either side of a crosswalk on a narrow, 2-lane street. I went forward, only to be greeted by a JAM who sped around the stopped vehicle on the right, giving me a free ride on the hood.

His court date is August 18th.

I had a lady in a big Ford Excursion slow down and follow me for several minutes (more than 5) one day last week. I was on a two lane and was about a foot from the right white line and was holding my line going about 20 mph. I could see her in my mirror, she had her blinkers on. there was another lane and light traffic. I think she thought she was keeping me from gettting run over or something. Most of the crazy driver behavior is just ignorance. Our local paper has a sound off section, people can write in and say anything they want on Mondays. Last monday a lady wrote in reminding all bicycles to stay on the sidewalk or trail, roads are for cars. I think the department of motor vehicles ought to have an entire section on bicycles.

Sprint!

At 5 am there is almost no traffic on "g" street. it is a large 2 lane with a turning lane in the middle, I have had a drivers follow me until i turn (about 6 blocks) not sure why but it is creepy especially when there is no oncoming traffic. I appreciate people trying to be more thoughtful, this is a welcome break from the norm, but i just want to yell "treat me like you would another car!"

Dangerous as hell. I will NOT accept an illegal wave through. I'll get off the bike if needed. There have been multiple threads here posted by people who have been hit due to this kind of "favor".

Last monday a lady wrote in reminding all bicycles to stay on the sidewalk or trail, roads are for cars. I think the department of motor vehicles ought to have an entire section on bicycles.

Hopefully you'll write a letter reminding all bicycles that they are legal vehicles, and (if true) that riding on the sidewalks is illegal, and that it's much more dangerous statistically than riding in the road.

I've been thinking that it might be a good idea to take out an ad or see if I can get a PSA in the local paper every spring with the quick "what cyclists should know / what car drivers should know" info.

Hopefully you'll write a letter reminding all bicycles that they are legal vehicles, and (if true) that riding on the sidewalks is illegal, and that it's much more dangerous statistically than riding in the road.

I've been thinking that it might be a good idea to take out an ad or see if I can get a PSA in the local paper every spring with the quick "what cyclists should know / what car drivers should know" info.

OH yes, good idea. Do you know of good info to include from somewhere on the net? i will search it when I get back, right now I am going for a ride before the traffic get real bad.

I used to get this where my commute required stopping to wait for a break in traffic exiting a freeway offramp. People would come to a dead stop & motion me across while cars skidded to a stop behind them.

Wow, that's really scary. The brother of a friend once killed a guy that stopped at the bottom of an ONRAMP to wait for a gap rather than trying to merge. The road was really high speed, and the way to get on it was to accelerate down the ramp to highway speed, then find a gap and merge in. Needless to say, the brother was looking over his left shoulder for a gap and hit the stopped guy at highway speed without even seeing him.

Offramps are probably not quite as dangerous but probably about as likely for something to happen.

I think cops should ticket these so-called polite drivers. They'll hold up several cars behind them, illegally, in order to wave you through, putting you into a dangerous situation.

I've learned a few tricks.

1. When I think that's about to happen, I avoid eye contact. They won't wave you through if they don't think you see them.

2. When they wave me through I shake my head no and then break eye contact permanently until they're gone.


They need to obey the traffic rules.

I'm glad I'm not the only one out there that feels like I am sometimes ungrateful towards "kind" motorists. I think that the intention is there, but some of the motorists just compound the issues.

If I am supposed to be following the rules of the road, treat me like a car, and go when it is your right to do so. When I have a stop sign or a red light, don't jam on your brakes and wave me through, then get mad at me when I don't ride out into oncoming traffic from all of the other lanes. If you want to be nice to cyclists, don't honk at us for no reason, don't come within inches of us when we are on a narrow shoulder, always keep an eye out for us when turning, stand up for us if you see another motorist doing something reckless or aggressive, and smile at us. The road is a diverse place, there are cars, mopeds, tractor trailers, SUVs, motorcycles, and, yes, even self-propelled vehicles. We should all follow the same rules, and maybe then there will be less angst between motorists and cyclists, just as folks in sub-compact cars put up with the 18-wheelers...!

Dangerous as hell. I will NOT accept an illegal wave through. I'll get off the bike if needed. There have been multiple threads here posted by people who have been hit due to this kind of "favor".

Yup, i find taking the hands off the handle bars let them know you are not going to go. Sometimes a wave is misconstrued as a thank you.

bikeforums.net: Complain about courteous drivers. Complain about rude drivers. Just complain about drivers.

Just avoid busy 'left turn' intersections...

whenever someone thinks i won't stop or waves me on a bike, i usually wait for them. It could be a minute i don't care. Advocacy i guess

Last monday a lady wrote in reminding all bicycles to stay on the sidewalk or trail, roads are for cars. I think the department of motor vehicles ought to have an entire section on bicycles.

Its been years since I took my initial drivers exam, so I can't even remember... Do they educate new drivers as to the role of cyclists on the road? I know that the idea ruffles a lot of feathers, but maybe if a bike is bought with the intention of riding on the road (as opposed to off road, or on an island/farm/etc), we should have to register them. In addition we should be regulated like motorists. I know the laws vary state to state, but in Maine moped/motorscooters require a registration and a license. The idea is bound to have serious problems (I can see some classist discrimination, and certainly an uproar on more taxes/bureacracy), but at the same time, perhaps the funds raised could be used for PSAs and driver education, more bike lanes and MUPs (instead of coalitions of cyclists footing the bill).

And maybe I am just tired and seeing cyclists as equals to motorists is a pipedream...

Growing up outside of NYC, there were certain things I was used to from drivers (whether biking or in a car): [1] understanding the notion of 'keep right except to pass' on the highway, [2] understanding how to use a turn signal, [3] understanding the right-of-way at intersections, and [4] understanding that you do actually have to stop at stop signs.

Having lived in the midwest for the last 9 years it feels like the vast majority of drivers don't grasp those points. No, this is not just east coast snobbery, there really is a noticeable difference in how people drive between the two places.

Clearly numbers 2-4 have a substantial impact on cycling.

4-way stops are only complicated by the lack of turn signals usage. A 4-way stop is usually a long drawn out staring contest until one driver decides to finally go. Throw in a person on a bike at that intersection or a few pedestrians and no one seems to know what to do.

A huge percentage of the drivers I encounter don't use their turn signals at all. Or, they do my favorite maneuver; they put on their turn signal only after they start turning (doesn't exactly work for warning other drivers before hand and allowing them to react to you).

It could just be an issue of what types of infractions are heavily enforced (if you get pulled over for not using your turn signal a lot, you'd probably start using it). But it is often very frustrating when biking, because it's much harder to predict what car are going to do. I constantly find myself thinking "I bet that guy in front of me is going to just randomly turn" and two seconds later find myself slamming on my brakes to avoid ramming into that car.

When drivers try to be "nice" and wave me on, my solution is to just shake my head at them. I've had a few rare occasions where the driver has even stuck his/her head out of the window and yelled "but I'm letting you go"...he/she must have thought I couldn't understand what the little wave meant. I really don't want to get hit by car especially if it's my fault because I didn't have the right-of-way. This little "waving game" happens a lot to me when trying to make left hand turns across roads with 2 lanes of on coming traffic (does the person think they can control two lanes of traffic and keep anyone from passing them?). I find that after shaking my head at a driver, they usually speed off in a huff, all annoyed because their attempt to get me killed, err um be nice, was thwarted.



Last monday a lady wrote in reminding all bicycles to stay on the sidewalk or trail, roads are for cars. I think the department of motor vehicles ought to have an entire section on bicycles.

Maybe we as cyclists should start writing letters to our local papers reminding drivers of the rights of bikes on the roads and with suggestions of how drivers should interact with them, rather than just having to respond to what the idiots write.

bikeforums.net: Complain about courteous drivers. Complain about rude drivers. Just complain about drivers.

Just avoid busy 'left turn' intersections...

That boils down to "complain about drivers who aren't following the law". We're not complaining about courteous drivers, we're complaining about ones who are breaking the law in a misguided attempt to "be nice to us" which in fact is KNOWN to be highly dangerous to cyclists.

... In addition we should be regulated like motorists...

Put down the bong ... now!

To move under my own power is still a right, don't make it a priviledge.

More regulation ... incredible.

I think cops should ticket these so-called polite drivers.

What if it's a cop that waves you through? Yes, this did happen to me.

I approached a four way stop, timing it intentionally to arrive after a patrol car crossing perpendicular to me. He was to my right, so even if we both arrived at exactly the same moment, from my understanding I should yield to him anyway. But just to avoid confusion (and also to try to set an example for cyclists and motorists alike that I will come to a complete stop and yield appropriately), I arrived after him and waited for him to cross.

He waved me on. I waved him on. He smiled and much more emphatically waved me on, this time with a nod of his head.

So I went. I guess he could've written up a ticket for failure to yield, but I could've sued for entrapment. That would be the funniest court case.

Put down the bong ... now!

To move under my own power is still a right, don't make it a priviledge.

More regulation ... incredible.

What are you talking about please? Cyclists are currently regulated like motorists. However, spotty enforcement and ignorance of this by both road users and law enforcement creates a lot of friction on all sides.

bikeforums.net: Complain about courteous drivers. Complain about rude drivers.

Complain about dangerous drivers.

What are you talking about please? Cyclists are currently regulated like motorists. However, spotty enforcement and ignorance of this by both road users and law enforcement creates a lot of friction on all sides.
Enjoying your CCTV enforced life?

Enjoying your CCTV enforced life?

You've lost me, please explain?

You've lost me, please explain?

We lost you long ago.

I complain about you complaining. While you can complain about me complaining and so on.

Just because a driver waves you through does not mean you have to go. I usually unclip, grab my water bottle, and stare at them. Unfortunately, if I am in a hurry I employ a double standard and occasionally take them up on it if I can tell that it will not result in me being splayed across a hood.

We lost you long ago.

Here, this may help you.

Me - http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=51.523391,-0.259745&spn=0.011816,0.025578&z=16

You, apparently - http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=santa+fe&ie=UTF8&ll=35.697456,-105.937042&spn=0.493501,0.818481&z=11

It may be a question of perspective. I may be going out on a limb but I suspect that most (almost all for that matter) of us that commute to work by bike also do a fair amount of driving as well. Do we recognize ( or acknowledge) that most of the "cagers" that we encounter on a daily basis have little (if any) concept of what a someone on a bikes "perspective" is in the same situation. My goal is to strive to create a situation that is the least stressful for the motorist and myself (even if it means pulling over to the side for a moment or two). If I have the advantage of seeing both sides (I acknowledge that may be a bit arrogant) then does that not place the burden on me?

bikeforums.net: Complain about courteous drivers. Complain about rude drivers. Just complain about drivers.

Just avoid busy 'left turn' intersections...

Ah, you see, the complaint is not about courteous drivers. The complaint is about drivers who believe themselves to be courteous when, in fact, they are being discourteous, or even dangerous.

Ah, you see, the complaint is not about courteous drivers. The complaint is about drivers who believe themselves to be courteous when, in fact, they are being discourteous, or even dangerous.

Exactly. They're not being polite (especially to all the cars backed up behind them. They'll screw over six drivers behind them to wave on one.

It's not courteous. It's ignorance.


The same thing happens in other ways as I'm driving. I'll be going straigh, and merge into the center median to turn left. Some guy on a side street who has been waiting longer than me thinks that because he has been at a stop sign for a couple minutes that he gets to pull into the road before I turn off that road. He's wrong. I don't care how long he's been waiting, the law says he has a stop sign and I don't. Therefore, I have the right of way.


Following the law as meticulously as possible is the polite thing to do, because it can literally be a matter of life and death.

Bypassing the law to be "polite" is anything but.

OH yes, good idea. Do you know of good info to include from somewhere on the net? i will search it when I get back, right now I am going for a ride before the traffic get real bad.

http://www.bikexprt.com/streetsmarts/usa/index.htm

One thing is for sure, this is a very consistent behavior among drivers. They treat us as children to be herded through the intersection.

So I guess we can't get upset at it any more than we can get upset at water running downhill. But I never accept this. I do insist that they respect their own right of way. It sure confuses the heck out of them.

I know what you mean.
I always get drivers that reach a 4-way stop before me. They wait for me to come to a sloooow complete stop and put my foot down, and then wave me thru.
I'm stopped! Just go already! Yeesh.

+eleventybillion

Wow yeah. Sometimes I'll be going so slow I'm pretty much track standing waiting for a car to clear the intersection and when I look up again they are still there and when I'm finally stopped they might wave me through or procede through the intersection very slowly staring at what I'm doing(track standing). Blarg.

I try to take control of these situations. I'll either shake my head so they know clearly that I am not going to go, no matter how much they wave, or I look off in some other direction, as though I don't even want to go through at the moment. Or I'll stop and sit up, take a drink of water, something like that.

I just don't get waved through intersections. The people doing the waving have no idea what constitutes a safe bicycling corridor. I go when I think it's safe, and not until then.

Part of the problem, we have to admit, is scofflaw cyclists. Twice now I've stopped at a 4-way stop, and outwaited a motorist who got there first, and is to my right and therefore has right of way, only to have some assinine cyclist overtake me from behind and blow the stopsign and cruise through the intersection inches from the car bumper. It's not you and me that causes car drivers to be leery of us at stop signs, it's those other cyclists

I just stare them down until they move. The dumber they are, the longer I stare.

This happens to me several times a week:

I need to take a left turn. I pull out into the left turn lane. I am the first vehicle in the lane. I signal my intention to turn left.

The light turns green.

The driver in the oncoming lane (going straight through the intersection) WAVES ME THROUGH.


I hate it when people are courteous.

I love it when people are courteous and the potential end result is me being loaded into an ambulance or being taken to the morgue. If they would follow the rules of the road this would not be an issue.

I think sometimes they're trying to make up for all the drivers who won't let us through.

I dunno... I'd rather have the option of turning down the wave-through than no option of ever getting across the intersection safely. Which is how it seems sometimes, especially at the onramp at 125th...

Four way stops confound some auto drivers, whether or not there is a bicycle at one of them. They are so conditioned to traffic lights that specifically indicate who can go and who should not go, that they arrive at a four way stop and have a total cerebral malfunction. My town is infested with four way stops. If nobody is behind me, and the nimrod opposite me can't deal with a four way, I make a game out of how long he/she will wait before proceeding. My record so far is 3 1/2 turns given up to cross traffic, just the other day when I was in my car. That means that a left turning nimrod who has the right of way opposite me let cross traffic go once cuz it was cross traffic's turn (and I was still 50 feet away from the four way). Then sat dumbfounded until cross traffic gave up and went again. Then sat dumbfounded till cross traffic went a third time. Then sat dumbfounded just long enough to have cross traffic start again just as he was going, resulting in everyone stopping and giving hand signals so that nimrod would finish what he had started. Amazing.