Advocacy & Safety - "Confrontation" turns out friendly

I'm heading to work yesterday morning and ahead of me to my right a small SUV rolls through a stop sign near a school, pulls around the corner and stops. As he's getting out of the car, I mention that he failed to stop and keep rolling, not able to hear his response. Shortly thereafter, I see him coming up from behind and think the worst. As he passes me with his passenger side window down he says "I'm sorry, you are right, I was in a hurry...." At the next stop sign, I catch up to him and he's stopped at the sign and says "how's this, better?" I say "yes, good job", and we both wave and move on. It made my day.

Nice to see that sometimes an anticipated confrontation turned into friendly encounter. I had the same thing happen to me a number of years ago when I asked a person who roared past me way too close to kindly give me more space when I talked to them further down the road. She said she was sorry and did not realise how close she passed me.

That being said I do not generally comment on another's driving unless they had done something to endanger me directly.

I often yell "3 Feet!" to motorists that come too close.

I often yell "3 Feet!" to motorists that come too close.
99.9% of the people will have no idea what you're talking about, unfortunately.

I tend to do the same thing.

Sadly this is true. :-(

careful lest you encourage them to look at their feet in response

careful lest you encourage them to look at their feet in response
All three of them.

I think it probably helped being as you "mentioned" and didn't "yell and scream", eh?

Anyway, great job, we need people who can effectively communicate as opposed to freak out our needs as cyclists.

I've decided to treat almost every confrontation on the road as friendly.

If the guy's being a jerk, pretending he's being friendly is a good sarcastic response and might actually disarm him.

On the other hand, I've mistaken horn honks and shouted comments negatively only to find out later they were made with good intentions. It's sometimes hard to figure out with the ambient noise what is intended. A shout almost always sounds angry, and a friendly warning beep of a car horn can often sound angry.

That's cool. I bet I go at least a month, maybe a year between seeing cars that actually stop at stop signs when there's nobody coming on the cross road. Heck, around here it's not uncommon to see cars rolling stop signs at 15 MPH or more.

I was riding down a busy street at night in Boston and as some young guys passed me I heard one yell "...[something] bike." I had the pleasure of catching them at the next light and said, "Are you talking to me?." The passenger said "Which way to Mass Pike?" [a toll road]. Good comeback, or else I did mis-hear the original shout. :o

I was descending a long, but not particulary steep hill, yesterday. It was on a two-lane stretch of state highway, and the shoulders vary from six feet wide to non-existent, including a bridge over a creek that is labelled "narrow bridge." I saw a fellow in a smallish SUV {about PT Cruiser size** idling at the end of his drive, but with his head down, as if he were checking to see if he had his feet on the right pedals. I was afraid he might be texting. I noticed that his window was rolled down, so I yelled "Heads UP!" as I got within a couple of bikelengths of him. Sure enough, his head popped up, and as I passed him, I saw him looking around, trying to figure out where the phantom voice had come from.

I didn't feel like winding up as the guy who gets hit by a car "that just started accelerating by itself, officer."

Kevin

No one stops at stop signs anymore. I've been rear ended in a car when I stopped and the person behind me anticipated me rolling through; bad part was that it was a teacher and I was still in high school.

I've had it happen at least one other time and several other close calls. There's also several 4 way intersections where even if you have the right away, if you stop, other cars see this and roll right on through.

I really hate driving around where I live, it always makes me angry.