Commuting - Car Drivers that Honk...

So I commute to work ~3 times a week in the summer, maybe more. Most of the roads that I ride are very low traffic so I have few unpleasant encounters with cars. What cracks me up occasionally is car drivers that honk and complain about you going too slow...and promptly get passed. On the way to work there is a downhill on a 30mph street. The lanes are narrow and there is street side parking so I usually take the middle of the right lane, as it's pretty easy to keep up with traffic (which is usually slower than 30mph anyway). So today I get honked at by a guy in a pickup. He honks at me from the left lane and then merges right in front of me. So I naturally get into the left lane and pass him, yelling "HONK HONK!" as I go by. He got very very upset by this.

I always feel bad about doing this, but man is it ever funny...

Nah don't feel bad....very funny. Sounds like that guy needs a sense of humour.

Poor guy, I wish I could of seen his face.

Ha, that's funny. Most of us here have had similar encounters.

Indeed...I had a SUV accellerate and race pass me this morning only to stop not more than 100 ft ahead...and then wait while I went by so they could make a right turn....

That's awesome! I hate most honkers. People beeping hello don't bother me. I don't know why they bother other people.


Indeed...I had a SUV accellerate and race pass me this morning only to stop not more than 100 ft ahead...and then wait while I went by so they could make a right turn....

Hey at least they stopped. I've had people race around me and turn right in front of me.

Last Friday, just reaching the top of a long climb on a narrow country road and a car pulls up real close behind me starts blarring the horn and I hear teens yelling "get outta the road you geek", I slid a little to the right and they pull up along side and beep again.....damn kids, see if I fill her gas tank next time.

I find it humorous when people pass you and yell something as they go by. I don't think they realize that with traffic, their car's engine accelerating and the fact that they are inside their car probably with music on, that I can't understand a word they are saying.

Last Friday, just reaching the top of a long climb on a narrow country road and a car pulls up real close behind me starts blarring the horn and I hear teens yelling "get outta the road you geek", I slid a little to the right and they pull up along side and beep again.....damn kids, see if I fill her gas tank next time.

Wrong way. If someone honks at me and yells, on a country road with no oncoming traffic, I move LEFT.

Wrong way. If someone honks at me and yells, on a country road with no oncoming traffic, I move LEFT.

There was a punchline hidden in there you might have missed...

On the positive side, I've found that a honker/yeller/A-hole encounter usually gives me a rush of adrenaline that gives me a power boost for the next 5-30 minutes (depending on the severity of the aggression). Maybe they're just trying to be saintly and give you a boost up that next hill ;).

I had a fun experience today. I was *driving my car* on campus, which is a rare experience for me, when the light changed to green. I was going left, and had to yield to oncoming traffic. Once the two oncoming cars cleared, I waited for a bicyclist behind them to proceed through the intersection as well. The guy behind me honked twice because I had the audacity to yield to oncoming traffic. I get harassed by cars for bike reasons even when I'm not on my bike in this town. Ridiculous.

There was a punchline hidden in there you might have missed...

Hah.. it took me a few extra reads, but I finally got it.

I sometimes get people who just give a quick "friendly" honk, as if just to let me know they're there. Probably cyclists I usually guess. That's cool with me.

There was a punchline hidden in there you might have missed...

Ah, so there was.

I have no problems with the courtesy honk, so long as it's done 100 feet or more behind me. I have a big problem with aholes doing it 10 feet behind.

I got a honk this morning. First one I've gotten in over 2 months of commuting. Irked me to no end.

I was riding in the bike lane on 4th St. near the University of Minnesota, a one way street so the bike lane is on the left, when I approached 15th Ave. There is construction on the corner, so the bike lane is closed, but that's no problem, as I turn left at 15th anyway, so I slide over into the lane to my right--I've been doing this for weeks. People either wait for me, or change lanes and pass.
This morning, though, some dingbat in PT cruiser, who wants to turn left at 15th, gets right behind me and honks. Where does she expect me to go? I looked, but ignored her otherwise. I just kept pedaling, made my turn with her right behind me, and got in the bike lane on 15th. She zoomed up to the stoplight at 15th and University. I pulled up next to her and glared, but she wouldn't make eye contact. She tore off when the light changed, but I nearly caught her at the next stop sign, too.

I understand being in a hurry, but I cost her all of 10 seconds, and she would have had to wait at the stoplight anyway.

I got a blip from a horn yesterday from way back, but I had already heard the tires humming so I knew he was there. At first I felt a little miffed, and then I got hold of myself and realized the driver had attempted a courtesy. Big difference between that and a tailgating horn blast.

... So today I get honked at by a guy in a pickup. He honks at me from the left lane and then merges right in front of me. So I naturally get into the left lane and pass him, yelling "HONK HONK!" as I go by. He got very very upset by this.

I always feel bad about doing this, but man is it ever funny...

I do this routinely, most often as a pedestrian though, and it gives me satisfaction. I live in Kenmore Square in Boston near Fenway Park, and on Game Days the traffic is always tied up, yet people needlessly honk as if it gets them somewhere. :notamused:

There was a punchline hidden in there you might have missed...

Your kids, right?

Do you honk your horn as a courtesy when you're about to pass a car? If not, then why would you do it to a bicycle? Can you tell me what value it has? Is the honk going to prevent the bicyclist from doing something they otherwise would have? If the bicyclist is riding sensibly, the answer is no.

So there is no such thing as a courtesy honk.

Do you honk your horn as a courtesy when you're about to pass a car?

No, although interestingly enough, it used to be required by law to do so.

Get an Airzounds and honk back.

if its night time, i prefer people to just flash their high beams if there about to pass on a narrow road.

get an airzounds and honk back.

+1

On the positive side, I've found that a honker/yeller/A-hole encounter usually gives me a rush of adrenaline that gives me a power boost for the next 5-30 minutes (depending on the severity of the aggression). Maybe they're just trying to be saintly and give you a boost up that next hill ;).

This is TRUE! However, its the fight-or-flight instinct kicking in and that can be dangerous if you aren't feeling the "flight" path. I have to try to not be confrontational when I'm back in my parents' neck of the bike-free Indiana woods*

*=corn

Your kids, right?

yeah, my kids and some friends. Did happen, no I haven't filled her tank yet.

No, although interestingly enough, it used to be required by law to do so.


And also for a man to walk out front of the car at 15 paces, ringing a bell...

They terrorize cyclists, thereby they are terrorists.