Commuting - Suck the Pride

I had a pretty good experience with riding today. I even "sucked my pride" by letting cars go even when they were waving me to go by. I normally would have gone. I know that it is hard to stop completely. But I found that the cars responded better when I would let them go more often than not. I even got waved at by a bus driver who was happy to see a cyclist actually stop and let him go by even though I had the right of way. I gave him a thumbs up! This post isn't meant to be "flame bait". Just my perception of todays ride into work. My general thought behind the title: "Suck the Pride" means that maybe we need to give a little to get a little...give respect to get respect...that is the gist. :)

kb0tnv's Blog (http://kb0nv.blog.us)

I guess the questions that have to be asked are:

1. What sort of environment do you ride in? and;

2. How long do you have to get to work?

You see, in a large section of my commute, the road is pretty narrow. Waving drivers through here is simply not an option because of the general lack of competence Gold Coast motorists have at judging a safe distance to pass. About the only way I could do it would be to physically get off the bike and stand at the side of the road until they're all gone. If I do that, I'm going to be late for work.

To be honest, I really believe "respect" from drivers is an overrated concept. For one thing, how does one accurately gauge whether you've either earned or lost respect? When a driver shouts abuse at you, how do you know whether it's because he's "p!ssed off" at something you did, or whether he's just having a bad day generally? Even asking them is unlikely to give a truly accurate answer to that one.

Face it, all we really need from them is compliance. There are already laws in place to ensure safe overtaking, all I want is for those laws to be followed universally. Consequently, if I'm given the choice between risking my life to possibly earn "respect" (and making myself late for work in the process), or taking the safe option, claiming the lane where necessary, and merely achieving compliance, I'll be taking option #2.

1. Some roads are really narrow and have little shoulder and others have plenty of shoulder. I usually ride on the shoulder next to the white line if I have plenty of room. If there are cars or the shoulder is narrow I will ride in the lane as far right as possible. A good portion of my ride has two lanes. So I am able to stay in the right lane and cars have plenty of room to pass or use the other lane.

2. I ride 9.5 miles to work

1. Some roads are really narrow and have little sholder and others have plenty of sholder. I usually ride on the sholder next to the white line if I have plenty of room. If there are cars or the sholder is narrow I will ride in the lane as far right as possible.

Again, this seems to be where our riding environments differ. If there's a suitable shoulder I'll use it. But around here, inviting cars to pass where there just isn't any room by riding in the gutter will get you killed. As I said, Gold Coast motorists are notoriously poor at judging a safe passing distance in these situations, and the rest of us have an obligation to make that judgement on their behalf. Consequently, if the lane is too narrow to share safely, I'll claim the whole thing and make them change lanes.

I've made it a rule to never proceed just because a driver waves me through. I only go if I have the right of way.

For instance, at a T-intersection I was waiting to make a left onto the larger road and the a pickup was coming down the top of the T and wanted to make a left onto the smaller road. Normally he has the right of way since he's traveling on the larger road, but he was nice and stopped and waved me to go through. However, there was another car behind him that just passed by him on the right (the road had a large enough shoulder to do this safely), and continued at speed right through the T-intersection.

The problem with people waving you through is that no one else on the road is noticing what the kind driver is doing. I think, kind of like Chris said, if everyone follows the rules, then everybody knows what to do and can anticipate where all the other vehicles will be. Once you start waving through and what not the system gets all out of whack.

In fact, here in suburbia I have lots of kind people wanting to wave me through, but I always emphatically shake my head. They might think I'm being rude but I'm just trying to be safe.

In most places I've lived with 2 lane roads it is illegal to pass a thru or left turning vehicle by passing on the right (read as shoulder, intersection, etc), unless a designated lane has been provided for right turns and thru traffic. Yet it is a very common occurance to be overtaken by someone on the shoulder while you are waiting to make your left turn. Where is traffic enforcement when you need it?

'bent Brian

The problem with people waving you through is that no one else on the road is noticing what the kind driver is doing. I think, kind of like Chris said, if everyone follows the rules, then everybody knows what to do and can anticipate where all the other vehicles will be. Once you start waving through and what not the system gets all out of whack.

This is a good point. Traffic flows best when everyone acts predictably. If you cede your right of way, you are not riding predictably. The only exception might be when someone can only break into traffic is someone in the right of way yields.

Once you start waving through and what not the system gets all out of whack.

I agree. Someone in a car waved another car through to make a left turn as I was riding down a hill at 25 mph. Fortunately, the driver of the turning car noticed me and stopped, but only after he had gotten just to the edge of my lane (outer lane) on this 4-lane road. Scared me out of my wits.

Ive had drivers cede their right of way, at my expense. Rights of way are there for a reason, so I never yeild unless I have a very good reaon.

One driver overtook me, downhill, in the rain, then braked hard to let a driver make a turn across the lane. I almost rear ended the car, but managed to overshoot. The worst part was starting up again, in a very high gear. I faffed around trying to get pedalling, and a passenger in the the car behind me opened the window and threatend me with all kinds of foul language. ...All because someone wanted to be nice.

There are several intersections with 4 way stop signs on my commute. If a car approaches on the cross street at the same time as me, I wave it on as I am slowing down. It then goes and is out of my way before I have stopped. I can go through without stopping. If we both stop and he then waves me through, it is a bigger delay for both of us.

This only works if there is no other traffic.

After rethinking it over it is best not to give into people who wave me on. I should just take my turn like normal. Thanks for all your thoughts.

Peace

I take my turn at intersections. If a driver is waving me through and I don't have right-of-way, I wave back and won't go until s/he does. If it's not enough, I unclip. Today I thought of pointing to my stop sign. Drivers sometimes expect cyclists to blow stop sign. Follow the system, the road is not a good place to be creative.

I have part of a commute where I make a turn onto a street that is always backed up with traffic a good distance. I always keep my place in line with the cars. I've debated about riding up along the shoulder and passing them all, then turning right on red. But then I'm on a *very* narrow bridge, where they'll just have to pass me again once the light is green. For me, I try not to pass cars that are sitting in traffic that will then have to pass me again very soon.

Is this normal etiquette, or am I being strange?