Sawtooth

I agree. The behavior also differs widely between US cities. Where I grew up, honking means "pull over, I am going to kick your **S!" I have been in other places where people seemed conditioned to honk when the light turns green no matter what. Of course, the type of honk is a form of communication as well.

caloso

I have a similar situation on my route. About 100 m before I have to take the lane, I'll look back, make eye contact and point right at the driver that I"m going pull in front of. I then make the palm-down "slowing" gesture and take the lane pretty assertively. When I get to the end of the parked cars, I look back again and make a circular "pull through" gesture. When they pass, I give a friendly wave.

I'm trying to convey that I am a good guy, a fellow traveler, and I know what the heck I'm doing. Since I started doing this, I've never had a problem.

Rixtory

I don;t mind the friendly "toot toot" to let me know someone is coming up behind me. It is the loud angry territorial "HOOOOOOOOONKKKKKKKKKK" That is most annoying (and dangerous, if it cuases you to swerve)

Camel

Yeah, and by crumb its annoying as all get out! I cycled into Istanbul centrum on tour. Everyone honks. I think they honk if they see an ant! The Dolmus (taxi minibus things) honk at EVERYONE standing by the side of the road-trying to get fares. Imagine a four lane road packed with mini bus taxis, along streets crowded with pedestrians on the sidewalk, going about 20 mph. Nitemare.

It gets a bit less annoying out in the countryside, as the honk is more of an "I see you" toot. Compared with the evil "get outa my way" lean on the horn, we seem to have here in the states.

discosaurus

LOL.

I wish I could be that calm about it... on some rides my middle finger gets more exercise than my legs do.

ryang

If worse comes to worse, carry a pocket air horn and blast right back at them.

darkmother

Sometimes I have to wonder what is going on in the minds of these cagers. I mean, there is just no way they can be as stupid as they act. Sometimes I am tempted to ask them if they dress themselves.

This morning, some hairlipped, overweight, 40-something-year-old missing link couldn't resist laying on her horn because I was in front of her riding-merciful heavens-a bicycle. Here's the scoop. I'm rolling up to a red light on the right in two lanes of very light northbound traffic. I need to make a left, and there is tons of room around me, so I merge to the center of the slow lane, and prepare to merge accross the fast lane as I approach the intersection. Naturally, Jenny Craig, who is probably a good 3 car lengths behind me, and barely gaining, will have none of it. She accellerates, lays on her horn and does a lane change to get around me (that's three things at once! I was impressed too.), only to slam on her brakes at the light 2 seconds later. I laughed to myself, and watched her rage distorted face for signs of embarassment or guilt for the antisocial and utterly pointless temper tantum she just threw at me. None was forthcoming. $%&*ing cagers. They create their own hell.

Helmet Head

Hey, that's what I do!

Wellsack

my favorite saying is horn blows how about the driver? Just ignore them.

apple_boy_

i like the screaming out "beeeep, beeeep" idea, it might actually work!!-only on days that they have their windows open, unless you can scream that loud...

fcastle

Agreed. I mean, here we are, commuting to work using a method that does not pollute the atmosphere, reduces fuel usage, and removes one more car from the roadway. And they get mad!

Whenever a driver pauses for me to pass in whatever the situation might be, and especially when the driver did not have to, I always try to give a courtesy "Thank you" wave to the person.

Another one I do not understand it the person who honks when there is no reason to. About 4 miles of my commute is along a two lane each direction divided highway (60MPH vehicle traffic). There I am, as far to the right of the very wide shoulder as the roadway debris allows, and some car will drive by with the driver honking a bunch of times. I do not know if the various drivers do that because they think it is funny or think I look a dork (very possible) or what.

dwightonabike

Here in NC, the driver's handbook still says you're supposed to give a small honk to alert a driver if you're going to pass. The horn is required in cars as a form of communication, not a release for frustration. But then, its pretty easy to tell the difference between a short "here I am" honk and the angry "Get off the road!" honk.

Be careful with obscene gestures in responses to honking - it could be co-workers (or boss) just trying to say "hi"!

gmacrider

Heh heh...borrowing from Wellsack I'd love to get a bumper sticker for my bike that says:

"Blow me, not your horn"

JohnCub

You mean not everyone flips their bosses and coworkers the bird?

Quickbeam

If this is the first time you've been honked at in 50 commutes, I'd say you're doing pretty damn good! It seems like I get honked at at least a couple of times a week and half the time I don't even know what the hell the driver is honking at me for. Just because I have the audacity to ride a bike on the street I guess. I used to be partial to obscene gestures and yelling obscenities at the offending motorists (that was in my younger days). But I realized that it was just a waste of energy and it usually only serves to piss-off the motorist (and frankly myself too) even further. I just completely ignore it now. Unless I really did do something stupid or I screwed-up in some othe manner, in which case I'll give an apologetic wave. If a motorist persistantly honks when I ignore them I'll sometimes turn and give them a shrug along with a WTF? look as if to say "I don't know what you want me to do" but that's about it.

jeff-o

Perhaps cars should come equipped with two horns, one for friendly "just so you know I'm here" signals, and one for "Get out of the way!" signals.

OTOH, maybe not. One horn seems to be too complicated for some people.

steel_is_real

I like it, and also the apologetic wave when you screw up sounds good too. Thanks

jekemp

I just don't let these people bother me anymore. Some of the posters in this thread are right, If they are honking at you, then they can see you and hopefully not hit you. I am still amazed about surviving two years as a bike messenger in the most dangerous american city to ride a bike in, Atlanta. Honking is the least a motorist can do to you. On too many occasions I have witnessed bikers with attitudes get run down by road enraged motorists. I remember on one rare occassion an angry motorist actually got out of his vehicle and beat a fellow messenger with his buddies and then left him bloodied and semi-conscious on the sidewalk.

On my ride to work yesterday, I was riding on my block where the posted speed limit is 25mph. As I was nearing a stopsign, an enraged woman in a red mazda protege came up alongside me at a high rate of spped only to slam to a stop a mere 15 feet later at the stop sign. She was yelling through her open window that she could have hit me and that I needed to get off the road! I proceeded to thank her for not hitting me and continued with my business. In retrospect, I could have pulled her out of her car by her hair and backed over her with that little red car but that was the old me. The old me was a person who carried canned food in my courier bag to lob at offending motorists and chase cars for blocks on end just to get my point across.

You just can't expect motorists to be sympathetic with cyclists, period. I spend more time now just avoiding conflict with them all together and hoping that I am seen on my long midnight ride home. If someone honks, I just let it slide and feel lucky that I was not side-swiped or worse.

gibbain

If someone honks at me I do my best to try to ignore it. However, I have found that nothing will enrage an already angry driver more than blowing him or her a kiss.

palmertires

I am sorry to disagree, but I do expect motorists to be sympathetic with cyclists. As was stated earlier, we are using a method of transportation that not only reduces pollution (so the air we breathe and the atmosphere is cleaner), but we also reduce traffic and congestion. I just don't believe driving a car has to equal idiot. There is no excuse for acting like a jerk and putting someone else's life in danger. Not ever.

The Octopus 

There are different views on this, I know, but fwiw, I think you're safer using the road rather than the sidewalk and taking enough of the lane so that you're safe from not only getting doored, but also from someone trying to make a pass in your lane that they probably should not be making.

As for the honk, my response always depends on my mood. I agree that nothing gets more of a rise out of the driver than your blowing them a kiss (especailly if you're a guy and the driver is, too). I also agree that there's nothing more healthy for your psyche and your blood pressure (and perhaps you're third dimension, if the guy decides to mow you down in retaliation) than just ignoring the barbarians. But sometimes I'm in a foul mood and just spoiling for a (verbal) fight. I plead guilty to chasing down more than a small number of motorists and working them over. I hope I'll restrain myself in the future, but when I read the post about the guy who carried canned goods I thought of several jerks over the years whose rear window I'd have loved to penetrate with a can of Chefboyardee.... Maybe I'll convert the strap on my messenger bag into a bandolier for easier access....

palmertires

All in the sake of education. I mean, aside from those beyond help, there are probably quite a few motorists who are simply unaware of the proper way to drive around cyclists. Although, they probably should have failed driver's ed, since I recall my instructor emphasizing the driver's responsibility to be aware of what else is on the road with them and drive accordingly. I think it's called defensive driving. I bet some driver's think this means driving aggressively (hence, the annoying Hooooonk!). Anyway, letting someone know that they were driving in such a way as to put your life in danger is okay. If the message is delivered the right way, maybe the next cyclist they encounter will reap the benefits of your knowledge sharing effort. But, then there are those who will always be a menace to other drivers, pedestrians, cyclists, small animals, inanimate objects, etc.

Roody

The original post said something about being in the door zone. Therefore, it would be dangerous to move over--even "a bit"--and let the car go by in the same lane. Being polite to those who were rude to you is a grand gesture, but often too dangerous to consider! The driver should have moved into the available inner lane, and probably could have done so with little inconvenience. My only advice is to ride safely, and try not to worry about inconveniencing motorists a bit. Remember, you are part of the solution, they are part of the problem.