Walter S

I'm sure you encounter them. They respect you as a cyclist. They smile as they express joy in seeing a fellow human being out and enjoying himself and being active. The world is such a nice place. And yet...(fill in the blank)

Now they want to do you a favor. There are multiple versions of this. There's always a delay involved. One of my favorites is the people that sit behind a tinted glass and try to give me right of way that is not mine by default. I would smile and say thank you and pedal on thru. But I can't see anything except sometimes some shadows that just might be somebody waving me on. That's not enough to make me roll forward only to be found mistaken and pay the price.

And later I'm sure many of them think I'm an idiot.

geehue

The world would be much better if people were just a little more rotten ...

What scares me is when I can't see the wave-through, and wait. Eventually I realize the person in the car is ceding me right of way, and I begin to take it, but by this time the person in the car has assumed I don't want the right of way, and begins pulling out into the intersection. Then we both have to suddenly stop and start the process over.

Eric S.

Sometimes all drivers at a 4-way stop will try to wave me on when it's not my turn. I stare at the pavement hoping they'll just go, but they don't. By the time I'm pretty much FORCED to go, they could have been well on their way.

Then there's the driver at a stop sign that you make eye contact with, and he/she starts to roll out in front of you anyway, then stopping again within 10 feet when they realize you are a moving object.

Bikeforumuser0019

Ouch, man. Everyone behaves in annoying ways sometimes. I'll take Stupid-but-Friendly over Intelligent and malicious any day. Both exist and are probably equally common.....

fietsbob

A PhD can still be a Bad driver. Rich, self centered, MBA's are the worst ..

urbanescapee

I've found the best way that works for me is to put my foot down, literally. Then I just take both hands off the handlebars. I haven't encountered a driver yet that hasn't seen that as a clear signal that I have no intentions of dancing with a 1+ ton steel box.

Hub Spanner

Jokes aside, anyone have a good way of dealing with this? I just freeze until it is my "legal" turn to go. If I were to guess wrong, I get hurt or killed. The driver only gets a scuffed bumper.

Cyclosaurus

I recently heard someone refer to these too-polite people as "niceholes". At stop signs I just stubbornly refuse to go. I've had standoffs go on for quite a while until the drivers finally give up.

The worst is when one driver in a four-lane road decides to stop to let you cross the street, as people in the lane next to them blast by. That's a case where someone is actually luring you into a deadly situation.

otter22

Assuming that your 4-way stop intersections are lightly traveled like mine, what I will generally do when faced with this situation is immediately turn right. If I am at six o'clock and the driver is at three o'clock, this allows me to slip in behind him and I have not had to stop at all. I then just follow him through the intersection (if my destination route is nine o'clock) or turn right again for a twelve o'clock destination route.

Obviously this works all the way around the clock - it gives the driver/drivers at the other points in the intersection a clear signal they I don't need to account for me in going through the intersection, keeps me moving at a faster rate than stopping and playing the "after you" game, and, most importantly, allows them to get back to their texting and phone calls with a minimum of delay.

unillenium

I think when a motorist gives up right of way like that they should be charged with reckless driving.

There's a particular road In my city with 2 lanes in each direction separated by a median. There's a pedestrian/cycle crossing point where traffic has the right of way and every so often some "nice " old lady stops and waves pedestrians across. The problem is:

#1 . She's at a dead stop at a 70km/h roadway

#2 . Pedestrians can't see motorists passing her

#3 . Motorists that are passing her (who are now distracted by their anger about why she just slammed on her brakes) can't see the pedestrian that she is waving across.

It's only a matter of time until somebody dies because they think they are being nice when they are just being a ×%@#$

An ignorant one at that because they are reckoning they know more about civil engineering than the civil engineer that said "it would be safest for motorists to have the right of way here. "

f4rrest

See? You're just confusing all the drivers by stopping at the intersection...

Shimagnolo

Joey?
Is that you?

Junkdad

I make eye contact and wave them through even as I am coming to a stop. We all want to be nice and get along and most drivers seem to really appreciate a proactive wave as it saves a lot of time for everyone.

Shimagnolo

For the last couple years I've had a motorcycle, and put about the same miles/year on the bicycle as on the motorcycle. (Motorcycle gets very little use in the winter.)
It is sooo nice not having cagers doing stupid, unpredictable, overly-polite things when I'm on the motorcycle.

Bike Gremlin

I hate pedestrians when you stop on a zebra crossing to let them cross that wave you on. By the time I was slowing down, they could have passed and I wouldn't have had to stop... but nooooo....

PatrickGSR94

Of course this has to be posted

I-Like-To-Bike

Luke, the Self Righteousness Force Field is strong among this tribe of absolutely perfect, polite all-knowing cycling commuters. Try to resist the smugness.

jfowler85

When they wave me through, I wave back at them or give the head-nod to signal the same intent. If they refuse to go I make the motion more aggressive, i.e. more exaggerated gesture. If they still don't get it, I unclip my remaining shoe and grab a water bottle or start checking my phone. Some of the time anyways...if there is no traffic and just the waver and I at the intersection, it's not worth the effort to stand my ground.

Some drivers just don't get it...things get confusing in a hurry when at a 4-way (or a double four way like this) when no one is clear who is supposed to go.

Bike Gremlin

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9S75Rfva9O8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vfs5-TO5ro

unillenium

I think I adequately explained my position in the part of the post that you didn't quote because if you quoted it then you wouldn't have earned any cool points:

Stopping your vehicle on a multi lane roadway in such a manner that it blocks a pedestrians field of view of potential hazards and then waving them on blindly is a great way to put their lives in danger.

corrado33

I generally look away from oncoming cars. If I'm looking away they can't "wave" me through. I'll generally just look down the road in the opposite direction. (Pretending to "look" for other cars.) That works 90% of the time for me.

The other day though I was slightly annoyed. A car was stopped at a busy cross street trying to make a left hand turn. I arrived at the opposite stop sign much later than they did. I was going straight. Even though there were plenty of times for them to pull out, they still waved me through. Meh, whatever. 10 seconds out of their day.

rhm

Yep, that's a pretty good tactic. More drastic measures are sometimes required, like putting a foot down and getting out the cell phone, pretending to read texts.

But I must admit, like many cyclists I sometimes go when I should stop, and this makes drivers wary.

treadtread

I get a lot of polite drivers - what I do depends on where I am and who else is there. If there are no other cars at the intersection, and I can see the driver well, and see that he is waving me through - I'll wave thanks and go through. If there is even one other car at the intersection, I shake my head and wave to the car to go through first (unless I have right of way). Seems to work well enough ..

Neddog

The key is not to hesitate. Even if the other driver has the right of way, if he is clearly waiting for you then don't make him wait. Being cautious and being hesitant is NOT the same thing, and in fact are polar opposites on the safety spectrum. On the road you should always check thoroughly to ensure the way is safe, then when you know the way is open you should always move quickly and without hesitation, focused on the task with the secure knowledge that you already checked things out ahead of time. This applies to everything from lane changes to stops, but in this case the way it works is that if you don't take the chance to move when it's given to you, the driver may end up "giving up" on letting you go, at the same time that you "give up" on convincing him to go... thus causing you both to move into the intersection at the same time. So don't hesitate. If somebody waits for you, you might be thinking "just go already!", but don't argue about it and take what he gives you. Even if it is annoying....

spare_wheel

turn around, go the other direction, and then loop back.