CNC2204

Why is that ?

Even tho im going 30+ mph speed limit people will pass me with on coming traffic just to end up stopped at a light or stop sign 20 to 30 feet in front of me.

Why is that ?

mcours2006

Because they've (we've) been conditioned to pass cyclists. Doesn't matter how fast you're going. That's just the way it is.

Dan333SP

It's because of Rule 1.

9 out of 10 times that a car passes me only to immediately slow and make a right hand turn, it's a senior citizen driving a land yacht Buick/Olds/Mercury.

Hypno Toad

bike = slow; car = fast

also... people in car = dumb

TobinH

I saw a situation like that on my commute today...a bus attempted to pass a line of cyclists even though a four way stop was clearly visible just ahead. The bus ended up stopped beside the lead cyclist, straddling the centre line and blocking the oncoming lane. The interesting thing was that the cyclist was signaling left, and thus had to circle out around the front of the bus in order to make his turn. But why would the bus driver attempt to pass a left indicating vehicle on the left anyways? Incompetence I suppose.

Shimagnolo

A couple times I've had an idiot try this and he ended up stopped at the intersection to my left in the wrong lane!

Jarrett2

They do the same thing with people hauling trailers. Don't take it personally.

BillyD

Also because big fish eat little fish:

car = 2,000 lbs
bike = 20 lbs

Dan333SP

That car must have more carbon bits than that bike

therhodeo

If I'm coming up on a 4 way or making a left turn I'm going to be 100% taking the lane. They're going to have to be in the other lane to pass me. They're less stupid when you make then commit like that.

Hypno Toad

Fine, I'll go buy the Hummer Alpha (8,000 lbs) and out weigh all the Buicks out there and I can run them off the road. Cool? Bullies can win cause their bigger... right?

Edit - better still: 2 tons of car around a human = indifference to the human lives around you.

PepeM

The other day I was riding on a small side street. A car was stopped on the opposite lane to let some people down, so the woman behind me on her SUV decided to honk her horn. I assumed she was pissed at the car that was stopped but no, when she managed to pass by she yelled at me to ride on the sidewalk. Some crazy people out there but I am not surprised, this country is designed to be completely car centric, of course drivers think they own the road.

Ben I.

Same here. After seeing recent posts about stop signs and oblivious drivers, whenever there's a car coming up behind me as I approach a stop sign or light, I always take the lane now so I don't have to worry about them seeing me or turning in front of me.

bronco71

I have a different experience. Prius, those damn things are evil like Monty Python rabbits. They look harmless and cute, but when you get near one on the road they rip you to shreds. Seriously though, distracted and self-righteous driving is all too common with drivers of this particular car. 9/10 close calls I've had in the last two years have been with Priuses (Priusi?... Prius'?... Priusses?) Ironically enough, many of the distracted Prius drivers whom I've encountered had a bike rack on the back.

GlennR

I enjoy catching them a the light and pulling in front so they have to pass me again.

Dan333SP

You also don't really hear them at speeds below ~20mph, they're running purely on batteries and I guess they have skinny tires and low drag so there's not a lot of road noise. Sneak up on me all the time.

Subaru drivers with bike racks and ironman stickers? They give you about 20 feet of clearance

eyewannabike

Poor driver training and poor general awareness. If you're in the US, there's a lot of ignorance and that carries through into people's driving. Use a Go Pro and if you see a driver doing something illegal call the police. Like all behavior, it doesn't get stopped until it's corrected.

bronco71

Lol, and run the guy to his left off the road.

Honestly, it was mentioned above. The worst are the city bus drivers. I'd swear those clowns do stupid crap just for the fun of it.

Dan333SP

Video Shows Bus Driver Allegedly Running Down Cyclist | NBC 6 South Florida

I was still living in Miami when that happened. The driver ended up not even getting a slap on the wrist, even though it seems pretty clear the bus driver was annoyed with the cyclist and knew full well that she was still alongside when she moved into him anyway. He filed suit against the city but I'm not sure how that turned out.

cellery

They really need to have a big FINISH banner at every intersection so motorists can get their sense of racing entitlements stoked.

RPK79

At 2:57 in the video is that the driver SMILING?

K100Fran 

It is their sense of self importance. They are more important than you and getting to their destination has a higher priority than whatever it is you are doing.

Good luck and be safe!

Long Tom

Traveling at a constant rate of speed is hypnotic, that plus the ol' conservation of momentum law puts drivers in this strange head space where to (gasp!) move their wittle footsie over a couple inches to (the horror!) press lightly on a different pedal and (nooooo!) slow down a bit is just apparently very difficult. I can't even count the number of blind-corner and blind-hill passes I've had drivers do, way over in the other lane. I mean it's Russian Roulette; someone comes around that corner the other direction and somebody is going to get hurt. Doesn't seem to stop idiot drivers from doing it. They will literally risk their life, the life of someone else coming the other way, my life, and their future financial well-being.... rather that move their wee wittle footsie a couple inches.

I'd be very curious to read a psychological study on it. It's bizarre.

Plus that, people are just so ridiculously self-centered. I had a 60-yr-old woman in a new Subaru create, while coming towards me, a very dicey situation just so she could deliver her message: "Can't you pull over to let that man pass you?".... I was climbing a very long, very steep hill and there was no shoulder. A pickup truck was coming behind me. Subaru-lady was coming down the hill. She literally stopped in her lane to deliver her wisdom, creating chaos because NOW the guy in the truck behind me was screwed. All she had to do was drive normally and it would've all been soooo easy. I was flabbergasted. NO I can't pull over further, you dumb <bleep>! I'm on a 15% grade going like 5 mph halfway up the most brutal climb in the whole area, and I'm already about 10" from the edge of the pavement! I have no idea where she thought I could pull over further TO. There was no more road! Utterly self-centric and a know-it-all bleep to boot.

Of course I never said any of this. My heart rate was near max and it all happened very quickly and I wasn't turning around to go confront her.

Cars make people STOOPID. Be careful out there.

bikecrate

I had someone do this in one of those jacked up trucks at a 4 way stop. Screwed everybody up because the other cars that had the right of way had nowhere to go.

bronco71

...and it's your fault, the jerk on the bike,... who dared to use,... the,... wait for it,...


road.



This is called situational awareness, or the lack thereof. Some people simply cannot process the potential hazards of the decisions they're making. It simply doesn't register that there may be a car coming the other way, the mind is stuck on passing the bike.