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Old 05-21-10 | 11:00 AM
  #12  
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Doohickie
You gonna eat that?
 
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 14,917
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From: Fort Worth, Texas Church of Hopeful Uncertainty

Bikes: 1966 Raleigh DL-1 Tourist, 1973 Schwinn Varsity, 1983 Raleigh Marathon, 1994 Nishiki Sport XRS

That happens to me regularly on my commute. There is a blind corner on a rural road, double yellow, all that. I take the lane. I get passed on the left. I accept it. It's not my place to try to police the drivers. By taking the lane, though, I give myself some room to shift right if a car starts to pass and there is oncoming traffic. If I'm out there it makes the driver behind me think twice and maybe pull back in. If he still passes, I have some room to slide to the right if he cuts back prematurely. My lane position is to give me a safety zone, not to try to keep him from passing.

HOWEVER, as the lead vehicle entering the turn, if my sight line allows me to see oncoming traffic, I will vigorously signal SLOW (left arm out and down at 45 degrees, palm facing back), maybe even pump it a few times. I've heard cars speeding up to pass, I give that signal and I hear them slow up. Once the oncoming lane is clear, I stop singaling Slow and maybe move a few inches to the right. If I'm beyond the double by then and into the passing zone, I even wave them around me.

When I just held the lane I either got suicide passes like in your video or I got honked at. Since I've started more active signaling to the cars, I get waves and the occasional friendly beep after they've passed me.

Basically, I accept without judgment that car drivers will be impatient and will pass regardless of the double yellow. They bend the law. So do I (in other situations). The only thing I try to do is manage the pass to keep everyone safe. If you facilitate their passing you, everyone's happy because everyone wins.

In your video, the curve looks pretty sharp; I'm not sure your sight line gives you that much vision around the turn, but I suggest just trying to manage the situation without telling the driver how to drive.
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I stop for people / whose right of way I honor / but not for no one.


Originally Posted by bragi "However, it's never a good idea to overgeneralize."

Last edited by Doohickie; 05-21-10 at 11:06 AM.
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