Originally Posted by
ianbrettcooper
So today, on the way back from taking my daughter into town on the Trail-a-Bike I happened to roll up to one of them just after a car got to the stop sign on the road to my left. I stopped at my stop sign as usual, about a second after the first car, but instead of waving the driver on (I've tried this before and they always insist I go first), I decided to turn around and have a chat with my daughter - just to see if the car would go. Hey, I thought - it's his turn - I'm not holding him up.
Are you in the United States? If so...here's part of your problem: it wasn't his turn. He was to your left, and the vehicle to the right goes first.
Yes, technically, the car that arrives first has the right of way. But he was calling it a tie, and in a tie, or when there is a line going on, the vehicle on the right goes first. So just go!
Or maybe he just likes bikes or is operating under the common principle of giving right of way to the most vulnerable vehicle (animals, then human pedestrians, and then i guess bikes are next in their mind). Personally, while driving a car, I will always let the bicyclist go first but will start waving to him to "give" him the right of way before he even stops so that he won't have to stop. Drivers often do that for me when I'm on my bike as well. That's just how we roll...