Originally Posted by
Leisesturm
I wondered if you would ever admit, in print, that drivers don't always "listen" and respect your right of way. Now compound that. Add in something like race to the mix. Now you may understand why racial minorities and/or women might choose less confrontational styles of riding than pure VC.
No one is being confrontational. I just posted a video over the weekend of 5 cases of people doing stupid things (4 of those being stupid passing) over the past couple of weeks. NOT ONE ever honked, yelled, or came close to me in any way, shape or form. They put themselves and other motorists in danger, while ignoring me trying to help keep them safe. Find it in the "what does your commute look like" thread.
Originally Posted by
Leisesturm
Tandems, women, older riders... when the light (arrow) turns green, the car ahead is going to pull away like the cyclists are standing still. The light (arrow) will time out long before the bike gets to the intersection if more than 3 or more cars back. Cars behind will be livid. Again as I said to Patrick... throw gender, race or age into that charged dynamic of impatient cager who missed the turn because they were too decent to just run you over. You have to sit through the complete light cycle with their horn blowing or their yelling out their window that you should be on the sidewalk or whatever gets in their head to say to you that is against TOS for me to repeat here. YMMV, but I pick my battles. I filter as close to the light as possible to maximize the chance that I will get through the arrow on the first cycle, and I take a line through the turn that allows cars to pass if they need to. If they don't, great, but they can't say I didn't give them the option.
Apparently you don't understand traffic dynamics. Unless the intersection is very large and spread out, people aren't going fast through a left turn when there's other traffic in front of them. Most people take it fairly slow (unless they're trying to make a stale green arrow with no one in front of them). When a line of traffic starts moving, there is delay farther back in line because people always allow a gap to open up in front of them before they start moving. What you say COULD happen, depending on how far back in line you are, and how short the arrow is. Most turn arrows last longer than 3 cars, except that one by my office that lasts EXACTLY 3 cars long. Some arrows last 10 or even 20 cars. It all depends on how the signal is timed and adjusted, which SHOULD be done based on traffic volumes along with sensor inputs.
As I've mentioned before, I took to the sidewalk once in Florida because of past experiences with an extremely long left turn queue, for exactly the reason you stated. But then in other places I've been 5-6 cars back with a trailer full of groceries attached, and I still made it through the left turn fine, as did traffic behind me. A little more of a gap opened up between me and the car in front, but no one was "livid" as you said. No one honked or revved or did any of those things.
I think much of the animosity you feel like exists from motorists towards cyclists, just simply isn't real.