Originally Posted by guythatbrews

I am kinda frustrated with the whole cars passing blind deal. This is far and away the most dangerous thing I deal with. My commute is very winding with lots of rolling hills. Some of the hills are short and steep. I live on a residential lake so sight lines here are VERY short. After leaving the lake the ride is mostly rural (and a great ride!) until close to work where I encouter suburban drivers heading to work, i.e. impatient drivers. I am lucky no urban entaglement but lots of rednecks and unenlightened.

Credit where credit is due, some drivers are vey courteous and understanding. Maybe 2/3's or better. And I try to be visible as possible without being annoying. Lights and bright clothing, etc. I HOPE everyone sees me.

Taking the lane doesn't seem to help at all. The dummies just pass farther to the left. Even to the point of using the left shoulder if they have to. I used to signal an (uninteded) left turn thinking that will stop them passing. They would still zoom past. Finally realized they thought I was signalling them "safe to pass". Blind curve, up a hill, doesn't seem to matter. I usually take the lane and keep a mirror eye on approaching drivers. As soon as it is clear they are passers I switch to FRAP, realizing that is where I'm headed anyway when they meet oncoming traffic. Right or wrong I can't win that scrape.

I realize some people are just gonna pass. Rationally I know I will not delay their commute long. But long ago I realized you can't rationalize with the irrational. And there is still a surprising number of folks here of the "get your bike off the road" mindset.

My son's car was totaled on the lake road by a soccer mom passing blind. She was climbing a hill behind a dumptruck, impatient to make a left turn. My son was coming down the hill. As soon as she could see the road to the left she initiated her turn, directly into the path of my son. Dumptruck "took the lane" and she ignored and turned blindly! Clueless and a very possible fatality for a cyclist.

So I realize I can't stop this behaviour, but it still really bothers me. Like a ticking time bomb under my saddle. What do I do about it? Hollering does no good IMO. They probably can't hear anyway. I might get a freon horn to show displeasure. If I was driving I would honk so why not? Drivers understand an angry honk! The local police say if I bring in a video they will talk to the owner of the car. It seems to me this might be the best way to change behaviour. Has anyone done this? I don't have a cam and it seems kinda a lot of work, like a second job. And I don't really want to be a police officer.

I've seen some heated arguments about taking the lane vs FRAP and I hope this doesn't devolve into one of those. RIght or wrong, taking the lane doesn't work HERE.