Originally Posted by Helmet Head

Good topic.

Few drivers care to know the rules about anything, not just cycling on roads, beyond what is required to avoid getting tickets. I don't see how that's ever going to change. We have to accept it, and learn to live with it. I have. You can too. It's not that big of a deal.

What drivers do care about is getting where they are going, as quickly and efficiently as possible. The vast majority accepts that they have to slow down for stop signs, often even stop, and that they have to stop and wait at red lights. They're understandably frustrated by slow moving vehicles, including cyclists. Waiting sucks. Feeling delayed sucks. I don't see how that's ever going to change. We have to understand it, accept that we cause delay from time to time, and learn to live with it.

When we're in the waiting room of a crowded doctor's office we have to be patient. Does knowing that help? Somewhat. But what really helps is when the receptionist calls our name and tells us that we're next. We still have to wait, but somehow we feel better. Why? I believe it is because we have been acknowledged by someone who is controlling our delay, and they are letting us know that it won't be much longer.

Most cyclists realize how frustrated motorists can be when they encounter cyclists up ahead who they can't pass immediately. This is probably why there is so much support among cyclists for bike lanes, because they perceive bike lanes to alleviate this problem (when it's actually the space which would be there without the stripe and therefore without the bike lane, which alleviates the problems, but I digress). But what most cyclists don't seem to realize is how much of that frustration in the motorists is due to their being baffled with what to do, and how much that can be alleviated by the cyclist himself - by communicating to them that they know they are there, and that they are in control, and that they will take care of them as soon as possible. What most cyclists don't realize is how much motorists look to us for direction on what to do, and that we have the power to reduce their stress, just like the receptionist can make us feel better at the doctor's office simply by informing us that we're next.

So... Get a mirror. Pay attention to what is going on around you, including behind you. When you see a motorist approaching from behind, long before he's right behind you, think about what you can do to help him out. Is there room for them to pass you on the left safely and reasonably? If yes, look back over your right shoulder, long enough to let them know you see them, perhaps nod and/or smile, and move a bit right. If there is no room to safely pass you, look back over your left shoulder, long enough to let them know you see them, perhaps nod and/or smile, and move a bit left. Perhaps throw in a slow/stop signal. Believe it or not, they are likely to feel much better if you do one or the other, and will either pass you with plenty of space, or slow down and/or back off per your request, until you do look back over your right shoulder and move a bit right when it does become safe and reasonable for them to pass you, at which point they are likely to be smiling at you, or giving you a friendly wave or toot of the horn as they pass.

Communicate with the drivers. Traffic is a social activity. It's not a battle or war out there. It's a dance where we're constantly changing partners, partners with whom we cooperate, not battle. How you see it dictates how you behave in it, and becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you see it as a battle, you will act accordingly, and it will be a battle (for the most part). If you see it as dance, you will act accordingly, and it will be a dance (for the most part).

The choice is yours.