I'm cycling in the bus lane when the bus stops to pick up passengers. I move into the other lane to pass. Just in front of the bus is a car in a side street inching forward as he can't see traffic because of the bus. So far, so good. Any traffic in my lane would have right of way as he is facing a stop sign (or maybe a give way).

He sees me while he is still crossing the bus lane. If I was a car, he'd definitely stop. I expect him to do one of two things: either stop or accelerate and move quickly into my lane - which would be annoying and illegal, but I could swing back into the bus lane and avoid a collision.

But he does neither, he just keeps inching forward. I'm still moving at 10 or so mph, because I have made solid eye contact. He knows I'm there: he's staring at me. If one of us doesn't stop, there's going to be a collision. Because of his speed, he'll be across both lanes by the time I reach him, and there'll be nowhere for me to go.

So I tell him "Stop". Actually, being a little excited at this point, I say "Stop. Jesus!" as in "WTF are you doing". He stops, I move past him, back into my lane and he passes me a few seconds later. And loudly gives me two honks of his horn.

Sorry about all the detail for a 3 second interaction, but I'm just annoyed. I had to shout at someone to get them to follow a simple road rule, yet somehow he feels I was in the wrong. For all I know he's out there telling all his friends about my alleged offence.

This is a busy road (Chiswick High Road) with a lot cyclist on it - thousands of commuters a day, I'd guess. If he doesn't give cyclist their rights, he is going to kill someone one day.

Makes sense to me!

He was thinking. He didn't want to hit you but really wanted to get in front of you, so he wouldn't have to pass you later. When he couldn't and then passed you, like all cagers he was overcome by the power of his steel cage and the glory of his fine horn and had to act. His initial concern for you was fleeting, in truth, it was only for the mess you and your bike would make on his bumper.

Many motorists and cyclists would have stopped to let him in as a courtesy.

He honked because he was delayed by 3 seconds, totally understandable (NOT!)

I've been in similar situations. If I have solid eye contact with a driver and am still unsure whether the driver is going to yield, I put my hand up in a "STOP Sign" fashion. That usually gets the message across that I'm going to continue and expect them to stop. It has worked every time. I consistently do this as I roll through an intersections where opposing traffic may be making left turns in front of me, or where side-street traffic may be making right turns into my lane of travel. You have to be extra vigilant and extra communicative in high traffic areas and intersections.

Many, many more would not. Regardless, the driver entering traffic certainly has a legal requirement to yield.

Pointing at the driver (early) often encourages him to stop.

He should try this (I tend not to like to tell people what to do). It's the thing in bold that is the goal.

Yelling at motorists is an important tactic to have in your bag of tricks. It seems like I go through periods where I have to do it a lot, and periods where I almost never have to. Sometimes it's in situations you describe where I've made eye contact, and that seems to almost always come down to the driver thinking all bikes are limited to about 3 mph, but usually it's when a driver acts like they haven't seen you, and is about to do something illegal and dangerous. ( For example, some guy tried to merge into my place in my lane while I was commuting home, and stopped for a moment when he heard a booming "HEY!" )

Also, it's not unusual for drivers to use their horn in pretty much the same way a gorilla uses his fists against his chest.

eye contact between car drivers and bicyclist can be misinterpreted. its happened to me and I've read it here so many times

I use my voice as a horn when necessary. I've tried to stop shouting commands/insults/beratings at the drivers though; I try to save those for the under-my-breath muttering later. Usually I just yell "STOP!" or "WHOA!" or "LOOK OUT!" I've learned that anything more than that is just gonna end up in everyone getting pissed off. Also, I don't worry about whether people are driving right, or "giving cyclists their rights" or whatever. If I wanted to enforce the law, I'd become a policeman. Since I'm not, that's not my job and I try not to do it.

The problem with using your voice like a horn is that it's usually too late at that point - it is used reactively.. What I was talking about (ie, using my hand as a stop sign) is proactive. I don't wait until it's too late. I get eye-contact and I make the sign almost immediately. It gets the message across before they've had time to decide they would continue to move.

He was thanking you for taking control of the situation.

Speedo

It depends on how you use your voice; I've stopped cars in their tracks with mine.

As has been said, don't assume eye contact means you have been noticed; some drivers are so dense, they could take a 2x4 between the eyes before they notice there's someone in front of them.

A similar event happened to me and my kids today....

On the way to the post office, we were rolling down a side street, when I saw a car easing out of a driveway. The driver stopped as we approached (about 80 feet away), then pulled SLOWLY out in front of us as we got nearer. Making sure my kids heard me, I loudly said, "Hold up, hold up!" The car stopped, we went by -- I gave the driver 'The Look' -- and we went on. I was waiting for the car to go by, but it was three blocks later before it did. (I will give them props for that, but....)

Mine came from the prevailing attitude I've noticed in my hometown, that the overwhelming majority of the Af-Am community gives NO respect to cyclists in the street, and themselves either salmon or ride the sidewalk.

Which, at least in my state would be illegal. I actually got marked down a couple points on my driving test for "Failure to accept Right-of-Way". When drivers make this mistake it causes confusion on the road, disrupts the flow traffic, and congestion. This is all unsafe, which is why it's a cite-worthy offense. Kindness and courtesy is great, but not when it comes at the expense of safety.

Absolutely.

And the converse of this is when motorists don't take the right of way when it's theirs to take, which I also hate. The upshot is, if you have the ROW, take it. If someone else has it, yield it. If everyone follows these simple rules, we'll all get along better.

Occasionally, a right turning vehicle will put their turn signal on a good distance before they actually make their turn, which I appreciate. (A lot of people put on their signal as they're turning, which entirely defeats the point.) But then they'll stop and wait for me to pass on their right, which I just will not do. I'll either go around on the left, or stop, put a foot down, cross my arms and make a big show about how I'm waiting for them to turn. I've had people exasperatedly shoo me forward with their hand, like I'm causing them an inconvenience by waiting for them to turn.

To the OP,

I think that a lot of motorist (and others) don't have much awareness of the dimensions of the vehicle they're driving. This guy may have been trying to peek out from behind the bus, not realizing that his front end sticks out several feet ahead of where he's sitting. (Sure, he knows this, but he hasn't internalized.)

I see all manner of behavior in such situations. My wife would probably stop, and wave the person in, if she had time to slow down comfortably. Other drivers would lean on the horn continuously and speed up. My reaction is to get ready to brake and try to figure out what the person is about to do early enough that I have a contingency plan. Parking lots are where I see the most examples of people inching into a traffic stream hoping others will stop, before or after they can see who is coming. I also witness, among my own friends, the most extreme opposite attitudes about whom should yield in such situations. Usually, it's the other guy people think should yield.

I'm more likely to wave people in front of me on the bike since they'll usually pass me soon anyway. But if I were in the process of passing a stopped bus, I suppose I'd also be concerned about getting ahead of the bus before it starts up again.

But that seems to have been too simple in this case, unfairly depriving the OP of a lecture and rant opportunity.

Do you often stop unnecessarily when you have the right of way?

It doesn't seem often, maybe a time or two a week -- just a part of smooth and efficient driving or cycling.

If someone is creeping a stop sign, I will generally slow down, both in my car and on my bike. I think it's the most reasonable approach given the number of people that have pulled out in front of me with little room for error. It has the added benefit of punishing them by making them wait longer. It's what the followers of Adler call "natural consequences."

Thanks guys, it's nice to have positive feedback.

I think people are probably right, he was looking for me to give way. It's such a common courtesy in the UK, that people get angry if you don't do it. However, there was no traffic behind me, so car or bike, I wouldn't have given way as he would be able to complete his turn as soon as I'd passed Moreover, I'd moved into the centre lane to pass a bus: I wasn't go to wait so the bus would pass me again, leaving me awkwardly in the middle of the road with a double decker between me an the curb and having to move back behind it to chew diesel fumes for another 2 km.

Of course, there wasn't going to be a collision. I ride assertively, but if it came down to it, I'd have given him ROW on the "might is right" principal.

If there had been cars behind me, I still wouldn't have stopped on the bike. The drivers behind me would not have perceived me as courteously allow another driver in, but as a bicycle in the wrong lane holding up traffic. But if there'd been traffic in that lane, I would have stayed behind the bus.

joan

p.s. it's hard to describe this without using "right" and "left" lanes, but as we drive on the left in the UK, that would have confused things.