San Rensho 

Every time I signal to make a left hand turn, it almost gets me killed. For some reason, the cars in back of me think that I am telling them to pass me on the left when I make a left turn signal, and proceed to do so, usually at full acceleration. I discovered this a couple of weeks ago when I signaled left turn in my driveway, and a car that had been patiently waiting in back of me all of a sudden tried to go around me on the left. Needless to say I had a couple of choice loud words for the driver. He stopped, and told me that he thought that I had been signaling him to pass me on the left. We left on good terms. Since that incident, it's happened a couple more times.

I don't know what it is. When I signal, I put my left arm straight out and point with my index finger. It's not like I'm making a sweeping back to front movement of my arm, they can be interpreted as "pass me." It's a very clear pointing motion. I will sometimes move slightly to the right side of the road to get a better line for the turn, but on several occasions, even when I'm all the way to the left side of my lane, car still try to pass on the left.

Is it me, or is it just the fact that I live in Miami, Florida, Road rage capital of the United States?

crhilton

Get "Left hand ******** turn" tattooed on your hand.

invisiblehand

I never noticed this. But I'll try to pay more attention to the pattern.

I actually point my finger while sliding over in the lane. A slight head turn also helps.

TheHen

They were probably unaware of your presence until you got their attention by signaling. Once they knew you were there, they had to pass immediately because, well, no self-respecting motorist ever stays behind a bike.

nashcommguy

When I'm moving over a lane or turning left w/a car behind me I always point towards the ground at about a 45 degree angle w/assertion as I'm making the move. I try to turn my head as far left as possible as well to make eye contact. If someone's been waiting for traffic to clear...on a hill let's say and I get to the top and can see clear distance I give a 'go around' movement. I feel empathy for your situation having ridden urban for many years...seems it's never w/o incident. Take care out there.

Captain Blight

Taking the lane solves this problem in its entirety.

Speedo

Uh, no, it doesn't. This has happened to me exactly once, I was as far left in the lane as I could be. The pickup truck that passed me went completely over the double yellow to my left to speed past me.

Speedo

noisebeam

Never happens to me in the land of perfect drivers.

musikguy

This would be an awesome couple of cyclist tattoos! "Turning Left!" on the top of your left forearm and "Turning Right!" on the top of your right forearm.

trek2.3bike

Stop pointing because it is not part of the stanrard left turn signal. You are confusing them.

bhop

Never happens to me. Cars here always back off when I signal. I'm gonna go with your Miami location theory.

Nitram612

I usually have a different problem when signaling a left turn. Cars who are going straight through the intersection from the other direction often just stop and stare at me, as if they think a left turn signal means "I am going turn left in front of you." The other problem is that people stop and wave me through, even though both of us could have already been through the intersection by now if they had just continued on their way . They sit there stupidly waving me though without realizing that cars coming up behind them don't know what is going on and just try to go around instead. Then they get pissed when I motion for them to keep ****ing moving.

mnemia

Not necessarily. I started a thread here a little while back about an incident where I was actually completely over on the center line and preparing for a left turn with my arm out signaling, and a driver STILL gunned it to pass me on the left. I ended up falling over in the lane in the process of making an emergency swerve back over to the right to avoid getting hit by the guy, who was all the way over in the oncoming lane. Of course, he didn't stick around for me to determine what was going through his head. At the time, I thought it was almost certainly just someone being an impatient *******, but this thread offers another possible explanation. I never considered that people might be so stupid that they would interpret a left turn signal as an indication to go around on the left, but it sort of makes sense now that I think about it. Most drivers have no awareness of anything beyond their immediate experience, and most of them don't see hand signals often anymore now that all cars and motorcycles have automatic signal lights. And additionally, most drivers are extremely self-centered and aren't thinking about the bicyclist in front of them in terms of anything other than how to get around them as quickly as possible, so when they're in that frame of mind I can see how they might interpret it as an invitation when they're ignorant of what it's supposed to mean. Once again, this speaks to the abysmal state of driver education and skills in this country (and the weird resistance people seem to have to actually improving their driving skills).

genec

Had that happen too... more than once. And as far as taking the lane goes... that may protect me in the current lane, but if I want to signal to move over to the next lane to make an eventual left...

Trakhak

Correct.

mnemia

Yep, I have that same problem and haven't found a great solution for it yet. It always happens at one intersection in particular, where I make a left turn at a light that has a gas station exit directly across from me. The cars waiting at the light to exit the gas station almost NEVER signal their intentions (not sure why, but maybe something about it being a parking lot exit makes them think they don't need to), so in addition to the behavior you describe there's an additional guessing game about what they're going to do. The light cycle there is very short, and I'm usually at the front of the line in the left turn lane, so I usually try to start out into the intersection when the light turns green, as I have to cover a good bit of ground before I initiate my turn. I've considered that my starting out by moving forward might be what panics them into immobility, but I've tried various variations on it with no change in behavior. So now I've concluded that I just have to watch really carefully when I see a car lined up in the opposing direction with no signal on, as at least 75% of the time they're turning too. They might be going straight, but they also might be turning right or left. It's the one place on my commute that scares me at times because the lack of signaling combined with the hesitance to claim the ROW when they have it makes for a lot of needless uncertainty about what they're going to do. I try to just be ready to stop, evade, and carefully signal my intentions so that at least they have a good idea what *I* am going to do. But if people don't understand the hand signals, even that fallback is problematic.

Again, we really need to work on basic driving skills for motorists, as people seem to be getting more and more casually sloppy about things like signals and following the ROW rules. Some motorists like to rage against cyclists on the road, but they are their own worst enemies when it comes to creating congestion, unpredictability, and frustration. It's like we're seeing a long-term slide towards total laziness on the part of nearly everyone, where no one wants to take responsibility for their own contribution to these problems. I would think that drivers would SUPPORT stronger training and enforcement of traffic rules, since it would reduce their own frustration and danger, but it seems people would rather just sleep their way through life.

AlmostTrick

I don’t recall this ever happening to me. If it has it hasn’t been often. I don’t point... flat open hand style seems more clear to me. Palm facing back towards the driver (like a “stop” hand) while signaling would probably work even better. If I see them start to pass left I may pump my arm in a push back motion, which has also worked for me.

San Rensho 

I always take the lane. The cars move into the oncoming traffic lane to pass me.

San Rensho 

So whats the standard.

DGozinya

Point with entire hand, not a finger.

Nitram612

Totally agree. Honestly, drivers piss me off more when I am driving than when I am cycling. Turn signals are optional, stop signs mean take your foot of the gas briefly, and right of way means nothing. I am baffled by how so many sloppy, dangerous drivers even got their license to begin with.

JamieElenbaas

It has never happened to me either.

When I signal left, it is with my palm facing back, fingers and thumb together. Not only does it show 'turning left' but that palm facing back also implies "back off".

I can sort of see how an especially dumb ass cager might misinterpret a finger pointing to the side.

mnemia

It's not particularly baffling: neither the authorities nor social norms demand that people learn to drive to a higher standard. And because traffic law enforcement has been getting more and more lax over time, people just don't feel the need to be good drivers (that is, until something bad happens to them). When was the last time you even heard of someone you know getting a ticket for failing to use a turn signal, unless it was in the aftermath of an "accident"? Add to that the entitlement mentality that comes from constantly driving (people start to see their car as an extension of their body), and the fact that drivers' training and testing requirements are weak to nonexistent (especially for RE-training and RE-testing of adult drivers who've had their licenses for awhile), and it's not at all hard to understand. What I don't get is why traffic frustration doesn't seemingly lead to popular pressure to do something about the problem. It's like people don't make the connection between their own bad behavior and the frustration they experience from other drivers.

I honestly think it's part of a more general cultural disease. People simply don't want to take responsibility for their own safety, and now view that as primarily the job of the road designers, car engineers, etc. And that's why our traffic deaths have stayed relatively high, despite the fact that cars are safer than ever in crashes. People think they don't have to do anything for their own safety, because their car will protect them.

invisiblehand

Personally, I find it hard to believe that this is widespread. Although I admit that the direct response of the driver points to that very explanation. In part because I point and have not experienced this (or have not noticed ...). Barring the @sshole theory, I think incorporating a little more body language, in particular a head turn sends more information. YMMV.

Looigi

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