On my commute home this afternoon I was pulling up to a 4 way stop as a motorist kinda glided through it from the cross street. Noticing that her front tire was way flat, I pointed and yelled "flat tire!" to which she responded with a rude gesture. I'm guessing she thought I was admonishing her for blowing the stop.

Hard to be helpful sometimes.

No good deed goes unpunished.

Maybe she was running late for a tire change.


Guaranteed she's not getting a date on your account.

Yeah, doesn't matter what you yell at her. From inside the insulated cabin of her car she only hears, 'You idiot!' from what she perceives as a dickhead on a bike. Live learn.

Did she lower the window and yell out "Merry Christmas!" as she gave you the finger?

Usually I am giving the finger to honking motorists.

She was just thanking you for your help by showing that she thinks you're number one. Dysfunctional index fingers seem to be quite common these days.

I've tried indicating to cars running without lights at night. Flashed my lights, pointed to their headlights. Nothing works. Nobody has flipped me off, but I'm assuming they regard cyclists on public streets as weird scary eccentrics and best avoided when they gesticulate wildly.

While walking in the downtown area I have pointed out many low or flat tires to people and they have responded nicely. However, while commuting on my bike there have been numerous people that have cut me off, honked because I would not cross a busy street immediately and have had firecrackers tossed at me.

There must be something about riding a bike.

Bikes are fast, light and free, and they taunt regardless of what their riders do - of course drivers hate them.

That has happened to me as well.

there's a psychological bubble inside a car, isn't there?

I'm sure she was friendly waving to you and just had arthritic contractures of all her other fingers.

Yep, every one of us is the symbol of every perceived affront rendered by some other cyclist somewhere.

Hope she made it to where she was headed.

If I had a nickel for every time ...

I got the bird last night when a cross-driver stopped for me (even though I had a stop sign and he didn't) and I waved him on. Or at least I think I did, it was dark and hard to see in the car.

It might be that my body language rolling up to (and perhaps a little past) the stop sign made it look like I might run it, and he stopped in a panic.

Coming home from work tonight, it was too dark for visible fingers, but a car that went by me in the other direction had an obvious flat -- I could HEAR it flopping. I just made a rude comment only I could hear and pedaled on. Screw 'em.

The world would be a friendlier place if everybody wore mittens all the time.

(except in Australia, I guess)

Probably thought you were calling her a "fat wh*re."

just look at it like half a peace sign

Palm facing away or towards the Gesturer ?

Funny story - on my last tour around Iceland, took me 25 days to come back to Reykjavík the city I started ,and when I reached the finish line in Reykjavík, I rode in heavy traffic on the shoulders, suddenly a car opposite me horn and without doing nothing puled me finger over the window. haha no reason why I got that bless in one of my happiness day of the trip.
What I learned is sometimes things gets out of context, don't take it personally.

According to motorists surveyed, they have a lot more to be upset about than just cyclists.

https://www.consumerreports.org/cro/2012/03/survey-reveals-top-gripes-among-drivers/index.htm?userWantsFull=true

https://www.google.ca/amp/s/viewfinder.expedia.com/news/expedia-2015-road-rage-report-texters-enrage-fellow-drivers-most-edging-tailgaters-and-left-lane-hogs-on-list-of-most-deplorable-driver-behaviors/amp/

"51 percent of respondents reported that they loathe sharing the road with bad drivers, more than cyclists, buses, taxis, joggers, and walkers combined"

The holiday season is extremely stressful for lots of people. Many people are short on time, and money. Long on commitments, responsibility, and guilt. You were there.... and few people are less threating than a guy on a bike.
She didn't want to be there. She didn't want to hear she had a flat tire. She didn't want to talk to you (or anyone else either). She expressed HER feelings. Her feelings.... had nothing to do with you.

Happy New Year!

Reminds me of the story how the angel ended on top of the Christmas Tree.