SSP

What should have been a simple passage through a 4-way stop signed intersection turned into a near miss for me this morning.

The roads in each direction are single lane, but at the stop sign there are designated left turn lanes.

As I approached the 4-way stop, an oncoming pickup driver reached the intersection in front of me in the left turn lane. He initially tried to wave me through, but since he had arrived first I did a trackstand (centered in the through lane) and motioned him to proceed.

As he made his left across my path, an SUV driven by a soccer mom and with a fat little girl in the front passenger seat came up to the stop sign from my right. Apparently, she failed to notice the 6' tall guy wearing a bright red helmet and a bright orange vest doing a trackstand in the roadway to her left.

When the left-turning truck cleared from in front of me, I proceeded through the intersection. Soccer mom (to my right) proceeded to go straight...so now I'm looking at 3000 lbs of SUV grille getting very close on my right as I'm in the middle of the intersection.

I yelled really loud at her (I had training in this in martial arts class years ago), and it must have worked. She slammed on her brakes while her fat little daughter was pitched forward with a look of terror on her face (apparently the kid had noticed me before the mom).

As I cleared the intersection, I looked back and raised my hand in a WTF? gesture...soccer mom appeared to be apologizing, FWIW.

Lesson learned - be careful when someone turns left in front of you, because drivers on the right can be surprised by your "sudden" presence.

Ya'll be careful out there...

rocks in head 

wow- they train you how to yell really loud in martial arts? I thought it was all kicking and punching and using people's momentum to their disadvantage... cool.

And also cool that you had the werewithal to shout and get her attention. I tend to freeze up in those situations - I.E. similar situation I just kept riding without doing anything, and am just kind of lucky to still be here. Since then I've avoided getting into those situations.

SSP

In the taekwondo classes I took, yes, we did practice yelling. You'd be surprised how much force a good strong yell, from deep in your diaphragm, can generate. On the few occasions I've used it on cars, it's nearly always caused them to halt in their tracks (just wish it worked as well on dogs!).

kokomo61

I learned how to yell back in high school, when I had to conduct the marching band. I had a whistle, but a lot of commands were verbal, and you had to get 100+ people's attention at the same time.

I comes in handy now and again when someone pulls into the crosswalk, or starts to creep through the MUP crossing. I've learned how to yell HEY!!! loud enough to be heard inside a vehicle with closed windows - I know, I've seen their reactions.....