I've taken to just turning my head (and my front wheel) completely away from 'courteous' motorists. If they know you can't see them, they tend to give up pretty soon.

What I hate are those who are too afraid to pass and before long have stacked up a huge line of cars behind them. I had one yesterday who would not pass until I pulled completely off the road, just lagged behind me blaring on the horn. Were it not for the traffic in his wake, I would have happily led him on a leisurely tour into town.

My iritation? Approaching a 2 way stop where I have the stop, yet people with NO stop insist on stopping for me. (or think I'm going to blow through MY stop sign)

I always stop and a stop sign with traffic around. If I'm alone I'll cautiously go through it sans a full stop. Now I have to stop, wait for THEM to get going, when they shouldn't have stopped in the first place. Had they just gone through I could have cruised through alone.

I will clip out, and if necessary dismount and stand there until they go. Though I've never had to wait 30 seconds before.

I witnessed a great example of this and it was pretty funny.

John is a friend, club member and was my “Effective Cycling” class instructor. He’s a stickler for following the rules of the road, and hates these ‘courteous’ driver situations. He’ll stand at a stop sign with arms folded as long as it takes for the driver to stop waving him through.

John was leading a club ride of about 20 riders – at least half were novices. He gave a little speech at the start about safety, following the rules etc. With John in the lead, we’re going down a wide two lane. City park is on the right and side street entrances on the left. No stop sign for either lane. I’m toward the front and most of the beginners are near the end of the pack.

John signals a left and moves to the left of the lane. We all follow – pretty spread out. When he gets to the turn he is still signaling and slowing more than necessary because there is only one car in the oncoming lane. John figures “I’ll just stall a little til’ the car gets through and we can all go”. Well, the driver comes to a halt (without a stop sign on her side) to wave us through. One of those ‘No you go’ sign signal interactions starts up.

Meanwhile the riders are catching up to John who is now unclipped, waving and watching the beginners in his mirror. They are coming to a halt in the middle of the street and are starting to bunch up, the kids in the pack are wobbling to a halt, the line is turning to a clump of unsteady, unsure riders.

I could see Johns neck muscles tightening. The waving gets more frantic. Meanwhile the driver is still smiling and waving us through. Finally John turns verbal and screams what might be thought of as a religious prayer if it were not for the hostility in his voice. The drivers smile melts into an expression of fear and indignation as she finally pulls out.

I’m sure she thought that we were rude cyclists who don’t understand how nice she was.

http://www.kttc.com/News/index.php?ID=2904

This all happened when a lady saw a girl on a bicycle waiting to cross a road. She stopped in spite of not having any stop sign or traffic signal from her direction and waved the girl to cross in spite of not having the right of way. The girl was hit by a car traveling in the same direction as the stopped car, but in the second lane. They charged and convicted the guy driving the second car with reckless driving. I think the police and DA got it wrong this time. I believe the lady who stopped and waved the girl by is the one at fault.

This is a horrible story. I wonder if the guy they charged was speeding or doing something stupid otherwise I don't see how he is at fault. I'm not sure if this was a recent event but it said 815pm so I'm guessing the girl wasn't very visible. I know there has been an incident or two here in town where a pedestrian was crossing a street in the middle of the night (not at crosswalk or signal) and have been killed. I believe the driver was not found to be responsible for the incident.

Anyway... this what I worry about with the 'courteous' driver. They wave someone through and that person goes not realizing the car in the next lane isn't stopping.

I've been a pedestrian too many times to fall for that one. My mother at one time was a school crossing guard, and I remember watching her HURL her stop sign at a driver who had decided he had better things to do than stop for those school kids. Me mum is a dear soul, but she lit up the street with some rather salty language about the origins of the driver :o . Fortunately, none of the children were still present when she let loose :eek: .

East Hill

I had a 4 way stop with a lady in heavy dark tinted windows. The car refused to move, and I guessed she was waving. I just blankly stared, and rather than moving she actually rolled the window down to show she was gesturing me through. That would have been thoughtful if I was 6 years old....

It was last summer. At 8:15 in the summer, it is usually still daylight here. At least dusk.The guy was not speeding at all. The prosecutions case seemed to be based on the notion that he should have sensed something was wrong when he saw a car stopped in the right lane. I wasn't there, but seems to me he could easily have assumed she was going to turn right at that intersection or had an eye contact come out or any number of things.

I just searched and found this article at KTTC (local TV station). They seem to be vilifying the guy compared to the newspaper articles I remember last summer. The newspaper articles didn't mention several cars being stopped. I suspect that happened after the accident. Some of us feel the guy was "sent up the river" partly because he was an immigrant. Anyway, at a minimum, there seems to be a weird sense of justice in this case.

A lot of drivers are clueless as to how little we can see them inside the car - but that takes the cake. Jeebus wept.

The driver of a taxi I rode in once told me how annoying it was that cyclists didn't understand his facial signals. He was oblivious to how often cyclists don't even look at the driver, let alone try to figure out whatever subtle gestures he must do.

I tend to watch a car's front wheels for my cue.

... dark tinted windows :crash:...

This isn't really dangerous, but I never HEAR what someone says from their car either. I'll be riding and hear a "JAR BLAR YONNN Glak" and a couple days later a friend will say he said hello to me driving by wherever.

It makes a friendly hello pretty much indistinguishable from a "Get Off the Road" type of yell... not that I mind.

I just ranted about this in the JAM thread. I guess in part is our own fault as there are those of us that totally disregard any form of signage that might impienge on our right of free access. I have had to just nod in agreement when someone wants to tell me how some cyclist in full gear plowed mindlessly through an intersection. It angers me that there are these guys and they taint my efforts at being a responsible cyclist using my bicycle as transportation, obeying traffic laws (okay I admit blowing a few stop signs in the name of there's no one around). I do know that when I cross the bike path in a vehicle I try to see if there is anyone coming, just so I don't get a hood ornament. But you know what, there is no way in heck a moving car sees a moving cyclist on the Greenway, they could be decked out in blaze orange, thinking they're being seen, and still get missed.

As far as waiting out the motorist? I ride a bike, I have time, do you?

1+. Stop, foot down, and point "you go." People in Boston usually do. :)

These can be dicey. I have at least one left on my commute where I too have 2 lanes of traffic comming the other direction and someone in the middle stops for me oblivious to the fact that I'm gong to have to stop right in front of them to make sure the second lane is clear.

I appreciate the courtesy, but these situations definetly get my "this-could-be-bad" sense tingling.

I was nearly taken to the Big Peleton in the Sky by just such a dangerously courteous driver. The impatient driver behind her just decided to pass her on the right, just missing my front tire. Now my sensors go on full alert whenever someone starts waving at me.

I should get a jersey printed up that says Don't Be Nice, Be Predictable.

+10000. So, like Cooker, I think this is one of the most effective ways to deal with it...

I don't play that "you wave-I wave-you wave then neither one of us knows whether to go or not" game anymore. Plus, I don't like being told to go, and then feeling obligated to quickly move through the intersection to continue the politeness. They should go first, it takes less effort for them.