So today I am riding along, getting ready to pull into a left turn lane so I can turn left into my mother's housing development. Behind me I see a huge SUV, and nobody behind him. I decide to let him pass me before I merge into the turn lane. In my mirror (yep, I wear one) I notice he is slowing down, and has his left turn signal on. SInce he is at least 75 feet behind me, I point my left arm straight out, pull into the left turn lane, turn left, and as I am completing the turn he leans on his horn.

That's too much for me. I stop, right there.

He can't get past me, and so he has to talk. I asked him what his problem was.

"I had no idea what you were doing, until you pulled right in front of me."

I explain that my left arm was making a manual signal--he should have seen that. Didn't he understand that? What was the problem?

The conversation went downhill from there, and didn't end well--he drove off shaking his head and muttering, and I rode off doing the same.

So after visiting my mom, I get back on the bike, and am approaching the same intersection from the side street. The same SUV pulls up slightly ahead of me and stops in the road. I keep riding---I don't need this anymore.

As I ride by, he rolls down the window and says: "hey---I am sorry."

Huh? OK. Now I have to stop. He rolls up next to me and says: "I was on the phone, getting chewed out, and I really wasn't thinking earlier. That's not who I am, and I just wanted to let you know."

I smiled and thanked him for the apology.

He smiled back and said: "Have a nice ride."

So--a phone using SUV drive who apologizes?

Anybody checked on Hell recently?

PW

That'll make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

I have noticed that when I wave a driver by or give hand signals, I will generally get an appreciative nod or wave back from him. I say "him" because in my experience the male drivers give the aknowledgement, females just drive on, for the most part.

Isn't the appropriate signal for a left made with a the right hand pointing up? Gee if a motorist didn't understand a direct point what hope do we have for the official signal!

Its nice to see your SUV'r isn't completely brainless.

For my left hand turn signal I usually point with my thumb to make things clear.

The official signal would depend on what country you are riding in. Here in the US, the steering wheel is on the left side of the car, so a left turn is signaled with the left hand out the window pointing left and a right turn is signaled with the left hand out the window but raised. If the steering wheel is on the right side of the car, the signals would be the exact opposite I presume.

Talk about funny stuff. Last week I was out riding, and came to a stop light that had 3 lanes going my way and cars in all of them. I stopped behind the car in front of me in the right lane, and a driver in the right turn lane (i.e., the lane to my right) stopped beside me and started talking to me. He wanted to thank me for waiting behind the cars in front of me at the light. I told him that I always did that as long as they passed me in a safe manner to get to the light before me. He told me that he always gave cyclists plenty of room, but they always seemed to jump to the front at the light and he had to pass them again. He thanked me again, and our light turned green. Trust me, I know what he is talking about. I had an issue with a cyclist for over 30 minutes last winter as we were both headed down to Georgetown. I must have had to pass him 10+ times after lights where it was rather tough to pass. Man, I was steaming every time I saw him ride past me at the red light just to get to the front and slow up traffic again.

All the negative interactions I have with drivers in cars and trucks can drag me down. If I really think about it 99% of the cars out there I have no issues with. Even some I have great interactions with. Folks waving or beeping and giving thumbs up or a shout of encouragement. That stuff is always cool.

I have been in beefs with alot of drivers and had words with a few. When an exchange starts it is nearly impossible for things to end well where both parties leave satisfied. I sometimes worry about "that pickup truck" with hillbilly redneck idiot boy seeing me again a week later and just mowing me over.

It is best to just totally ignore the jerks if possible. Always signal and follow the laws of the road and most will be OK.

Just last Saturday I was coming up to a light into a left turn lane. I glanced back as I moved into that lane and there was a large p-up coming up. I slowed and waved him by so he could take the light first as it was red. They went by and a lady in the passenger seat waved and smiled nicely at me. I waved the "your welcome" wave. The light changes and they pull out into the intersection slow (no cars coming). I see the passenger window go down and the lady yells out the window something..something...blankety blank faggot. I just ignored it but it really floored me.

Oh well. But later that same ride a car passes me and a little girl is staring at me as her mom drives by with the biggest grin on her face. She sticks her little thumbs up out the window and then waves. How cute.

Now I am all warm and fuzzy like.. That makes up for the jerks.

Yeah, a couple of months ago I had a father and his 10 to 12 year old son just driving along right next to me for 30+ seconds. I was wondering what the heck they were doing. Then, the son rolls down the passenger side window and yells at me, "You're doing 30, you're doing 30" to which I replied "I know". The kid was all smiles and he seemed stunned to see me doing 30 mph. Those are the good days.

Did a 40km time trial this past weekend in just over an hour. Told my brother that my average speed was almost 25 mph for the 25 mile time trial, and he was shocked.

It KILLS me when cyclists are obnoxious. I had an unpleasant talk with a state representative over a bill to mandate a 5 foot passing law that was in committee a few months ago. He's telling me stories of cyclists riding all the way across the lane and not moving single file when cars are behind them wanting to pass. These people are either self-important a-holes or just ignorant. Either way, they've pissed of a politician who as a result, added a SINGLE FILE and a MUST CARRY ID rider to the bill, and worked hard to ax the 5-foot requirement.

Last night I was leading a women's beginner group ride. God help 'em, the girls were sprawled all over the road on a long climb. A guy in a truck was really, really patient waiting to pass, passing half the group, waiting some more. He pulled into a convenience store up the road and I stopped to thank him for his courtesy. He looked a bit amazed. I try to do that sort of thing as often as I can...every driver you're nice too is one that probably won't kill you or your friends later on.

It KILLS me when cyclists are obnoxious. I had an unpleasant talk with a state representative over a bill to mandate a 5 foot passing law that was in committee a few months ago. He's telling me stories of cyclists riding all the way across the lane and not moving single file when cars are behind them wanting to pass. These people are either self-important a-holes or just ignorant. Either way, they've pissed of a politician who as a result, added a SINGLE FILE and a MUST CARRY ID rider to the bill, and worked hard to ax the 5-foot requirement.

Last night I was leading a women's beginner group ride. God help 'em, the girls were sprawled all over the road on a long climb. A guy in a truck was really, really patient waiting to pass, passing half the group, waiting some more. He pulled into a convenience store up the road and I stopped to thank him for his courtesy. He looked a bit amazed. I try to do that sort of thing as often as I can...every driver you're nice too is one that probably won't kill you or your friends later on.

+1,000,000

Every driver you are courteous to is one driver less likely to vote to prohibit you from riding on the roads. The opposite is also true.

Riding on the road is not a right, it's a privlidge....just like driving.

Len

So he was driving while being on the phone and not thinking? I guess that makes it okay.

It KILLS me when cyclists are obnoxious. I had an unpleasant talk with a state representative over a bill to mandate a 5 foot passing law that was in committee a few months ago. He's telling me stories of cyclists riding all the way across the lane and not moving single file when cars are behind them wanting to pass. These people are either self-important a-holes or just ignorant. Either way, they've pissed of a politician who as a result, added a SINGLE FILE and a MUST CARRY ID rider to the bill, and worked hard to ax the 5-foot requirement.

Last night I was leading a women's beginner group ride. God help 'em, the girls were sprawled all over the road on a long climb. A guy in a truck was really, really patient waiting to pass, passing half the group, waiting some more. He pulled into a convenience store up the road and I stopped to thank him for his courtesy. He looked a bit amazed. I try to do that sort of thing as often as I can...every driver you're nice too is one that probably won't kill you or your friends later on.

That's a perfect example of why I don't ride with the local cycling club anymore. I just couldn't take the attitude of some of them that they owned the road. Just this past week while on a ride I came across the club and noticed that slightly up the road a few members were having an altercation with a driver over exactly that issue. I just shake my head. We're our own worst enemies.

Last night I was leading a women's beginner group ride. God help 'em, the girls were sprawled all over the road on a long climb. A guy in a truck was really, really patient waiting to pass, passing half the group, waiting some more.

It was nice of you to thank him, and it never hurts to try to generate some good karma, but there's a perhaps less altruistic explanation for his patience. Speaking as a more-or-less normal guy (and even trying to imagine myself as a non-cyclist), I can say that I would never get impatient when driving behind a bunch of women cyclists. He probably had a big smile on his face the whole time :-)

So he was driving while being on the phone and not thinking? I guess that makes it okay.

Of course it doesn't make it OK. But the fact that he acknowledged his error is a great step forward. Our entire society is based (in theory) on the fact that people make errors and can change. We don't cut people's hands off for stealing, we don't casterate for adultry. Many people find it very dificult to admit they are/were in the wrong. This is why we find it commendable when they do.

Will his acknoledgement of his error change how he drives? Who knows. But I prefer to give people the benifit of the doubt. Sure you're likely to get burnt a few times with that attitude but the other option is a pretty crappy way to go through life.

Phone + driving = death to cyclists:mad:

not completely related, but if you are reading this far down on a thread about polite/non-polite drivers, you are subjected to my lil tale.

last weekend i was riding some hills and saw a couple picking up trash on the side of the road. after my last hill interval i slowed down and said, "hey, i just wanted to thank you for picking all that stuff up. not many people do that." they smiled and waved.

not more than 20 meters later a rusty red truck blew past me with a dog leaning out the window barking right in my ear and nearly taking my helmet off.

should have seen the spike on my HR monitor...

Isn't the appropriate signal for a left made with a the right hand pointing up? Gee if a motorist didn't understand a direct point what hope do we have for the official signal!

Its nice to see your SUV'r isn't completely brainless.

For my left hand turn signal I usually point with my thumb to make things clear.
This is why if I'm turning left I point with left hand and turning right I point with my right hand. I actually had another cyclist ask me once why I wasn't using the appropriate signals. I told him it was because most drivers can't figure out which way I'm turning with my direct signals so there is no way in they are going to know what the official signals are.

This is why if I'm turning left I point with left hand and turning right I point with my right hand. I actually had another cyclist ask me once why I wasn't using the appropriate signals. I told him it was because most drivers can't figure out which way I'm turning with my direct signals so there is no way in they are going to know what the official signals are.


Now in Colorado it is legal to signal with either hand. The bill was passed for that very reason. Most drivers although tested on handsignals for their DL don't know what they are. Well that and the left hand signaling a right turn is the only option for a left side driver vehicle. The 'point where you want to go' is such a universal concept it just makes sense.

This is why if I'm turning left I point with left hand and turning right I point with my right hand. I actually had another cyclist ask me once why I wasn't using the appropriate signals. I told him it was because most drivers can't figure out which way I'm turning with my direct signals so there is no way in they are going to know what the official signals are.

You should check for local rules for signaling. In my county/state, I think I recently read (possibly here) that you are allowed to signal left with the left hand and right with the right hand. Makes life a lot easier.

I like nice drivers. I hate a$$holes...

You should check for local rules for signaling. In my county/state, I think I recently read (possibly here) that you are allowed to signal left with the left hand and right with the right hand. Makes life a lot easier.

General provision applicable to cars, bikes, etc.:

"Hand signals shall be as follows: (1) To stop or decrease speed: Hand and arm extended downward; (2) to turn left or to leave or draw away from a curb or the edge of the highway: Hand and arm extended horizontally with forefinger pointed; (3) to turn right: Hand and arm extended upward."

Additional right-turn provision for bicyclists:

"Each person riding a bicycle upon the traveled portion of a highway and intending to make a right turn may in lieu of the procedure prescribed by section 14-244, before turning and while in motion or if stopped while waiting to turn signal such turn by extending his right hand and arm horizontally with forefinger extended."

Right arm extended is a much more visible and clear signal, IMO. Left arm next to the head just looks like you're waving, if it's noticed at all.

Please note that forefinger is specified. That other signal is not mentioned in the law.

So today I am riding along, getting ready to pull into a left turn lane so I can turn left into my mother's housing development. Behind me I see a huge SUV, and nobody behind him. I decide to let him pass me before I merge into the turn lane. In my mirror (yep, I wear one) I notice he is slowing down, and has his left turn signal on. Since he is at least 75 feet behind me, I point my left arm straight out, pull into the left turn lane, turn left, and as I am completing the turn he leans on his horn.

That's too much for me. I stop, right there.

He can't get past me, and so he has to talk. I asked him what his problem was.

"I had no idea what you were doing, until you pulled right in front of me."

I explain that my left arm was making a manual signal--he should have seen that. Didn't he understand that? What was the problem?

The conversation went downhill from there, and didn't end well--he drove off shaking his head and muttering, and I rode off doing the same.

So after visiting my mom, I get back on the bike, and am approaching the same intersection from the side street. The same SUV pulls up slightly ahead of me and stops in the road. I keep riding---I don't need this anymore.

As I ride by, he rolls down the window and says: "hey---I am sorry."

Huh? OK. Now I have to stop. He rolls up next to me and says: "I was on the phone, getting chewed out, and I really wasn't thinking earlier. That's not who I am, and I just wanted to let you know."

I smiled and thanked him for the apology.

He smiled back and said: "Have a nice ride."

So--a phone using SUV drive who apologizes?

Anybody checked on Hell recently?

PW


Well, I can't say that I've ever had somebody do that for me, but it sounds like a better result for everybody in the end. I however do wave to drivers when they go out of their way to make things safer for me, such as slowing and allowing me to pass before they make a right hand turn or wave me through a stop sign.

As far as Hell goes....Have you watched the news lately? The hand basket is getting ready. Earthquakes in Peru, trapped miners in Utah, Hurricanes in the Atlantic and Pacific, Heat waves, melting ice caps, giant jelly fish, SUV drivers apologizing to cyclists, cats and dogs getting along.....The end is near, very, very near.....:D

As long as we are telling stories I had two happen to me yesterday. I was riding on a road that had a bike lane on it. I was coming up to a turning lane on my right but i was going to continue straight. I had a guy pass then pull in front into the turning lane and slam on his breaks having me almost run into the back of him. I slow down, barely, and once he is in the entire turning lane I keep going. He does not turn, instead waits for me to pass to tell me off. I smile and dont say anything and keep riding.


Later in the ride while stopped at a stop light i had a kid about 8 years old with his mother roll down his window and ask if i wanted to race. I was on a separated bike path so i smiled and when the light changed i took off. When we got to the next light the kid said, "man you smoked us!" I had a laugh at that one.

I want to live as much as the next person, but I disagree. Driving + the following list also equals death to cyclists..and pedestrians and other drivers:

tuning the radio
eating a Big Mac
putting on mascara
yelling at kids in the backseat
petting the Pomeranian your lap
screwing with the navigation system
sneezeing fits
reading a map
spilling coffee in your lap
arguments w/ your passenger

the list goes on...you can't make everything illegal. You can only hold people to a standard of care and punish them when they violate society's trust.

I'm not naive to that. It's GREAT to be a girl on a bike. I get my share of idiots who buzz me out of ignorance (I think)...but I can't remember having been yelled or gestured at by a driver unless I was in the company of one or more men. My team costume has lots of pink on it...just in case anybody fails to note that we're girls !

Here in Arizona, the DOT encourages cyclists to point in the direction they are going. The law says that either method of signaling is acceptable, but I point. Most of the illegals don't know what signals mean, but they seem to figure out the pointing.

+1,000,000

Every driver you are courteous to is one driver less likely to vote to prohibit you from riding on the roads. The opposite is also true.

Riding on the road is not a right, it's a privlidge....just like driving.

Len

Your +1,000,000 and my +1.

I see a lot more obnoxious cyclists out here in the Bay Area than I do cagers.

"Hell hath frozen over"

Well, I could have told you that. My wife is supposed to start a new job that has an annual income greater than her age for the first time since I've known her. She might actually be able to pay for all the crap she buys. My best friend's wife has just gotten a job teaching after taking a 9 year vacation.

BE WARNED, the next thing you will be flying pigs followed by a green sky. Take care fellow roadies. Wouldn't want you to get splattered by falling pig poop.

"Hell hath frozen over"

Apparently global warming doesn't extend to this location.

A couple weeks ago I had a fellow pull up beside me in his pick-up as I was riding. I figured he was going to yell something ignorant, instead he said: "I like your vest, it helps a lot." I was wearing a Hi Vis jersey.

California law says a left turn should be signaled with the left arm. Right turns, on a bike or motorcycle, can be with the right arm or the left arm pointing up...

PW

I think OP is lying!!! This can't be happening. A nice SUV driver that apologize to a cyclist? That's a myth.

Now in Colorado it is legal to signal with either hand. The bill was passed for that very reason. Most drivers although tested on handsignals for their DL don't know what they are. Well that and the left hand signaling a right turn is the only option for a left side driver vehicle. The 'point where you want to go' is such a universal concept it just makes sense.

Yeah, I'm a Colorado rider, too, and everybody seems to understand right arm pointing right as a right turn signal.

A law went through the gov of Illinois Thursday that gives cyclists three feet minimum clearance; lets us legally ride away from curbs to avoid debris, gutters and the like: and lets us point right to turn right rather than pointing upward with the left hand which no one understood anyway. Becomes effective Jan. 1.

I'm told 7 other states had the three foot law before this past legislative session. Several more were introduced but the smoke hasn't cleared enough to know how many others passed.

IceMan

I smile and wave to drivers doing the right thing whenever I can. I figure it might have a positive effect.

But then, I also stop and wait for the green at red lights, and slow to a crawl at 4-way stop signs (basically what 95% of cars do here). The other day I was following another rider, and since he was going the same direction, I thought maybe I'll catch him, say hello, maybe ride together for a bit.

Then he blew through a stop sign and two red lights without slowing. I let him go. The worst part is that the drivers who saw both of us will almost certainly remember HIM, for being a putz, and not me for being a nice guy.

not more than 20 meters later a rusty red truck blew past me with a dog leaning out the window barking right in my ear and nearly taking my helmet off.


Why do they ALWAYS wait until they're right at your ear to start barking??!!