colleen c

Most of the time I don't mind it. Their intent means no harm and it happens all the time when they see a female cyclist and are nice enough to yeild. However, there are time where it gets dangerous and they don't realized what they doing can be dangerous for me. A good sample for me would be at a 4 way stop sign at the middle of rush hour traffic. The car on the right side of the intersection will be waiving me on to enter although he was their first and has the right of way. Problem occurs when the car from my left does not know what is going on and he is going through just base on the timing of the car at the 4way stop. Drivers that does that can easily throw out the timing sequence of a 4way stop intersection and while one driver is smiling and waiving me on, the other two are angry for me if I cross.

It comes down to being stuck between a rock and a hard place.

frankenmike 

Good intentions with the outcome of making everybody wait even longer. Just go!

Chalupa102

That's awesome. I'll have to use one of those next time.

One time i was in a left lane to take a turn and there was a red left arrow, so of course i stopped. The cars coming through had a green light though, but one car was stopping and motioned me to go. I just pointed up to my red light and waved them through with a smile.

serra

One time I was trying to turn from a side road onto a rather busy road. Only 2 lanes and 35 mph limit, but it was the road everyone had to take to get into town from the freeway. A semi trailer actually stopped and motioned for me to go, and proceeded to follow me, rather than try to squeeze by, to the next light. I did my best to wave my thanks, but he was a bit high up. Totally made my day.

Shimagnolo

An example of what can happen when a motorist makes an unexpected stop, (for ducks rather than a cyclist):

https://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2.../14548891.html

2su

I don't mind it.

darkadious

so if the person refused to go after waiting 5 minutes would the person still fail for going? seems ridiculous.

i've never read anything in the DMV (california) handbook that said it was illegal to continue if the ped waved you on.

serra

It really sucks for the motorcyclists. It wasn't the fault of the woman driving the car though. Proper following distance is taught in drivers ed. You should be far enough back that if the car in front of you were to slam on their brakes, you would have time to stop. I feel a bit messed up to say this, but the motorcycle should have been following further back.

Shimagnolo

You did note in the article that the woman was arrested, right?
Proper following distance is a great idea in theory, but in practice an unexpected stop can, and will, cause accidents on busy roads.

bmt074

I do this all the time - especially at all-way stops. If the car gets to the line first I let them go just like I would if I were in a car. When I come to a stop I often just look off in the other direction so there is no confusion. They go every time.

I'm not annoyed by that behavior though- people are just trying to be nice. But it can be confusing and dangerous.

Casrider

both feet down, hands off the bars... usually gets the point across that it's their turn to go

what bugs me more is when another cyclist coming up from behind screws up the effort I'm trying to make to sort drivers out by taking the "kind offer"

daxr

My route is mostly MUP, so it comes up often where the trail crosses the road - cars have the right of way. To avoid having them stop for me, if there is just a car or two I'll slow down before the road and time the gap. If there's a few cars and I'm going to have to wait, I'll stop a few feet from the road and relax, fiddle with my handlebar tape or something. If I'm back off the road and seeming to pay no attention, cars will usually go right through.

The worst pisser is where I have a good gap coming, but a driver slows up to see if I'll cross if front of him - which I won't - and then the gap is fubar'd and I have to wait for another.

rjn3100

I ride paths a lot, and try to time my pace when I see a car comming to let them cross first. then they do the slow down, stop and wave thing it messes up my timeing.
I'm glad they try to help out, but I find it annoying.
The other side of the coin is cars that just slowly roll through the stop sign at the cross walk, causing me to slam on the brakes because they have no clue how fast I'm going.

truman

It's a little troublesome, but I do appreciate the thought behind it. When I start to get annoyed by it, that's an indication that I need to attend to my own attitude. In other word, my annoyance is my own problem, and not the driver's.

Like others, if timing the intersection fails, I avoid eye contact and put both feet on the ground. Failing that, I shake my head slowly and exaggeratedly, till they go.

tligman

It bothers me when anyone in a car breaks the expected pattern of observing the "rules of the road" to "be nice" to anyone for any reason. If I'm walking, or in a different car, or on a bicycle, I plan what I'm going to do when I encounter other cars based on the expected behavior. Everyone does. And then someone thinks they're being helpful by breaking that pattern when all I can think is, "if I go, then it would be perfectly believable if they gunned it and hit me, and then claimed I didn't yield or stop appropriately to the situation.

I don't really think all of those people are gunning for me like that, but I can't stop it from crossing my mind. Whenever people indulge in erratic and unpredictable behavior they create an opportunity for unexpected results. In a 1-5 ton vehicle, unpredictable results can get people killed, so I wish they'd just stop trying to wave me on. That said, I also wish they'd stop properly at stop lights when they're planning to turn right on red, rather than rolling out to block the crosswalk where I'm riding with my 11 year old son until he learns how to keep a better straight line

Doohickie

I was at an all-way stop at a freeway overpass. I was on the 2-way road that crosses the freeway, and the stop sign was an all-way stop where it crossed the (two-lane, one-way) freeway access road. (Truman knows the intersection; I was going south on that road that crosses 183 right by Hooters.) I'm behind a car, car waits his turn, then goes. I pull up. Instead of taking her turn, the "nice lady" on the freeway access road just sits there. She's on my right, it's her turn, she has the right of way (oh, and there was traffic in the lane next to her as well). But she wants to be nice and let me go. I've already stopped. I make a big show of getting out of the saddle to put my foot down. I get my water bottle out and take a swig. I look at her, then take another swig. She finally gets the idea and goes. I the meantime, three cars have gone through in the lane next to her. The guy behind her looked over at me with a look like, "Boy, is she crazy or what?" After she went through, I finally took my turn.

Why didn't I just go when she was waiting for me? Besides the principle of the thing and trying to follow the law, there is a practical consideration: She was going to let me go out of turn, but there was a lane of traffic beside her and I don't know if they will also let me go or if they will take their turn. So.... I wait.

truman

Oddly, I knew which intersection before you opened the parentheses.

And that's my logic, too. "Thanks for the consideration, but I'm pretty sure you didn't get buy-in from all players present, so I'll decline, in the interest of seeing my daughter graduate college someday"

Doohickie

Yeah, the hill that leads up to that (along the 183 access road) I commonly refer to as Hooters Hill. It used to be a daily part of my commute, now I only go that way occasionally since moving to a new office.

apricissimus 

When motorist have the right of way and try to give to me when they really shouldn't, I'll often make a point of stopping, putting a foot down, sitting in the top tube, scrathcing my ass, remove my helmet and check it out, etc., etc., you know... get real comfortable, until they finally get the idea that I'm not going to go anywhere until they do.

thoms

yeah annoying, but I figure at least that's a driver that sees cyclists

vtjim

I did this dance at two consecutive stop signs on my ride home last night. At one, I was holding on to the stop sign. I finally pointed up at the sign. Then the cars went.

Usually I can hear the car(s) and will stop well back so they don't see me until it's too late to stop. Not yesterday though.

Once a woman decided to try to stop anyway and wound up halfway across the intersection, waving me through. I just shook my head no and waved her on.

Artkansas 

I call them "Nanny Drivers". I feel like they are treating me like a kid.

What they really don't realize is that the moment their wheels start rolling, I can go too. So in their misguided attempt to make things better for me, they are actually making it worse on everyone.