Brocephus

I've had people try to wave me through, when I didn't want to go, and I'd signal, "no thanks, you go first", and they keep waving me through. Sometimes this has gotten annoying to the point that I've pulled over, unclipped, and grabbed my water bottle, and sat there looking at them till they figured it out.
Also, I regularly have drivers wanting to turn across my path, and stop and wait for me to pass, often holding up drivers behind them. Unless I'm making good speed, or real close to them, I often wave them through from a distance, just to keep traffic moving and keep from inconveniencing people. Riding in a largely rural county, I generally have pretty friendly, conscientious drivers around me, so this usually works pretty efficiently.
I actually got a friendly wave for the courtesy today. It's always nice to interact smoothly with drivers that "get it".

Skipjacks

Right...because that's what we're talking about. (It's not, for those deficient in sarcasm)

You have a nice day with whatever it is you're upset about.

steine13

Yesterday I hit my personal record.
Riding home on my 2.5 mile so-called commute. I'm in a residential neighborhood.
Classic setup: on my right, Lexus SUV with tinted windows is rolling up to the four-way stop... stops eight feet back, just because... meanwhile, I'm rolling downhill, not pedaling, a few seconds to the stop sign... I see where this is going and wave the driver on, there'd be no reason for me to slow down at all, as there's no other traffic. And they've stopped. And it's now their turn.
But no. Car just sits.
I come to a full stop. Nothing.
I cross my arms, which usually works. Nothing.
We're now 20 seconds into this charade and I confess, I'm intrigued.
I pull out my phone, check some messages, look over at the car. Nothing.
Now I'm thinking the idiot is parking close to a stop sign and doesn't even want to go.
Time for a little test: I signal right and start a right turn -- not my direction, but like I said, I'm intrigued.

NOW she starts rolling -- I'm close enough to the car that I can see it's a 30-ish lady -- and I do a U-turn behind her and continue on my merry way.
This whole exercise probably took two minutes, and I have no idea what the point of all that was.

When people see a fifty-year-old guy on a bicycle, doesn't it click that if I got to this age and am still biking, I'm probably not doing anything crazy on the road.
cheers -mathias

Lemond1985

When I'm in my car, I would estimate that 80-85% of the cyclists I see have no idea what they are doing. The majority ride against traffic, often fiddling around with phones and cigarettes. I have instituted a mandatory "salmon check" every time I make a right turn, which has saved me from several certain bike vs. car crashes.

I don't blame drivers for being very skeptical of the average bike rider's skillset. Or dedication to following traffic laws, which every cyclist "knows" are "optional"

mgw4jc

And as the pedestrian, it's a Catch 22. I would not dare step into the crosswalk unless I saw the car stopped or definitely stopping safely. To help with this, one small town in my area implemented neon orange flags to grab and carry across. There is a flag holder on each side of the road with 3-4 flags. You are supposed to grab one indicating that you intend to cross, carry it across, and return it once across.

I am sometimes surprised at a how long a driver will wait for me instead of making his left turn in front of me. Maybe they have a hard time judging my speed, but it is obvious to me that they have plenty of time to cross before I am near them. Same for someone turning right to be in the same lane as me. I'd rather them pull on out and go because they will be faster than me in 1 second.

Phil_gretz

When my wife and I drive in the car together, the whichever of us is the passenger always alerts the driver "bicyclist!" as early as we encounter one. The driver acknowledges. That way, we can decide whether or not the rider has any sense of what they're doing. We're not mindlessly extra "nice", but we try to be considerate. It's not a race. And I don't get points for "winning" anything.

Lemond1985

I'm gonna play devil's advocate here, and argue that the average driver sees so much selfishness and flagrant contempt for traffic laws committed by "average" bicyclists, it's a wonder they don't run us all down. I'm not talking about the 10% who stop at red lights and stop signs, and ride on the correct side of the road. We're a mere curiosity compared to the other 90%.

I wish there was something I could do to rehabilitate our image among motorists, but for each "me", I've got nine people texting on their phones while riding on the wrong side of the road blowing red lights. That's a tough image to overcome when the vast majority of bicyclists ride this way, and motorists are usually correct to assume the person they see on a bike is deaf, dumb, blind, brain dead, and cares nothing about the traffic laws designed to protect them. Until a crash occurs, and then they're suddenly all about law and order.

Phil_gretz

^I'll agree with this. Present company excluded, but many if not most bike riders are doofuses, to put it plainly. If this can be inferred by how and where they ride.

ksryder

Whoa! Easy with the language there, buddy!

Lemond1985

I think have finally figured out the rules here. Don't post anything here you wouldn't say to your 93 year-old grandmother's face, while sitting in church (unless she is a former Hell's Angel).

Skipjacks

This.

I'm not in an area that's super popular with biking, so most people riding around here have no idea how to do it safely as there aren't a lot of examples of the proper way to not die.

While driving I've seen every imaginable attempt at 'suicide by bike', mostly unintentionally. But it's crazy the things people do on bikes while on roads where death is 1 mistake away.

AeroGut

Around here, it’s the same except that pedestrians aren’t allowed to step out “suddenly” (or some such language) in front of traffic, so if the traffic flow is continuous, they don’t ever have to yield, because you can’t ever get into the crosswalk. At least that’s how the local police explained it.

no motor?

You've got a definite point, but I've had a few niceholes yell they were trying to be nice instead of wondering what crazy/dangerous thing I'm going to do.

Spoonrobot 

You seem to be conflating the age-old issue of "people on bikes" vs. recreational cyclists. However, with respect to recreational cyclists - This mindset is tired, played out and untrue. "The average driver" goes several thousand miles without seeing a cyclist. The average cyclist is at least as law-abiding as the average motorist and probably even moreso. Traffic laws are not designed to protect cyclists, at all.

Motorists hate cyclists for precisely two reasons:

1. They perceive any and all recreational cyclists as in the way, on their road.
2. There are no repercussions when they harbor and subsequently act out that hatred.

There is no way to rehabilitate the public perception of cyclists among motorists because the latter doesn't hate cyclists for what they do. They hate cyclists for what they are - on their road in their way.

Motorists also don't hate lycra-clad road cyclists because of how street-clothes wearing people-on-bikes ride - or vice versa.

SHBR

Also includes ego.

Daniel4

I guess I was a nicehole today on a bike. I let a car get in front of me from a driveway. Because of the lineup of cars behind me waiting for the construction worker to let us through, that car would never find a gap to get in.

gear64

It most cases I accept the offer generously. However there's one instance where it does feel very awkward. I usually bail out of local MUP at busy intersection. Cars one way bikes/ped the other. All have stop signs. I always signal I'm turning right, then twist so they can see better, indicate I'm going right more animatedly, then think 'You asked for it.' as I crawl up the hill in front of them.

Bluesfrog

It spooks me when someone looks to be an airhead and they wave me on, but THEY have the right-of-way. I have a stop sign I am correctly observing. They stop for me. Isn't that nice.? But if I then get hit it is MY FAULT. I could even get sued by the driver of the car. It happens usually, I think, because I have a uniform and am commuting to work or back home. I appreciate courtesy as I see little of caring for the other guy. I normally give right of way. But I give bad looks to those not stopping or no signal for a sudden turn. Or they signal left and go right. Just keep your eyes open and keep alive and unhurt. Be Well. Bluesfrog