cog_nate 

So, I left work yesterday and rode out to a stoplight. My route home led straight through the intersection. One of my coworkers pulled up behind me but stopped before pulling over the sensors at the intersection. I waited patiently, hoping that her car was close enough that the sensor would pick it up. The perpendicular traffic stopped and the oncoming traffic got the green light for left turns and straight. This is normal, happens at this light all the time. Then, the oncoming traffic stopped and perpendicular traffic started up again. We'd been skipped.

Frustrated, I turned around to my coworker and waved for her to pull up a little closer to the light. Not only did she pull up, but she then proceeded to turn right! Seriously, WTF?!

For the record, I do appreciate it when motorists make it clear that they see me, but this was some pretty serious overcompensation. And, it added five minutes to my commute. Does anybody else have this problem where motorists won't pull up alongside you?

DataJunkie

Yes. This morning I was leisurly (sp?) pedaling down a wide street. A small pickup followed me the whole way. I was maybe going 10mph at the most since I was getting close to work and was plenty tired. I suppose that is better than being run off the road. However, feeling like I was being stalked was annoying in its own right. Not quite the same but hey.

Every so often I can't get a car to pull next to me at an intersection.

Dchiefransom

After all the times people riding bicycles have posted here that they have flipped drivers off or slapped thier car, do we really expect drivers that have experienced this to pull up close to someone that does this? Word gets around amongst the driving public.

MyPC8MyBrain

Great ride in this am... had all the warm goodies on today since it was 9F when I left the house.

First run with my MTB shoes covered by the neoprene booties. Feet stayed toasty warm all the way in. Having the SPD was nice on the hills too.

On thing I did learn today... when you flip someone off wearing mitten style glove covers, it looks just like you are waving good morning to them They waved back. sigh

JohnBrooking

In this situation, I try to pull a little in front of the line, not too far out of course, but enough so that the car behind me can pull up in front. If that doesn't work, I suppose the only thing to do is either try to gesture to the person by pointing at their car, the stop line, and the light, or roll back even with them and try to talk to them.

If this is your coworker, I would recommend talking with her about it at work. She probably didn't know what to do and just did the only thing she could think of to get out of the situation. And if it made her annoyed, a non-threatening conversation to get it out in the open would probably be a good thing. I would start out with something like "Sorry about the confusion the other day at that intersection", and hopefully it will flow naturally from there.

DataJunkie

Does drivers flipping each other off affect said motorists everyday driving behaviour. I would say no. Why should a cyclist flipping off a car be any different? As for hitting a car, I'm sure a minority of the driving public has been subjected to this. Odds are that the motorists in these vehicles are simply being very cautious around cyclists. After all, some of us are a tad unpredictable.

Heck, my wife drives clear into a different lane to avoid cyclists. 2 lane road, into the opposite lane of travel, 4 lanes, etc it does not matter. I try to tell her we are not that sensitive to being passed. Just give us a fair amount of room. I guess she is comfortably paranoid. It is far better than the opposite action of buzzing cyclists.

MMACH 5

I had someone pull up behind me last night, turn on their hazards and hi-beams then follow me for about a half mile. I blame this on the VW Passat commercial . I'm sure they thought they were being helpful, but it really was rather annoying.

As for changing traffic lights, most of them will change if you position your bike correctly over the electromagnetic sensors. I have had good luck with probably 90% of the traffic lights that I go through, with no car to trigger the actuator.

Here are some links with more info on tripping actuated traffic lights:

https://www.humantransport.org/bicycl...nals/green.htm

https://www.bikexprt.com/bicycle/actuator.htm

MarkS

I've often wondered if it wouldn't be possible for some EE biking genius to design a broadcaster that would beam a signal down at the roadbed, making the loop act as if there was a semi up there. This would be especially useful at all those intersections where the cut lines have been paved over.

Didn't know about the visual detectors. Maybe the trick there would be to wear a cape and then spread it out like batman when you're waiting at the light. It would go well with the rest of the spandex outfit ...

mexredknee

I have had drivers refuse to pull up beside me but it is rare. Most of the time they just ignore me and pull up to the intersection (only stop signs here) and go when traffic clears.

I had one wait behind me while the cars in front entered the intersection. I thought the driver was being courteous. I guess they could have had some bad experiences which would cause this behavior.

I believe with good riding practices drivers will come to trust and respect us.

vegcrow

I have a similar problem with people pulling up behind me.

There is a left turn lane near my house. I pulled up to the front, and a car came in behind me to wait for the green light in the left turn lane. However they stopped WAY behind me, and the signal skipped us. As much as I hate violating traffic laws, I just waited for a break in traffic and then ran the light. After I turned, I saw that there were several cars that got stuck at the light.

A week later, I was in a similar situation, but before we got skipped I waved the truck behind me to get closer. He rolled down his window and asked what I was doing? I simply told him that my bike won't trigger the green light and he needs to be closer. After the light changed, we both turned. I waved and he honked and one more motorist was educated.

noisebeam

As alluded to above, the problem is not the driver, but the poorly tuned (or not correctly used) sensors. If after trying to get the sensor to work with proper bike positioning and it still doesn't, keep reporting it to the city traffic light division. It is possible to tune them for bikes that have Al wheels and/or cranks and not make them overly sensitive for adjacent lanes.

Al

jyossarian

I have never had this problem in NYC.

Turbonium

i point to the ground at the sensors so they know what i am talking about. waving does not work that well, it means hello

As You Like It

Never had that problem. People here in KCMO will practically latch their bumper to your back wheel at a light.

When I'm in the elevator at work, however, people give me a little more elbow room when I'm in my helmet, balaclava, coat, backpack, etc. Two different co-workers have told me my cold gear makes me look like a terrorist, so I guess that's why people edge away from me!

03FinestAL

In this type of situation I always smile at the driver, wave him/her forward closer to me and point down at the inductive strip in the lane. The driver immediately understands, usually nods and waves, then moves forward.

tajsss

I live in Dallas and unexpectedly people tend to stay way behind me at lights. If there is enough room beside me then I have scooted to the edge and waved people up next to me and most of them do. Most of the streets I am on though are 2-lane streets so the other cars will get over a lane and pull up next to me because they don't want to be behind me. When I'm heading to work in the morning (I leave at 5 or 5:10am) and there is no car coming up soon and I know I'll be waiting for a while, I'll just run it as there are barely any cars on the roads that early anyways.

Diamond

I suffer with this problem. I've tried to wave folks to motion them to pull up to the line but I've never gotten a motorist to do it. Do I look that threatening or are my hand motions that unclear? Do most drivers really have no clue as to what triggers a traffice light? I've got a bunch of lights on my bike, I wonder if I'm so visible that the motorist want to give me a wide berth? I'll try pointing at the sensor next time. We'll see if that works.

Regarding the sensors, I drive from Wilsonville to Beaverton (in Oregon). In Wilsonville the sensors are set right such that my bike will set them off in Beaverton my bike never sets them off. Sure I could contact the city officials but I don't really have time to take on any more special projects right now.

vegcrow

Maybe it's the Jolly Roger that's scaring them away.

Roody

If you have time to post here, how do you lack time to email your city engineering department?

03FinestAL

I had an issue with the sensors in the bike lanes at intersections in Hillsboro, they never worked. Many times I sat for 3-5 minutes before I just cruised through the light.

blueeyedme

Ok, that's too funny.

budster

My LED headlight seems to do the trick with visual sensors at night. As I understand it, a powerful magnet will do the trick with an electromagnetic sensor.

https://www.indigo.com/magnets/gphmgn...h-magnets.html

Big Ron

Frustrated, I turned around to my coworker and waved for her to pull up a little closer to the light. Not only did she pull up, but she then proceeded to turn right! Seriously, WTF?!

For the record, I do appreciate it when motorists make it clear that they see me, but this was some pretty serious overcompensation. And, it added five minutes to my commute. Does anybody else have this problem where motorists won't pull up alongside you?[/QUOTE]


She was probably being "extra courteous" because she knows you, and didn't want to offend or upset you, but wasn't sure of the proper protocol/etiquette. She probably also is not aware of how the stoplights are triggered (a lot of drivers don't have a clue, nor do many cyclists). So; you now have a powerful opportunity to politely educate her on: 1. how most stoplights are triggered. 2. How much it sucks for cyclists to be stranded at a light because it won't change for them. And 3. while it is very kind and much appreciated to be given an excess of space, it is generally better for drivers to treat the cyclist as if they were simply another vehicle on the road.

Just my 2 cents

genec

I've tried a powerful magnet on my BB, but just the other day I got the idea that perhaps the magnet should be on my foot, which I can place down right at the loop. The magnet is not all that big, but is a rare earth type and very powerful... but like any magnet, the field dissapates quickly with distance. So putting the magnet on my shoe might be the key.