GlennR

I do, I feel safer since I trust NO ONE. Not drivers, pedestrians or cyclists. 100% of my attention is focused on my personal safety.

Troul 

I would not have any time for such a person that plays on words in those types of situations.

indyfabz

I was on a huge charity ride. Someone yelled “Clear!” at a left turn at a T intersection. Either they were blind, intentionally trying to kill us or meant “Car.”

bampilot06

Seems like more times than not I look left and right no car, I yell clear start going and then appears for who ever behind me to deal with.

Roads are not straight in VA.

Troul 

as if there's a Lakitu dropping cars at random.

jwalther

We switched from "clear" to "rolling" a few years ago to encourage, if only slightly, everyone to make an individual judgment whether to go or not.

Zaskar

"Rolling" is what our club uses... which can sound like "Slowing" - hand signals help.

Bob Ross

I don't know if it's against the rules per se, but in my Club it is strongly discouraged to yell "CLEAR!" at an intersection. Rather, we encourage each rider to say "Going Through!" if the intersection is clear. The reason being, yelling "CLEAR!" absolves the rider behind you from having to make a decision, and auto traffic conditions can change quickly enough that every rider in a group should be observing and deciding for themselves.

Also while "Clear!" is designed to inform the rider(s) behind you, "Going through!" informs the riders ahead of you. If you don't hear someone behind saying "Going through!" you can assume they may have been delayed by traffic and adjust your speed accordingly until the group is all together again.

rsbob 

IMNSHO if you have ridden with an experienced group for several months with no dare devils or testosterone fueled lab rats, then you know when someone shouts Clear, they can be trusted. OTOH, I would never trust a group or someone that I had not ridden with or just done a few rides. My wife and I ride together and we trust each other implicitly, especially more so after I let my life insurance lapse.

I do like the “Go through” concept though.

Litespud

we call “clear”, which is taken to mean that there are no visible vehicles. Distant vehicles are indicated by “deep right” or “deep left”. However, all of these signals indicate that these circumstances apply only to the rider calling them, and not for every rider in the line. I can’t imagine anyone, regardless of a “clear” from the preceding rider, rolling blithely out onto the roadway without looking both ways. Each rider is supposed to
scan and call for the benefit of the next rider, not for the whole group. Obviously a road that’s clear for rider #1 may not be clear for rider #10, and #10 would have to be a moron to assume otherwise. Best not to ride with morons.

Andy Somnifac 

I'm all for the lead rider calling "Clear" at an intersection. That doesn't mean I take it as gospel and I still take the time to check, but it at least gives preliminary info.

If I'm on the front I err on the conservative side. If there's a car visible, it needs to be very far away for me to call the intersection as clear otherwise it gets called out ("Car right/left") as applicable.

canklecat

Intersection etiquette depends on the group and route. Some groups slow or regroup anytime the group is split due to yielding or stopping for traffic at intersections. No reason to worry or panic sprint through traffic. There are plenty of places along the route for uninterrupted riding so there's no real need to take unnecessary risks at intersections with blind spots.

Some groups blast ahead and use intersections to drop cautious and tentative stragglers. I don't do urban alleycat drop rides anymore. The only "training" in those rides is training to visit the ER.

Either way, I don't care whether riders ahead call "clear." If I can't see it for myself, I don't believe it. Maybe their peripheral vision is worse than mine.

Bald Paul

I have no problem with "clear" in a VERY small group (no more than 4 riders.) Even then, I'll double check myself.
In a larger group, the road may well appear to be clear for the riders in front, but by the time the riders near the end of the line get to the intersection, there may be a vehicle approaching. I've had this happen on a couple of occasions, and it usually results in someone crashing into the back wheel of the person who, at the last second, sees the vehicle and decides to stop.