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most drivers/people ARE nice
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 2009-08-14 2:40 PM |
Extreme Veteran  477  |  Subject: most drivers/people ARE niceWithin the first 5 minutes of my ride today I almost got taken out. I was on my normal route...wide shoulder and not real heavy traffic that time of day. I was on a straight away so she should have had no trouble seeing me. I saw her in my helmet mirror (I won't ride on the rode w/out one, unless I'm racing) and its a good thing I did. She was slowing down to turn right at an upcoming road...I can't believe she didn't see me...I was sure she was waiting on me and then suddenly she turns right in front of me...almost like she was waiting on me. I know people often misjudge a cyclist's speed bc they are not used to people going around 20 on a bike but this seemed too purposeful. I hit my brakes hard and JUST missed hitting her. She kept right on going, smoking her cigarette like nothing ever happened. Of course this isn't my first close call and every time it happens I want to chase them down (I could have this time...she was turning into a development) and make sure they know what they did, etc, etc. But I know nothing good would come from that. Either it was truly a mistake and I'd ruin her day making her feel awful or she'd be a jerk and have either done it on purpose or not care. Either way I'd accomplish nothing other than interrupting my ride. Just for fun I decided to keep track of today's "encounters". Almost get hit: 1. Vehicles patiently waiting on me at crossroads: 4. Vehicles obviously impatiently waiting on me and probably cursing at me: 2. Vehicles slowing down to make sure it was safe to pass: 4. Friendly individuals getting their mail or working outside that waved to me: 3. Other friendly cyclist met on road:2. Overall people/drivers ARE nice. Too bad the one bad one can kill you. |
| 2009-08-14 3:07 PM in reply to: #2349314 |
Champion 7553    Albuquerque, New Mexico Bronze member | Subject: RE: most drivers/people ARE nice Glad to hear it was a near miss rather than an accident! Most likely, she was looking for "cars" and you on a bicycle =/= "cars" so it didn't register for her. I agree, most of the time, motorists around here are pretty nice. I had one driver turn around and come back a half-mile to apologize for nearly running me off the road (I was watching him try to avoid a farm dog that had come out to the road). Think about it...that driver chose to deal with the dog two more times so he could apologize to me. |
| 2009-08-14 3:32 PM in reply to: #2349314 |
Elite 2645 Phoenix, AZ | Subject: RE: most drivers/people ARE nice I agree with your sentiment and accounting. I wave hello to cars that wait for me before pulling out of parking lots and cross streets. They usually wave back. I think friendly encounters like that will make the general population more aware of cyclists. |
| 2009-08-14 3:42 PM in reply to: #2349468 |
Champion 5376 PA | Subject: RE: most drivers/people ARE nice Slidell4life - 2009-08-14 4:32 PM I agree with your sentiment and accounting. I wave hello to cars that wait for me before pulling out of parking lots and cross streets. They usually wave back. I think friendly encounters like that will make the general population more aware of cyclists. I also agree, putting it on a personal and respectful level does wonders. On the way to work, I saw two cyclists riding side by side on a busy two-way commuter road that had very little shoulder. The traffic behind them was 3 cars and a motorcycle deep and I saw at least one guy who was understandibly upset. It ticked me off at the cyclists because I too travel that road and they were being blatently selfish IMO. |
| 2009-08-14 8:23 PM in reply to: #2349314 |
Expert 1310 Alabama | Subject: RE: most drivers/people ARE nice Where do you ride? I'm around the Birmingham area... |
| 2009-08-14 10:38 PM in reply to: #2349937 |
Extreme Veteran 477 | Subject: RE: most drivers/people ARE nice NW PA |
| 2009-08-16 10:30 PM in reply to: #2349314 |
| Veteran 294 Boston | Subject: RE: most drivers/people ARE nice I like how you spun that in a positive way, acknowledging that most drivers ARE nice (or rather, the majority - at least in the majority of places because there are exceptions to every rule). I've had my fair share of close encounters as well as actual encounters where someone sped up, pulled right in front of me, and stopped before turning into a gas station when I had like 15 meters to try adn stop (unsucsessful) and fell over into the street and then the person just moved along into the gas station adn said nothing to me. My point is - I think there are just some people who are either just not very happy people and thus take it out on any nearby frustration, or miserable enough to let a bad encounter with a cyclist determine that all subsequent cylist-encounters will be miserable as well. We as cyclists can perpetuate this often-irrational 'road rage' by getting angry ourselves when we are victims of drivers' frustrations, or we could try to change their perception of cyclists by being as courteous as possible without having to interrupt our workouts (sometimes in my opinion being courteous means taking a left hand turn as quickly as possibly when in the middle of a busy intersection when there is a small opening so that I'm not stuck in the middle of the road with my arm stuck out possibly getting in the way of other cars who want to make left turns). As someone before said, a friendly wave can really do a lot to chang someone's perception, especially if it becomes something they see more often than the things that make them frustrated (like people running through red lights without looking). Anyways, thanks for staying upbeat. It's encouraging! Edited by cam224 2009-08-16 10:32 PM |
| 2009-08-17 1:23 AM in reply to: #2349314 |
Pro 6520 Bellingham, WA | Subject: RE: most drivers/people ARE nice I agree that most drivers are nice but than most people would not blatantly shoot me with a gun but if one or two a day took a pot shot at me I'd start to get pissed. Seems average for me is to have two or three negative encounters per ride some more serious than others. Today, going downhill on a windy country road I moved to the left side of the lane while rounding a corner that I knew had broken pavement on the right side. Out of nowhere a motorcycle blows by me on the right. He must have come up very fast because I looked over my shoulder before moving left and no one was in sight. Speed limit was 25 and I was doing at least that. Yes, most drivers are nice but it only takes one to end your life. |
| 2009-08-17 6:13 AM in reply to: #2349314 |
Master 1702 Southern Ontario | Subject: RE: most drivers/people ARE nice I agree - although I'm very lucky here. I find that in general people give me a full lane when passing and there is very little honking/yelling/etc. that happens. (Maybe 2-3x this year?) I had a lady apologize for cutting me off as well. She pulled around me and then came to a complete stop. I don't know if she didn't see me or misjudged how fast I was moving - but she was very apologetic. |
| 2009-08-17 9:03 AM in reply to: #2352369 |
Extreme Veteran 477 | Subject: RE: most drivers/people ARE nice popsracer - 2009-08-17 2:23 AM I agree that most drivers are nice but than most people would not blatantly shoot me with a gun but if one or two a day took a pot shot at me I'd start to get pissed. Seems average for me is to have two or three negative encounters per ride some more serious than others. Today, going downhill on a windy country road I moved to the left side of the lane while rounding a corner that I knew had broken pavement on the right side. Out of nowhere a motorcycle blows by me on the right. He must have come up very fast because I looked over my shoulder before moving left and no one was in sight. Speed limit was 25 and I was doing at least that. Yes, most drivers are nice but it only takes one to end your life. Totally agree. Note my last line from my original post: "Too bad the one bad one can kill you." Edited by tritank 2009-08-17 9:04 AM |
| 2009-08-18 12:39 PM in reply to: #2349314 |
Champion 7553 Albuquerque, New Mexico Bronze member | Subject: RE: most drivers/people ARE nice Resurrecting this one from a few days ago. On my long run last Friday, had a guy step out of a bar to light up (no smoking inside in Illinois). He waited until after I passed to light up. Many thanks that he paused for another 5 seconds. |
| 2009-08-18 1:02 PM in reply to: #2349314 |
Extreme Veteran 3177 | Subject: RE: most drivers/people ARE nice As another note that even us athletes can be nice to each other... my wife and I were walking our dogs on a local MUT and for about 45 yards the MUT becomes part of a major Bike route that is mostly on Roads. I saw two cyclists coming down the road to intersect the trail so we stopped with our dogs at the corner and waited for them to go by. As they passed they actually yelled thank you! Most Drivers in my area are nice and perfectly reasonable human beings. |
| 2009-08-18 4:30 PM in reply to: #2349314 |
Champion 6046 New York, NY | Subject: RE: most drivers/people ARE nice |
| 2009-08-20 1:58 PM in reply to: #2356659 |
Extreme Veteran 566 Southern California | Subject: RE: most drivers/people ARE nice Chased down a delivery truck to tell him thanks for giving me plenty of room, have to remember to say thanks when someone is looking out for you. TriToy - 2009-08-18 2:30 PM I agree, most are nice, then you have what happened to me today: Hit and Run in Boston Glad that you are ok! You guys that ride in big cities are far more brave than I. Good luck out there. |
| 2009-08-20 2:12 PM in reply to: #2349314 |
Expert 1066 Raleigh | Subject: RE: most drivers/people ARE nice Had a guy hit me with his sideview yesterday, I managed to stay upright, but just barely. I let out a loud "WTF!", and looked up in time to see him flip me the bird as he rode on. I swear my tires were within 3 inches of the white line when he hit me. What an AZZ! |
| 2009-08-20 3:05 PM in reply to: #2349314 |
Extreme Veteran 3177 | Subject: RE: most drivers/people ARE nice just yesterday evening get off the bus to go home, head to the cross walk, hit the button, wait for the light to go red and my crosswalk light to go green...Me and a lady are almost hit by some old lady running the red light. The old lady almost hit the left turning car that was in the intersection waiting for us to cross as well and didnt slow down, never looked up left or right... I am sure she is someones grandma and probably a nice old lady but really if you cannot see a red light that has a warning light 20 yards before it maybe you should not be driving... |
| 2009-08-20 3:27 PM in reply to: #2360759 |
Veteran 263 | Subject: RE: most drivers/people ARE nice titeloops - 2009-08-20 2:12 PM Had a guy hit me with his sideview yesterday, I managed to stay upright, but just barely. I let out a loud "WTF!", and looked up in time to see him flip me the bird as he rode on. I swear my tires were within 3 inches of the white line when he hit me. What an AZZ! It's times like that I wish I had a tank with a fully loaded cannon on it. |
| 2009-08-20 11:51 PM in reply to: #2356659 |
| Veteran 294 Boston | Subject: RE: most drivers/people ARE nice TriToy - 2009-08-19 6:30 AM I agree, most are nice, then you have what happened to me today: Hit and Run in Boston Arggg that frustrates me so much, especially since I am from Boston too, ha. Glad you are ok though.  |
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