When I ride I often wave. I wave to motorists that seem to be acknowledging me and wait patiently for me to pass in front of them. Sometimes I wave at other cyclists going by or to bus drivers who are courteous or whom recognize me. And yes, occasionally I wave (no, not flip off) to people who buzz by very close or whom honk, or otherwise *appear* to be intentionally treating me different because I am on a bike. Monday, while waiting to cross a busy road in Christiansburg, a man in a car waved three of us through. In this case we decided to cross, even though a motorcycle was coming along from the right and had the right of way. This "courteous" driver was going against convention (the laws of the road) and trying to be helpful. "Thanks?" - we thought - as we proceeded to cut in front of the motorcyclist, who appeared to be slowing down for us to cross. Also on Monday, Wall Street Journal editorial board Dorothy Rabinowitz was making waves as she discussed the “all-powerful enterprise” of the bike lobby in a Monday's online Salon.com article entitled, "Wall Street Journal courageously takes on the totalitarian bike lobby." You can decide for yourself if New York's "best neighborhoods" are really now "begrimed by these blazing-blue Citi Bank bikes," with its new bike sharing program. On the same day, the Wall Street Journal published an article about Bangkok's bike-sharing plan, a trend which seems to be following the likes of other big cities including Paris, Washington, DC, London, Barcelona, - oh, and did I mention New York City?
Wednesday, June 5, 2013
Bike waves
When I ride I often wave. I wave to motorists that seem to be acknowledging me and wait patiently for me to pass in front of them. Sometimes I wave at other cyclists going by or to bus drivers who are courteous or whom recognize me. And yes, occasionally I wave (no, not flip off) to people who buzz by very close or whom honk, or otherwise *appear* to be intentionally treating me different because I am on a bike. Monday, while waiting to cross a busy road in Christiansburg, a man in a car waved three of us through. In this case we decided to cross, even though a motorcycle was coming along from the right and had the right of way. This "courteous" driver was going against convention (the laws of the road) and trying to be helpful. "Thanks?" - we thought - as we proceeded to cut in front of the motorcyclist, who appeared to be slowing down for us to cross. Also on Monday, Wall Street Journal editorial board Dorothy Rabinowitz was making waves as she discussed the “all-powerful enterprise” of the bike lobby in a Monday's online Salon.com article entitled, "Wall Street Journal courageously takes on the totalitarian bike lobby." You can decide for yourself if New York's "best neighborhoods" are really now "begrimed by these blazing-blue Citi Bank bikes," with its new bike sharing program. On the same day, the Wall Street Journal published an article about Bangkok's bike-sharing plan, a trend which seems to be following the likes of other big cities including Paris, Washington, DC, London, Barcelona, - oh, and did I mention New York City?
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I think you raise a good point--when road users start directly traffic and changing the rules, no one knows what to do! We should know the rules of the road and stick to them.
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