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When to honk at a bicyclist
Dear fellow Bellevue residents:
I ride every day through our city to and from work. Despite what some Seattleites say, this is a great place to ride. But lately, Bellevue motorists have been honking at me. I'm not quite sure why this has happened -- maybe the election is getting people worked up? Anyway, I think I need to review with you all when to honk, and when not to honk, at a bicyclist. When not to honk: 1. When you just happen to be passing by the bicyclist. Believe me, I was aware of your Esclanade a long time before you even thought about honking. 2. When I am at or in the intersection. Initially, I can accelerate faster than a motor vehicle in an intersection. I am not slowing you down any more than if I were in a car. So chill. 3. When I am going approximately at or above the speed limit. Yes, you might want to go 40 mph down the hill by Phantom Lake, but the speed limit is 30. If I am descending the hill at 32 mph, I am going to be in front of you. You wouldn't honk at a car more or less obeying the speed limit, would you? So why honk at a bike? 4. When I am going the same speed as the rest of traffic. So, we're going down Eastgate Way at 30 mph and the speed limit is 35. So you honk at me. But LOOK, there's a Metro bus in front of me. The reason why you and I are both going 30 mph is because the bus is going 30 mph. Even if I somehow miraculously vaporized at your honking, the Metro bus is still going to be in front of you going 30, and you aren't going to going any faster. Got that? When to honk: 1. When someone is facing imminent death, and you think that honking might somehow avert a fatal accident. 2. When you're my good friend, and you want to catch my attention so we can wave at each other. (Hi Kathy!) 3. When you want me and probably everyone in the immediate vicinity to know that you are a complete, brain-dead, total, doofus. Thank you for your attention to this matter. I hope to never hear from you (except those good friends -- you may continue to tootle so we can wave at each other) again. -- Warm Regards, Claire Petersky please substitute yahoo for mousepotato to reply Home of the meditative cyclist: http://home.earthlink.net/~cpetersky/Welcome.htm Personal page: http://www.geocities.com/cpetersky/ See the books I've set free at: http://bookcrossing.com/referral/Cpetersky |
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#2
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Excellent post, Claire. Thanks.
-Emily |
#3
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When to honk:
1. When someone is facing imminent death, and you think that honking might somehow avert a fatal accident. 2. When you're my good friend, and you want to catch my attention so we can wave at each other. (Hi Kathy!) 3. When you want me and probably everyone in the immediate vicinity to know that you are a complete, brain-dead, total, doofus. 4. When I am stuck behind 3 riders who are completely unaware of conditions around them, and one is occasionally straying into the opposite lane, making it impossible to safely pass them. A friendly "tootle" on the horn brought them back to reality. Chris Neary "Science, freedom, beauty, adventu what more could you ask of life? Bicycling combined all the elements I loved" - Adapted from a quotation by Charles Lindbergh |
#4
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"Chris Neary" wrote in message ... When to honk: 1. When someone is facing imminent death, and you think that honking might somehow avert a fatal accident. 2. When you're my good friend, and you want to catch my attention so we can wave at each other. (Hi Kathy!) 3. When you want me and probably everyone in the immediate vicinity to know that you are a complete, brain-dead, total, doofus. 4. When I am stuck behind 3 riders who are completely unaware of conditions around them, and one is occasionally straying into the opposite lane, making it impossible to safely pass them. A friendly "tootle" on the horn brought them back to reality. Chris Neary "Science, freedom, beauty, adventu what more could you ask of life? Bicycling combined all the elements I loved" - Adapted from a quotation by Charles Lindbergh Right on, Chris! Cyclists are so often their own worst enemy. I can't stand the way some riders behave on club rides -- with no consideration for other users of the road, whatsoever. Of course there are tons of bad drivers out there who don't respect cyclists. There are also bad cyclists out there who don't respect motorists and that's quite dangerous, too. Flame on. Bob C. |
#5
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On Wed, 13 Oct 2004 21:26:09 GMT, "Claire Petersky"
wrote: Dear fellow Bellevue residents: I ride every day through our city to and from work. Despite what some Seattleites say, this is a great place to ride. But lately, Bellevue motorists have been honking at me. I'm not quite sure why this has happened -- maybe the election is getting people worked up? Anyway, I think I need to review with you all when to honk, and when not to honk, at a bicyclist. When not to honk: 1. When you just happen to be passing by the bicyclist. Believe me, I was aware of your Esclanade a long time before you even thought about honking. 2. When I am at or in the intersection. Initially, I can accelerate faster than a motor vehicle in an intersection. I am not slowing you down any more than if I were in a car. So chill. 3. When I am going approximately at or above the speed limit. Yes, you might want to go 40 mph down the hill by Phantom Lake, but the speed limit is 30. If I am descending the hill at 32 mph, I am going to be in front of you. You wouldn't honk at a car more or less obeying the speed limit, would you? So why honk at a bike? 4. When I am going the same speed as the rest of traffic. So, we're going down Eastgate Way at 30 mph and the speed limit is 35. So you honk at me. But LOOK, there's a Metro bus in front of me. The reason why you and I are both going 30 mph is because the bus is going 30 mph. Even if I somehow miraculously vaporized at your honking, the Metro bus is still going to be in front of you going 30, and you aren't going to going any faster. Got that? When to honk: 1. When someone is facing imminent death, and you think that honking might somehow avert a fatal accident. 2. When you're my good friend, and you want to catch my attention so we can wave at each other. (Hi Kathy!) 3. When you want me and probably everyone in the immediate vicinity to know that you are a complete, brain-dead, total, doofus. Thank you for your attention to this matter. I hope to never hear from you (except those good friends -- you may continue to tootle so we can wave at each other) again. Hehehe.. around here, I don't mind it if someone gives a quick beep to warn me, in the event that I'm too far out in the middle of the road- i e to avoid a big pothole or ditch. THat's not unusual around here with the crappy roads. However, I was on a ride a couple of weeks ago and some shmuck scared us with a long, angry blast, just so he could speed past us and stop at a stoplight. A i flipped the bird and received he same from his kid- he was a typical fat cat in a big luxury car, picking up his rug rat daughter from private school. When we stopped to inquire about why he honked, the rug rat yelled, "you were taking up the whole road!" Right- while he's in the luxury bus.One of my buddies told the fat cat that he;d wait for him to take off when the light changed and then write down his license because he was speeding and a menace. Judging by the physical shape of both drivers, i doubt either one of them walks anywhere, let alone ride bikes. When we started up again, a group of young women in a vminivan passed by us and cheered and waved at us in support. Anyways, the moral is: THAT type of honking does nothing but scare the crap out of us, and it also seems idiotic to screeeech past us just to stop at a stop light. |
#7
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On Wed, 13 Oct 2004 23:03:53 -0400, wrote:
it also seems idiotic to screeeech past us just to stop at a stop light. No. First one to the red light wins. |
#8
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On Thu, 14 Oct 2004 07:27:17 -0500, Zippy the Pinhead
wrote: it also seems idiotic to screeeech past us just to stop at a stop light. No. First one to the red light wins. That's me, then, since I can go past him and the three in front while the light is red :-) Guy -- May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after posting. http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk 88% of helmet statistics are made up, 65% of them at Washington University |
#9
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In article ,
(Hunrobe) wrote: "Claire Petersky" forgot "when to honk- #4 & 5": 4- When you think I may have dropped the large bag of money you just found. 5- When the motorist is a beautiful member of the opposite sex and madly, passionately in love with a cyclist. Please note that while #4 applies only when *I* am the cyclist, #5 applies universally. Regards, Bob Hunt Thats good Bob! Claires #3 is the best of course. HAND |
#10
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"Claire Petersky" wrote in message ink.net...
Dear fellow Bellevue residents: When to honk: 2. When you're my good friend, and you want to catch my attention so we can wave at each other. (Hi Kathy!) Claire, I love you more than my pick-up truck, but people getting their friend's attention with their car horn is a pet peeve of mine. I can't tell you how many times I have been driving along and a driver in a car close to me blew his horn to hail a friend. I immediately start looking around trying to determine what I am being warned about. I just took a look at the Florida driver's manual and it suggests that you tap on the horn when passing another vehicle. I remember that being a common practice when I was a kid in the country back in Kentucky, but the only place I see it anymore is in rural South Georgia near where I live. Claire, did you ever consider the possibility that the person blowing the horn may think you are a hottie and he is trying to pick you up? ;-) Dick Durbin |
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