close call this morning

[Dickie]

So I made the cardinal mistake this morning of becoming too relaxed about crossing an intersection when a driver waves you through…. I know I know! I generally ride on the roads and have become very strict about stopping at every light and stop sign, but on the trails I have become somewhat lazy as more drivers begin to yield to cyclists. This morning I was on the W&OD trail heading west towards the Great Falls crossing. A driver in the far lane began to slow dramatically as he approached the intersection, I also slowed to a near stop and assumed he had spotted me and was letting me through. I checked to see if drivers in the other direction were on the same page, but in this case he was the only driver on the road so I began to cross. It didn’t take long to realize he was not stopping but simply driving through the intersection at a reduced speed. I hammered the pedals, he finally noticed me and slammed on his brakes and a collision was narrowly avoided. In refection he had not waved me through at all, and I simply assumed his slowing was my cue to cross…stupid mistake. As he eventually spotted me in his path and slammed on his brakes I realized he was not looking at traffic at all, but more likely looking for an intersection or street signs, thus his slowing. he was probably not even aware a bike path crossing was present. The point is (and made numerous times here) that the “waving through” of cyclists is a slippery slope, one I gambled with today and nearly lost.

Topic

[vvill]

Witnessed an interesting scene on the way home today at Little Falls/W&OD. I’d gone through the intersection a few seconds earlier.

A recreational rider probably didn’t stop at the stop sign (I didn’t actually see), motorist had probably seen him approaching, but used his right-of-way and went straight through, rider didn’t stop until driver used the horn. Rider swore at driver. Driver (was in a neck brace of some kind) and shouted something like “You have a stop sign!”, rider went absolutely ballistic, swearing loudly all over the place, rode off the trail to follow car and challenged the driver to come back and fight, etc. Driver ignored rider and kept going. Various stares from other onlookers. Le Sigh.

[Tim Kelley]

@krazygl00 27850 wrote:

While this guy was not technically one (since he was not actually waving you through), the driver who eagerly goes WAY out of his way to “wave you through” the intersection is a classification of driver I like to refer to as “Helpy Helperton”.

Four pages deep and no one has posted the video reference?

http://youtu.be/ONUe58qtjjs?t=17s

[Tim Kelley]

@Dickie 28049 wrote:

everything about this thread has made me happy, didn’t expect that from my initial post…. and that is why I love this forum.. you all rock! Gotta go make that “happy Helperton” t-shirt now!

And this too: http://www.zazzle.com/spank_you_helpy_helperton_t_shirt-235170990162998679

[Author]

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