Missed connection

[ursus]

@closebr 156603 wrote:

I too have experienced the “I own this road” attitude from motorists. My experience is that the road is no place to have a nuanced discussion or an argument. I have gotten to the point where I just give a thumbs up instead of some obscene gesture. Shuts them up everytime. Most disputes come out of an irrational sense of extreme impatience anyways. If logic and truth were important, no one would be upset at cyclists. There is no good reason why, but asking why will not work.

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Doing loops on Haines Point which I do a lot of since I live in SW DC, I have always found that drivers on Buckeye Drive are very impatient. Many people who use it use it as a short cut and think that the 25 MPH speed limit does not apply to them, I often wish that there was a sign on that stretch that I could point to.

(That’s two posts in a row that I remembered to answer the random post before posting.)

[secstate]

@cvcalhoun 156577 wrote:

Yeah, he’s got three lanes his direction, and I’m not in any of them.

I often use a 1/2 mile portion of Beach Drive to get between my neighborhood and the stretch of Rock Creek Trail that goes northbound from the DC border (toward Lake Needwood). It’s a quiet part of Beach Drive (most people get on or off at West Beach Drive near Silver Spring), and I am almost always going against the main traffic flow and at slightly odd hours. About half the time, not a single car passes me. This doesn’t stop the occasional driver going the other direction from giving me a disapproving gesture or honk of reproach for slightly delaying some vehicle that exists only in their head.

Most drivers on that stretch are pretty courteous though.

[closebr]

@ursus 156607 wrote:

Doing loops on Haines Point which I do a lot of since I live in SW DC, I have always found that drivers on Buckeye Drive are very impatient. Many people who use it use it as a short cut and think that the 25 MPH speed limit does not apply to them, I often wish that there was a sign on that stretch that I could point to.

(That’s two posts in a row that I remembered to answer the random post before posting.)

Those pesky short-cuts in DC are a problem. I often have problems with impatient drivers on Beach and Blagden in Rock Creek Park. The speed limit is 25, but folks want to go much faster. Those roads probably shouldn’t be used for through traffic anyways, too narrow, but unfortunately make good short-cuts. To top it off, they are the only good options for cyclists.

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[AFHokie]

@ursus 156607 wrote:

I often wish that there was a sign on that stretch that I could point to

I routinely point out the 15mph signs to drivers who blast by me on Jefferson & Madison. Surprisingly, one will occasionally slow down.

What makes it funny is my average speed is ~15-17mph on those two roads.

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[closebr]

@AFHokie 156623 wrote:

I routinely point out the 15mph signs to drivers who blast by me on Jefferson & Madison. Surprisingly, one will occasionally slow down.

What makes it funny is my average speed is ~15-17mph on those two roads.

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On Beach Drive between Tilden and Blagden, if I ride 15 MPH or higher, no driver gets upset, if I get any slower than that, like on the hill up Blagden, people start getting angry.

[Crickey7]

Man, do not get me started on the drivers who complain about being held up on Beach Drive by a cyclist. It’s a freaking National Park, not the training grounds for the 24 Hours of Le Mans. It shouldn’t be open to commuter traffic at all.

[sjclaeys]

@AFHokie 156623 wrote:

I routinely point out the 15mph signs to drivers who blast by me on Jefferson & Madison. Surprisingly, one will occasionally slow down.

What makes it funny is my average speed is ~15-17mph on those two roads.

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That used to be my commute route, and of course I’d get passed by NPS police and Circulator buses going way over the speed limit all of the time.

[Steve O]

@cvcalhoun 156596 wrote:

Alas, I fear it would stimulate a lengthy response

My thought wasn’t to attempt to engage in an extended interlocution, but add this to the lexicon of responses in which there is no further opportunity for interaction (like the one you describe). One can choose to flip the bird, give a thumbs-up, yell a curse word, ignore,….or yell “Why?”

Seems as good as any of the others.

[Emm]

@AFHokie 156623 wrote:

I routinely point out the 15mph signs to drivers who blast by me on Jefferson & Madison. Surprisingly, one will occasionally slow down.

What makes it funny is my average speed is ~15-17mph on those two roads.

They changed the lights I think last year (or was it the year before?) on Jefferson, so now to comfortably make the light at 7th St going west, you need to bike a solid 17-20 mph starting at the light at 14th St. I’m sure drivers have noticed this too and sped up. Often that speed is doable on a bike in the AM, but if you add in slowing down for a pedestrian or two in the crosswalks, you’re stuck at a reaalllllly long light at 7th st. Drivers deal with this by overcompensating and speeding up even more I’ve noticed.

I have started going the Case Bridge route instead some mornings, since going that fast to make the light at 7th means I have less ability to safely slow down or stop when pedestrians decide to cross the street without looking or walk right in front of my bike at an intersection when they have a no-walking signal…

[bobco85]

This happened yesterday while I was on a walk. Not biking, but I thought I’d mention it.

Me: waiting to cross Van Dorn St at Taney Ave
(Van Dorn St light turns red; walk signal comes on)
Me: walks out into the crosswalk after a second or two
You: southbound Driver of a grey Prius on Van Dorn St, goes into the intersection through the red, luckily missing me because I was already in the next lane
Me: looks incredulously at you while this happens and gesturing “WTF?” (actually a magic spell that casts bad luck on the driver)
You: continue to drive, then 2 blocks down the road stop as your car breaks down (the car behind him was accompanying him, so they pulled over to assist)
Me: (to the world) I want all of you drivers to know that I have this power; I’ll use it if I need to!

[Mario20136]

@bobco85 157822 wrote:

This happened yesterday while I was on a walk. Not biking, but I thought I’d mention it.

Me: waiting to cross Van Dorn St at Taney Ave
(Van Dorn St light turns red; walk signal comes on)
Me: walks out into the crosswalk after a second or two
You: southbound Driver of a grey Prius on Van Dorn St, goes into the intersection through the red, luckily missing me because I was already in the next lane
Me: looks incredulously at you while this happens and gesturing “WTF?” (actually a magic spell that casts bad luck on the driver)
You: continue to drive, then 2 blocks down the road stop as your car breaks down (the car behind him was accompanying him, so they pulled over to assist)
Me: (to the world) I want all of you drivers to know that I have this power; I’ll use it if I need to!

This is what I call “Instant Karma Payback”.

[drevil]

This happened many years ago in College Park, when I was leaving the REI and briefly rode on Route 1 to get to the Shopper’s groceries.

As I made the left turn onto Route 1, one car pulled up really close to me and the kid in the passenger seat leaned out and yelled in my ear to spook me. They accelerated off, laughing hysterically, at the same time getting into the right lane to turn onto Cherry Hill. Super-PO’d, I waved at them and kept shouting thank you.

The driver and passenger were looking back at me (in their mirrors), laughing their arses off, when all of sudden, BANG! they rear end the car waiting to make the right turn onto Cherry Hill too! As I ride by, I lean towards their window, and do my best Nelson, “HA! HA!” and ride away with a huge grin on my face.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]14456[/ATTACH]

[KWL]

This cab driver couldn’t be bothered to use a turn signal coming off of Key Bridge onto the Whitehurst ramp, but did provide other signals.

[cvcalhoun]

@KWL 157839 wrote:

This cab driver couldn’t be bothered to use a turn signal coming off of Key Bridge onto the Whitehurst ramp, but did provide other signals.

Did you get the license plate? Can you report him?

[Zack]

@cvcalhoun 157840 wrote:

Did you get the license plate? Can you report him?

Do report them if you got the license plate, there is a process in DC for those cab drivers to be disciplined.

[Author]

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