So this is a bit of an apology and a bitch…
I was coming down Portland Street on my bicycle, moved into the left turn lane just as the light turned red and stopped—with my left arm out signaling to turn left. You came up Portland Street in the opposite direction and signaled to turn right just as the light turned green. You had right of way and yet waved me to go first. I motioned for you to go first as I knew you had right of way but you insisted so I went, shaking my head in frustration.
I apologize for not acknowledging your courtesy. However, I would have preferred if you had followed the rules of the road and taken your right of way. The greater courtesy for all would be if cyclists and motorists would simply LEARN and FOLLOW the rules of the road and respect each others’ right to their space on the road. —FeelBetterNow
This article appears in Sep 17-23, 2015.
What?! Jesus Christ… no rules were broken. The motorist was being kind to a cyclist and you want to bitch about it?! I’m gonna have to buy a car and run you down so you’ll appreciate COURTESY when you see it…
As in all aspects of life, I think people have to use good judgement in each situation rather than being a tight ass about what the “rules” are. The main thing here was that the driver had made it clear that they would allow the cyclist to proceed. If the cyclist had just proceeded there would have been no problem. By starting a game of waving each other on, the cyclist had put themselves at a greater risk of collision.
Sure, the “rules” are important to tell us what to expect but there are always situations where good judgement and common courtesy can take precedence. People aren’t robots.
This is the beauty and the horror of driving in Halifax. We have very courteous drivers (usually) that will do things like this for pedestrians, cyclists and other drivers.
The point the OB is making is that by being courteous in some situations you are putting yourself and others at risk. When you do something that isn’t by the rules, whether it’s reckless or courteous, you’re relying on other drivers to react to something they aren’t expecting. I’ve witnessed a few accidents happen because of this.
Step is correct. I’ve been at a light where the driver on the other side had the right of way to go straight, but was waving for me to turn. He hadn’t checked the lane beside him before he waved for me to go, and just as I was about to go a car flies through the right lane. Had I gone when the truck driver waved for me to go, I would have been side-swiped and in the wrong for turning when unsafe to do so. As a result I waited for the truck driver to proceed, and he didn’t, I finished the turn on the yellow and he sat at the light and held his hand on the horn. Very courteous, but dangerous..