Here’s a weird thing that happens to me all the time: I ride up to an intersection where I have a stop sign, a car is approaching from the crossing street. I stop, balanced on my pedals, and wait for the car to cross my path. But it doesn’t, the driver just sits there. If have the stop sign I am not comfortable being waved across an intersection; if it’s insanely busy I sure appreciate a hand, but if one car is the only thing between me and the other side of an intersection, the safest and most helpful thing for the driver to do is to get the car out of your way as fast as they can. Just go.
Only I’m not being waved across. The car is just sitting there, or maybe rolling very slowly as it approaches the intersection. Finally, because after decades of riding I have yet to master the track stand, I have to put a foot down. Then(!), the car resumes speed and pulls through the intersection.
Sounds almost like I’m being messed with, doesn’t it? That’s the paranoid, indignant answer; it’s an easy thing to think. Or – and this is more common – one thinks, ‘why don’t you just drive your car like a normal person and I’ll ride like an adult?’ You take it personally that someone thinks you’re dumb enough or a big enough jerk just to zoom out into the intersection without warning. You do your job, I’ll do mine. Just go.
Then I had an idea. I decided to experiment, and at every intersection where I had to stop, I made a point of putting my foot down.
Magic. Cars started behaving normally. No longer did they crawl forward, no more stopping and waving me across. Intersections cleared in no time and I moved ahead.
There are very few signs of what a bicyclist is doing on the road. There are no brake lights on bicycles, no electronic turn signals. Also, it is impossible to signal a turn and brake for the turn at the same time; if you haven’t signaled by the time you get to the intersection, it’s too late to do anything but turn (unless you know the international hand signal for ‘about to kiss the ground,’ because that’s what any hand signal would mean in that situation).
Riding a bicycle at night with adequate lighting is a sign; it says ‘I’m trying not to get hit; please assist me.’ But most of the time, drivers sort of have to sniff out the intention of the cyclist based on general behavior. Did you just notice that cyclist blowing a stop sign at full speed? Generally, that’s a good clue the cyclist is worth being wary of.
Seeing a cyclist pull up to an intersection and give no outward sign of intention makes drivers as nervous as cyclists are in the same scenario. Cars that pull up to turn out into the street – but then don’t stop but continue to roll slowly forward, waiting (presumably) for you to pass … those drivers make me crazy because I can’t tell what they’re going to do, how long they’re going to wait. Also, the ones ahead of you that are moving really slow, clearly not sure where they’re going: are they even aware I’m coming up behind them? You can almost bet they’ll turn without using a signal at some point, totally wrapped up in trying to find whatever it is they’re looking for.
For a cyclist, putting a foot down clearly announces, ‘I’m stopping. I’m not going to continue. I’m waiting.’ Drivers know what to do now; they continue on their way, which is exactly what you want them to do. I timed the difference and found that, on average, when I didn’t put a foot down it took me longer to get through intersections. While staying on my pedals would have meant hypothetically that I could get going faster, that’s only true if the intersection clears fast enough. And really, the difference is insubstantial most of the time. Balancing on pedals is probably more just a habit, or a hope that one doesn’t have to stop. Fair enough, but at the first sign of traffic, putting a foot down, I assert, gets you through an intersection faster, or at least no slower.
There’s also a ‘doing my part’ aspect that I like. This is Portland, after all, the city of ‘going out of one’s way for people you don’t know.’ One is hardly a citizen here if you’re not helping out a stranger. And in the interest of bridging the gap between users of different modes of transportation, such a small thing to ask – that actually helps speed up cycling in the process – is a little too good to pass up.
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