Waving Cyclists Through a Four Way Stop

Here's something I've been bothered by for ages, and I'm curious to know if others feel the same. 

Fairly often, I'll arrive at a four way stop and after I have stopped the car with the right of way privilege will wave me through the intersection.

For some reason this irritates me to no end. Stopping and suddenly going again takes energy and someone will wave their hand around as if to magically move me forward. But in my mind this slows down the flow of traffic, and goes against the notion that motorists should treat cyclists like another vehicle. 

I suspect motorists think that they're being polite OR they think that if I go first then they won't see me as an obstacle or distraction on the road. 

How do other's feel about this? Does this bother other cyclists or is this just my own special brand of neurosis? 

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Permalink Reply by Madopal (16.5 mi) on June 20, 2013 at 3:51am

Annoys the living CRAP out of me.  You're not the only one.  Yes, we've already stopped.  If we had some magical right of way, we'd not stop.  And then, if there are any other cars who arrive, the timing is screwed up, and often the cyclists are then blamed.

Also, many times, I'm not putting my foot down, I'm coasting, yielding the right of way, so when they look at me like I'm going to blow the stop. If they're on my right, I just aim right for them.  Eventually, they get the hint and go.

Dang, drivers, just take your right of way.

Permalink Reply by Tony Adams on June 20, 2013 at 3:51am

It bothers a lot of us based on a discussion buried in another thread here from a few days ago.

It drives me crazy too. Everyone should just follow the rules of the road in these instances and grant the right of way to whichever party has it. And yes, I'm pretty sure most of the drivers think they are being nice and helpful, which makes it even worse. If they really want to be helpful they should find a more sustainable way to get around town.

Permalink Reply by Skip Montanaro 0mi on June 20, 2013 at 4:11am

Annoys me as well.  It is particularly bothersome if I am turning left and the car on my right is going straight.  By waving me through the intersection, the driver guarantees the possibility for a negative interaction as they pass me in a few feet.  If they would just go when they are supposed to, it would avoid that possibility.

Permalink Reply by WillG on June 20, 2013 at 4:15am

Annoying for sure. I put my foot down and shake my head no when they try to wave me through.

Permalink Reply by Bez on June 20, 2013 at 5:12am

As voiced by others, this is really annoying.  Not just because of the energy required to stop/start, but because it can end up being really dangerous.  I normally handle it by waving back and shaking my head.  If the person is insistent, I'll get off completely so that they get the hint.  

Permalink Reply by David P. on June 20, 2013 at 5:43am

Right of way is something that can always be yielded to another road user; there is nothing technically wrong with a car driver doing so. That said, I prefer that they take it, because it's more predictable. But I will sometimes take the offer. IME a lot of drivers expect cyclist to blow through 4-way stops, and perhaps the wave-through is related to this. This is a reasonable expectation, since in fact a lot of cyclists do blwo 4-ways.

Eye-roll at the manner of the Ambassador (?) on Kinzie this morning who said to me, as I was coming to a stop at, y'know, a stop sign, in heavy traffic, "Thank you, sir, for noticing the stop sign!" in a bafflingly loud/trying-to-be-authoritative voice as he stood in front of me in the lane and pointed at the sign. Yes, chief, it was almost as easy to notice as the loud guy in the loud pink shirt standing right in front of me.

Permalink Reply by David of the North (David606xx) on June 20, 2013 at 6:43am

Sometimes I'll stop, cross my arms and stamp my feet to get the point across.  Other times I'll fake like I'm making a turn toward whatever direction they're coming from, then wheel around their rear bumper when they pull ahead and go on my way.

When I started riding years ago I used to insist that all cars give me the right of way every time. At some point it occurred to me that a) making a car wait idling was burning more gas, defeating the environmental benefits of my riding and b) I should never EVER trust a car to see me and act appropriately. I ride now with the guiding principle that no pedestrian should ever have to break stride for me and no car should ever have to apply brakes for me. This is how I stay in a zone of perfectly efficient and harmonious motion.

Permalink Reply by Duppie on June 20, 2013 at 7:00am

#firstworldproblems

Permalink Reply by Tony Adams on June 20, 2013 at 7:08am

As opposed to everything else we discuss on the Chainlink?

Duppie 13.5185km said:

#firstworldproblems

Permalink Reply by David of the North (David606xx) on June 20, 2013 at 7:09am

yeah, 'cause that's where we live. ;-)



Duppie 13.5185km said:

#firstworldproblems

Permalink Reply by Alex Z on June 20, 2013 at 7:30am

I agree with h' that windshield glare is a significant issue in this context.

Permalink Reply by Rich S on June 20, 2013 at 7:32am

I prefer that drivers proceed through the intersection when it's their turn but it doesn't bother me at all when they wave me through instead.  I usually just wave back and ride through especially if there are no other cars at the intersection.  Most drivers don't ride so they're ignorant of most bikers' desire to keep up their momentum.  Except for cases like Howard's they're just trying to be nice and it's a courtesy often extended to other drivers as well.  So in a driver's mind they're not doing anything out of the ordinary or annoying.  In fact they probably think they're doing you a favor.  

Also, when they're stopped and see you coming they probably don't know if you're going to stop or not.  We all know there are plenty of bikers that don't yield right of way to cars at stop signs.  So the driver is probably thinking better to stop and see than proceed and potentially hit this biker.  

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