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 Naomi Ruth Jackson on June 20, 2013 at 7:48am

I'm really pleased to know that I'm not the only one. Honestly I was prepared for this thread to go either way. 

But I'm glad you pointed out how difficult it is to see signals like that through a windshield. Especially when I'm wearing sunglasses, it's nearly impossible to make out that ambiguous hand wave. I'd rather just stick it out until they go. Plus you never know when you're going to encounter that driver. 

h' 1.0 said:

A couple of points:

1) It is difficult or impossible to see the driver signaling due to windshield glare at least half of the time and few drivers realize this. That's the root of the bulk of the annoyance for me.

2) Recently I had a driver at a 4-way stop pretend to wave me through and then gun it while yelling something, which came across as an attempt to 'teach cyclists a lesson.'  So you're not just being inflexible when you decide you're not putting yourself in teh path of that vehicle.

 

It's interesting that there seems to be something resembling consensus developing here as a past thread on exactly the same topic drew quite a bit of scorn and abuse from a Chainlink member who thought this concern was ridiculous.

Permalink Reply by Michael A on June 20, 2013 at 8:20am

It has been 2 years now but this memory and lesson remains vivid for me.. I was leading a small group of riders home from an organized ride and came up to a 4 way stop. I do not always stop at stop signs but I always try to yield the right of way. Upon approaching this intersection at a pretty fair pace (20+ MPH) there was an SUV stopped. I started to let off the gas getting ready to brake when I saw his arm out the window waving. So i called out that I was rolling ahead and started on the gas again. As soon as I was in front of the SUV he gassed it, hitting me in the hip and spinning my down the passenger side. I have NO idea how I did not go down but the next thing I heard were two of the cyclists that were behind me plowing into the driver's side of the SUV like lawn darts. Luckily no one was hurt more then a few bumps even though one of the bikes was toast (she needed a new bike anyway) After we accessed the damage we let the driver leave because it was not his fault at all. He told me he was waiving goodbye to some of his friends on the church stairs. I am not a huge fan of having to stop at every stop sign but it is the law, the same set of laws we rely on to protect us from cars.... If I do ride through a stop sign it is because I have made 100% sure I am yielding the right of way.

Permalink Reply by Andrew Bedno on June 20, 2013 at 9:13am

Agree with all the above.  Happens often, always annoying.  Drivers so fundamentally cannot be trusted that I stop, put both feet down and wave THEM through even when I have right of way.

Permalink Reply by Melissa on June 20, 2013 at 10:55am

Yes, getting wrongly waved through can feel like a lose-lose: you give up all of your momentum and are pressured to override traffic law.  Take consolation in the possibility that, unlike their fellow four-wheeled fortresses on the road, they see you as an actual person worthy of some genuine measure of consideration.  

More realistically though, I think they prefer to see that you have safely crossed the intersection in front of them, rather than gamble on the combination of their limited visibility and (what they think is) your potential unpredictability as a rider.  

Permalink Reply by Gene Tenner on June 20, 2013 at 12:34pm

I stop at stop signs, so the stopping does not bother me. I take their offer as a sign of respect. As I am passing the car I give a wave of thanks. I figure that two people just improved the street dynamics.

Permalink Reply by Duppie on June 20, 2013 at 1:25pm

Gene, what's this?

h' and naomi had already decided that there was to be consensus on this topic, and then you come in and tell us to get of our high horses and use navigating four way stops as a way to improve various road users think of each other?  Instead of being bothered, annoyed and stomping our feet on the ground in self-righteous indignation about the lifestyle choices and driving styles of other Chicagoans, we should actually wave at the driver and say "thank you" when he waves us thru?

You don't get it, do you ;)


Gene Tenner said:

I stop at stop signs, so the stopping does not bother me. I take their offer as a sign of respect. As I am passing the car I give a wave of thanks. I figure that two people just improved the street dynamics.

Permalink Reply by Naomi Ruth Jackson on June 20, 2013 at 2:36pm

I don't disagree with Gene. If it's between one car and one bike, that's ok. But in a four way stop with normal traffic I want to see cars following the right of way rule. 

Duppie 13.5185km said:

Gene, what's this?

h' and naomi had already decided that there was to be consensus on this topic, and then you come in and tell us to get of our high horses and use navigating four way stops as a way to improve various road users think of each other?  Instead of being bothered, annoyed and stomping our feet on the ground in self-righteous indignation about the lifestyle choices and driving styles of other Chicagoans, we should actually wave at the driver and say "thank you" when he waves us thru?

You don't get it, do you ;)


Gene Tenner said:

I stop at stop signs, so the stopping does not bother me. I take their offer as a sign of respect. As I am passing the car I give a wave of thanks. I figure that two people just improved the street dynamics.

Permalink Reply by Gene Tenner on June 20, 2013 at 2:56pm

Zen cyclists have more fun.

Duppie 13.5185km said:

Instead of being bothered, annoyed and stomping our feet on the ground in self-righteous indignation about the lifestyle choices and driving styles of other Chicagoans, we should actually wave at the driver and say "thank you" when he waves us thru?

You don't get it, do you ;)



Permalink Reply by David Barish on June 21, 2013 at 2:18am

There is a bit of a disconnect between how I feel about it and what I do about it.

How do I feel. I seem less affected than the prior posters. I am not holding myself above (or below) it just doesn't bother me. I think the driver means w

What do I do- I don't go. I wave them through. I find that if I am the traffic cop I do the best to guarantee my safety and that of all the other actors. I don't like to rely on others assuring me that its safe to go.  In essence I don't get annoyed, I just take charge. I will shake my head, point at them and wave them on. This also goes for the times when I will point right at a vehicle, hold my hands flat towards them and if necessary use my voice to make sure they stop

Permalink Reply by AyeJay_Love on June 21, 2013 at 2:25am

I appreciate that the cars are trying to be nice and courteous to me, but yeah it's a pain in the ass to stop and then have to start right back up again. At the same time, I think those drivers would be upset at me if I just slammed through the stop sign without yielding at all... I'm not sure what the right balance is. 

Permalink Reply by David P. on June 21, 2013 at 3:21am

Try thinking of stopping and starting as an opportunity to build stronger quads! :)

Permalink Reply by David Barish on June 21, 2013 at 4:01am

It seems to me that you have to stop either way given the assumptions we have made.  If you get waved through you had to stop first. if you did not get waved through you still had to stop. Thus, the annoyance is with stopping at all. Given that there is a stop sign and traffic I really don't understand the passion. We all have to stop on occasion. That's why our bikes have brakes. :-) I suspect the original post wished that she had  been waved through earlier. Had the driver waved her through before she stopped she would have been happier. Even so, as I posted earler, I am going to stop. I am not going to trust that person or trust that a second driver will have figured that out and be ok with me barreling through.

Adam Love said:

I appreciate that the cars are trying to be nice and courteous to me, but yeah it's a pain in the ass to stop and then have to start right back up again. At the same time, I think those drivers would be upset at me if I just slammed through the stop sign without yielding at all... I'm not sure what the right balance is. 

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