this post was submitted on 08 Dec 2024
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Most assholes in cars can't be bothered to stop for twenty seconds -- like they're supposed to -- when there's an obstruction in their lane. They think there's some unwritten rule that they absolutely have to be moving no matter what's on the road in front of them.
The proper thing to do in these "squeezed by a bike" scenarios is to just let the fucking bike determine the pace for a little while, and then wait until the other lane is free and you can pass using it.
I've experienced that more times than I can count from cyclists on sidewalks that think that I should be expected to dodge out of their way just because they ring their little bell.
Maybe they just want to warn you so you don't startle when they pass.
Mixed use paths are not great for commuting.
Most sidewalks are not "mixed use".
At that point, I'd expect the cyclist to pull over and let traffic flow past.
The same way we expect slower traffic to keep right or use turnouts to let faster traffic pass them on mountain roads. Nothing wrong with being slower or less comfortable on the roads, but if you are causing traffic to back up, you can get out of the way.
The biker's loss is <1min as they use a turnout, shoulder or sidewalk, and the cars all get where they are going without needing to perform riskier passing maneuvers.
Doesn't generally apply if you have a single car but I've been in a situation behind a cyclist where I wasn't knowledgeable about the road ahead and was unable to find a place to safely pass for a while. I clearly was making the cyclist nervous, and I was nervous. A 10 second delay for the cyclist would have resolved the issue. Instead, I spent more like a minute waiting for a moment with enough visibility to let me safely pass.
Clearly you've never commuted by bike. You'd get nowhere if you'd have to let cars safely pass.
The problem is that this applies to assholes on bikes, too. This is not to defend asshole car drivers, but you cannot deny that quite a number of bicycle riders have a rather loose connection to the rules of the road.