We have all experienced it before. You head out for a ride and before to long a motorist has either cut you off or completely ignored your presence on the road, right? This morning was just such a day. I awoke to a brilliant day. I quickly woofed down my new fav, Nutella/Banana Tortillas, with a Green Tea chaser. Threw on my Spandex; and set out on my two wheeled steed. I had a bit of an idea in mind of where I wanted to go. I set out down the road from home; on a route that I take often, and I am no stranger too. Familiar with how people drive in my hometown, and keeping in mind of course to use proper road courtesy and visible signally; for which I pride myself on, I was on my way. A mile down the road I stopped at a well used 4 way stop. I was traveling West > East at the time. I rolled up to the Stop, and came to a complete stop. Not one of those careless "Jersey Rolls", as my friend Ava calls them, that have become the norm now a days....seems that no one really STOP's at a Stop sign anymore..they seem to all casually regard it as a yield sign; Crazy! Anyway, so I was stopped. There were four other cars at each of the other stops as well. First to go was the vehicle directly facing me. As he went I made eye contact with the driver in the Black Mercedes Convertible to my right who was to go after me. I signaled that I was turning right. I mounted my bike and proceeded in to the intersection. As I was in the middle of the intersection the Mercedes started to leave his Stop line and lunged forward in my direction towards me. Like he was trying to scare me. Honestly though one may have said he was gunning for me. I wasn't frightened though I was upset.
"What was he doing", I thought. I had completed my left hand turn and the Black Mercedes pulls up along side me with his window down and then shouts at me; as if he had a right to do so. "You're suppose to stop at the stop sign", he shouted and then drove off....I was a gas. ARE YOU KIDDING ME, I thought. If he had been paying attention in the least, and he was, he saw that I was stopped. He saw me signal, but his ego just couldn't take it I guess that a woman, and a cyclist at that had the right of way at that moment. It took me a few minutes to blow off steam and as I was doing that I passed the BIG Yellow street sign that our City kindly put up over a year ago indicating that Motorists are to "Share the Road" in that section with Cyclists....clearly he hadn't seen that sign either.
This sign appears both 2 blocks before the intersection,
and another sign exactly the same as this one is on the other side of the road at the intersection. I guess the motorist missed these signs as well. Hope he was on the way to his Optomitrist apt.
Ironically enough as I was taking these pics tonight the Driver in question from yesterday came through this same intersection where we had the issue ysterday...and here again he did not wait and bolted the Stop sign and right of way chasing the driver in front of him's tale end...Geesh!
Some links to British Columbia, Canada road laws&safety
~Cycling Cafe's Diva
"Uniting a Community; one Cyclist at a time"
"RIDE HAPPY"
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