Don't honk, just yell

[spooker]

It's funny, I never hear a person in a car honking at another person in a car when they pass them. But yet that happens to people on bicycles all the time. Just this morning I had another vehicle honk as they passed me. Really confusing because I don't know if they honked because they recognized me or if it was something else.

Usually I place the act of honking as either aggression or fear. Sure, when my wife drives away she beeps the horn twice to say "I love you" but if I don't recognize the vehicle I can't assume the same message from others on the road, just puzzling.

So, either someone is trying to "scare" me off the road in an act of anger, or they're bleating their fear of me and my bicycle.

And in that vein, I'm already scared of cars, and even though I'm a reasonably big guy I try to do my best to not come across as dangerous in any form or fashion. Please don't honk, just communicate with me in a normal manner, my morse code skills are sadly out date so I can't decipher your honks.

p.s. If you catch me at an intersection with your window open I'll gladly say hello.

[Poindexter]

This may not be applicable to your situation but I'll issue a short warning honk if a cyclist, or another vehicle, appears to be drifting into my lane. I realize it may be disconcerting if you were unaware of my intention, but I'd rather annoy someone a little bit than get into an accident.

[Queen K]

I'll honk at you Spooker!

But unlike your wife, I'll just being saying "hi." Deal?

[LTD]

It's funny, I never hear a person in a car honking at another person in a car when they pass them. But yet that happens to people on bicycles all the time. Just this morning I had another vehicle honk as they passed me. Really confusing because I don't know if they honked because they recognized me or if it was something else.

Usually I place the act of honking as either aggression or fear. Sure, when my wife drives away she beeps the horn twice to say "I love you" but if I don't recognize the vehicle I can't assume the same message from others on the road, just puzzling.

So, either someone is trying to "scare" me off the road in an act of anger, or they're bleating their fear of me and my bicycle.

And in that vein, I'm already scared of cars, and even though I'm a reasonably big guy I try to do my best to not come across as dangerous in any form or fashion. Please don't honk, just communicate with me in a normal manner, my morse code skills are sadly out date so I can't decipher your honks.

p.s. If you catch me at an intersection with your window open I'll gladly say hello.

I'm guessing your one of the cyclists who rides on the white line because theres a little sand in the bike lanes still, hence the reason people honk at you

[dirtybiker]

Since I generally drive a vehicle that requires all of the travel lane,
even more so on two lane roads.
The very real possibility that I require even more than the allotted
painted lane through curves and corners.
When approaching a cyclist travelling the same direction, I 'toot' the
horn as a warning of my approach to make sure they are aware that
"I" may need more room for "them" to remain a safe distance away.

If said cyclist refuses to take the courtesy warning seriously then the
chances that the next use of the horns will be sure to get the point across.

A person will know the difference between the two uses of horn.

One or two short taps from a distance vs blowing you out of the saddle
leaving you shaking, rattled and possible ear and headaches after.

I do like to make my point known.

[spooker]

I'm guessing your one of the cyclists who rides on the white line because theres a little sand in the bike lanes still, hence the reason people honk at you

While I don't ride in the piles of gravel and sand that are in the bikes lanes ... a little sand doesn't bother me ... but asking me to ride on the stuff even I won't is like asking you to drive 50kph on the unpaved sections of Beaver Lake Rd ...

As for this morning, the block that I was riding didn't have a bike lane ... just a neighbourhood avenue with two lanes for travel (one in either direction), parked cars in front of the houses ... and a nice sign at the entrance to the block signifying "single file" showing a bicycle and a car in line ...

One or two short taps from a distance vs blowing you out of the saddle
leaving you shaking, rattled and possible ear and headaches after.

At a distance is just fine ... but most of the time in town it's people that are less than a car length behind me or right next to me ... and unless there is a lot of traffic, I'll hear your approach just fine from far enough away to start working out my strategy to make sure we can both share the road safely ...

Passing on a curve is usually a bad idea whether it's a bicycle or a car ... the farther you require a cyclist to ride to the right the higher the odds of them hitting a bad surface and/or debris ...

Do you have side guards on your truck so if you feel the need to honk as you get close they won't be rolling under your wheels? While we might make riding a bike look easy it requires quite a bit of concentration and observation to more than people sitting inside their four-wheeled (or more) vehicles ...

[dirtybiker]

The safe guards to prevent anyone from getting under or into the wheels
are approximately just a five inch span.

That would be the distance betwixt the ears of all involved.

[spooker]

The safe guards to prevent anyone from getting under or into the wheels
are approximately just a five inch span.

That would be the distance betwixt the ears of all involved.

Do you have the same standard for all vehicles on the road? Just want to make sure who's honking if I'm going down the road in my truck also ...

[dirtybiker]

To be clear, when I tap my horn for a bicycle the first time it is for their
safety, so they can allow ample room and be vigilant of the impending draft.

If they do not heed the warning, that is not my doing.

There comes a point of no return where the outcome lies solely on the cyclist
being aware of the situation they have placed themselves in.

The cyclist has a very agile vehicle that can operate in confined spaces.

Mine does neither, even remotely to the same degree.

As far as your passenger vehicle if you can manage to operate in your lane,
give ample space on all sides of my vehicle, not operate in an erratic manner.
Actually Stop and yield in a safe manner, there will be little problem, you will hear
nary a peep from me.

Let's all be safe out there and understand the size/weight/ physics involved in each form of
road user out there.

[spooker]

To be clear, when I tap my horn for a bicycle the first time it is for their
safety, so they can allow ample room and be vigilant of the impending draft.

If they do not heed the warning, that is not my doing.

There comes a point of no return where the outcome lies solely on the cyclist
being aware of the situation they have placed themselves in.

The cyclist has a very agile vehicle that can operate in confined spaces.

Mine does neither, even remotely to the same degree.

As far as your passenger vehicle if you can manage to operate in your lane,
give ample space on all sides of my vehicle, not operate in an erratic manner.
Actually Stop and yield in a safe manner, there will be little problem, you will hear
nary a peep from me.

Let's all be safe out there and understand the size/weight/ physics involved in each form of
road user out there.

Yeah ... so there is a double-standard ... you're not alone sadly ... and that's the root of the issues in the first place ... it'd be nice if you stop seeing "a cyclist" and start seeing "another vehicle"

I use all my vehicles in the same manner ... consistent ... and it's not up to the vehicle being approached to "give you ample space" ... I'm not going to swerve anywhere to block another vehicle's passage but I expect other vehicles to safely pass me as the circumstances allow ...

You're comment about "understanding" the physics is often repeated, i.e. "responsibility", and it makes me chuckle ... operating a vehicle that can easily kill/maim/injure another road user no matter their manner should engender the highest level of responsibility, but instead it seems to do the opposite (as evidenced by all the driving scofflaws using their phones or speeding or running lights/stop signs)

People complain about traffic but don't seem to want to acknowledge that the answer to traffic is cycling (not more roads as people seem to think) ... get more people out of their single-occupancy-vehicle (4-wheeled version) and onto their single-occupancy-vehicle (2-wheeled version) and there is more room to get around ... make cycling safer by everyone being more aware and respectful on the road and more people might be willing to leave their cars at home ... are people in cars afraid that someday there might actually be more people on bikes? they've already got the "physics" advantage, what do they have to worry about?

[dirtybiker]

You're comment about "understanding" the physics is often repeated, i.e. "responsibility", and it makes me chuckle ... operating a vehicle that can easily kill/maim/injure another road user no matter their manner should engender the highest level of responsibility, get more people out of their single-occupancy-vehicle [[[ and there is more room to get around ... ]]]] to leave their cars at home ...

The responsibility after "the point of no return" is reached, narrows drastically.

The point where there is no way to change course of travel or stop ability.

A smart cyclist, upon hearing a short toot of a horn from a 100m behind would
make the prudent move to make as much space available as possible while
being overtaken. Really quite easy really.
I too ride bicycles. I leave substantially more room for traffic than most.

I agree that Passenger vehicle use, well....misuse, could use to be
cut down by everyone.....but me of course.